THE “AUTOPILOT” CHRISTIAN/BELIEVER

When the word “autopilot” is mentioned, the first thought is the device in an aircraft that takes control of the aircraft when the pilot stops controlling the aircraft manually. So, an “autopilot” Christian/Believer is one who feels or thinks that his/her Christian walk or life has nothing to do with him/her, but a special "something" within.

This kind of Christian/Believer takes no responsibility for his/her Christian life. All he/she believes is the famous statement: “IF GOD HAS SAID I WILL BE ‘A’, I WILL DEFINITELY BE AN ‘A’ NO MATTER WHAT I DO.” For this kind of Christian/Believer, all he/she does is to continue living life as he/she pleases with the hope that he/she will eventually enter into the promise of God. This kind of Christian/Believer is a great fan of Carrie Underwood’s ‘Jesus, Take the Wheel’. I can promise you that he/she enjoys the chorus more than the verses. If you have not heard the song I am talking about, please follow this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lydBPm2KRaU.

Anyway, the above believer was me before I decided to go to Bible School in October 2017. And before Bible School, I had already been a Christian for thirteen (13) years. Yes! I mean thirteen (13) good years, not three (3) years. If my years as a Christian could be translated to years in school in Ghana, I should have been preparing for my Basic Education Certificate Examination (B.E.C.E) in Junior High School. Indirectly, I should have been knowledgeable about the basics of mathematics, English, integrated science, social studies, etc.

If I had translated that understanding to my spiritual life then, I should have had knowledge of the “principles of the doctrine of Christ” as the writer of Hebrews puts it, even before going to Bible School. Yet, for thirteen (13) good years, all I did was to put my Christian life on AUTOPILOT.
Do not misunderstand me. Though I was on "AUTOPILOT", I was always at church for any and every service. I evangelized more than I'm doing today. I worked at church more than I'm doing today. I could repeat the messages of my pastor like a CD on replay. The only problem was that: I DID NOT KNOW GOD FOR MYSELF. The God I kept telling others about was the God my pastor knew and preached about.

Hebrews 6:1-2 King James Version (KJV)
1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

According to the writer of Hebrews, Repentance, Faith, Baptisms, Laying on of Hands, Resurrection of the Dead and Eternal Judgment are the basic lessons every believer must understand in his/her baby stage. These are the ingredients he/she finds in the milk he/she must suck when he/she becomes a Christian. If he/she does not know them, he/she is a baby no matter the position he/she holds in Church. The Apostles followed Jesus Christ for three (3) years learning all these secrets. Yet, for 13 years I had nothing to show.

1 Peter 2:2 King James Version (KJV)
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

I had heard 1st Peter chapter two verse two several times when I gave my life to Christ at Winners Chapel. This is a Word-based church. But, because my Christian life was on “AUTOPILOT”, I didn’t see the need to study the Bible. Why? I thought the "thing" within me was responsible for my spiritual growth without my effort. I did not feel the need to be RESPONSIBLE for my spiritual growth. And I could misquote several scriptures to back this lazy Christian life. The famous one being: “IT IS NOT BY MY STRENGTH BUT BY HIS SPIRIT SAITH THE LORD.”

If this describes you, I have some scriptures for you to study. Please do not read-only, I want you to study them. They are different scriptures from different writers. Find the Greek meanings, note the similarities, and let me know what you will find.


Luke 13:24 King James Version (KJV)
Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

Philippians 2:12 King James Version (KJV)
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

1 Timothy 6:12 King James Version (KJV)
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

2 Timothy 4:7 King James Version (KJV)
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

Jude 3 King James Version (KJV)
3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.

QUESTIONS:
1. Do you believe in the concept of “AUTOPILOT" CHRISTIAN/BELIEVER?
2. Do you believe a CHRISTIAN/BELIEVER should do nothing after accepting Jesus Christ?
3. Do you believe a CHRISTIAN/BELIEVER should live as he/she pleases after accepting Jesus Christ as his/her Lord and Personal Saviour?

We would love to read and share your thoughts and opinions. Please try to back your opinions with scriptures to help a brother/sister in the faith add to knowledge. Send us an email trotrodevotion@gmail.com or send us a WhatsApp message or voice note to (+233)(0)557-445-225.

Remain a blessing as you remain in Christ.

(...to be continued)

CORNELIUS, YOU STILL NEED JESUS!

Years ago in the city of Caesarea, there was a man named Cornelius. Cornelius was a Roman army officer in what was called the Italian Unit/Regiment. He was a religious man. He and all the others who lived in his house were worshipers of God. He gave much of his money to the poor and always prayed to God.

One day about three o'clock in the afternoon he had a vision. An angel of God came to him as real as his next-door neighbor would and said, "Cornelius." Staring at the angel and feeling afraid, Cornelius said, "What do you want, sir?" The angel said to him, "God has heard your prayers and has seen your gifts to the poor. He remembers you and all you have done. Send some men now to the city of Joppa to get a man named Simon, who is also called Peter. He is staying with someone also named Simon, a leatherworker who has a house beside the sea." Then the angel left. Cornelius immediately called two of his servants and a soldier. The soldier was a religious man, one of his close helpers. Cornelius explained everything to these three men and sent them to Joppa at once.

