THE CHRISTIAN WALK
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Monday, August 5, 2019 |
[email protected] Cameron, Texas, USA |
he social media outlets; Facebook, Google, Yahoo, Aol and their ancillaries are fast becoming veritable connecting tools turning the world truly into a global village. Human beings now operate sans frontiers and suddenly, as popular New York Times columnist, Thomas L. Friedman pointed out in his book; The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century (2005), the human race has never been so connected as before, in addition to goods and services. On Page 9 of that book, Friedman included ideas and intellectual transfers as his new definition of globalization in the aughties. Nowhere is the congregation of human beings unbelievably apparent than Facebook which is used by almost half of the world's population. Although it comes with many dangers and forebodings like other social media innovation, Facebook too can also be a tool to discourse and spread the Good News. Not all technological innovations are evil; for those with the Holy Spirit and sensitive to His leading, Facebook and other social media platforms can be forces for good. Consequently, this week's topic was informed by a lady I haven't seen for more than thirty years; Ms Betty Irabor.
Our paths crossed for the first time in 1984 at the defunct National Concord Newspapers owned by the late Chief MKO Abiola in Lagos, Nigeria. I was an undergraduate at the University of Lagos and had been referred to the influential newspaper by Chief Abiola himself of blessed memory. I was taken to the Features Desk and Mr. Olu Amupitan took a look at me and said I should go to Ms. Betty Amupitan, who was his deputy for an interview. Prior to my coming to the newspaper, I had been a regular contributor but writing opinion articles was markedly different from news reporting and feature writing. Mrs. Irabor gave me a topic and instructed me to turn in my story in 72 hours. When I returned within 24 hours with my story, she took and examined it with the intention of editing it. I was watching her. After about thirty minutes, she looked up and asked: "You wrote this?" I replied in the affirmative. She went gooey with my script to the Feature Editor: "" Ola, I want you to read this script, I can't edit it." The Features Editor took the script and read it. "Yes, I agree with you, it doesn't need editing. He is good." That was how I began to write for the defunct National Concord Newspapers which jumpstarted my career as a journalist/writer in my native Nigeria.
*I am happy and full of praise for the life of Mrs. Betty Irabor (nee Bello-Osagie). I worship the True Lord God Almighty for she is now a born-again Christian. As I went through my Facebook newsfeed during the week, Mrs. Irabor posted a news item in the form of a question and asked: "What's the difference between Praise and Worship?" When Mrs. Irabor and I met at the defunct National Concord Newspapers in 1984, I was Moslem. Today, I am a redeemed child of the Living God. On her Facebook Comment Page, I wrote last week; "Praise is when you thank the True Lord God Almighty for what He has done for you while Worship is when you exalt the King of kings for who He is. There are seven differences between Praise and Worship. I will write fully on these two next week in my weekly Christian Walk Column in the Nigeria World because you brought it up. This will be a blessing to all redeemed children of the Most High God." I will do exactly that in this week's article in fulfillment of my promise.
Praise is Diversified and Diffused, But Worship Is Onerously God's:- There is one thing Satan craves for badly which he will never get: to be worshipped. He wants to be like our Sovereign Lord God Almighty (Isaiah 14: 12-20). That forlorn ambition got Satan and his rebellious cohorts alias principalities and demons into eternal trouble in the heavens and they were flushed out of the Presence of their Maker (Revelation 12:7-12). The True Lord God Almighty placed an eternal curse on Satan and his hordes; they're eternally lost and never again will they assemble and be part of the Plan of God Almighty. This is the secret Satan and his rebellious minions are hiding from majority of the human race. The ignorant souls among the children of Adam and Eve are also sucked in by this satanic wiles and evil deception. Any person, entity, thing or whatever it is called that attracts human worship and adoration will never assemble and appear before the True Lord God Almighty. He said as much Himself: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other god before and besides Me" (Exodus 20:2-3).
This is the most pivotal scripture in the entire Holy Bible. The True Lord God Almighty pulled all the stops here by disclosing His Uniqueness from all manmade religions and demon-energized religious beliefs on earth. Not only are Satan and his fallen spirits envious of this unique attribute of our Lord God Almighty and crave God-wannabes, they are actively egging and promoting self-god and goddesses in the hearts and minds of fallen human race. This rebellious attitude of the human race instigated by Satan and his demons is found expression in secular humanism. Just as Satan offered the world to our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temptation (Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:5-7) in exchange for worship; Satan is hoodwinking the human race that they can be gods and live independently of their Maker. He did it in the Garden of Eden and Eve fell for it ("You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman. For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:4-5). It didn't turn out as Satan beguiled our First Parents. Isn't sad that Satan is still teaching the human race that they can be gods on earth even today? Karl Marx, the German philosopher was one of the most influential secular-humanists in history. His philosophical epistemological reasoning re-echoed what Satan told Adam and Eve in the Garden: "Humans can be gods; they don't need to worship the Creator, but worship themselves." This distinguishes Worship from Praise. We can praise other people for their good works, achievements, success etc, but we cannot and must never worship any person or anything before and besides the True Lord God Almighty, Hallelujah! We Praise God for His Creation; We Worship Him for creating Us: Only a fool will not be mesmerized and full of awe for God's creation. When you look at the ecosystem, the galaxy and the beauty of the planetary system, you will join the heavenly hosts to praise the Lord. The Psalmist got it when he noted: "Lord our Lord, How magnificent is Your Name throughout the earth�When I observe Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You set in place�" (Psalm 8:1,3). While we praise the Almighty God for His creation, that is how far it goes, period; but Worship is reserved for Him and Him Only. Hallelujah! The Almighty God created you and me for His Glory. The human race is His masterpiece and that is why Satan and his demons are insanely mad at you and me. They strive to break the monopoly of our worship of our Good and Awesome God. And why does the Lord God Almighty demand Worship as His Onerous Attribute? Simple! He and He Alone and Only is the Source of Life. If Satan can create human beings and gives life to species, he will not need to be struggling with the Almighty God for the souls of human beings to be worshipped. As Apostle Paul pointed out in his epistolary to the Romans 1:18-25: "For God's wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who�exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles�They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is blessed forever, Amen."
