ADAM: THE GOOD NEWS

Have you heard of Adam, the father of the human race? It’s said that his house in heaven is one of the most heavily guarded. Why? Because every human being in heaven wants to have a go at him!

Now, I’m obviously being facetious about the heavenly security, but it’s not news that Adam is one of the most disliked Bible personalities.

 “It’s ALL Adam’s fault”

“Adam brought this suffering on us”

“If only Adam had just controlled himself...”

“I can’t believe I’m being punished for ANOTHER man’s sin.”

Etc.

These lines echo the sentiments many of us have of Adam.

The man Adam is unique in human history because he’s the only one whose descendants reap – in a literal, direct way – the consequences of his actions.

1Co 15:22  succinctly states, “IN ADAM ALL DIE”. And Rom 5:12 says it even more clearly, “Adam sinned, and that sin brought death into the world. Now everyone has sinned, and so everyone must die;” (CEV).

This feels a lot like gross injustice at first glance. Why should I be punished for another man’s sins?

But people who say that forget that they are already sinners in their own right, Adam or not, (“all have sinned”); and will still go to Hell if God judged them as them (and not as Adam).

This is the good news of the Gospel, because Jesus Christ came to Earth as “the last Adam” (1Co 15:45)! And “as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1Co 15:22).

As Adam, Jesus too was unique in that His ‘descendants’, (those who put their trust in His substitutionary sacrifice on the Cross), are automatically sentenced to ‘suffer’ the consequences of His actions: which was total, complete sinlessness and obedience to God.

Wow! The bad news of Adam is now the good news.

O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? or who has been his counsellor?... For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. (Rom 11:33-36)

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

EXPECT GOOD THIINGS

There’re 2 ways to look at life: Job’s way or Paul’s way.

Job saw life as a string of unending troubles; He said in Job 14:1 that “Life is short and sorrowful for every living soul;” (CEV). With such a pessimistic outlook of life, it’s unlikely Job ever enjoyed his wealth and abundance.

Paul, on the other hand, declares that “All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28).

This is why, regardless of the challenges perturbing him, he was always on the lookout for the opportunity God was opening for him through those trials.

This should be our outlook on life as well. As long as you’re a child of God, know that the sum total of your life is greatness.

If we allow the Devil to keep us fixated on the ills and evils in our life, we’ll never be conscious – and grateful – of the workings of God in us.

But whether we realise it or not, God is constantly working great things for, in and through us. It’s just that we’re often too blind to see it.

As we saw in the lives of Ruth and Esther, no bad incident of the enemy upon you will be allowed to go unpunished!

Therefore, Beloved,

When you see evil, expect the good.

When you see heartbreak, expect comfort.

When you see loss, expect restoration.

When you see darkness, know that your light is about to break forth explosively on every side.

Expect good things, therefore, in the midst of the present evil. For that is certainly true of you as God’s child.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

ESTHER: BAD NEWS? WHAT BAD NEWS?

Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come. – 1Co 10:11 

The Bible book of Esther is unique because it’s the only one that doesn’t mention “God” throughout its pages. However, it’s impossible to read through Esther without seeing the hand of God at work at every corner you turn.

Every bad news in Esther turned out to be actually good news for God’s people.

*If Esther wasn’t an orphan, she wouldn’t have been raised by Mordecai, a palace official!

*If Vashti, the Queen had not put the whole womenfolk in peril by her rebuff of the King, there wouldn’t have been a vacancy for Esther.

*If the King had not forgotten to reward Mordecai’s loyalty, there wouldn’t have been anything for Mordecai to take advantage of when he really needed the king’s favour.

*If Haman, the second-in-command of the empire had not hated Mordecai, Mordecai would have remained a lowly palace slave all his life.

*If Haman had not extended his hatred of Mordecai to ALL Jews in the realm, the eventual victory would have just been a family affair. But because all Jews were to be exterminated, all Jews were exonerated and honoured, to the point of non-Jews PRETENDING to be Jews (Est 8:17).

*Indeed, if none of the calamities, sorrows and near-death perils had befallen Mordecai, he wouldn’t have attained the highest rank by any Jew in ancient history – higher than even Daniel ever was!

So, is this why Esther is a book of the Bible? To tell us about the exploits of two Jews in a foreign land?  NO!

