General

The Place of Joy

You can not find joy in a world where good news does not sell newspapers but bad news does. The only place joy exists is the place around God. In 2005, Andy Roddick was pronounced winner of the Rome Masters because the umpire had called a critical shot out. His opponent, Fernando Verdasco, did not complain, but Roddick knew that ball was not out. Propelled by honesty and the fear of God, he refused to accept victory on such terms. He insisted that the mistake be corrected and the game continued. Eventually, Verdasco won. The next day, CNN ran this headline ‘Honesty backfires for Roddick’. You see, the world media has an editorial policy of burying good news and projecting bad news. Why? Because it is run by the prince of this world. That is why Jesus said “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world”-John 16:33.

Reno Omokri is the founder of the Mind of Christ Christian Center and author of Shunpiking: No Shortcuts to God, and the new book Why Jesus Wept available from Barnes and Noble, amazon and other fine book stores in hard copy and on kindle as well as nook.

You are invited to follow Reno on Twitter @renoomokri.

I Change Not

Fear Not!

If you refuse to be afraid satan can have no power over you. Just like God works through your faith, satan works through your fears. When Jairus heard his daughter was dead, Jesus told him “Fear not: believe only”-Luke 8:50. Make this your automatic reaction when you hear bad news. The very first thing that Jesus spoke to John in Revelations is “fear not”-Revelations 1:17. Fear leads to the torment of worry. Worry takes up so much energy. Your mind keeps chewing on the same thing over and over again. Why not use that energy to pray instead?

Reno Omokri is the founder of the Mind of Christ Christian Center and author of Shunpiking: No Shortcuts to God, and the new book Why Jesus Wept available from Barnes and Noble, amazon and other fine book stores.

You are invited to follow Reno on Twitter @renoomokri.

How it’s Truly Made

I watched ‘How it’s Made’ on the Discovery Channel. It is a series that documents how things are manufactured. On this episode, the factory manufactured some products and passed them through Quality Control. The products were put through rigorous tests involving heat and pressure. Every product that failed the QC was taken and destroyed, but products that passed where moved out of the factory to the shop.

Life is like that. God made all of us, but before we are taken to His Kingdom, He sends us to Quality Control, (AKA earth) where we are put through heat and pressure to see if we would break under the pressure from the prince of this world and conform or do we maintain our Manufacturer’s integrity and be transformed. “For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come”-Hebrews 13:14.

The choice is ours.

Reno Omokri is the founder of the Mind of Christ Christian Center and author of Shunpiking: No Shortcuts to God, and the new book Why Jesus Wept available from Barnes and Noble, amazon and other fine book stores.

You are invited to follow Reno on Twitter @renoomokri.

Fish Men Not Money

The end result of Christianity shouldn’t be miracles and financial breakthrough. Be wary of a Christianity whose end result isn’t evangelism. Matthew 4:19 says “And he said unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”.

If you claim to be a Christian and all you do is seek after miracles and financial breakthroughs, but you never fish for men, you need to ask yourself who the liar is between you and Jesus.

Reno Omokri is the founder of the Mind of Christ Christian Center and author of Shunpiking: No Shortcuts to God, and the new book Why Jesus Wept available from Barnes and Noble, amazon and other fine book stores.

You are invited to follow Reno on Twitter @renoomokri.

The Great Schedule

I had this friend in Secondary School. Those who went to my secondary will know this person. He was in Tiger House. I remember preaching to him and persuading him to give his life to God through Christ. I remember clearly what he told me. He said ‘Reno, I am young, let me enjoy my life, when I’m old I will accept Jesus’. After we graduated I saw one of our mutual friends. I asked him about our mutual friend and he said ‘haven’t you heard? ****** is dead!’ That incidence taught me a lesson. Do not schedule salvation to fit your life. Schedule your life to fit salvation.

Reno Omokri is the founder of the Mind of Christ Christian Center and author of Shunpiking: No Shortcuts to God, and the new book Why Jesus Wept available from Barnes and Noble, amazon and other fine book stores.

You are invited to follow Reno on Twitter @renoomokri.

No Hospitality in Hell

The stupidest thing I ever heard is that hell must be fun because sin is sweet. That is a fallacy. Many of us have experienced having rats at home. When I was a child we would put rat traps to catch them. But every time we placed a trap without a bait of some kind, we never caught a single rat. So we began to put savory smelling fish in the trap to bait the rats and then we started catching them. We did not bait the traps because we loved rats. And if any rat thought that our savory smelling fish was an indication of pleasure that awaits them, well they were wrong. Our preference was to save our savory smelling fish, but because it is impossible to catch rats otherwise, we had to invest our fish. Brethren, if it were possible, satan would not include any pleasure in the temptation to sin. But he knows that without the motivation of pleasure or some gain, he cannot tempt you to sin. That is the only reason sin has pleasure. However, if you think that the pleasures of sin is an indication of the  hospitality of hell, you are dead wrong!

Nice Guys Finish Last 

Like Father Like Son

If God is your Father, don’t get upset when people hate you for no reason. Satan hates God for the same reason haters hate successful people. He wants to be God, but he can’t. And as they say, like Father, like son.

Faith for God’s Will

There are somethings that you pray and have faith for and yet it doesn’t go through. When that happens, it does not mean that your faith is weak or that God is not real or that He doesn’t hear you. That’s what Satan would want you to believe. The truth is that there are some challenges God wants you to face in order to achieve a greater good for Him, you and humanity. If you pray over those challenges, God is not likely to change His will no matter the faith you have. Yeshu’a (Jesus) the Son of God had more faith than any man ever born of a woman. In fact He was a living faith. His Father always gave Him what He wanted when He prayed. Yet when He was to go to the Cross, He prayed “my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as you will”-Matthew 26:39. It WAS possible because God can do anything. Yet it was not expedient for God to violate His will. And because He allowed Yeshu’a to die, many have been saved! So, don’t lose your faith because of the challenges you are still facing despite your prayers. What cannot be avoided must be endured. “weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning”-Psalm 30:5.