UNLEARNING THE STATUS-QUO

Nehemiah 8:1
Psalms 16:11
Psalms 91:1-2
1 Chronicles 16:27


There was a time in history when women where unfairly and unjustly discriminated as much as being denied of the idea of equal rights solely on the basis of sex/gender.

And inorder to undo this evil regularity it was imperative to unlearn the status-quo.

Unlearning the status-quo is simply daring to do things differently in a world and in a societal setting that perceives doing things differently as a radical social change that is not really necessary.

They think it's not necessary because they are more at ease and at comfort by how things are and settled at that exact moment in time.

Blaise Pascal was a 17th century French Catholic mathematician, inventor and a writer who died at the age of 39yrs.

He is renowned for inventing the pascaline which was a form of calculator that he invented inorder to ease the work of his ailing father who was a tax collector.

Blaise Pascal besides his invention is also considered the founding father of the theory of of probability.

A theory that he extensively wrote about in both his early and later years building up to his death due to a stomach tumor in the year 1643.

He is famed for stating and writing about the ground from upon which the miseries of men are derived when he said," All miseries of men derive from being unable to sit in a room quietly alone."

I took both the time and the intellectual liberty to unearth the dictionary opposite of the word misery.

And I found two words namely : contentment and pleasure.

Inother wards according to the 17th century philosopher, Blaise Pascal- to be content and to be in a place of pleasure one needs to be able to sit in a room quietly alone.

Conversely, one's inability to sit in a room quietly alone is the root of all miseries and that is according to Blaise Pascal.

Many a people seek after social reunions and all sorts of company inorder not to be alone because social gathering and being able to have company around them is a form of contentment and pleasure.

However contentment and pleasure on the basis of company and socially mixing seems to be nothing but a fallacy.

A fallacy that can be much compared to the temporal pleasures and comforts of human life

It's fallacious because authentic contentment and pleasure is never accomplished from without but it's realized from within us.

Real contentment and pleasure should be from our spirit and then radiating out to impact those that surround us.

Nothing on the outside is ever lasting but only that which is from within the very basis of our existence can only be pigeonholed as ever lasting.

In Madagascar schools whose classrooms where sitting three students per desk are now mandated to sit one student per desk in the practice of social distancing as a measure to curb the spread of corona virus.

This world is going through a process of unlearning the status-quo and henceforth as result the world will never be the same it was before.

People who were afraid to sit quietly in a room alone are having to do so now not because they want to but because normalcy is enduring a revolution.

And now instead of seeking pleasure and contentment from outside their quiet rooms it's time to seek true everlasting pleasure and contentment from their quiet rooms.

In that quiet room that seems to be void of any social connection and physical company is the very presence of God Almighty waiting on you to call out his name.

In Psalms 16:11 it's declared "You make known to me the path of life: in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

There is no place befitting to meet and have an encounter with the presence of the Lord God Almighty like in that place that 17th century French mathematician Blaise Pascal described as a " quiet room alone".

In that quiet room alone you can discover your true self and they is no greater contentment (joy) and pleasure in near comparison to such an experience.

An experience that is only derived from meeting and encountering the presence of God Almighty.

It's seems almost hard to experience the presence of God in an environment surrounded by so many people but when you sited quietly in a room alone then it becomes easy.

And the moment you come to the understanding that the pleasures of this world are fallacious in form because they are temporal in nature.

Then will you seek the presence of God all the more because you finally realize that the pleasures of God are nothing but joyful and everlasting by nature.

Nothing can keep you together like the contentment and pleasure that comes from the presence of God Almighty.



There seems to be no miseries and grief in the presence of God just like it was said in Nehemiah 8:10 by Nehemiah him self,"Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared.

This day is holy to our Lord.

Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

In unlearning the status-quo that has always been the norm but now it seems to be disappearing away from sight, we are to fully grasp the vitality of the quiet room as the secret place.

A special place that is highly spoken of in Psalms 91:1-2 and the individual who dwells thereof.

"He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord,He is my refuge and my fortress: my God ; in him will I trust."

In such miserable times one has to come to trust in God and to utilize the quiet room in the event of trying to cultivate the innate curiosity.

This is so cause once one's innate curiosity is cultivated well enough it will come to a place of meeting with the presence of God.

Filled with splendor and majesty.

Strength and joy making you forget all the miseries of this world(1 chronicles 16:27).

