EUCHARISTEO

Today, we look at a word that stunned me real good this week: EUCHARISTEO.

It is a Greek word and it is, to a large extent, one that brings the entirety of our Christian race into focus. As it says in the image, EUCHARISTEO means THANKSGIVING. It is the word that features in the Greek translation of 1Thes 5:18: en panti eucaristeite touto gar qelhma qeou en cristw ihsou eiV umaV {In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you KJV}

Now, what blew my mind was what I discovered when I delved further to find the meaning of this word when broken down. We shall start with EU.

For starters, it doesn't mean European Union. EU. According to English for Students, it means PLEASANT,WELL & GOOD. It is a Greek Prefix (Words added before ROOT WORDS to form new meanings or words altogether). It features in many of the words we have come to know today: Euphemism (Figure of speech explaining the act of saying a bad thing in a good way), Eulogy, Euphoria, Eugene....and so on.

CHARIS, on the other hand means GRACE. Ever heard it said that there is grace in thanksgiving? Well, quite literally, there is! Apart from GRACE, we also find JOY in thanksgiving.....well, quite literally too! Simply because CHARA is the Greek interpretation for Joy.

EUCHARIST we may know. That is one word which we all bandy about sha. We just say it and do it as a religious practice and forget to.....oh wait! It means Thanksgiving by the way. The Eucharist is used in the Catholic circles to mean THE LORD'S SUPPER, HOLY COMMUNION! It is a supreme lesson that in the night before the capture and (brutal) death of Jesus, He tells us to never neglect the EUCHARIST, in remembrance of Him. By the way, did I just mention that this young man called was about to DIE? And He knew it?

How would you behave if you even knew you would die sef? #scary abi?

Therefore, get some EUCHARISTEO juice pumping in you. I think of this word when I think of my country, the world, the church, my neighbours....the beggar, that F9 I got in my WAEC, that E I got in Year 1, that time I lost my temper, the period nothing just seemed to work, those days my life was dark and without any ounce of hope.....many of us have been here. Some are still there. Remember you are not alone. Just be grateful, mentioning the issue and thanking God for what He is teaching you through your pain. GOD NEVER WASTES AN EXPERIENCE YOU HAVE PASSED THROUGH.

Let some EUCHARISTEO pass through you today. We all need a lesson some time.

Shalom!

#TheNehemiahMovement

SELF DISCIPLINE

I open the deep freezer on this very hot, scorching day. It is filled with treasures from heaven, which basically is what I call soft drinks. The bottle sits exquisitely still at the bottom of the vast bottom of the freezer. The svelte construction has me saying a prayer of thanksgiving for the makers of COCA COLA. My eyes are filled with adoration for the bottle languishing between 35-38 degrees (the ideal temperature for a chilled drink, well, according to wiki answers).

Yet, just beside it, sitting still like the quiet brilliant student in class (who knows his classmates would never know just how brilliant he is because he never talks), is the equally chilled plastic of EVA Water.

I think I know how the story ends.

Ain't it amazing the things we still do despite knowing it hurts us? You know what needs to be done. You do the opposite. Why? The "want" to gratify greatly outweighs the "need" to delay gratification.

Don't worry. I know it is hard. Ahhhhh!!!!!!!!! trust me, I know. Yet, I know just how much more possible it is.

You know something interesting I learnt this past Sunday, it is that the Devil would tempt mankind in 3 aspects: FOOD, MONEY, POWER. FOOD seems to be one of the unsung heroes of the mix. Yet, you would be baffled to see just how much even the church is being buffeted on all sides. PASTOR TOPE AWONAIKE, the Head Pastor of Greater Grace Assembly once quoted someone. According to the quote, "IF YOU WANT TO CHOOSE LEADERS IN CHURCH, DECLARE A BUFFET." You know how profound that is? It means, basically, that we lose all sense of charity when food is involved. UNFORTUNATELY, I HAVE WITNESSED THIS IN MANY OUTINGS.

Our Lord Jesus decided not to turn stone to bread. Imagine if the Saviour of the world had given in to food because he was hungry. He had every right. He was on a 40-day fast!!!!!! He even thought about giving up on the whole salvation plan. But He recognised a greater WILL in play. When will we do the same?

For some of us, the closest we've ever got to that WORKOUT day-dream we have is the dream of working out. We don't eat right. We sometimes lack any skill, no matter how slight, to show restraint, to reel in our desires for the sake of what we need. Yet, there is that GRACE TO MOVE OUT AND CHALLENGE YOURSELF..

Your dream of a 1-hour prayer ended in THE GRACE OF OUR LORD, JESUS CHRIST.

