The vicar’s announcement has stunned his superiors in the church and thrown them into confusion because the couple intends to receive ‘blessing’ in church after tying the knot.

One would begin to wonder why Colin would be making such a decision at an age when people usually begin to realize that the greater part of their lives has gone past and theyare moving towards the twilight of their existence here on earth. Such realization often draws one closer to one’s creator because only God gives us assurance of life beyond this world.

On his reason to seek ‘blessing’ for the union, the vicar says, ‘My goal is for everyone within the church to feel comfortable with the situation because at the moment the majority of gay Christians marry secretly. ‘ It is a taboo subject but the church is now under huge pressure to change its stance and that pressure will only increase in the future”

How did Colin expect Christians to feel comfortable with joining a man to a man or a woman to a woman? Clearly the Bible defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. “For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and be united to his wife and they will be come one flesh” (Gen 2:24, Matt 19:5, Mark 10:7). There is no ambiguity in that statement.  This statement was not inserted carelessly immediately God created the woman and handed her over to the man. It was an ordinance that was established from that first union and sanctioned by God. For emphasis, Jesus quoted Gen 2:24 in Matthew 19:5 during a discourse on the subject of marriage and divorce.

I struggle to understand the vicar when he says, “Clearly the blessing is going to be quite a sensitive issue. I know that many people will see it and view it with horror.

But we are both deeply committed Christians so it would be unthinkable for me not to do it in church and not to do it with the congregation and with all of our friends.”

How can one be a committed Christian and blatantly ignores or rejects a clear, direct command from God? Which blessing does he want to receive on this ‘union’? Surely not the same Christ who quoted the above scripture?  Wouldn’t it have been better for him to toe the same line as his other gays who got married in secret than to invite God’s wrath by seeking His blessing on the very same thing that runs contrary to His divine command?

This is not an attack against gays. I believe God loves them as much as he loves every sinner. What I am against is someone’s attempt to invite God’s sanction upon something that God clearly detests.  “Do not have sex with a man as you would have sex with a woman, I hate that” (Lev 18:22)

Did our dear vicar read and understand the above scripture, which is clear and unambiguous?  What about Lev 20:13?  “Suppose a man has sex with another man as he would have sex with a woman. I hate what they have done. They must be put to death. Anything that happens to them will be their own fault.“. These scripture references need no interpretation or translation. They clearly show that God does not in any way condone homosexuality just like he does not condone adultery, fornication or stealing.

God has definitely not changed His mind about same-sex marriage. It was not His original plan and there is nowhere in the Bible where it was implied in any way. Clearly, no man is born gay. Colin was said to have realized he was gay as a teenager. How come he clearly knew he was a boy when he was a child?  Obviously the distinction in a baby’s sex is so clear that even in the mother’s womb, a foetus’ sex can be determined through medical science. I am yet to see any doctor who has claimed to know that a child is or will be born gay.

The church definitely should be uncomfortable to bless such a union because such a blessing will clearly not come from God. As long as the laws of God in the Bible remain, nothing will change my mind, nor should change the mind of any true Christian about the sinful practice of same-sex marriage.

What part do we have to play as this practice gains momentum? We have to pray for them and trust God to open their eyes of understand and see the sinfulness of this practice. It is not our place to condemn them, however we must not just stand by and let our faith be used as justification for something which God clearly says He hates.  We must condemn the practice and preach the gospel of reconciliation to those who are caught up in this growing cancer that has spread into the church.
Steve O. Popoola
© Biblepraise Fellowship Online, August, 2010.

Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the webmaster of Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org.

He currently resides in London where he works as an IT professional. He serves in the ministerial team of his local church as well as in the music ministry. He is the Moderator/Editor of Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address, steve@biblepraise.org

Anyway, it seemed that the woman needed financial assistance to start up a trade in order to sustain her family. She had skills in dress making but did not have needed equipment and facilities to start. She however continued to work hard on whatever she could do with her very limited resources.

Somehow, her fortune changed the day she had the opportunity to meet the president at the event. The meeting produced a promise from the President to assist her to achieve her dream. According to her, she felt grateful for the attention the President gave her but she did not entirely believe anything would happen. She said, “I didn’t believe he would fulfill his promise because we are used to promises being made by politicians which are never fulfilled”

One day recently, the woman received unexpected visitors in her home from the government. She was taken to a facility that had been leased for her. In it were already installed sewing machines and other equipment. She could hardly contain her emotions as she was taken around and shown everything that had been bought for her to start off her business.