Rom 15:4 says For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

Yes, Beloved, Esther was written for you to have hope. I pray, therefore, that Every ‘bad’ news in your life be turned around for good in the name of Jesus. As you yield your pains and disappointments to the Almighty this season, receive supernatural turnarounds in Jesus’ name. 

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

ORPAH AND RUTH: A CONTRAST IN TRAGEDY

The woman Ruth is one of the more recognisable women in the Bible. As the great grandmother of King David and thus an ancestress of the Messiah, Ruth holds a revered position with the Jewish people. This is in spite of her pagan Moabite heritage.

When we read about the grass-to-grace story of Ruth, we celebrate her devotion, her loyalty and her piety. But in doing this, we often forget that all this would not have been possible had she not experienced the tragedy of losing her husband, and brother-in-law in her homeland... exactly like another Moabitess – Orpah.

Throughout scriptures, we see examples of people who were greatly blessed, NOT in spite of their tragedies, but seemingly because of them. In other words, when you look back at their life, you’re tempted to feel the trouble was all part of God’s plans in the first place.

But that’s just how good God is in transforming our tragedies to triumph.

Yes, we live in a fallen world, with the consequences of Adam’s sin on the one hand, and satanic inflictions on the other. Death, diseases and devastation is a reality for all of us; and we face setbacks and sorrow every day. But our attitude towards this reality will determine whether we end up as Orpah or as Ruth.

The scorching sun of life shines on everyone. But as a Believer, you live in this world with an advantage: you serve a God who specialises in turning tragedy into triumph, pain into praise, and tests into testimonies.

In one of Paul’s most popular writings, he says, We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. – Rom 8:28

Beloved, do you realise that that current challenge of yours could end up being a defining aspect of your life testimony? When calamities come and tragedies fall, don’t clam up and turn away from God; open your hands and your heart and say, “This mess is all I have, do your thing God”.

I injure you to give your troubles to God, and that “light affliction, which is but for a moment”, will work for you a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory through Christ Jesus, (2Co 4:17).

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

THE BAD NEWS IS THE GOOD NEWS

You’re probably familiar with the real-life scenario where someone comes to you and says, “I have good news, and bad news; which do you want to hear first?”

Many persons would say, “Give me the bad news first”. (Because it is psychologically easier to handle bad news when you know that at least, you’ll still hear something good after it).

When the person tells you the bad news, though you’ll naturally feel disheartened and sad; you’ll quickly then ask, “And what is the good news?”

Now, imagine with me that after you ask that, the person’s face brightens up with a big smile and they declare, “Well, the bad news IS the good news”.

Sounds crazy, right?

But think about that for a moment.

Life: I’ve got bad news for you: you’ve just been laid off.

You: Oh No, and what’s the good news?”

Life: That is also the good news!”

Life: Your application has just been declined”

You: Seriously? And what’s the good news?”

Life: That WAS the good news.

You may place your current condition in the above dialogue and it could still be true... if you allow God to take over the situation.

Sounds like cold comfort? A psychological gimmick? No!

God’s in charge of human history. Ps. 75:7 says, “God is the judge: He puts down one, and sets up another.” Paul writes in Eph 1:11 that “God always does what He plans, (CEV).

Your life is not the sum of random events and happenstances, your life is the result of a thought and agenda of God. And because we emphatically know that His plans towards us are plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for, (Jer 29:11 GNB), we can be sure that every evil can ultimately be turned for good.

All God needs, is your faith and your cooperation. I implore you to take that option today; we have ample scriptural examples and assurances, that that will surely lead you to success and fulfilment in the end.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN 

THE FIRST JOHN 3:16

John 3:16 is undoubtedly the most familiar verse in the Bible. Perhaps because it seems to best summarise the gospel message in one sentence. It tells about the love the Father has for the entire world by sending His only begotten Son to save us from destruction. That’s what the Christmas message is all about.

But on this eve of Christmas Eve, I’d like to point our attention to another John 3:16, the first John 3:16 as a matter of fact.

“By this perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” – 1Jn 3:16.

OK, I admit I was a tad wily with the title, but in this season of festivities and merriment it’s important we do not lose sight of the people around us. In john 3:16 the Father gave, and in 1John 3:16 we’re enjoined to give as well – even up to our lives.

