The Bible Conversation

Jesus said in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” The Bible is not a book of fairytales, it is a book of history. The history of who we are, where we come from, and about our maker. It includes events that occurred long before our time and the predictions of future events to come. This was all done by men, who, by His spirit, God chose to work with, out of love and so that the truth would be known by His people and future generations.  The Old Testament is filled with real life stories and information about who God is, what He requires from His people and prophecies. The coming of Jesus was a part of the many prophecies made in the Old Testament. And this was prophesied by prophets such as, Isaiah, Zechariah, Jeremiah and David, to name a few. In the Bible —the blueprint of how we should live —scriptures reveal that Jesus, the son of God, was always with God before the beginning and that He was not just  man (John 17:...

Two common causes of faltering faith. Life patterns  We may feel inclined to control the direction of our lives, according to the patterns we’ve seen from childhood to adulthood. Especially when we feel as if God’s not working fast enough to change our circumstances. Due to this, many turn to other sources for quicker results — dabbling in certain practices to “assist” in their walk as Christians. In the past, I hung on to this false power of control through new age and occult practices, as a consequence of a lack of faith. In Romans 14:23,  Paul said, whatever is not from faith is sin. If we are under this satanic influence, the enemy will make us feel as if this is who we are and that the negative sequence of our lives will continue, evoking thoughts of doubts and the need to control things outside of God, as we face life’s challenges. Needless to say, it’s all a lie. In John 8:44,  Jesus calls him “the father of lies.” It’s a trap to have you work against our Creator, ...

Luke 12:51-53 "Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." Matthew 5:30 "If your right hand offend you cut it off" (This verse emphasizes the sacrifice we need to make to follow Jesus) Stephanie Ike Okafor said in one of her sermons, “You have to be mindful of the relationships in your life, because that’s the easiest way to lower your standards from trying to keep that friendship.” While in the process of dying to the flesh, and breaking ungodly habits, I found it difficult to be around some of the people I care about, partly because of my personality, as I was also in the process of detaching from my people-pleasing self in o...

Revelations 3:16 "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold or hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth" Once upon a time, before fully submitting myself to Christ, I was engulfed in the world as a slave to sin. During these times, listening to secular music was a daily occurrence. I was the epitome of a lukewarm Christian; I ran to God in times of need, then back to the world. My attachment to this kind of music was the true definition of stronghold, and truth be told, I was comfortable with this way of life. Needless to say, the devil had me right where he wanted me. It was as if I was chained to the world and could only go so far out before I got reeled back in.  Secular music 2 Corinthians 10:5 "casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." (Our negative thoughts are not our own and we must always confront them with the word of God....

Love is powerful. Forgiveness, mercy, and grace gives us power in Christ. They are what connects us to our Heavenly Father, allowing us to hear and see Him all around us because that’s the kind of God He is. He’s a merciful, understanding, forgiving, and loving God ( Galatians 5:22-25) . Feeling distant from Him? Check your heart. With anger and hate in our hearts, we have little to no power in Christ. (Matthew 22:37-40) Satan uses anger and hate to destroy our spiritual position and sabotage our connection with God by keeping us spiritually stagnant ( Zechariah 3:1-4) .   Most of us avoid loving and forgiving out of fear, pride, and conformity. And these are what the devil forms in our lives to stop us. These are the strongholds used to block us from the truth and freedom in Christ  (2 Corinthians 10:4) . Hence the reason why we can’t give him any opportunity, if we do, he’ll make a place in our lives and build on it (Ephesians 4:27) . But we can fight against these strongho...