She was right about one thing; men are prone to failing in keeping promises. When it comes to God however, once He gives you a promise, you can take it to the bank. “God is not a man that He should tell or act a lie, neither the son of man, that He should feel repentance or compunction [for what He has promised]. Has He said and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken and shall He not make it good?”   (Num 23:19)

The Nigerian President could have forgotten the promise he made to this woman but God had reason to remind him and also give him the zeal to act on his promise. Many politicians have given the same promise and they have remained unfulfilled till this day.

What has God promised you? Be sure that He remembers! He will execute it at the appropriate time. All you need to do is to patiently trust Him. I have promises made by my father which remained unfulfilled till today, not because he forgot but because he found himself in circumstances which made it impossible for him to follow through with his word.

God not only remembers all He has promised you, He also is able to accomplish it at the right time. Nothing can limit Him, nothing can make it impossible for Him to follow through with His promises towards you.

When God wanted to assure Abraham of His promise, he elevated His word above His name. God does not joke with His word! Once He has uttered it, you can be sure that His word will not return empty without accomplishing the purpose for which it was sent.

What promises are you holding unto today? Your parent’s? Brother’s? Pastor’s? They are men, they can fail you but when you hold on to God’s word, you can be sure that He will do what He says.

The Lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow about what He promises, according to some people’s conception of slowness, but He is long-suffering (extraordinarily patient) toward you, not desiring that any should perish, but that all should turn to repentance. (2Pe 3:9)

Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the webmaster of Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org.

He currently resides in London where he works as an IT professional. He serves in the ministerial team of his local church as well as in the music ministry. He is the Moderator/Editor of Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address, steve@biblepraise.org

When God created Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, their consciences had no job to do. It was totally unemployed. Guilt did not even exist. Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship with God.

The minute they disobeyed God however, they created a job for their conscience and along same guilt. Even before God came visiting, they knew they had done something wrong. The first reaction was to hide. First they had to hide their nakedness; secondly they had hide from the presence of God. (Gen 3:7 – 10)

Let us forward some thousands of years after. When Jesus began His ministry on earth, He chose twelve disciples. One of them, Judas Iscariot betrayed the Lord and handed Him over to the Jewish authorities for the price of thirty pieces of silver. As soon as he realized the import of what he had done, guilt took over and reigned him towards his terrible death.

One man who knew how to combat and overcome guilt was King David. Confronted with his sin, David would waste no time going to the Lord in repentance. Many of the psalms in scripture were written by him and entire chapters were devoted to repentance for sins committed. (Psalm 51)

David would not allow guilt to fester and do damage to his psyche. He would go to God has take his guilt there. He knew that once he is forgiven, that guilt dies a natural death, never to trouble him again.

Many walk around today carrying varying degrees of guilt around with them. They sinned quite alright and had asked God for forgiveness but still the guilt keeps gnawing deep into them, preventing them from being entirely free to serve God. The live from day to day regretting what they did.

Let me inform you that guilt was not made to be carried about. It is a weight that can rob a life of joy and happiness and inevitably lead to a miserable life. No wish can turn the hands of the clock back or undo what has already been done. That is the first truth you need to know in your effort to overcome guilt.

The major antidote for guilt is repentance. What is repentance? According to the scripture, repentance is godly sorry. It means being genuinely sorry for what you have done, not because you were caught or because it backfired on you, but because you realize that you did wrong in the sight of God.

We often make the mistake of categorizing sins believing that some sins are more serious than others and therefore in need of repentance while others do not. May I announce to you that in the presence of God, there is nothing like a little sin or a big sin. ‘The wages of sin is death’  (Rom 6:23) Did you notice that there is no category in that verse?  Reward for all and any kind of sin is death. That means that lying and stealing fall into the same category as murder, simply put.

Are you walking about with a weight of sin and guilt? Go to the Lord in repentance. He is there willing to take that load off you so that you can be free to truly serve and worship Him.

