WHAT IS YOUR REALITY/TRUTH?

John 18:38 (TLB)

“WHAT IS TRUTH?” Pilate exclaimed. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime.”

Growing up as a Christian, one thing I have had to battle with constantly is “faith statements” or “prophetic declarations.” Then, each time I stood my grounds to make such assertions, I always hear an annoyingly loud voice in my head commanding me to stop joking and be realistic like every other normal human being walking the earth. And each time I try to make a case for the declarations, the voice begins to present facts both in audio and visual forms.

For example, the pastor leads us to declare: “I am not poor; I am rich. I will not die untimely; I will live long. I am not a failure; I am a success. I am not cursed; I am blessed beyond measure in Christ. etc.” The minute we take our seats after those powerful declarations, I will hear that annoyingly loud voice saying, “You are rich yet you are hungry and don’t have a job. You will live long yet you are sick and that sickness according to statistics is killing people faster than you think. You are a success yet everything you touch fails. You are blessed beyond measure yet people can’t stand your presence because of the bad luck you carry.” And each statement is backed with a good picture of a current or past situation in my life that makes me eventually accept the reality/truth presented.

And this happens to be the current situation/challenge many Christians are facing in their Christian walk today. 

When the subject of truth comes to play in the life of a Christian, there is but One (John 1:17/14:6); He came in the form of a man, walked on this earth, was crucified, died, was buried, but He resurrected on the third day and is now seated at the right hand of God, the Father. His name is JESUS! He is the Living Word of God. He is the Light of the World. He is the Living Bread. He is the Living Water. Until a Christian fully accepts Him, that is, grants Him access into his/her life, his/her reality/truth will remain distorted for life. He/she will continue to walk in this world’s reality/truth instead of the reality/truth He came on this earth to present.

In His short life on this earth, He presented a snippet of the reality/truth the world would benefit from if it would only accept Him as the Son of God and believe in the only true God who sent Him.
He came to a world with various incurable sicknesses and diseases, yet He showed another where every sickness and disease has a cure (Matthew 4:23). He came to a world where demonic possession was a lifestyle; yet He showed another where demons trembled at His presence (Mark 1:23-26). He came to a world where fear was the only reaction when the elements of nature act up; yet He showed another where the elements of nature listen to its creator (Matthew 8:23-27). He came to a world where it was never possible to walk on water; yet He showed another where at His word and concentration on Him it was easy to do the same (Matthew 14:25-29). He came to a world where death was the end of life; yet He showed another where the dead could be brought back to life at His word (Matthew 9:23-25). He came to a world where one needed a year’s income to feed over five thousand people; yet He showed another where five loaves and two fishes were enough to overfeed over five thousand people (Matthew 14:15-21).

He lived in the same world, we live in today, yet walked in a different reality/truth. He listened to the facts, but He didn’t accept them as His reality/truth. He only believed in the reality/truth presented by His Heavenly Father.

Again, I ask, what is your reality/truth? What is real/factual to you? What the world is presenting as truth or what the Lord is presenting as truth according to His Living Word?

Yes, I heard you when you said you are sick or feeling pains. Yes, I have seen the doctor’s report. Yes, I have seen the X-ray of that cancer. Yes, I have seen the test results. Yes, I saw you hungry and helpless. Yes, I can see that the women in the family are barren. Yes, I can see the business going down the drain. Yes, I can see the landlady/landlord giving you the final eviction notice. Yes, I can see you in the wheelchair. Yes, I can see that the men in the family die at age 50. Yes, I can see that the arm is broken. Yes! I can see that you are addicted to that hard substance. Yes, I can see all of that.

What I am refusing to do is to accept the reality/truth you are presenting. All I see is the reality/truth Jesus keeps presenting to me through His Living Word. In His reality/truth, I can choose never to be sick. I can choose to live long. I can choose to have my body parts replaced if the need arises. I can choose to have my provision daily. I can choose to have every problem bow to its knee at the mention of His name. Those are His promises to me. And that is my reality as a child of God. I walk not by what I see, feel, taste, smell, or touch; I walk by what He says.

Yes, sometimes I felt I was stupid for saying things that were not as though they were. And truth be told, most times, that annoyingly loud voice made so much sense to me as compared to the other which kept encouraging me to keep speaking and trusting in those assertions. But each time I kept at those declarations, I felt that strong sense of painting a picture on a black canvas with black paint. I may not see what I am painting, but it doesn’t also mean I am not painting a picture. If a strong light should be provided, the painting would be visible. 

Blessed as we are, our Savior and Master is the Light of the World. Keep painting on the black canvas with the black paint you have, His Light will make it visible at the right time.

Remain in the blessings of the Lord as you remain in Christ.

MD.

PICTURE THIS:

In the Gospel of John chapter eighteen verse twenty-eight downwards, we see Jesus being escorted to Pilate’s palace for His trial. After Pilate questions His accusers, Pilate takes Jesus aside to have a tete-a-tete. During that short conversation which was to ascertain the veracity of Him being the “King of the Jews,” Pilate ends the conversation with a rhetorical question – WHAT IS TRUTH? And this was after Jesus had said this to him, “Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”

From that statement, Pilate found his truth. It, therefore, came as no surprise to me when he boldly posted a sign over Jesus reading, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” When asked by the chief priests to change it, Pilate made this bold statement, “WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN, I HAVE WRITTEN. IT STAYS EXACTLY AS IT IS.” (John 19:19-22)

Learn from Pilate. Learn to stick to the realities/truths you find after interacting with the Living Word.

PRAYER:

My Heavenly Father, grant me the grace to stand my grounds when it comes to what you have declared as my realities/truths in your Living Word in Jesus' name.

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.