Your dream of STAYING OFF COKE FOR A WEEK ENDED WITH YOU DRINKING PEPSI FOR A WEEK (Like seriously?)

Your dream of writing stopped on your BLACKBERRY/ANDROID device.

Your dream of eating healthy stopped at Debonairs Pizza.

Your dream of saving stopped on KONGA/JUMIA/KAYMU.

Why don't we take advantage of this grace and forge ahead? Why don't we delay gratification?

God help us

#TheNehemiahMovement #JoinTheMovement

GRACE STORY...Mine, Yours, Everyone's

It is just GRACE.

I could end this post like that and still look back on it as a fully complete post.

I could. Very much tempted to.

In fact, maybe I should let you tell me just how much this statement means to you.

As for me, I really would look back on this post as a fully complete one.

Isn't it just lovely? Grace. Just a breath of fresh air. What's your Grace story?

Please kindly feel free to share on our facebook page: facebook.com/livecoals or just email us your story at coals4life@gmail.com.

As for me, my job here is done for now....lol

#NehemiahMovement #COAL4 #JoinTheMovement

GIVE ME FAITH

Sometimes, this is all we need. A simple prayer. A heavy cry not for recognition. A honest soul reaching to a living God. There are so many torrents swaying us. We, as teenagers and youths at large, have never had it harder. It makes one wish one was almost born in the times of our fathers.

This piece is not for those above board, way too holy or beyond failure. Nope. This is for all those that have ever had to pray the words in the picture above. GIVE ME FAITH. You may have come to a point, as I have so many times, where you feel God is so far away that you just feel your entire faith (Christian faith) has been completely destroyed. At those times, in the sincerity of your heart, you cry out like this.

It may be the closest to what many have prayed in a long time but if it is from your heart, rest assured the Lord God will hear and come swiftly to your aid. The social media, TV, and others make up a very attractive pot of vanity. We all have been sucked, to a large extent, into the gaping hole, the vacuum. Yet, for all those who will cry out in the conviction of their spirits, GOD IS READY to imbue you with GRACE UPON GRACE to walk through the storm. That is my testimony. Having God with me through the storms; He steadies me when I falter and picks me when I fall, with so much love that I just cry at times. FAITH to believe that the Word of God aint just words but LIFE which, if allowed to dwell in you, has the potential to revamp, refurbish and pimp you up for good.

In a way, Camp of a Lifetime(COAL) has played a vital role in helping people through this period of uncertainty. COAL seeks to take us away for a period to a serene place where we are really alone with GOD, young people who have, just for a couple of days, no attachment to all of the fuss. A set of young people who have left it all to come rediscover the taste and fragrance of WORSHIP and LOVE for Jesus Christ. We have had testimonies, encounters with evil manifestations dedicated to thwarting the WILL OF GOD. Yet, each time, God manifests so much love and power toward us that we just have nothing else to say than to bow and worship. God loves us. He calls us. We are unashamed to declare we are flawed. So much more are we unashamed to declare that we are what we are by His grace. Remember COAL 4 comes up soon.

Yes, it gets hard, cold, dark, heavy and silent at times. But if only we would cry out (not shouting on top of our voices like mad people...at least, not always) though with sealed lips, and nothing but bended knees and outstretched arms, God, MY God will hear and come swiftly to you.

Amen.

Leaving to Live

Haven't we all gotten to that point where we just decide to not be tied down to what has plagued us?
Have you gotten to the point where you have sunk so low that you begin to think that "It can't get any worse"?

Well, luckily for me, I have. I say lucky because it is one position of immense perspective. Your whole world shifts into focus. You see how adrift you are from purpose and peace. You see the familiar landmarks you have always seen. You cry the same old tears and fail so many times, you begin to get used to it.

It is a point of sudden outburst of insight, not one foreign to you but one that has always resided within. That was how I came to know Christ. That was how I got to know that I really can have better. You have to consciously decide to leave to live. You have to leave those old stumping grounds that have yielded no fruit and aspire to the reality of God's purpose for you.

Sounds cliche yeah? I know right?

But in the end, you will know that is more. There has to be more. I have to know what MORE is. I have to see the other possibilities. Surely, this cannot be ALL to my life. I am not satisfied. I cannot end here. I am not like everyone. I am (the) OTHER. I am the difference. I am the pinch of salt that is supposed to make the food so tasteful.

You asking yourself this question already? You are leaving your random for your PURPOSE. Leave it all behind that you may LIVE in the fullness of life in Christ. Besides, Abram had to LEAVE his old settlement because God wanted him to LIVE as ABRAHAM. It is the boldness to take the step that plagues us.

Well, find solace in the fact that I don't know anything but thankfully, I don't serve a God that has my limitations.

......Be the  best. God wants no less from you.