God did not call perfect people to Him, He called sinners and turns them into saints because of His Son Jesus and regenerates us by His Spirit. It is not an overnight change, it is a process and as you come to Him often in repentance, He changes you and gradually molds you into what He wants you to be.

However, you have a part to play. God is not fooled by our outward piety. He knows a sincere heart determined to serve him. This was why David was recorded as the ‘Man after God’s heart (Acts 13:22). When we come to Him sincere about  our sin and our weaknesses, He not only forgives but also gives us more grace to overcome. Sometimes it is instantaneous and other times it takes several attempts but eventually, we overcome and guilt once again is kicked out of the windows of our hearts.

Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the webmaster of Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org. He currently resides in London where he works as an IT professional. He serves in the ministerial team of his local church as well as in the music ministry. He is the Moderator/Editor of Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address, steve@biblepraise.org

If you are a Christian, take offense at her public remark, and are prepared to write her off as either someone who must not have been a believer in the first place or just another angry celebrity denouncing Jesus, hold on for a moment.

Anne Rice has sold over 75 million books. Best known for Interview With a Vampire and other Gothic novels, she had renounced the Roman Catholic religion of her youth at 18. As an adult, she not only became a successful writer but also lost her five-year-old granddaughter to leukemia and numbed her pain for years afterward as an alcoholic. Following surgery and a diabetic coma that almost took her life, she renewed her commitment to the Catholic faith in 1998.

Since that recommitment and its public documentation in 2008 with Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession, she has dedicated herself to “glorifying God” and launched a series of Christ the Lord books. So what gives here? Has she decided God doesn’t exist? Jesus was a fraud? The Bible is a myth? Hardly!

In her posting last Wednesday, she said she refused to be anti-gay, anti-feminist, anti-science, anti-artificial birth control, anti-Democrat. Here is the crux: “For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being ‘Christian’ or part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.”

She followed up the next day with this: “My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I don’t understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His followers.”

The 68-year-old writer is neither despairing of nor denouncing Christ. She is trying to find a way to articulate her despair over hateful attitudes, unreasoning postures, mean-spirited behaviors, and un-Jesus-like actions in history by people who have invoked his name over evils ranging from anti-Semitism to child abuse, from Klan cross-burnings to televangelist sex-and-money scandals.

No less than Karl Barth wrote: “Religion is the great enemy of God.” Indeed, more evil has been perpetrated in the name of religion than by any other institutional power across the centuries of human history.

Rice hasn’t committed blasphemy. She has stated the obvious and joined the ranks of Isaiah, Amos, John the Baptist, Jesus, and Paul to say that authentic faith must be purged of ignorance, hatred, denial, and hypocrisy.

Despite denunciations sure to come, she has merely spoken the truth.

Rubel Shelly has preached for the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ in Nashville since 1978. During that time, he has also taught at David Lipscomb University and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He is the author of more than 20 books, including several which have been translated into languages such as Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, French, and Russian. He is married to the former Myra Shappley, and they are the parents of three children: Mrs. David (Michelle) Arms, Tim, and Tom. To contact Rubel or to subscribe to his newsletter, Fax of Life, send email to faxOfLife@woodmont.org

that longs to be nearer  to you,

That puts you above my greatest joy

and follows wherever you lead

Give me a mind that thinks of you

and meditates on your word,

help me cleanse it of impure thoughts

and anything that shouldn’t be there.
Give me a soul that longs for you

and seeks for you more and mor,

Let nothing distract me or draw me away

from my desire to worship you.
Lord help me to be who you made me to be,

Help me to change my ways,

Teach me Lord that I might know you more

For i desire to be pleasing to you.
Give me a heart that seeks for you,

A mind that understands,

A soul that longs for you more every moment

and help me to love and serve you.

Rishie is a 38 year old vision impaired woman who lives in a small town in rural New South Wales Australia. She enjoys singing, writing, knitting, doing her radio shows on the internet radio station www.powerradio104.com and talking to her friends online. She has been a Christian since she was 8 years old and says that her faith is the most important thing in her life.

“……..In integrity of heart and innocency of hands I have done this” (Gen 20:5)

I looked up the meaning of integrity in the dictionary and came up with the following;

1. Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code

2. The state of being unimpaired; soundness

3. The quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness

To the Christian, the definitions above can be easily understood. We are committed to the obedience of God’s laws which are both moral and spiritual. A man who is walking in integrity is in a sound state. He has a clear focus of what is good and what is bad. He is not confused or doubtful about what is required of him and he exudes the character of one who can be trusted.