From childhood to now, as an adult, I’ve had countless experiences where suddenly there’s a soothing song playing in my head after experiencing some type of traumatic or emotional life event, or even an everyday issue. The words from these songs are almost always related to the situation at hand. As a Christian, I believe that since God is our maker and is all around us, everything is from Him and we all have our individual assignment and one purpose- to serve Him.  With that said, I believe that these music and songs that play in our minds at the most vulnerable and hardest points in our lives, communicates God’s love for us. It’s His mercy and grace. It’s Him bringing us comfort and sending us encouraging messages during a difficult situation. Not to mention, God’s angels are constantly working to guide us and keep us safe. When you feel inexplicable peace and strength or is consoled by a song playing on the radio or in your mind at a specific moment, during a time of trouble, re...

Satan had great power in heaven as an angel (Ezekiel 28:12–15), but as a result of pride, his position was beneath him. He went up against God and quickly realized that he was no match for our Creator. And though great, his powers are limited. Long story short, he was cast out of the Kingdom of Heaven, which led to the spiritual war of good versus evil. Since being expelled from Heaven, the world became the domain of the evil one, and for this reason, this beautiful place created by God also represents sin. God made His first human creation, Adam and Eve. Satan saw how beautiful and perfectly made they were, and of course, he made an attempt to sabotage their existence (Genesis 3). Unfortunately, Adam and Eve were manipulated by the devil and disobeyed God, which caused a grave spiritual shift, producing a sinful nature within us. We can take from this that, when we're disobeying God, we're giving the devil control over our lives.  The war between good and evil. With this chan...

We will meet upon all different types of circumstances throughout our lives. These events will change who we are, how we live our lives, and how we treat others. Our family and friends will also change and as a result, some of them may even leave us because of differences, while others will stick around, and because of our lack of control over life's dramatic shifts, some will leave us forever. But through times of joy or times of sorrow, from birth to our last breath, day or night, we have a Creator who's always with us and if we continue to believe in Him and glorify Him in everything we do, here on this earth, He will be with us forever. He's a God who will never change. Malachi 3:6 states, "For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." He will be there for the smallest changes and the big ones, too. He will be present for the most joyous moments, the worst ones, and every moment in between. He cares about the little things an...

Desires of the world The world promises good feelings, happiness, freedom and superficial ways to rid you of your troubles. But the beautiful light that it presents itself in, to appear grandiose, is a deceptive attempt from the enemy to lead you to eternal death. 2 Corinthians 11:14 says "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." The world is the evil one's domain. He was brave enough to promise Jesus the kingdom of the world if he worships him as stated in Matthew 4 verse 8. The flesh desires the things of the world and once Satan has influence over you, he will carry out his tactics in your life to keep you bind and trapped to those fleshly honkers. In John 8:44, Jesus said, "when he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." One scheme he's known for is to plant doubts in our minds about God. This is one reason why it is so crucial that we know God's words, so that we don't fall prey to false doctri...

If you are a man or woman of God, you will lose a fight or two against temptations. Proverbs 24:16 states that a righteous man falls seven times and rises again. Don’t be deceived by the devil into thinking that there’s no way out, that God has forsaken you. What’s important is that we ask for forgiveness with a sincere intent not to sin again. Our Father is a merciful and forgiving God, ask for forgiveness, surrender your burdens to him and get back on your journey with Christ. Psalms 55:22 says, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he shall sustain you; he shall never permit the righteous to be moved” Strengthen your stand, by putting on the whole armor of God and set your mind on the things above. ( Galatians 6) 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” The Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13): “Our Father who art in Heaven, hollowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is ...

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we must surrender to the will of God. Now, let's be honest, it is not easy to follow Christ and commit to a life contrary to what we are accustomed to, especially as habitual creatures, not to mention being in a world full of temptations. But, with a transformation and renewal of the mind, we can fight the desires of the flesh to establish a forever connection with our Father. Furthermore, becoming and being a follower of Jesus doesn’t require you to be perfect. If you read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (which I highly recommend you read if you are a new follower of Christ) you know that the disciples of Jesus were men like you and I. They were believers in the Almighty God and received the gift of the Holy Spirit because of their faith and commitment to God’s words. Therefore, becoming a follower of Jesus is all about obedience to our Father. In John 14:6 Jesus said "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except throug...