Marriage, friendship, parenting and living at peace with others.
If Jesus had stayed and enjoyed the success of the previous day, He would have become a village hero, yet He was destined to be a national hero then a global hero. There are many village heroes who would have become global heroes, but they stayed in the village to celebrate one success. Success ruined their entire agenda. Village success distracted them from national and global pursuits. Don’t let success ruin your next agenda!
Under normal circumstances, we expect that Jesus should have made a statement to condemn the imprisonment of His innocent cousin and partner in ministry. Jesus did not. Jesus should have gone to comfort the family or send some emissaries to the prison. Jesus did not. Jesus should have hanged around Jerusalem to see how things unfold, perhaps His help may be needed. Jesus did not, in fact, He went away to Galilee to preach, far away from the prison. After John was imprisoned, Jesus went away to Galilee to preach the Good News of God!
Many things boggle our minds. These are women in our religious standards we wouldn’t think deserve anything. Foreigners! Widows! Prostitute! We wouldn’t allow them to even sing in the choir. We would totally deny them religious joy, believing we are doing God a service. Yet the people we are vehemently denying access to religion are the people God prefers. This is the mind-boggling story of three women in two texts!
Are you having endless problems that are responding to no solution? Are you wondering where the current crisis came from? Are you trying to trace from where the rains started beating you? Are there situations you do not like that are not making sense? Think carefully seemingly unrelated things are related!
We learn from God that we need to be very patient with each other. We should follow a justice system that is so transparent that even the guilty acknowledges that the process was fair. We must not just want to be fair, but also be seen as being fair. The highest point in the justice system is not just when justice is served but also when the guilty suffer punishment but do not cast doubt on the process.
A person who is in a relationship should not be wandering about as if they are single. There is a mannerism associated with someone who has found a loved one. The lady tells the man, I should no longer conduct myself as if I am available to any other person. Therefore, I should know more about you and when I come out I come straight to you. This is why I need to know more about you. My love, I need to know more about you!
There are many arguments on whether Christians should buy insurance covers. Some argue that it denotes a lack of faith. The argument gets much more serious when it is a life that is being covered. Insurance should be understood not as a way to prevent bad occurrences but to ensure when they happen, we can recover and move on. What is the biggest risk that you should cover?
Do we have people we need to appreciate? Are there people we can’t be successful without? Are there people who make your day-to-day easier? Are there people whose services are cheaply available but their absence would plunge you into a crisis? Make it your custom to celebrate people!
To accept and move on, is bringing an end to a bad experience. Deliberately choosing to forgive an ill. To reconcile with a bad situation. What are the situations that need us to accept and move on? How does God accept and move on? Did God really accept and moved on? This is based on a short text in the Bible whose casual reading shows nothing until you dig deeper and discover the weight. Read this text again. Did God accept and move on?