Christians should understand the concept of integrity more than anyone else. If there was anyone who displayed the quality of being sound and undivided, it is our Lord Jesus Christ. While He walked the face of the earth, He was focused and He had very high moral standards. If this were so, how come the Church which Christ gave himself for, is battling with integrity issues today? Pastors complain that they do not have dependable people to work with while many church folk question the integrity of their pastors.

In Gen 20, King Abimelech took Sarah, Abraham’s wife having been told that she was Abraham’s sister. In the middle of the night however, God told him in a dream, ‘You are a dead man because the woman you have taken is another man’s wife’.  See Abimielech’s response, “Did not the man tell me, She is my sister? And she herself said, He is my brother. In integrity of heart and innocency of hands I have done this.  (Gen 20:5, emphasis mine.)

God recognizes integrity. He saw it in Abimelech and that was one of the reasons the king and his family were spared. God told him, “Yes, I know you did this in the integrity of your heart, for it was I Who kept you back and spared you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not give you occasion to touch her” Gen 20:6

The church needs men and women of integrity. Where to find them? You and I can be those men and women.  We can start upholding truth, fairness and justice anywhere we find ourselves. It does not mean we are perfect as could be seen in the case of Abimelech. But it means we stand for what we believe and it guides the way we live.

When we walk in integrity, people are naturally drawn to trust us. We are seen as dependable. We can be counted upon to speak the truth even at the risk of embarrassing ourselves. We don’t follow the crowd because ‘everyone is doing it’. We dare to be different!

God boasted about Job, “And the Lord said to Satan, Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who [reverently] fears God and abstains from and shuns all evil [because it is wrong]? And still he holds fast his integrity, although you moved Me against him to destroy him without cause.”  (Job 2:3)  Can God boast about the integrity of His people today?

You and I can the team up to become a strong army of God’s people who walk in integrity.  People whose lives will impact upon our generation.

These are the people the Church needs today. Dare to join?

Steve O. Popoola

Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the webmaster of Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org. He currently resides in London where he works as an IT professional. He serves in the ministerial team of his local church as well as in the music ministry. He is the Moderator/Editor of Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address, steve@biblepraise.org

Green moss covered the rocks and made a comfortable seat on either side of it and when I would bend down I could see my own smiling face reflected back at me. I used to love taking a sip of  its pure, sweet water. It always tasted like a drink from Heaven.

Going back in my mind to those carefree days beside those blessed waters reminds me of all the wonderful lessons they taught me.

They taught me not to grasp too tightly. If I did the water would seep through my fingers and I would be left with nothing. Instead I learned to let the

water flow over my hand and to lift it gently in my cupped palm when I wanted a sip or to water the daises, buttercups, and Queen Anne’s lace that lined the stream’s banks. I learned too that  just a few drops of that water helped those flowers to grow healthy and strong. Most of all I learned that I didn’t always have to be doing something to be living.

Just sitting by that tiny mountain stream, listening to it gently splash over the rocks, and feeling its peace was all that I needed for a great afternoon. That mountain stream is a lot like the river of God’s love that flows through our lives. Just like that stream God’s love can’t be grasped and held tightly. In order to drink from it and experience it we have to let it flow through us and use it to bless the world around us.

A few drops of that living water too is all that we need to help us grow better and stronger each day of our lives here. And sometimes it is good to just spend some time sitting quietly by the stream with God and let His peace fill us once again. May you always let God’s loving water flow through your life then. May you drink deep, live well, and pass the cup on to all you can.

Joe Mazzella lives in the mountains of West Virginia, USA with his wife and three children. He writes articles for local newspapers but derives happiness from the joy and love he shares with others.. Joe can be reached at; joemazzella@frontier.com

I was still young when my parents broke up and I had to live with my mother in spite of my dad’s overtures for me to come and stay with him. This period in time effectively denied me the father-figure I needed at this critical period of my life.

