₦airaland Forum

Ay04z:
nice one.

Thanks. Kindly leave a comment & share with others.

Everyday is an opportunity to do something great, but how can you maximise the days, weeks, months and years we get without the right perspective to guide you into proper light?

Well, here's 3 quick thoughts I believe would you and help you maximise your life: www.stillsmallvoiceblog..com/2016/10/3-thoughts-to-help-you-maximise-this.html

Mensa Otabil had this to say about #habits: "Your habit: determine how you respond, determine your outcome/how you end up, and cannot hide, no matter what".

Strong words there...what habits have you cultivated when it comes to money?

Well, there are certain money-related habits you may have that are sure to see you go broke fast, if not discontinued and replaced with better ones.

In this article, I discussed 4 of these money habits, plus better habits and mindsets to cultivate instead.

It's a great read: www.stillsmallvoiceblog..com/2016/10/4-money-habits-that-will-surely-land.html

For those who say they "fell" in love, you should know that "falling" is never a deliberate, voluntary decision, or is it?

You can't "fall" in love because love is a decision, not that "butterflies in the belly" sensation you are having...

If you can't "fall" in love, why not "fall" in hate as well? They are opposites, right? If you're capable of "falling" in one, you should be able to "fall" in the other... (read more)...

www.stillsmallvoiceblog..com/2016/09/if-you-can-fall-in-love-why-not-fall-in.html?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter&m=1

Sveen:
This is an outright confusion on your path @OP.

How do you mean? The point of the piece is that love is not something you "fall" into (falling is not a deliberate, voluntary decision), but rather something you decide to do.
It's not about emotions...how about you read the full article, then have your say?

For those who say they "fell" in love, you should know that "falling" is never a deliberate, voluntary decision, or is it?
You can't "fall" in love because love is a decision, not that "butterflies in the belly" sensation you are having...
If you can't "fall" in love, why not "fall" in hate as well? They are opposites, right? If you're capable of "falling" in one, you should be able to "fall" in the other... (read more)... www.stillsmallvoiceblog..com/2016/09/if-you-can-fall-in-love-why-not-fall-in.html?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter&m=1

For those who say they "fell" in love, you should know that "falling" is never a deliberate, voluntary decision, or is it?
You can't "fall" in love because love is a decision, not that "butterflies in the belly" sensation you are having...
If you can't "fall" in love, why not "fall" in hate as well? They are opposites, right? If you're capable of "falling" in one, you should be able to "fall" in the other... (read more)... www.stillsmallvoiceblog..com/2016/09/if-you-can-fall-in-love-why-not-fall-in.html?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter&m=1

zarakay:
there's no way u can love others without loving urself first

simply put
you can't give what you don't have!!

Well said. So true. There has to, first be love in one's heart, before you can extend it to others.

Hi great people! Trust y'all are good.
Here's a great piece on my blog on "self love", loving others, and how one leads to the other.
You shall love your neighbour AS yourself, Jesus said. But why "as" I love myself? Can't I love without loving myself?
Indeed, you can't love other people without first loving you. But what exactly does "self love" mean? Satisfying all your pleasures? Liking what you see in the mirror? I think it's way beyond all that! Self love can include pain and difficulty - you sometimes have to go through painful and harsh experience as a sign of loving yourself. How?
Please and share this piece: www.stillsmallvoiceblog..com/2016/07/can-you-love-others-without-loving-self.html
Thank you.

Hi great people! Trust y'all are good.
Here's a great piece on my blog on "self love", loving others, and how one leads to the other.
Indeed, you can't love other people without first loving you. But what exactly does "self love" mean? Satisfying all your pleasures? Liking what you see in the mirror? I think it's way beyond all that! Self love can include pain and difficulty - you sometimes have to go through painful and harsh experience as a sign of loving yourself. How?
Please and share this piece: www.stillsmallvoiceblog..com/2016/07/can-you-love-others-without-loving-self.html
Thank you.

ValentineMary:
So what u are saying is that God can give us something we beg for just to distort his plan because people believe God can't plan evil for us. So if our prayers are answered and in the long run become detrimental, it's not God fault even though he is omniscient and we are not?