A SUDDEN DEEP FREEZE

2 Kings 6:24-31
Psalms 40:1
Psalms 30:2


Many companies across the board have used services and acquired goods and withheld payment to suppliers inorder to conserve cash in the face of the corona virus lockdowns.

Consequently kick-starting an economic sudden deep freeze.

The amount of money that is more than 10 days overdue has grown 56% in France, 52% in Spain, and a whopping 82% in Italy since the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on March 11.

The U.K and the Netherlands have each seen about a 25% increase, while Belgium has seen a 44% spike.

That's according to data released on the 23rd of April 2020 by Sidetrade, a Paris -based software company that helps businesses with customer engagement, cash management, and invoice collection.

The firm looked at data for some 28.5 million business-to-business invoices, adding up to more than 50 billion euros($54billion) and involving about 4 million companies.

Mark Sheldon, Sidetrade's chief technology officer, said the sudden leap in unpaid invoices is "unprecedented" and can't be easily compared to other previous recessions.

Have you not yet realized that every thing that the world is enduring at present has no comparisons.

It has no comparisons because the world has never been at a place where it finds itself right now.

None the less having said all of that in 2 Kings 6:24-31 we find a woman yelling to the king of Israel as he was passing by on the city wall.

This was exactly the time when the king of Syria Ben Hadad had assembled his entire army and attacked and besieged Samaria.

Samaria's food supply ran out in the course of the siege by the king of Syria and the people of Samaria were starving.

And this is much akin to the present situation in the world today where millions of people around the world are constantly being threatened by hunger because their food supply is running out due to a siege upstaged by the novel corona virus.

"Help us my master, oh king!" - The woman yells and the king of Israel replied, No , let the LORD help you.

How can I help you?

The threshing floor and winepress are empty."

Then the king asked her, "what's your problem?"

She answered, "This woman said to me, ' Hand over your son , we 'll eat him today and then eat my son tomorrow."

So we boiled my son and ate him.

Then I said to her the next day. " Hand over your son and we'll eat him.'

But she hid her son."

When the king heard what the woman said, he tore his clothes."

The king's action of tearing his clothes was an illustrative expression and an indication of frustration and helplessness.

The king was saying to the yelling woman in no uncertain terms -" I can't not help you cause am at the point of frustration".

Thousands if not millions around the world are sharing in this helplessness and in this frustration .

A frustration that has come upon you because you rendered a service out of your good nature to some one and to some type of organization and when it was their turn to give back to you they hide and withheld back their hand.

As a sign that even though you serviced them they are not willing to service you.

In the same spirit the woman was not Willing to surrender his son after eating her contemporary's son

And now you feel manipulated, lied and played by someone, by some organization and even by your government.

When the government required you to pay your tax you paid your tax but now that you in desperate need of help the government has deep freezed and they refuse to help you.

It's frustrating cause when the church leader called out unto you to give a cash donation you gave your best but now that you in need of some basics to survive today and tomorrow the church leader is withholding his hand and he won't give back to you.

And now your entire perception of those that are required to step into the gap for you has shifted.

It has shifted because now they nothing but manipulators, liers and takers.

In 2 Kings 6:27 the king of Israel replied to the yelling woman who was asking him for help and said, No let the LORD help you.

The woman expected the king to help her but the king replied unto her and said, No let the LORD help you.

And in 2 king 6:30 after the king heard the yelling woman's full narrative , he tore his clothes.

Just to tell her that am deeply touched by your experience but I can't help you cause am frustrated and helpless myself.

Indicatively those that you hope and expect to help you in this day and time are also frustrated and helpless.

And because they are frustrated and helpless it's only God that can help you.

Government leaders are frustrated, church leaders are frustrated and even Civic leaders are frustrated.

Hence it's time to cry out unto God cause he alone can help us out of this sudden deep freeze.

The government and the church leader took your money and now in your mind they have become nothing but a liars , manipulators and takers because you on the verge of a famine of biblical proportion and they are not helping you out.

But perhaps they can't help you cause they are helpless and frustrated themself.

David the great psalmist makes a statement in Psalms 30:2 and says,"LORD my God, I cried to you for help and you healed me.

While on the other hands David's adds in Psalms 40:1," I waited patiently for the LORD: he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire: he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

I desire to do your will, o my God: your law is within my heart."

GOD COMPLEX

Malachi 3:10
Daniel 4:17

Lots of people seem to attain so much accolades, honour and applause that it kind of get a control over their lives.

And once prominence and the desire to stay relevant gets the best of them then they arrive at a place where they are willing to do anything inorder to get some sort of attention that leads to public approval.