REJOICE ALWAYS...

It has been a while y'all! Greetings from our Heavenly father of lights. It is He who has made us. A great privilege to standing. Today, we shall be looking at a simple topic: REJOICE ALWAYS. This was taken from 1 Thessalonians 5:16.

As has become a sort of habit for me, I'll start with a quick look at what the Greek lexicon has to say. CHAIRO is the Greek rendering of this word, has a number of meanings buried in it. Apart from Rejoice, CHAIRO also means "to be glad" and to be "full of joy." Interestingly, this Greek word has the same root with the word Grace(CHARIS). So, you definitely wouldn't have thought of rejoicing and grace having any link whatsoever. Well, they do!

Rejoicing is an act that even the most "spirit-filled" Christians struggle to come to terms with. I mean, who would really be so eager to praise God in the face of overwhelming misfortune or disappointments? It is usually a term pushed to the background in the heat of the moment. Yet, Paul, in his letter to the Church at Thessalonica, urged the faithfuls to rejoice. He knew things would never be smooth all the way. Regardless, he said we should rejoice. I do not doubt many of us have seen enough tragedies to be shared among three generations. I do not doubt the depth or validity of your sorrow. I understand the need to not want to rejoice; I mean, it would seem ironic...foolish to say the least. But we all must agree on one fact: God is surely not stupid. He would not say it if He didn't mean it, or if He didn't think it would help us. Jesus told His disciples in John 14:2 "...if it were not so, I would have told you."

Kenneth Hagin, one of my favorite ministers, had his own challenges but he became who he was not by whining about these problems. He spent his time rejoicing and praising God. The worse they got, the more he praised God. You see, REJOICING IN THE PLACE OF PAIN OR STRUGGLE DRAWS ON GRACE. That is where the connection comes in: God knows how humanly painful some experiences or events may be for us. Thus, He has provided us with CHARIS that we may, despite our night, sing of His glorious day!

I pray that in every situation you're going through at the moment, God will release upon you the grace to REJOICE. As you do so, watch and see Jehovah come forth for you....SHALOM!

PURPOSE

WHAT'S MY PURPOSE?

Many go through life without a clue to the answer of this question. Others wander through the world as strangers without hope. They know they are meant to be more, to do more. Yet, this cloud of possibility withholds its rain of knowledge because of blindness. You could live 50 years and still not be a step closer to answering that question. You could be a “believer” and sing in the highest vocal notes to God and still not comprehend this fact! You see, when you don’t work with knowledge, you’ll walk in thick darkness. It’s really that simple.

I wonder why we all have become so busy that we have failed to see the fact that our surroundings are replete with evidences pointing to our purpose; to the supreme fact at the core of my and your existence. In the arts, architecture, social sciences and the sciences, God keeps speaking through the most undervalued things, sometimes right before our eyes. One of such is the scientific wonder of what is called the LAMININ.

According to Wikipedia, the Laminins are a group of glycoproteins that are essential for the structural build-up and strength of every tissue in an organism. They also play vital roles in the maintenance and survival of these tissues. They are responsible for ensuring that the overall body structure holds together. The most baffling thing to scientists is that it is in the shape of a cross! The Laminin connects all other cells together in a cross format. We could say that the absence of this cross-shaped glycoprotein would translate into an overall collapse of the body system.

Do you still ponder what your reasonable service is? If God predestined you before the beginning of the earth to have a body structure held in place by the Cross, don’t you think you will never be satisfied with anything lesser than that Cross? Aren’t you tired of short-changing yourself? The One that made you put a craving within that will never be satisfied until you “hearken to the knowledge” (acknowledge) of the Cross. Do not deny your God-likeness. To worship God, to be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ, my dear friend, is your eternal purpose. The very fact you’re reading this means the Cross within you has not failed. Are you still a loyal follower of that cross? Until you figure that out and yield completely, all you’ll have is a half-life; an unbalanced life; a life without Laminin.

Remember your Foundation. Remember your God! If you stay in  His presence, then you are failure-proof, sorrow-proof, doubt-proof! The simple fact is there is never going to be a step taken out of place. Remember when Ps 16:11 said "In Your presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore"? Well, direction is one of those pleasures. It's unfortunate that some people will read this and think "Well, he wants us to be pastors." Really, I don't. If God wants you to be one, believe me, you will. The point is that not everyone is destined for the pulpit. We are to spread the fragrance of this awesome presence of God to every nook and cranny we find ourselves. Where you work, school, live, find God's purpose there.

A MAN OF PURPOSE IS A MAN OF DIRECTION!

I PRAY THAT THE KING OF GLORY WILL GIVE YOU THE GRACE TO UNDERSTAND THIS AND CARRY THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.