Christmas is the commemoration of the greatest gift of all; given even though undeserved, unexpected and unasked. In our own little ways this season, let’s try to duplicate that gesture.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

May the joy of this season be yours now, and ever.

AMEN

GREG ELKAN.

“THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS” (a retelling of the classic)

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the town,

Not a creature was stirring, none uttered a sound.

The children were sleeping, tucked neatly in bed.

The cattle, ruminating, sat still in their shed.

The woman was heavy, her companion weak,

Poor Mary and Joseph had travelled for weeks,

They’d come from the city to small Bethlehem,

With young Mary gravid with the Saviour of men.

They trudged through the village, knocked door after door,

But all inns said “filled-up”, they wouldn’t take more.

Poor Joseph and Mary, had nowhere to turn

So right there in a manger, young Jesus was born.

The heavens tore open, bright lights filled the sky,

And shepherds a-herding looked up to see why.

“They’re Angels!” they shouted, and panicked in fear,

For ‘tis was unusual for God to come near.

“Do fear not, o shepherds”, the angels proclaimed,

“For ‘tis for your persons this vision is aimed.”

“We bring you good tidings of great joy to all:”,

“Your Saviour, Messiah, is born in a stall”.

So singing and jumping, the shepherds they ran,

To worship and honour, their LORD come as man!

And when they had seen Him, they made known abroad

The wonderful tale of Messiah their Lord.

It’s been two millennia, (and sixteen for sure),

But now is your moment to live it once more.

We may not be shepherds, or shearers of wool,

But right in your hand is the ultimate tool

By twitter, or Facebook, or this Whatsapp Group even,

We can tell of the birth of the Master of Heaven.

Do create your own message, or maybe this share:

“Blessed Christmas to everyone, and a Happy New year!!!”

GREG ELKAN💝💝💝

BETTER WATCH OUT: SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN

Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. – Php 4:5

 “You better be nice now, you don’t want to end up in Santa’s ‘Naughty’ list, now do you?”

Christmas is not just the season of the Christkindl (the Christ child), it’s also the season of Kriss Kringle (i.e. Santa Claus). Whether you call him Saint Nicholas, Père Noël, Julenisse, or simply Father Christmas, he’s still the same person: the one who’s supposedly responsible for the gifts children are to receive this season… if they are NICE.

The song, “Santa Claus is coming to town” aptly summarizes the philosophy surrounding Santa, and also gives us a reflection of our common moral belief system.

You better watch out

You better not cry

Better not pout

I'm telling you why

Santa Claus is coming to town

Hmm!

Replace “Santa Claus” in the above verse with “Jesus Christ” and it begins to sound familiar, doesn’t it?

However, we don’t worship Santa, and Santa didn’t die on the Cross for us, yet we somehow project the “Santa” iconography unto Christ.

He's making a list

And checking it twice;

He's gonna find out

Who's naughty or nice…

That’s “Santa” by the way, not Jesus; but many would not know the difference.

He sees you when you're sleeping

He knows when you're awake

He knows if you've been bad or good

So be good for goodness sake!

Again, that’s “Santa,” not Jesus.

The spirit of piousness based on fear and not love permeates the church today. But the image of Jesus up in heaven with pen and clipboard in his hands monitoring all your movements is not biblical.

Heb 10:12 says, “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.”

No Santa, we’re not “good for goodness sake!” We’re good because we’ve been given the gift of NO CONDEMNATION.  “We love him, because he first loved us.” (1Jn 4:19).

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. – 1Jn 4:10.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

SHOULD CHRISTIANS CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS?

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. – Eph 5:16

Let’s face it, Jesus was not born on December 25. Nobody can seriously say He was. It’s kind of an open secret that the Catholic Church around 400 A.D. chose the day as the day for the Feast of the Nativity in order to give Christian meaning to existing pagan rituals, (many pagan cultures had festivals that revolved around the winter solstice, which occurred near December 25).

Of course, we now see from the perspective of historical hindsight that the Catholic Church’s hope to draw pagans into its religion by allowing them to continue their revelry while simultaneously honouring Jesus failed woefully. It only eventually turned the church into another pagan religion.

Now, some contend that pagan origins or not, the “Mass of Christ” has come to symbolise something greater and spiritually richer. Others, however, insist that we cannot ignore its Christ-less roots, especially considering that its celebration seems to emphasise all the Christian faith positively shuns: carnality, sensuality and crass commercialism.