I have praised my wife on numerous occasions for her love, loyalty and support as a partner in my ministry including other marvelous things the Almighty God has used her for in our over a decade marital relationship. I have had cause to praise institutions and people who have crossed my paths in the Journey of Life. That is how far it can go. But Worship is onerously deistic. Not even money, power of varying hues, wealth, status, educational prowess, class, prestige etc should merit our worship.
If you have read all the religious books of the world; from the Torah, Quran, Vedas to Guru Granth Sahib, Agam Sutras, Bhagavad Gita and many more, nowhere and never will you find in any of the books that humans are referred to as sons and daughters of the True Lord God Almighty? All these so-called religious books referred to the human race; you and me, as slaves. Only, the first time and the last in the Synoptic Gospels were those of us redeemed by the Precious Blood of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ever called and addressed as children of the Lord God Almighty, Hallelujah! Anything and anyone no matter how benign, that control and manipulate you, intimidate and dominate you; take away your will power and you are unable to exercise independent judgment, deny you the power to act as a free moral agent that you were created to be by your Make is your god, period! This was why our Lord Jesus Christ told the Pharisees and Sadducees of His Day: "Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever" (John 8:35). We praise our Lord God Almighty for freeing us as slaves of Satan aftermath of the disobedience of our First Parents; Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The way the True Lord God Almighty freed us was by coming here physically in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to die on the Cross for our sins and by resurrecting three days later for our forgiveness and thus; "�if the Son of Man-Lord Jesus Christ-sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36). But how we demonstrate our heartfelt gratitude, sincere thanks and profound appreciation to our True Lord God Almighty for redeeming us through His Only-Begotten Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is worship, because there is no way the redemption of fallen human race could have taken place without a Redeemer. Praise the Lord! The True Lord God Almighty the Father purposed salvation, God the Son-our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ-carried it out and today, God the Holy Spirit is applying it. And the Triune are One and in Harmony, Hallelujah! We Praise God for What He Has Done, We Worship Him for Who He Is:- Our True Lord God Almighty is indeed the Sovereign Lord God of the heavens and the earth, Who cannot be compared to and with anyone. To cultivate the act of praise is to demonstrate our gratitude to the Jehovah Jireh, the El-Shaddai God. No one is so spiritually otiose than the believer who is a give me, give me soul and unappreciative of the loving-kindness of our Awesome, Wonderful and Powerful Lord God Almighty Who is forever to be raised; Hallelujah! But our worship of Him continues till eternity. After all, He created us for His pleasure. That is why nothing has ever been invented by the human race, either independently or at the instigation of Satan to replace the Almighty God in our individual lives has ever worked. There is a void in the human heart and soul that cannot and can never be filled except the Lord God Almighty, because there is only One Creator and that is Him. Even all other things created by Him for our enjoyment cannot and has never fully satisfied the human race, because He created us for Himself, period! No wonder, the Psalmist got it and announced it loudly to you and me and the entire human race: "In Your Presence there is fullness of joy" (Psalm 16:11, 21:6, 43:4 etc). It is possible to be happy in someone and in something, but trust me; there is nowhere else and in no someone or something that joy, real and satisfying joy can be found. That is why joy and not happiness is the second to love as fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5: 22).
We Praise Him As Condition for Prayer and Worship Him for Answered Prayers: - I was instructed by the Holy Spirit to tell a precious soul who called here at The Jesus Christ Solution Center, Texas the other day for spiritual counseling to start praising the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ rather than praying and his needs were met as soon as he began to praise His Majesty. "Now, tell him to begin to worship Me for answered prayers," I was further instructed. No matter your needs friend, begin with the habit of praise before you start to table your demands and watch as the Awesome Hands of the Sovereign Lord God Almighty move as never before. King David got away with a lot of misdemeanors during his earthly life here, because he was a man of praise. No wonder, Daddy said David was a man after His heart. Praising the King of kings and Lord of lords is what all the denizens of heaven do all day and perpetually since there is no night in the heavens. It was David who told us we should come to the Presence of the Lord God Almighty with praise and worship in sundry means: songs, obeisance, dance, tambourines, etc. Consequently, prayer is the key; the master key that ushers us into the Presence of God, but Praise is what makes the True Lord God Almighty to attend to us while Worship is what makes us to return for more of His Love, Grace and Mercy, Hallelujah! Praise Is The Gateway of Access To His Presence, Worship Keeps Us In His Presence:- We can pray for ever and umpteenth time over a matter to the Lord God Almighty without a response from Majesty On High, because prayer is the key and master key but a key is useless without a door. Praise is the door or gateway that ushers us into the Holy of Holies where the King of kings and our Lord God will ask you: "What do you want Me to do for you My son or daughter?" If you haven't found out the route to the Inner Sanctum of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, here is the unfailing code to the master key: Praise.
