Category: The Shepherd Publications

THE ORIGINAL PLAN
One of the outstanding characters in the Bible is Abraham. He journeyed with his father and Nephew out of their native land to go to Canaan, but they settled at Haran for the mean time (Read Genesis 11:27-32). After the death of his father, Abraham realigned with God’s original plan for his life which he had discovered before leaving his land of nativity. He departed from Haran, in pursuit of the original plan, the land of Canaan. “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee:” (Genesis 12:1).

JESUS OR GAINS?
Researchers have found almost no correlation between income levels and happiness. Between 1957 and 1990 income levels in the U.S. doubled. Yet at the same period, people’s levels of happiness did not increase. In fact, reports of depression actually increased tenfold. Incidence of divorce, suicide, alcoholism and drug abuse also rose dramatically. It could not have been a different situation at the time when Judas Iscariot betrayed the King of kings at such a ridiculous amount.

EISENHOWER ON LEADERSHIP
“In order to be a leader, a man must have followers. And to have followers, a man must have their confidence. Hence, the supreme quality of a leader is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, on a football field, in an army, or in an office. If a man’s associates find him guilty of phoniness, if they find that he lacks forthright integrity, he will fail. His teachings and actions must square with each other. The first great need, therefore, is integrity and high purpose.”

GOD NEEDS YOUR WILL
Before I finally gave my life to Christ on the day that I did, I have had several invitations and promptings in my spirit to do so before that time. At a point, my only consideration for postponing my salvation was my father. Then, my Dad would demand that I buy him cigarette and alcohol, but I had no courage to say no. I thought it was of no use giving my life to Christ when I would still continue to run such errands. Obviously, I had enough teachings at that time to know that God will not only judge those who practice unrighteousness, but also those who support their wrong doings (Rom 1:28).

BORN TO SAVE
In 1988, Anissa Ayala, a sixteen-year-old was diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia. The doctors said that if she did not receive a bone marrow transplant after chemotherapy and radiation treatment, she would die. Neither her parents nor her brother was a match, and they could not find a donor elsewhere. Her parents, both in their forties, conceived another child and hoped that its bone marrow would be compatible with Anissa’s.
To their great delight, it was determined that this new baby was a compatible donor. When Marissa Ayala was fourteen months-old, the doctors took some of her bone marrows and gave them Anissa. Anissa made a full recovery from the Leukemia and both sisters lived healthy lives. In a very real essence, Marissa saved Anissa’s life. She says, “Without me being a perfect match for my sister, she would not be here.”

STARTS FROM WITHIN
According to a writer, in a moment of frustration, I got mad at someone that I love. And as I turned to walk away from them, I called them a name. I didn’t use profanity; but I might as well have done so, because it was a name that cut that person down and treated them with contempt. I immediately turned back to them and asked forgiveness; and forgiveness was just as quickly granted to me.

REASON FOR THE SEASON
President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862. The moment it went into effect on January 1, 1863, every slave living in the Confederacy was legally free. But until they knew of their freedom, the legal fact had no impact on their lives. In fact, Union soldiers carried hundreds of thousands of copies of the proclamation and passed them out as they made their way through the South during the war.

WORTHLESS IDOL
Someone once sent the following words about his experience with alcohol to a newspaper columnist:
We drank for happiness and became unhappy.
We drank for joy and became miserable.
We drank for sociability and became argumentative.
We drank for sophistication and became obnoxious.
We drank for friendship and made enemies.
We drank for sleep and awakened without rest.
We drank for strength and felt weak.

BAD COMPANY
One day a farmer grabbed his shot gun to shoot at a flock of pesky crows. Unfortunately, he didn’t see his sociable parrot that had joined the crows. After firing a few shots, he walked over to the fallen birds and was surprised to find his parrot badly ruffled with a broken wing. When the farmer’s children saw the injured bird, they asked, “Dad, what happened?” The farmer simply replied, “Bad company.”

PATIENTLY GROW
As I write this article, the stories of few individuals came to mind. First, is the story of a flourishing ministry which came to limelight not too long. In one of the sermons, I realized that the minister had been on the job for around fifteen years without break. Our own Okonjo Iweala is celebrated around the world today, but it is on record that she underwent a rigorous process, from schooling that took her up to doctorate level and the personal character development that earned her such an enviable position.