I had a friend who lived in our neigbourhood. Whenever I visited, I noticed that the children were usually playful and free whenever their father was away from home. However, as soon as they hear the sound of his car, everyone would scamper to their rooms. I rarely saw them in the living room whenever their father was there.

I however had another experience when I went to live with my cousins for a short while. I noticed that everyone was having a great time even then the father was around. Imagine children sitting around joking and their father heartily laughing! I had thought fathers were supposed to be too busy to sit around joking with their children or watching anything but the news on TV.

When I became a Christian, I began to understand fatherhood from God’s perspective. While some fathers do not create time for their children, God is yearning for the attention of His children. He wants to talk with us and is interested in the tiniest details of our lives. He hurts when we hurt and rejoices in our victories. He is always there for His children even when His children do not have time for Him.

Now that I have become a father, I am trying to apply the lessons that I am learning from the Father of fathers. I look forward to the squeal and hugs I get from my children as I come back home from work. No matter how tired I am, I try to answer the barrage of questions they throw at me.

I know children love cartoons, so I try to sit with them and we watch together whenever I am home, though the temptation is always there for me to reach for my laptop and work while they watch.

Yes, I am learning more about being a real father and God is helping me to be there for my children. I am thankful for the opportunity God gave me to learn from Him before I became a father myself.  He changed my perspective on fatherhood from what I experienced as a child.

Today, my dad and I have a good relationship but I can’t help but feel we are not as close as we ought to be. I believe this is due to the fact that my growing up years was spent away from his influence.

I want to be a positive influence on my children. I want to be there for them in spite of busy schedules and crazy deadlines.

Above all, I want God to say this of me; “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment…” (Gen 18:19)

Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the webmaster of Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org. He currently resides in London where he works as an IT professional. He serves in the ministerial team of his local church. He is the Moderator/Editor of Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address, steve@biblepraise.org

Starting from Saul the first king of Israel, we read about God, deciding of His own will, the characteristics of the man that should be king. He did not pick a man from the rich and influential families in Israel but rather, He picked a man from the smallest family in the smallest tribe in Israel. (1 Sam 9:21)

Saul became king and started his kingdom with so much zeal. Along the line however, he got distracted and began pursuing his own agenda rather than the agenda of God who made him king. The result was that God cut short Saul’s dynasty (1 Samuel 13:14)

David was anointed the next king of Israel after Saul. He was an unlikely candidate for the throne. When Samuel was sent by God to anoint one of the sons of  Jesse, David was even considered as a contender to the throne. Seven of Jesse’s sons passed before Samuel but He did not get any approval to anoint any of them as king. He must have been worried when he asked Jesse, ‘Are these all the sons you have?’ (1 Sam 16:11) That was when Jesse mentioned that he had another son called David, who was at that moment watching the sheep. He was apparently not thought fit to be part of that gathering, talk less of being a candidate for the kingship of Israel. Jesse soon found out how wrong he was because as soon as David came in, Samuel was told by God, ‘Rise and anoint him, he is the one’ (1 Sam 16:12)

David was a remarkable king. His military prowess was next to none compared with other kings of Israel as well as his love for God. In spite of his successes however, David fell into some of the pitfalls of his success. In  2 Sam 11, we read that in the spring time, kings go on war campaigns.

At this particular time, David chose to stay in Jerusalem while he sent Joab his commander in his stead. So while his men were at the battle front, David was relaxing in his palace and then decided one day to take some fresh air on the roof of the palace. At this vantage view, he saw a woman bathing and then felt a longing within him to have the woman. He could not deal with his desire and consequently had the woman brought to him. In his effort at cover up after being told by Beersheba that she was pregnant, he engineered the murder of her husband, Uriah. This was one dark spot in David’s history as king. Although he repented of his sin, he paid dearly through the loss of his son.

Solomon became king after David. God was impressed with the new king’s devotion and gave him a blank cheque.  God told him, ‘Ask me anything you want and I will give it to you’. (1 King 3:5) Solomon could have asked for anything else but asked for wisdom. His focus was on service and God recognized this. God did not only bless him with wisdom but also with wealth and influence such that no king who lived before and after Solomon could compare with him.

So many wise writings were credited to Solomon and his fame grew, so much so that people undertook pilgrimage just to hear him speak. It is therefore amazing, that Solomon did not follow his own wisdom especially as regards his affairs with numerous women  who lured him away into idolatry.  Solomon could not manage his success and fell into one of the numerous pitfalls of success.