Sorry, but I don't understand these questions of yours... I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability...
1. God can't plan evil for us - yes. He's good, perfect, holy, and has no trace of darkness in Him.
2. Yes, God can allow have something outside His plan for us, not because He wills to happen or that He can't stop it, but because ultimately the devil still enjoys some level of freedom and influence on earth, and so too do humans. In addition to this, humans predominantly operate outside his plan. That's why we are in such mess in our world!
I hope I answered your questions!

ValentineMary:
For me praying is absurd, why would an omni benevolent God wait till I beg and cry before he ans me let us assume our prayer is against his holy plan, would he change it simply because of you (that would be selfish) and if he does not ans we say it is God will. If he is gonna do his will, why bother pray in the first place?

Prayer means telling God (if he exist) that his plans are bad and u have a better idea.

"Why would an omni benevolent God wait till I beg and cry before he answers me"? What a question! This person clearly doesn't understand how God works. God doesn't force Himself on people. If He gives you things you did not (in your words) "beg" for, and in future something bad happens as a result of it, who would you blame? God for giving you, right? But if you asked (or like you said "beg" for it), you can't put it down to anyone but yourself.
So yes, you have to "beg" for it, it's your life after all, and you'll give account for it.

johnydon22:
Shouting in prayer is absurd because God already knows even before you pray you say then praying at all is absurd since God already knows.

So what's the point in reminding God what he already knows unless you think it's forgetful and uncaring?

True. God already knows what we need, what we think, and what we would ask for in prayer. Yet, His word says, "ask, seek, knock". Why? Because we're humans, and we have the power of choice!
God knows I need something, but until I ask Him or give Him the (legal) authority to give it to me (which is like God coming into my life business), He'll hold His peace, He doesn't intrude. Remember, we'll give account of how we've lived our lives eventually, so it is imperative that everything that happens to a person he is responsible for it. God will NEVER force His will or power or provision or anything on you; you'll have to want and desire it for Him to give you, so when God asks you to give an account of everything, you'll have no excuses.
So yes, God knows everything - but we'd still have to ask Him! As long as you're on earth, it's your life to live!

It seems a culture in this part of the world to shout loudly when praying, especially at Church programmes like "prayer meetings" and vigils.
But, reflecting on it, I find myself asking, why do people shout when praying? Is it necessary? What's the point of shouting? What's the point of all the dramatic demonstrations? Is God deaf that you have to raise your voice so loud? Do loud prayers make effective prayers?
What exactly makes prayer effective?
All these questions and more are answered in this new post: www.stillsmallvoiceblog..com/2016/06/why-do-people-shout-when-praying.html

It seems a culture in this part of the world to shout loudly when praying, especially at Church programmes like "prayer meetings" and vigils.
But, reflecting on it, I find myself asking, why do people shout when praying? Is it necessary? What's the point of shouting? What's the point of all the dramatic demonstrations? Is God deaf that you have to raise your voice so loud? Do loud prayers make effective prayers?
What exactly makes prayer effective?
All these questions and more are answered in this new post: www.stillsmallvoiceblog..com/2016/06/why-do-people-shout-when-praying.html

We are encumbered with so many things...
We try to play "superman" or "superwoman"
Which leave us drained more often than not.... Drained physically, emotionally, and most importantly, spiritually
But... There's someone who's willing to shoulder all our worries and labour and toil - Jesus
He says... Come to me all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest...
Cast all your cares on Him, and take up His rest...
Here's more... www.stillsmallvoiceblog..com/2016/06/image-source-solidrocknazarenechurch.html?m=1

2sizzlin:
Just be patient and read, you'd discover you really needed to.

Profound! I must say. You're on sth good bro. I even like the fact that you wrote about liecester city. Seriously , I didn't take their victory as one of those lucky chances. I needed that event for a life time of reference. Indeed, the race isn't to the swift...