And once the aforementioned gets to a crescendo then the culprits tend to become victims of the God Complex.

Through out history many kings , opinion leaders, religious leaders, community leaders and other types of institutional leaders suffered from the God Complex.

The God Complex is when an individual attains great power and authority that it gets him too impressed with their position.

However many times than not when some one is suffering from the God Complex then they sometimes need to be reminded that God alone is truly sovereign.

In Daniel 4 we find a man by the names Nebuchadnezzar who was a victim of the God Complex and he had to be reminded that God alone is truly sovereign the hard way.

Nebuchadnezzar was a narcissistic leader who literally conquered the world at the age of 17yrs.

He was the sort of person that you would refer to as the best description of "one in a life-time kind of a guy.

And one day he gets a dream that no one would attempt to intereprete except Daniel.

He narrates the events of the dream to Daniel for interpretation and in Daniel 4:17 he notes that while in the dream -" The decision is announced by messengers,the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on the earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of people"

Upon that verdict Nebuchadnezzar's dream is ended and ready for interpretation by Daniel.

Its important to note that before there was ever a Nebuchadnezzar there was a Pharoah and both of these men of history were victims of the God Complex.

And as a result were able to make historical choices and decisions that gave the world the false impression that they were some gods of sort.

Ofcourse they were mere men and just mortals who needed to be remained that God alone is sovereign.

At this moment in time our world is interfaced with a dilemma with no solution of any kind because no man has a solution.

The dilemma that our world is wrestling with at present is much akin to the intricate complexity that mind boggled Nebuchadnezzar upon receiving a dream whose interpretation was outrightly rare.

Hence due to this dilemma we are forced to acknowledge that even those that have posited themselves to be of so much power and authority have no power to deal with the biggest problem of the world at present.

And because no one can stand up to the biggest problem of our present existence then we agree that it's only God who can do it.

Only God can raise the dead and defeat death at its best form.

No man has the ability to outshine the power of God.

Malachi 3:10 declares" Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house.Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty , " and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessings that there will not room enough to store it."

In critical analysis the purpose of the declaration in Malachi 3:10 seems to be aimed at creating a food bank.


A food bank is place where stocks of food, typically basic provisions and non-perishable items are supplied free of charge to people in need of have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger.

some food banks operate on the front line model giving out food directly to the hungry.

With the entire world on lock down many if not millions of people globally are at the brinks of starvation because they can't afford basic provisions.

And sadly the organisations that are mandated to collect the tithe that they have been collecting with the biblical aim of making sure that they create food banks to supply to the needy are missing on the frontlines.

They missing on the frontlines even though millions of people globally are struggling with starvation.

The leaders of these organizations are suffering the God Complex drunk with so much power and authority that a spanner needs to be thrown into their wheels so as to recall that the LORD Almighty is sovereign over all kingdoms.

And that even though they have accumulated so much power and authority they just mere mortals.

Mere mortals that need to be remained by God through a global dilemma that they can't solve that it's time to honour God and submit to God cause no one can compare to the power of his glory.






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UPSIDE DOWN

Matthew 20:16
1 Samuel 2:8
Proverbs 29:23
Micah 7:7

On the 21st April 2020 renowned CNN news anchor by the names of Robyn curnow reported that the price and value of Oil has dwindled to less than zero.

Oil is regarded as one of the most valuable and essential commodities of the world.

The demand and premium placed upon oil around the world is without a question very high.

Anybody in possession of Oil is considered economically rich due to its high demand as much as it's scarcity.

The world literally runs it's economy on one single commodity called oil.

To the degree that many have gone forth to term oil as black gold.

It's termed as black gold because of its quick and fast ability to draw huge finances.

Oil is sought after by small and big nations of the world because their economies depend on it like oxygen inorder to stay alive.

Never in history has oil ever been below zero value.

However on 21st April 2020 oil has registered it's first moment in history when it's considered of no value and of less relevance.

And its important to realize that the circumstances that have contributed to the total collapse of the value of oil are embedded in a siege forced upon the economy of the world by the corona virus pandemic.


A siege is a military term and it is defined as a military like operation in which enemy forces surround a town or building, cutting off essential supplies with the aim of compelling those inside to surrender.


Corona virus has besieged the world and perpetually forced cities and entire countries together with their economies into a lockdown.


