Love and Valentine: on Valentine

So I spoke to my teenagers today (as the spirit led) first about Valentine and then about love. I told them about the origin of the celebration and its progression to what we have now (you all should know that by now, but they didn't!). I went further to tell them about the types as popularly peddled and also written about but one of my all time favourite apologetic C.S Lewis. You know them: Agape, Phillos, Storge, and Eros.
Naturally, I began with the perfect prototype; Agape. I narrated to the sacrifice Agape was willing to take according to 1 Corinthians 13, and knowing that that relationship is based on little or no reciprocation from the recipients, yet keeps on giving. This is a losing love.
I briefly talked about Storge and Phillos both being strong but based heavily on relationships.
And then "ghen ghen" (Nigerian Movie sound track) came Eros, and the crowd went wild. But in my jovial but stern voice I calmed them down. Love based on the senses. As temporal as the essence that created them, this is the base and lowest form of love. It is not evil in itself as several acts of love were triggered by our base senses. Jesus for example "saw" people and was moved with compassion, so who am i not to see... However, dwelling on eros will never lead to a lasting union. I gave relevant examples that suited their sensibility and got an acknowledgement flush; you guys don't have to remember your secondary school crushes and crutches.
To end this talk, I contrasted between Agape and Eros to let them see why priority need to be set and why they need a refined mind to see beyond the temporal things that is typical of their age bracket and go for enduring over exciting. It was an awesome talk. Lets Gods word Impart (as it should #inspired)

Let true Love flow...

Romans 8

Alright; in my perusal of Facebook i came across a great read by an awesome bible teacher Richard Murray. With his permission i share his recent draft of Romans 8.
Whenever self-awareness grips me, self-doubt and self-condemnation follow - - I have just entered the Romans 7 “zone.”
The good news is that Romans 8 is nearby, ready to save me from all condemnation through the life of the Spirit. Romans 8 tells me that in Christ there is no condemnation (v.1), no sin (v.2), no death (v.2), no carnal mindedness (v.6), and no defeat (v.37). In Christ, there is only life (v.2), righteousness (v.4), spiritual mindedness (v.6), peace (v.6), physical quickenings (v.11), continual leading by the Holy Spirit (v.14), Abba intimacy (v.15), Holy Spirit witness (v.16), Holy Spirit strengthening (v.26) and the inseparable love of Christ (v.35-39).

Let me give an allegory about living in Romans 8.
Once, years ago, I entered a Ryan's Steakhouse Buffet for the first time. As was my custom at steak houses, I planned on ordering a ground chuck steak. But, when I passed the hostess she told me I could only get the buffet. I had no choice but to trust that there was something better awaiting me on the other side of the cashier station than my self-willed chopped steak. Since I had one of my theological buddies with me, I jokingly told the host, "You just violated my freewill!"

Well, when I entered the buffet, I saw that what I was was being offered was NOT a restriction of my freedom, but an EXPANSION of it. There were mouthwatering mountains of food of various types, from Italian to Mexican to Oriental, from steak to chicken to seafood, from salad to dessert to pasta. I could have as much as I wanted of anything I wanted (including a chopped steak).

So, when we trade in our freedom of myopic Romans 7 self-will for entrance into the limitless Romans 8 buffet of the mind of Christ, we aren't legalistically restricting our freedom but exponentially enlarging it. We are trading one loaf of self-willed bread for instantaneous access to a thousand better leavens. We are not losing freedom when we put on the mind of Christ, but truly finding it!

So the next time Satanic suggestion tries to convince you of what you are giving up to follow Jesus, smack that devilish lie flush on its jaw. "Therefore let no man glory in men. For ALL things are yours; Whether Paul , or Apollos, or Cephas , or the world , or life , or death, or things present, or things to come; ALL are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s." 1 Corinthians 3:21-23.

Woman

I have always had questions in my heart about being a woman and all that expected of us and how our society sees us. I have always disagreed on many popular beliefs but did not know how to voice my opinion because I did not want to be misunderstood. It is really not easy to be a woman especially in this part of the world. We all insult girls whom we perceive as gold diggers but forget that the society actually made her that way. Where a girl grows in a family and most times is not encouraged to be successful but instead is encouraged to get a husband and leave. I have had cases where I see people praying for ladies both young girls and ladies and they don't pray that they be fulfill Gods plan or achieve anything in life, all they pray for is that they get married.

People who have only males are praised but if u have only females you'll be told you've given birth to prostitutes and most times by fellow women. I had a recent experience which made me believe women are really their worst enemies. If we can come together and be supportive of one another we'll be taken more seriously and be better respected. Why do we tend to wipe off every trace of our existence and identity because of marriage. We are created for a higher purpose.‪#‎womenarise‬

This are the words of a friend of mine; calling on women folk to live. The limitation that we face is often self-inflicted.