Prior to Cornelius' men arriving at Simon's house to fetch Peter, Peter had had a weird vision where God was rebuking him for calling animals his culture/tribe describe as impure, impure. He did not understand this because that is what this same God described them to be some years ago to his ancestors.

The men Cornelius sent had finally found Simon's house. They were standing at the door. They asked, "Is Simon Peter staying here?" While Peter was still thinking about the vision, God said to him, "Listen, three men are looking for you. Get up and go downstairs. Go with these men without wondering if it's all right because I sent them."
So Peter went downstairs and said to them, "I think I'm the man you are looking for." Peter asked the men to come in and stay for the night. The next day Peter got ready and went away with the three men to the city of Caesarea with some of his close friends from Joppa with him.

Back at Caesarea, Cornelius was waiting for them and had already gathered his relatives and close friends at his house. When Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him by falling down at his feet and worshiping him. Peter said to Cornelius, "Stand up! I am only a man like you." Then Peter went inside with Cornelius and saw a large group of people gathered there. Seeing the crowd he understood the vision he had had at Joppa. To that Peter said to the people, "You understand that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit anyone who is not a Jew. But God has shown me that I should not consider anyone unfit or say they are impure. That is why I didn't argue when your men asked me to come here. Now, please tell me why you sent for me."

Cornelius immediately narrated the vision to Peter as he had narrated to his two servants and soldier and concluded by saying, "NOW WE ARE ALL HERE BEFORE GOD TO HEAR EVERYTHING THE LORD HAS COMMANDED YOU TO TELL US".

Peter began to speak: "I really understand now that God does not consider some people to be better than others. He accepts anyone who worships him and does what is right. It is not important what nation they come from.
God has spoken to the people of Israel. He sent them the Good News that peace has come through Jesus Christ, the Lord of all people.
You know about Jesus from Nazareth. God made him the Messiah by giving him the HOLY SPIRIT and POWER. Jesus went everywhere doing good for people. He healed those who were ruled by the devil, showing that God was with him. We saw all that Jesus did in Judea and in Jerusalem.
But he was killed. They put him on a cross made of wood. But on the third day after his death, God raised him to life and let him be seen openly. He was not seen by everyone, but only by us, the ones God had already chosen to be witnesses. We ate and drank with him after he was raised from death.
Jesus told us to go and speak to the people. He told us to tell them that He is the one God chose to be the judge of all who are living and all who have died. EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES IN JESUS WILL HAVE THEIR SINS FORGIVEN THROUGH HIS NAME."

Immediately Cornelius and the people gathered understood an important truth that you must also consider. They realized that despite their belief in God, their prayers, their generosity, their good reputation in society, their morality, and their devotion to their husband/wife and children, they still needed the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be saved from their sins and be made holy and righteous before God.

My good friend reading this, you may be like Cornelius. You are religious. You are generous with your gifts to charity. You pray five times or ten times a day. Your servants/workers are always happy to have you as a boss. You have been baptized and have joined a church. You are a deacon, an elder, an usher, an instrumentalist, a sound engineer for a church, a chorister, or a pastor's security guard/aid. You take the Lord's Supper. You have no bad habits. You love your wife and children. You are a devoted husband and father. You tithe often. You help churches, orphanages, etc with building projects, boreholes, and a lot more. HOWEVER, IF YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED AND CONFESSED THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOR, YOU ARE STILL A SINNER AND STILL NEED TO BE SAVED LIKE CORNELIUS. You cannot buy, you cannot win, you cannot merit, you cannot achieve God's salvation by any system or by any amount of religion or good works because SALVATION IS FREE.

If you are ready to have a close walk with the Savior Jesus Christ and be set free from any demonic bondage, please say the prayer below out loud.

SALVATION PRAYER
Lord Jesus, thank You for loving me and dying for me on the cross. Your precious blood washes me clean of every sin. You are my Lord and my Savior, now and forever. I believe that You rose from the dead and that You are alive today. Because of Your finished work, I am now a beloved child of God and heaven is my home.
Thank You for giving me eternal life, and filling my heart with Your peace and joy. Amen.



If you are ready to better understand the step you have just taken by saying the above prayer, please contact TROTRO DEVOTION through WhatsApp on 0557445225 or e-mail trotrodevotion@gmail.com.

PLEASE COME BACK HOME (II)

IN SEARCH OF A LOST SIBLING

My Dear Brother/Sister,

Months after writing you the first letter, daddy was very worried when we received no reply from your end. To this, he quickly asked me to come and look for you with the thought that something bad may have happened to you. Knowing the kind of world we now live in, all I could do was agree to it.

Romans 8:3b (KJV)
...God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin...

It was a difficult decision for him to take yet it meant more to him to risk the life of one for another than to comfortably stay with one while wondering what was happening to the other.
I thought the day you drove out was the worst until I watched daddy's eyes through my windscreen as I drove out of the house to come to your end. His eyes were so red that I could finally conclude that I indeed heard him crying the night before. I could not imagine his thoughts as I drove out. Maybe he was thinking of the possibility of losing a cherished wife, a beloved second child and his first child all in a short period. I would never wish this for my worst enemy. But it was a good mission that needed to be completed.