But there is another shortest master code, faster and most effective: Worship. In Praise, God will ask you what you want, but in Worship, He says it is done; no matter what you are asking Him. I have tried both and they work but your preference for one or the other will determine how and when you receive answers to your needs in accordance with His Will. Personally, I employ the two as combo and throttle my needs on twin cylinders. Praise His Highest! Worship His Majesty! Praise Enables Us To Forgive Others, While Worship Empowers God To Forgive Us:- A precious soul once asked me how does one know you have truly forgiven the person who has offended you in compliance with the commandment of the Lord God Almighty in Matthew 6:14-15: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Heavenly Father forgive yours" (See also Matthew 7:2, Mark 11:25, Luke 6:37 etc). The Holy Spirit instructed me to tell the fellow to pray for that person who offended and trespassed against him. The fellow simpered disapprovingly on the other end of the telephone. Yes, it is humanly difficult to pray for a person who has offended you, but the Holy Spirit is the Only One that can empower us as believers to pray for someone who has really wronged us. We often say glibly that we have forgiven our trespassers until we are asked to do the next heavy lifting as a practical and an actionable demonstration of real and genuine forgiveness: pray.
The commandment of the Sovereign Lord God Almighty that we should forgive those who have offended us is not an option. Many souls have missed heavens because of unforgiving spirit, because unforgiving spirit is a demon. It is a cousin of hatred which is one of the 16 associate demons of Satan (Galatians 5:19 & 20). No prayer is ever attended to in the Tabernacle of the Almighty God (Revelation 8:1-4) if it is tainted with unforgiving spirit. The angels cannot receive such prayers, especially from the saints, because such prayers would have been messed with and withheld by Satan and his evil demons in the heavenly realms (the first heaven: Ephesians 6: 12). Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ made this point clearly that, you must forgive anyone-all and not one person-that have trespassed against you, including unbelievers and then your Father in heaven will now forgive you your sins and answer your prayers. Praise is one of the ways you demonstrate that you have truly forgiven your trespasser, because no human being that is bitter and hateful can sing. Do you know that you cannot dance when you are angry, bitter and hateful? Worship on the other hand is what naturally comes next when the demon spirit of unforgiving leaves you.
7 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR WEEK 3 - THE CHRISTIAN WALK1: When did the author prophesy the overthrow of President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso in the Christian Walk Column? Answer: The author prophesied the overthrow of President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso in the Christian Walk Column on Monday 30 December, 2013. See: (https://nigeriaworld.com/feature/publication/fayemiwo/123013.html) Q. 2: Give 7 characteristic differences between work and job according to the Holy Spirit as written in this column.
Answer:
Answer: (https://nigeriaworld.com/feature/publication/fayemiwo/061916.html)
Q. 4: When did the author/columnist prophesy of the defeat of former President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria and when was the prophecy fulfilled? Answer: The author/columnist prophesied the defeat of former President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria on Thursday 02 January, 2014.
(https://nigeriaworld.com/feature/publication/fayemiwo/010214.html). This prophecy was fulfilled during the Presidential election held on 28 March, 2015. Q. 5: List 7 great prophecies the author/columnist published in this column and their uncanny fulfillment.
Answer:
(See: (https://nigeriaworld.com/feature/publication/fayemiwo/010214.html). This prophecy was fulfilled during the Presidential election held on 28 March, 2015.
Q. 6: When and what was the global event the author/columnist disclosed in this column for several months and how did it come to pass? Answer: The emergence of the dreaded terrorist organization known as Islamic State - ISIS/ISIL was revealed to the Author/Columnist on Monday 30 December, 2013 thus "A new group of Islamic terrorist organization will spring up this year and announce the firing of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The factional in-fighting will lead to power struggle and more of Al-Qaeda leaders will be eliminated by the United States. (See: https://nigeriaworld.com/feature/publication/fayemiwo/123013.html) This prophecy was fulfilled with the emergence of the ISIS/ISIL group and the preponderance of their attacks across the world. Q. 7: The author/columnist has been bereaved thrice as disclosed by him on this page. Mention the three occasions and circumstances as published in The Christian Walk.
Answer:
ALL CORRECT ANSWERS SENT IN BY MR JOHN FALOYE, MUSCAT REPUBLIC OF OMAN. CONGRATULATIONS MR FALOYE. THANKS AND REMAIN BLESSED IN JESUS MIGHTY NAME, AMEN!
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