God bless you Bro

Just seeing your comment. Thanks a ton, I really appreciate.
True, there was more to Leicester's success than luck or like some say "everything fell into place for them". It takes a well prepared man to cash in on opportunity. Thanks again. Do visit the blog for more.

Elisha is known in Scripture as the Prophet who took the place of Elijah after he was taken up. He is also known as the young prophet who requested and received a double portion of the Elijah's spirit.

But there's a lot more to him than being Elijah's understudy and eventual successor - he was a man whose life and ministry we could learn much from.

Here's 7 Lessons we draw from his life and ministry... www.stillsmallvoiceblog..com/2016/06/the-prophet-elisha-7-lessons-from-his.html

Hi, here's a quick one! Children are a gift, and should be treated as such.
As parents, we have the opportunity to literally shape the future through how we raise these children. And Proverbs 22:6 instructs that to "train up a child in the way he should go..."
The question then is what exactly does it mean to train a child? And how do you effectively train a child? Also, what values and behaviours should children be taught?
All these questions and much more are answered in this new series #onparenting on my blog.
Kindly visit via this link www.stillsmallvoiceblog..com/2016/05/parenting-series-2-11-key-things-you.html?m=1 to read up.
PS: If it blesses you, do share with your friends and contacts. Thank you.

Hi, here's a quick one! Children are a gift, and should be as such.
As parents, we have the opportunity to literally shape the future through how we raise these children. And Proverbs 22:6 instructs that to "train up a child in the way he should go..."
The question then is what exactly does it mean to train a child? And how do you effectively train a child? Also, what values and behaviours should children be taught?
All these questions and much more are answered in this new series #onparenting on my blog.
Kindly visit via this link www.stillsmallvoiceblog..com/2016/05/parenting-series-2-11-key-things-you.html?m=1 to read up.
PS: If it blesses you, do share with your friends and contacts. Thank you.

Hi, here's a quick one! Children are a gift, and should be as such.
As parents, we have the opportunity to literally shape the future through how we raise these children. And Proverbs 22:6 instructs that to "train up a child in the way he should go..."
The question then is what exactly does it mean to train a child? And how do you effectively train a child? Also, what values and behaviours should children be taught?
All these questions and much more are answered in this new series #onparenting on my blog.
Kindly visit via this link www.stillsmallvoiceblog..com/2016/05/parenting-series-2-11-key-things-you.html?m=1 to read up.
PS: If it blesses you, do share with your friends and contacts. Thank you.

Pyrrho:
Yet you claim to understand what defies logic...

Are you not the one who opened this thread with the above caption?

I'll rather take it that you are confused.

You want to know why everyone cannot just go to heaven?

Because your God has a history of making people suffer for his pleasure. Simple logic.

Ofcourse, that cannot be a God, not even close. It is just a story which the Israelites used as an excuse to take slaves and motivate their soldiers to kill. Every other culture in the world has the belief in the backing of a deity. Like the Vikings had Odin and Thor as their motivation into battle, with similar absurd stories to strengthening the will of their soldiers.

What best motivate a primitive man into battle than to make him think the gods are behind his conquest?

Have a good day.

There you are parading yourself as smart and intellectual and logical, yet you could not tell that I wasn't really asking a question because I was seeking answers I didn't already know. Check again, there's a link there, why not read the full piece?

And no, my God, the Lord of heaven and creator of your life and mine, doesn't make people suffer for His pleasure, people suffer because of their choices and decisions.

Like I said earlier, all will be revealed in due time. The due time is near, wait for it. I sincerely hope that you accept Jesus and the salvation He offers from this junk you believe before it's too late.

Have a good day as well.

Pyrrho:
For those of you screaming about a loving God, especially muslims and Christians.

How do you reconcile the below evils against your believe in a loving God?


1. God drowns the whole earth.
In Genesis 7:21-23, God drowns the entire population of the earth: men, women, children, fetuses, and perhaps unicorns. Only a single family survives. In Matthew 24:37-2, gentle Jesus approves of this genocide and plans to repeat it when he returns.

2. God kills half a million people
In 2 Chronicles 13:15-18, God helps the men of Judah kill 500,000 of their fellow Israelites.