All global media outlets are engaged in a global public relations campaign under the tag banner"STAY HOME,STAY SAFE

Ofcourse a seige is a military operation and it's indicative of an ensuing war.

The world is at war and the enemy has attacked the world and the enemy is corona virus.

Upon the announcement that the value of oil has collapsed below zero CNN news anchor Robyn Curnow and a reporter grappled on how best to describe the present situation of the world and the reporter suggested a beautiful analogue entitled "upside down"

Indeed and infact the world is upside down because the most valuable and essential commodity hitherto the coronavirus was oil but as we speak it's value is below zero.


It's wise to also understand that this is a paradigm shift in global status.


The first are getting ready to be last and the last are getting to be first.

God has undoubtedly tipped the scales and turned the tables around.

That which seemed of high value is suddenly assuming less value and that which was of less value is also suddenly assuming high value.

The one who was insignificant hitherto the corona virus pandemic is about to rise up into notoriety.

Those who were in positions of notoriety are slowly falling back into the opposite.

The term humility is best described by the Latin glitterati as "tying oneself to the ground."

Anybody tied to the ground is accustomed to the dust.

And just much as it is decreed in 1 Samuel 2:8 " He raised up the poor out of the dust and lifeth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory.For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S and He had set the world upon them."

God is in the event of exposing the truth in proverbs 29:23 where it's stated that ,"A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.

A siege is many times expected to force the victims into a surrender without resistance.

Suggestively the pandemic is God's creative strategy of making the world surrender to his will.

Every thing the world has always depended upon seems not to be working right now.

Hence all we got to do is to surrender unto God for he alone can help the world out of its present state of predicament.


The word help in bible terminology denotes salvation.

And in Micah 7:7 the writer declares ," Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of salvation. My God will hear me.

At this juncture if we can call upon God he will hear us and come to our salvation, to our rescue and to our help.

With total confidence because we understand that God is a present help in the Times of trouble.

Donald J.Wiseman in his commentary of 1 kings and 2 kings stated ," God never fails to meet the need of his people when they trust him.

Everything seems to be failing including the very foundation upon which our lifestyles are grounded are crumbling but God never fails.

A CALL TO REPENTENCE

Psalms 27


God is coming to town to have a cup of coffee but as God comes to town for a coffee date he comes in all his glory and honour.

The glory of God in the Hebrew lingua franca is called Akavod.

The term Akavod translates to mean heavy load.

Akavod is a heavy load that can't be contained by natural means.

Thus in order to survive the load that the Glory of God comes with then they has got to be a dispersing of the general population.

The dispersing is crucial and vital to give God space and privacy while he is walking across the face of the earth on a coffee date.

Ofcourse the dispersing leads to camping indoors for almost the entire population.

As the Lord moves across the landscape of the earth so does he require a cry of repentance going out towards him.

Repentance is the bridge upon which man and God come into reconciliation.

Additionally for man and God to come into reconciliation then repentance must first endure.

The sixth month of the Jewish religious calender is called the month of Elul.

It's the last month of the year in preparation for the fall festivals in Isreal.

The month of Elul is a thirty day call to repentance observed by Jewish believers in preparation for Rosh Hoshanah(The Feast of Trumpets) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).

The mood of repentance builds during Elul, escalates during the feast of Trumpet and reaches a crescendo on the Day of Atonement.

For most of the month of Elul a shofar is blown.

The sound of the shofar is very piercing and is designed to wake up believers.

The church is like the ten sleeping virgin's and must be roused from her complacency.

The focus is on forgiveness during the entire month of Elul.


The word Elul means to search as in search your heart.

The name of the month is said to be an acronym of "Ani l'dodi v'dodi li,"-Iam my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine."

This period of time is set aside for the loved ones of God to search their hearts and return to their first love condition when their love for God was fresh and brand new.

As the Lord God Almighty traverses the earth in this day and period the entire population of the world has been instructed to keep indoors.

In order to cry for the mercy of God while amidst repentance so that the restoration of mankind can endure and take place.

The load that the Glory of the lord comes with is designed to put mankind to a place of seeking the condition of one's heart towards God and his fellow man.

There should be forgiveness among men.

In order for one's repentance to be effective before God.

For the world and it's entire population has been put at a place where God demands repentance so that he can pour out his mercy for the salvation of mankind.

They are many times than not when God makes a move and even the very forces of darkness come to a standstill.

Indeed and infact we are at a time where every thing that has disrupted the normal routine of mankind is not the work of the devil but rather the work of God.

