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One of the biggest mistakes humans make is to believe there is only one way. Actually, there are many diverse paths leading to what you call God. OPRAH WINFREY The Lord Jesus said : "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me". And he warned us that "unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins."

Prayer is no petty duty, put into a corner; no piecemeal performance made out of the fragments of time which have been snatched from business and other engagements of life; but it means that the best of our time, the heart of our time and strength must be given.  E M BOUNDS From Power through Prayer by E M Bounds. I enjoyed reading this book tremendously. One has to read that quote twice!  Prayer time must not be an add on to other activities. It must be the most important and most  valued activity of person and church life. It must take the "best of my time" and the "heart of my time". When I think about it, it makes perfect sense.  Is there really anything more important in this world than having an audience with the Creator of worlds? Prayer brings me instantly to the One whose power and love and knowledge are limitless! Let us pray that we pray more! Copyright © Chola Mukanga 2014

One percent improvement per week in almost anything will make radical differences in a year. JOSH HUNT This reminded me of another quote that I came across : if you spent one hour each day on a subject, in 5 years you will become an expert on that subject. Consistency is the mark of a disciplined and fruitful life!   Oh, now hard it is to improve consistently by 1%! How hard it is to spend 1 hour a day on something consistently for five years! Copyright © Chola Mukanga 2014

Dear Lord, Please fill me with the knowledge of your will by giving me all the boundless resources of your Holy Spirit especially your wisdom and understanding : So that I can live a life worthy of You So that I can please You in every way: So that I can bear the fruits of Your Holy Spirt in every thing I do So that I can grow in knowing you more and more

Many teachers don't know how to ask good questions. They ask questions that are too easy: "According to John 3.16, who died on the cross for your sins?" and they wonder why no one responds…..People like to answer questions that are on the edge. They like to answer questions that are on the edge of their knowledge. They like to answer questions that they think they are the only one who has the answer to….People like to answer (and hear answers about) questions that are on the edge of personal self-disclosure. Not too much or we get uncomfortable. But personal enough that it is real. Good questions get us to that edge…..People like to answer questions that connect to real life. Not theoretical stuff; real life. They like to talk about stuff that matters–stuff that matters to them in their world. JOSH HUNT Recently read Josh Hunt's book ' Good Questions Have Small Groups Talking ' where that quote is taken from. It is one of the best books I have read on h

Once in a while you come across something that makes you doubt.  It may be a  glimpse of a powerful demonstration of supernatural abilities by a person who is not a Christian. And it makes you think, have I got it right? Even science and technology can bring doubts. Every day it seems that we are headed towards a utopia where God may become irrelevant. We will be able to live forever  according  to transhumanism, travel beyond Alpha Centuri and join the Q Continuum wherever they may be found.  You don't have to look for doubts about the Christian message to have doubts. They follow us everywhere. And we are not alone. The believers at Colossae would certainly have had doubts. Rogue teachers appear to have brought in a different message of human salvation.  And of course these young Christians would always have had some questions about their identity being a small church in an obscure part of the world, religiously speaking, that  not planted by any apostle! 

Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel. (Proverbs 27:9 ESV) Lesson: Good friendship is built on truth. If you are struggling to tell someone the truth it's probably because you are not true friends Copyright © Chola Mukanga 2013

After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has. So take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has." So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite did as the Lord commanded them, and the Lord accepted Job's prayer. When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before! (Job 42:7-10) Three things really struck me afresh when I read this passage. I had not noticed them before. First, God had already forgiven Job's friends but he needed them to make peace with Job and Job to pray for them to Him. God a

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proofs. DR DREYFUSS That quote is from a recent horror movie I watched ' Mama' . This came to mind yesterday as we were discussing with friends the sensational and earth shuttering Christian claim that "God lives in me". The world is certainly right to ask, 'we hear you, but where is the extraordinary proof?'

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for wo rds. (Romans 8:26 ESV) Lesson : God is praying for you today with deep groaning too deep for words. How beautifully weird is that? Copyright © Chola Mukanga 2013

You can set an auto-pilot to take you from Dallas to Chicago. You can turn the stick on the plane and force it to go South instead. But, eventually, you will get tired and the plane will make its way North again. So it is with our desires. We can force ourselves to do what we don’t want to do for a time, but eventually, what we want to do wins out. Eventually we do what we want. JOSH HUNT From Josh Hunt’s book ‘ Good Questions Have Small Groups Talking ’. It reminds us that behaviour modification can never work without belief modification. We must come to believe something different and we will come to behave differently. Beliefs always drive behavior. As Willard said, "beliefs are the rails on which our lives run.

A man once told me that you step out of your door in the morning, and you are already in trouble. The only question is are you on top of that trouble or not? EASY RAWLINS (Devil in A Blue Dress) Job agrees with Rawlin's first part : Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble. (Job 14:1) And he offers a better response to the challenge: I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19:25-27) Art is always great at diagnosing the problem but always comes short of solutions. The Bible expertly gives us both! Copyright © Chola Mukanga 2013

"He has delivered us from the domain of darkness" (Colossians 1:13a) Matthew Henry gets us to the point quickly : [Jesus] has saved us from the dominion of sin, which is darkness (1 John. 1:6), from the dominion of Satan, who is the prince of darkness (Ephesians 6:12), and from the damnation of hell, which is utter darkness (Matthew. 25:30) This deliverance" is not merely cosmetic. It is the ultimate rescue operation. The word "delivered" literally means deliverance from danger. What is the danger we face if are under the domain of darkness? It is certainly the danger of the enslavement under dark Satanic powers. Before we were followers of Jesus our all lives worshipped Satan. Like hostages suffering from Stockholm syndrome we honoured Satan with sin and all kinds of shameful deeds of darkness. Demons and other satanic powers were our masters, even if we were unaware.