3. God slaughters all Egyptian firstborn.
In Exodus 12:29, God the baby-killer slaughters all Egyptian firstborn children and cattle because their king was stubborn.

4. God kills 14,000 people for complaining that God keeps killing them.
In Numbers 16:41-49, the Israelites complain that God is killing too many of them. So, God sends a plague that kills 14,000 more of them.

5. Genocide after genocide after genocide.
In Joshua 6:20-21, God helps the Israelites destroy Jericho, killing “men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.” In Deuteronomy 2:32-35, God has the Israelites kill everyone in Heshbon, including children. In Deuteronomy 3:3-7, God has the Israelites do the same to the people of Bashan. In Numbers 31:7-18, the Israelites kill all the Midianites except for the virgins, whom they take as spoils of war. In 1 Samuel 15:1-9, God tells the Israelites to kill all the Amalekites – men, women, children, infants, and their cattle – for something the Amalekites’ ancestors had done 400 years earlier.

6. God kills 50,000 people for curiosity.
In 1 Samuel 6:19, God kills 50,000 men for peeking into the ark of the covenant. (Newer cosmetic translations count only 70 deaths, but their text notes admit that the best and earliest manuscripts put the number at 50,070.)

7. 3,000 Israelites killed for inventing a god.
In Exodus 32, Moses has climbed Mount Sinai to get the Ten Commandments. The Israelites are bored, so they invent a golden calf god. Moses comes back and God commands him: “Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.” About 3,000 people died.

8. The Amorites destroyed by sword and by God’s rocks.
In Joshua 10:10-11, God helps the Israelites slaughter the Amorites by sword, then finishes them off with rocks from the sky.

9. God burns two cities to death.
In Genesis 19:24, God kills everyone in Sodom and Gomorrah with fire from the sky. Then God kills Lot’s wife for looking back at her burning home.

10. God has 42 children mauled by bears.
In 2 Kings 2:23-24, some kids tease the prophet Elisha, and God sends bears to dismember them. (Newer cosmetic translations say the bears “maul” the children, but the original Hebrew, baqa, means “to tear apart.”)

11. A tribe slaughtered and their virgins raped for not showing up at roll call.
In Judges 21:1-23, a tribe of Israelites misses roll call, so the other Israelites kill them all except for the virgins, which they take for themselves. Still not happy, they hide in vineyards and pounce on dancing women from Shiloh to take them for themselves.

12. 3,000 crushed to death.
In Judges 16:27-30, God gives Samson strength to bring down a building to crush 3,000 members of a rival tribe.

13. A concubine raped and dismembered.
In Judges 19:22-29, a mob demands to rape a godly master’s guest. The master offers his daughter and a concubine to them instead. They take the concubine and gang-rape her all night. The master finds her on his doorstep in the morning, cuts her into 12 pieces, and ships the pieces around the country.

14. Child sacrifice.
In Judges 11:30-39, Jephthah burns his daughter alive as a sacrificial offering for God’s favor in killing the Ammonites.

15. God helps Samson kill 30 men because he lost a bet.
In Judges 14:11-19, Samson loses a bet for 30 sets of clothes. The spirit of God comes upon him and he kills 30 men to steal their clothes and pay off the debt.

16. God demands you kill your wife and children for worshiping other gods.
In Deuteronomy 13:6-10, God commands that you must kill your wife, children, brother, and friend if they worship other gods.

17. God incinerates 51 men to make a point.
In 2 Kings 1:9-10, Elijah gets God to burn 51 men with fire from heaven to prove he is God.

18. God kills a man for not impregnating his brother’s widow.
In Genesis 38:9-10, God kills a man for refusing to impregnate his brother’s widow.

19. God threatens forced cannibalism.
In Leviticus 26:27-29 and Jeremiah 19:9, God threatens to punish the Israelites by making them eat their own children.

20. The coming slaughter.
According to Revelation 9:7-19, God’s got more evil coming. God will make horse-like locusts with human heads and scorpion tails, who torture people for 5 months. Then some angels will kill a third of the earth’s population. If he came today, that would be 2 billion people.

