“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent me to Heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified” – Isaiah 61:1-3 (NKJV)
These are the very words describing the ministry of Jesus on earth, what He came to do. Every person reading this post must have, at one time or another identified with the situations above. At some point in our lives we have experiences that push us to the wall, in the literal sense. Discouragements, betrayal, confusion, lack, grief, stress, just to name but a few, are examples of sufferings that lead to gross desperation in the life of anybody. Clearly, we need to be salvaged out of these, of course, not by ourselves. Jesus came to do exactly that, to deliver us out of our hopelessness and to give us a new light. His was a ministry that focused completely turning around people’s lives from what was bad to its exact opposite.
For anyone to be able to provide such a ministry to others requires more than just the thought of having to do it. It narrows down to the character of the individual and the attitudes he has towards those to whom he is reaching, which all fully depend on the state of his heart. In addition, such an individual must have a vision towards which he works, such that the bigger vision guides him to do exactly what he does. This seems to be very true of Jesus in His endeavor to accomplish His mission on earth. Being as influential as He was, and considering the many lives and generations He impacted, His lifestyle in itself was a witness to what he claimed and taught.
As a follower of Christ, I am convinced that I am part of the fulfillment of His mission on earth. He tells me that I am the salt and light of this world. In essence, I ought to demonstrate the flavoring and preservative qualities of salt on earth. This is the whole idea of earthly relevance. At the same time, I should be a light to those I purport to be in darkness. Unless my lifestyle demonstrates that, there is no point of me claiming to be a follower of Christ.
My concern, for some time now, has been in the way Christians live their lives. Honestly, many of us are confused. It is difficult to tell who is a true Christian and who is not. Today, virtually everyone goes to church, gives tithes, is involved in charity, listens to gospel music, condemns homosexuality and other gross pervasions that we have around us. Funny enough, it is still these people that we find breaking traffic rules, offering bribes, using insulting words, hooked in pornography, oozing with pride, engaging in idle chatter and so on. And you think I am left out? No, you are mistaken. My take is that all of us are fallen, and are in need of someone to show us direction. However, if we remain content with our current state, I can bet my bottom dollar that we are all headed down the drain. If indeed we feel that we need no one to rescue us then we are in for a rude shock. Christ showed us that it is doable, (of course through Him) and is in the process of perfecting us, if we would desire to abide in Him.
The aim of this blog, therefore, is to help me and others, learn more about the life of Christ, be able to appreciate what He said and did, and apply it to our own lives and contexts. This will help us in a great way to become more Christ-like as we grow more in knowledge of Him. My target is everyone out there who feels they need a desirable change in their lifestyles. The aim of this blog is not to impose ideas and information on people, but rather to explore biblical truths and present them to people to make wise judgments.
I understand that we all come from diverse denominational and religious backgrounds. However, here, that does not matter. I know there are many things we have been taught in our churches, we’ve heard from people we respect and some that we’ve grown up knowing to be truth. However, this blog is not meant to propagate denominational ideas. It is about those interested in knowing Christ and walking closely with Him. As we do, we also learn to walk with others, leading them in the same way. The word of God is the final authority. Biblical truth is presented plainly. Though at times I may share my personal opinions and convictions concerning certain issues, I will be clear to point them out. This is because I believe that the Holy Spirit is at work in each of us, and He is the one to convict us. I wouldn’t want to take over His work. Everyone should feel free to share their thoughts in a respectable and loving way. Of course we have the essentials (of which there is no compromise) and the non-essentials. As we discuss, we should have in mind: “in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in everything, charity”
Just a brief outline of what is covered in this blog, we’ll start with the story of God, which will bring us up to this point in our context. This is aimed at helping those who have not had a relationship with God to understand and to help them make a sober decision in following Christ. After this, we will be exploring topical issues from the bible, and also address a number of contemporary issues in the world today and the biblical position on the same. I will also be occasionally sharing testimonies and some of thoughts from my day to day experiences as well as those of people (guest bloggers) as we seek to strengthen one another in the walk.
Welcome to this exciting journey of knowing Christ and walking with Him. Fasten your seat belts…
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