Isaiah 53:10a (KJV)
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin...

I was wrong to think it was going to be a short and easy journey. It was full of numerous vehicle problems, nights spent in dark cold villages, days without a bath, days without food and water, bad roads among many others. If you did use those roads then you must be going through a lot now. This is where I remind you of your comfortable bed, plasma screens, and hotel suite-like bedroom. Please consider the thought of coming home soon before it becomes too late. I will prefer you to die at home than in those filthy streets.

Isaiah 53:6 (KJV)
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

When I met your friends, I finally thought the opportunity to see you was going to be a reality. But the worst part of my journey took place when the very "good" friends of yours I played games and ate with, took turns at inflicting wounds on my innocent body. The inflicted wounds on my body meant nothing compared to the pain I felt in my heart as I watched them try to kill me. 

Each time I explained to them that I was only there to fetch you so we go home, all they did was to punish me the more. Like soldiers trying to break a hardened criminal, they used the heads of their belts on my back till my screams were no more audible to myself. When I thought they had had enough fun with me for the night, they took turns to shower my head and fill my mouth and tummy with the hot yellowish fluid which flowed profusely through their urinary device endlessly. Others standing by could not imagine themselves losing out on the fun so they decided to throw whatever they had in hand or could find around at me. 

Within minutes, I saw myself slowly lowering my body into the pool of my own blood and vomit until I totally blacked out.

Isaiah 53:5-8 (KJV)
[5] But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
[6] All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
[7] He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
[8] He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

Their level of hatred and envy was something to write home about. But, I didn't mind going through that torture and humiliation over and over again that day if it was the only way I was going to finally meet you and bring you home.
Sincerely, though the pain was excruciating as they had their turns whipping and mocking at me as I laid in my own blood and filth, all I could think about was YOU. Why? DAD LOVES YOU SO MUCH THAT HE SENT ME TO YOU.

John 3:16a (KJV)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son...

The pain meant a lot to me because all I can imagine now is you walking boldly through the gates without a feeling of any form of guilt or shame. Why? I have already paid the debt.

Matthew 18:27 (KJV)
Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt.

I love you and will forever do so. Please consider coming home soon.

Your Dear Brother,
JC.

PLEASE COME BACK HOME

(A LETTER TO MY LOST SIBLING)

My Dear Brother/Sister,
It has been ages since you left home in search of "fun and freedom". Yet, each time I look around the house, it still looks and feels like Friday the 11th of May, 2001, no matter the day or year; a date which has left Daddy's eyes teary every morning and evening, just like the period mummy got sick and spent her last days in and out of the hospital. A date which has left Daddy in so much pain that I always fear it may lead to his death one day. To me, it keeps reminding me of the day I lost my future best man.
I have been unable to write since you left home because it has been the most difficult exercise to undertake though I am a committed body builder. It may sound funny but we (daddy and myself) all lost our basic abilities the very day you drove out of the house with those friends. My careful choice of words as a prolific writer is not because of my fear to hurt you with them, but my inability to gather my thoughts any time I try to sit and pen down a note to you. Most often when I try to, I get so emotional that I am unable to either start or continue because of the tears which keep soiling the sheet. Like now, as I sit in the garden looking towards the main gate of the house, I can still picture the very day Daddy and myself had to watch you and your friends drive out of the house with your portion of his inheritance.

2 Corinthians 2:4 (KJV)
For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you.

The house which was once full of life has now become a monument with several memories of you. Though we have tried our best not to look back, the very thought of not looking back has always been worse than the pain we went through the day you left us. For me, forgetting about you has always been like taking a blunt knife and trying to cut off my arm by myself. The thought has always been as difficult as the act. We really miss you.

John 15:9a (KJV)
As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you:...

Anyway, have you finally been able to achieve your goal/dream of sleeping with the 200 ladies daddy advised you against? Have you finally been able to learn anything different from what Daddy told us about ladies or it is just as he said? Have you finally been able to buy the dream car daddy never wanted to buy for you? Have you been able to visit the 56 countries you were hoping to visit with your several sugar daddies? Have you finally become the drug baron you always wished to be? Have you finally become the madam you always wished to be? Do you finally wake up to see naked models sleeping by you as you dreamed of? Have you finally been able to drink the alcohol you always yearned for? Can you finally tell the difference between tobacco and cigarette? Have you finally been able to taste both effects of cocaine and tramol? Was King Solomon right as Daddy advised?

Ecclesiastes 1:2 (KJV)
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

Anyway, daddy has a short message: PLEASE COME BACK HOME. He keeps asking me to remind you of HIS UNFLINCHING LOVE for you whenever I have the opportunity to contact you.

John 16:27a (KJV)
For the Father himself loveth you...

Strange as it may sound, what keeps him going each day is the party plans he keeps polishing for your return.

Luke 15:20-23 (KJV)
[20] And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
[21] And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
[22] But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
[23] And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it ; and let us eat, and be merry:_

My beloved brother/sister, DADDY is patiently waiting for your return.

Your beloved brother,
JC.