Now, Christians have spent thousands of years coming up with excuses for a loving God that would allow or create such evil.

Cooltobex what is your excuse for all of the above?

Really? That's supposed to be a joke? What's my "excuse"? So, I should give you an "excuse", don't make me puke, please. The gospel is not for debating, I won't stoop that low.
You will find what you are looking for, just that I may not be the one to give it to you.
I don't expect you to understand God's word, it's veiled and defies logic. All will be revealed in due time. Take a chill pill. You will witness it.

I sincerely hope I will witness 24/7 power supply in my lifetime in this country... It will be a great tale to relate to my children and grandchildren... That there was a time when we'd go days without electricity, and when they brought it back, everyone, including toddlers, would go UP NEPA! As if we were all suffering from NEPAistis.
----
Find inspired thoughts on my blog:
www.stillsmallvoiceblog..com

Geography, biology, theology, neuroscience, cosmology and more are all human inventions to study the product of God's thinking!
Wouldn't you want to think like that?
Here's a great read on my blog on thinking like God... www.stillsmallvoiceblog..co.ke/2016/05/how-far-can-you-go-to-prove-your-love.html?m=1

Really, how far can you go? What crazy thing(s) can you do to prove how much you love...? Do you even really love Him?

You know, He already went to great lengths to prove He loves you... He died a painful death - on the cross! What length can you go to show you love Him in return?

Just to prove you love Him, can you...?
Jump off a high mountain?
Swim the depths of the oceans...?
Dive from a moving plane... without parachute...?
Feed hundreds of people...?
Go on without eating for weeks...?
Evangelise a whole city...? Or even a whole country...?
Give away all the money you own or will ever make...?
Pray 12 hours or more each day...everyday...?
Read the Bible every 2 hours...everyday...?
Give your life...?
Or do some other 'crazy' thing...?

How far, really, are you willing and ready to go to prove how much you love... your creator... your life giver... you sustainer... your source... your provider... your strength... your protector... your potter... your saviour... your Lord... your king... your father... your everything... How far...?

You know what, He doesn't expect or desire you do crazy or extreme things to prove your love for Him... He doesn't require or request any of the extremes above or similar, no! You don't have to do anything crazy or extreme or unusual or unthinkable to prove how much you love God... www.stillsmallvoiceblog..co.ke/2016/05/how-far-can-you-go-to-prove-your-love.html?m=1

cloudgoddess:
According to you, a Christian. A Muslim would say the same for theirs. So would a Hindu for theirs.


I'm sorry but this sounds very silly, like you're trying to argue semantics. The point is that god requires conditions before he can show his love. Conditional love is the exact opposite of unconditional love.

I almost can't believe you are a lady! With this mindset? What happened? I'm wondering. How did your heart get so cold towards God! Open it up and experience God's love!
God's love is unconditional! Say what you will.
You don't understand it because you keep rejecting Him; so I'm not surprised!

Once again, open up your heart and ask God Himself with all sincerity to reveal Himself to you if He is real. Then you'll see His wonder! Until then, you'll keep thinking and writing gibberish like this. You can't truly understand what you keep rejecting. If you want to understand God and the Bible, accept Him!

MrMarvelous:
So lemme get this straight yeah, "unconditional love" according to ur God is love me or I'm gonna withhold my provisions, you're gonna lose ur two legs, eyes, hands nd mouth nd render them useless, I'm gonna let mountains upon mountains of incurable diseases to visit you nd turn u into a worthless vegetable?? That's unconditional love to u?? What d h3ll have u done with ur brains??

I know in ur heart of hearts u think you've said sth meaningful, but this is just a sad sight to c...
I mean if anybody comes 2 u nd professes love to u, nd tells u if u don't accept them they r gonna "make ur vital organs useless, make u turn into a vegetable, make u useless basically", u gonna run in the other direction...

So why bring ur God so low to the point of "mentally unstable animal"?? U really r not helping ur cause here.
And 1 thing else, why dju guys feel the need to defend the supposed creator of the whole universe?? It always beats me, why u guys feel the need to be his supposed "mouth piece"...if he is so real, why does he need you to speak for him??