God is at work and on a coffee date with mankind but since mankind can't stand in the presence of God's glory he is restricted indoors.

To endure the visitation of Lord God Almighty while crying out in repentance so that God can have mercy on mankind.

It's time for the believers of God to scrutiny their relationship with God in regards to whether it's worthy of his glory or not.

Alot has been going with the population of the believers in the name of Jesus.

And it seems like it's not been pleasing and bringing God the Glory.


The population of believers and their gatherings have a mode of operation which elevates mere mortals to iconoclastic platforms thus causing confusion in regards to whom they should worship (men or God).

For that reason God has got to disarm and take by surprise those who have been equating themselves to him inorder to prove to the entire world that glory is of him.

Psalms 27 states ," The LORD is the stronghold of my life of whom shal I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.Though an army besiege me , my heart will not fear : though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.

Undoubtedly we in a period of unique circumstances underlined by uncertainty but no matter how bad things seem to get our confidence is in the LORD God who is the stronghold of lives and hence we shall not be afraid.

UNPRECEDENTED TIMES

Ezekial 40

Luke 9:46-48

The term as much as the description of greatness in the mind of God seems to be antithetical to how mankind approaches the very concept and idea of greatness.

In Luke 9:46-48 the disciples of Jesus seems to pose a question as whom among them is the greatest to which Jesus answers to say that the least of them was the greatest in the kingdom of God.

The term least described in Luke 9:46-48 alludes to humility as a character of a given individual.

In order to be a servant of effectiveness then it takes humility.

Additionally to serve others takes humility and the ability not to want to partake in self aggrandizement as much as self-glorification.

Servanthood does not draw unto itself praise nor glory.

Effective servanthood does not take away any shine because it understand that it's mission is to ensure that the shine of the master does not ever grow dim.

In this present times and in this dispensation there seems to be many masters rather than servants.

And all the masters of the world are fighting for a shine that seems to be more superior in comparison to that of their contemporaries.

In true essence our master is only God in Christ Jesus.

And because our master is only God in Christ Jesus in order to be effective servants of God it had to take Jesus the son of God to come down from the heavens in order to show us by example on how is it that we can be sons and servants of God.

A faithful servant does not at one point try to equate himself with his master.

However we are at a time in our era when servants of God want to compare themselves to God.

Any master would be offended if he chose a servant and then while in the line of his duty the servant begins to compare himself to the master.

Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures in order to set in motion a season of unprecedented proportions.

In Ezekiel chapter 40 God seems to use enemy forces against the nation of isreal to destroy the city where the temple is located and then later he reveals to prophet Ezekiel ways in which he is going to restore the temple.

The temple of God represents the Glory of God in the earth as much as the house of God's dwelling.

Indeed and infact we are in an era where the servants of God in the temple of God are drawing so much glory unto themselves rather than giving God the Glory.

Every thing seems to be about the man of God and not God himself.

Every thing seems to be about the servant and not the master.

These are unprecented times because every thing seems to be about the creature and not the creator.

Without a doubt these are unprecedented times because man is more glorified than God.

Men of God are worshipped and praised more than God is praised.

The temple of God has become many a thing much akin to a rotarian club galvanizing funds for self actualization.

It's a market place of selling and buying commodities and turn a profit for the man of God.

And once the man of God turns a profit then he is able to fund the fulfilment of his personal desires such as: building a mansion, buying a jet, marrying another wife and acquiring every item that defines wealth.

Consequently God seems to have set in motion enemy forces that have cast the world in a place of having to deal with a problem that is void of a solution.

So many men of God have marketed themselves on the premise of possessing unique powers to solve all problems.

But here we are and the whole world is wrestling with a problem that no man of God can solve.

And this is the hand of God designed to prove to the world that all power belongs to no man of God, all power belongs to no servant of God but all power belongs to God.

And as if that's not enough God is telling the whole world using an event that is threatening the daily routine of global life that there is no body greater because God is the greatest of all and all praise, Glory and honour belongs to him.

Ofcourse this is not the end of the world but it's the beginning of unprecedented times where God is drawing the attention of the world to the fact that he alone is the master of the universe.

Being anointed of God and used of God does not make you equals with God.

God using you does not give you the carte Blanche to take away the honour that belongs to God and then use that honour to place yourself above the rest of your peers.

In unprecedented times unprecedented repentence is a key component in the restoration of mankind.

This is vital cause mankind is the living temple of God Almighty and once mankind is restored the Glory of the temple of God is restored.