Asa was another king who started well. Israel was deep in idol worship instituted from the time of Jeroboam the son of Solomon. The account of his reign begins with, ‘Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord as David his father had done’ (1 Kings 15:11) His religious reforms were extensive and even his grandmother was not spared as he deposed her from the position of queen mother because of her worship of idols. However, when Asa was faced with threats of war, he forgot how God had given him victory over armies more equipped and stronger than his own army. He made an ungodly alliance which displeased God and this cut short his reign.

What can we learn from the lives of   these kings? The common denominator was that at some point in their lives, their successes got the better of them because it was not well managed. It is not just about financial success alone but it could be in the area of career, marriage, education and even spiritual.

Three key things can help us manage success at any level and these are;

Maintaining a close relationship with God – From what we learn of the Kings of Israel, the most successful of them was David. Why was this so? Because he had a continuous and consistent relationship with God. Even when he missed it, he came running to God and not away from God.

Maintaining a life of humility – Pride is subtle. We need to be vigilant when we move from one success to another because pride has a way of creeping in without us being aware. By the time we become aware, the odds are that we will justify it rather than deal with it.

We should give glory to God for all our successes, rather than our own abilities: When we see ourselves as accomplishing great feats without giving glory to God, then we run the danger of derailing whatever successes we have achieved. When we however give God glory for our successes, then we can be sure that He will continue to move us from one level of success to another.

If we can do these, we can master our successes and therefore avoid the pitfalls of those who were not able to manage their successes.

Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the webmaster of Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org. He currently resides in London where he works as an IT professional. He serves in the ministerial team of his local church. He is the Moderator/Editor of Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address, steve@biblepraise.org

I was in my office one day when a server which the company ordered, was delivered. The sheer size of the container was intimidating and we all wondered what it contained.

We were quite amused when we opened up the container and extracted the equipment which occupied less than half the size of the container.

How many times have you bought something because it looked attractive and beautiful only to find out that another competitive product which you left behind would have been more effective and relevant to your needs?

The maker of a product knows what is contained in the package that comes out of his factory.   He does not feel the same sense of anticipation and anxiety a buyer feels when opening the package for the first time.

Guess what? You are a product, packaged by God Himself! Permit me to rephrase Genesis2:7, “And the Lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it, He breathed into his nostrils and man became a living package”. God could have spoken man into existence like the other creatures. He could also have assigned someone else to mould the man while he did the rest but no, this was something He has to do Himself. This creature demanded Elohim’s personal touch

You were made by the grand craft master Himself. Everything about you was carefully thought of. Every part was put in its precise position and location.   You are a total package made up of spirit, soul and body.

God does not need to recall factory defects. All products, including you and I were carefully put together. When we were rolled out of God’s divine factory, we came out perfectly with zero defects. When a product is perfect, it is expected to do everything the advertisement says it would. Every product is created to meet a need and to fulfill a purpose.

God’s design for man was made on this premise, ‘let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creepers creeping on the earth’ (Gen 1:26) It wasn’t until God created man that he leaned back, took a look at creation and acknowledged that it was ‘very good’. Up until now, after each creation, God acknowledged that it was ‘good’.

Take a look at the mirror. What do you see? What you are seeing is a masterpiece made by God. You were created for a purpose and you will find that purpose in His word, the Bible. Everything you were meant to be, has been packaged within you. Do not allow anyone to tell you something different. No one knows the product better than the manufacturer, therefore no one knows you better than God.

Do not let your circumstances fool you. Whatever you are going through does not change who you are in Christ Jesus. A man who fails is not a failure unless he accepts that he is one. Do not look at yourself through the eyes of those who do not know the product but rather, look at yourself through the eye of Him who said, ‘ Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came forth out of the womb I consecrated you….’ (Jer 1:5)

Steve Popoola is the editor of Biblepraise Newsletter and the webmaster of Biblepraise Fellowship Online at http://www.biblepraise.org. He currently resides in London where he works as Web Applications Developer. He serves in the ministerial team of his local church. He is the Moderator/Editor of Biblepraise Newsletter. He can be reached through His email address, steve@biblepraise.org