Unless of course he's a product of ur own imaginations... **food for thought**

Hello, your views are just so sad and heartbreaking to read. What delusion and blindness! I'm not going to try and "defend" or "speak for God", nah! He'll reveal Himself to you in due time, and you'll go about proclaiming His majesty.

PS: God doesn't require you to accept Him before He expresses His love for you. Even if you keep rejecting Him and spewing all this your deludedness all over the place, He'll keep on loving you. It's up to you to accept or reject His love.
Can you love someone who keeps rejecting you?

cloudgoddess:
There are several instances in the bible that indicate otherwise. Noah's ark is an obvious one. The flagrant support of slavery is another.


Indeed I have, many times and it's unfortunately spilling over with needless bloodshed, commanded by an egomaniacal, barbaric warlord "god" who loves the smell of blood and foreskins. Clearly an invention by 1st century middle-eastern men with the same mentality.

Joshua. The Lord loves destruction, war, and killing.
When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys. 6:20-21

Leviticus. God enjoys ruthless killing for small mistakes.
All who curse their father or mother must be put to death. They are guilty of a capital offense. 20:9
If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife, both the man and the woman must be put to death. 20:10
A priest’s daughter who loses her honor by committing fornication and thereby dishonors her father also, shall be burned to death. 21:9

Deuteronomy. Non-virgins should be stoned on their wedding night, God commands it.
But if this charge is true (that she wasn’t a virgin on her wedding night), and evidence of the girls virginity is not found, they shall bring the girl to the entrance of her fathers house and there her townsman shall stone her to death, because she committed a crime against Israel by her unchasteness in her father’s house. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst. 22:20-21

These aren't even 3% of the barbarism in the bible commanded and carried out by Yahweh.

Was that all you saw in the Bible? Did you see also how God came to earth in Jesus and saved humanity? Did you also see the many healings, resurrections and many other miracles?
You will never understand the Bible in its purest, undilluted form since you don't believe Christ and have the Holy Spirit in you to explain things, so I'm not surprised that you are "blinded" to the revelation of God's word.
Open up your heart! The Bible will continue to look senseless and foolish to you because your spiritual eyes are closed. But when you turn to Jesus, He'll take the veil away and you can understand the Bible.
If I start to counter every point you made above, you'll most likely win the "argument", because the gospel is not for debating; I can't shove it down your throat.
All I'll tell you is that, God loves you despite this warped view you have of Him, and He wants you to understand Him in His truest sense. Here's a piece that should help on that www.stillsmallvoiceblog..co.ke/2016/05/what-bible-really-wants-you-to-know-god.html
I sincerely you find salvation before it's too late.

Muafrika2:
Because God cannot stand wickedness. You must be surrounded by alot of good people to ask this op.

Do you know what will happen to heaven when sorcerers go there? Heaven will be a place of sorcery.

Thanks for your response. You should follow the link and read my thoughts. I tried answering it there. Thanks again.

Why can't everyone, both good and bad people, just go to heaven and live forever? Does it mean that God just wants to punish some people? What do you think? www.stillsmallvoiceblog..com/2016/05/does-god-take-pleasure-in-seeing-bad.html?m=1#more

"Then Peter, turning around, saw THE DISCIPLE WHOM JESUS LOVED following... John 21:20.

You know I always wondered why John was called "the disciple whom Jesus loved"; who Christians today call 'John the beloved'.
Why was he referred to as the one that Jesus loved. Does that mean Jesus didn't love the other disciples? Of course not! It means John occupied a special place in Jesus' heart, much like our spouses and dear friends.
It's not that we don't love other people, but some persons are just special and dear to us, right? I reckon that's how Jesus considered John.
But what did He do differently from the others to be called "THE DISCIPLE WHOM JESUS LOVED"?
Here's a clue... www.stillsmallvoiceblog..com/2016/05/i-want-to-be-close-to-jesus-at-supper.html?m=1