I believe a better perspective on Christmas can be gotten from another, more overtly pagan, holiday: HALLOWEEN.

Halloween, the visibly demon-themed holiday in which children dressed as witches, vampires and demons knock on doors begging for candy used to irk me in no small measure (despite the fact that it’s not practiced in Nigeria). I felt it was the act of the highest spiritual insensitivity for Christians to smile at ‘witches’ knocking on their doors.

I was sobered up, however, when one American pastor pointed out that Halloween is just about the only time unbelieving children come to you on their own. You spend the whole year trying to get to them: with fliers, fancy church programs, Christian TV, etc. But on this unique day, all you have to do is sit down while they line up to your door! Now, why on earth would any Christian want to pass such an opportunity up?

If the children know you to give out the BEST candies every year, regardless of what you tell them they will still come back next year – and they’ll spread the word around too! But if we get all grumpy about the theme and place a large “WE DON’T TRICK-OR-TREAT HERE” sign on our doors, we lose an invaluable opportunity to witness to the world.

So let’s be realistic, the world has always been carnal, sensual, and hedonistic, and will always have occasions of revelry. The Yuletide, however, is the only time of year when you can mention Jesus’ coming to earth over and over again without irritating them.

If we leave them alone to celebrate Christmas and lock ourselves up during this season, we miss a precious time window of slipping into their ears eternal truths that they really need to hear: that God is not mad at them, but loved them enough to send His Son to earth to die for their sins.

Just my thoughts.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

💬 IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR

For unto us a child is born... – Isa 9:6.

It’s that time of year again.

I’m talking about stuffed stockings, evergreen trees, carols, greeting cards, cantatas, nativity plays, family get-togethers, jingle bells, fat men in red suits, ho-ho-ho’s...

Yes, it’s Christmastime, and as the popular song puts it, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”

Or Not.

Unfortunately, Christmas is known to be also a most traumatic time for some families and individuals. It’s a statistical reality that suicide rates jump high during the Yuletide, and psychologists suspect it’s because of the very reasons cited above.

The financial burden takes its toll on breadwinners. The loneliness and lovelessness that single/separated persons deal with every day is accentuated even further during this ‘family’ season.

What is Christmas anyway?

“Why,” someone would exclaim, “‘Tis the Mass of Christ: the season when we commemorate the virgin birth of Jesus, the Saviour of the world.”

But as we all know, things can get so slippery during this period, that we miss the point altogether. While it is good to get the whole family together at least once a year, let’s not forget that “Christmas” by definition is not for the family but for Christ! It’s NOT your birthday; (and even if you were born December 25, I doubt the whole world is going all agog because of you).

It’s CHRITS’s mass.

So in the midst of the shopping (which is never enough) and in the midst of the decorations (which are never satisfactory), lets learn to be comfortable with what and who we have.

If the heat of the season starts getting literal, we need to stand back and reset our priorities.  

Let it be the season of //JOY to the world//, not stress to your life.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN💖💖💖

GRACE IS FOR THE UNDERDOG…AND THE LION

...there is no new thing under the sun. – Ecc 1:9

 “My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. – 2Co 12:9

The principle of grace runs through all of the Bible narrative. Time after time, we see God deliberately lifting up the social outcast, the totally renegade, or the biologically unqualified to achieve great feats for Him.

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were all non-firstborns in their respective families; but they were singled out for superlative inheritance; so was the younger of every pair of twins mentioned in scripture. 

This is usually so that it would be evident to all where the source of the strength came from. The Almighty always delights in lifting up “the poor out of the dust”, and “the beggar from the rubbish”, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory (1Sa 2:8).

This is the spirit of Grace: qualifying the unqualified. That’s why the Apostle Paul says he’d most gladly boast in his weaknesses, “that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2Co 12:9) “for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (2Co 12:10).

This is not saying we shouldn’t labour or improve on ourselves, but to make sure we always place our expectations on God’s grace and not on our efforts.

If you feel you’re a graduate, know that there’s a Masters degree holder out there who is still jobless. If you feel you’ve read a thousand books, know that there’re others who’ve read even more.

Take David, for example. He was not as ‘unqualified’ for the throne as we often put him. He was, after all, “a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a handsome person, and the LORD is with him”, (1Sa 16:18).

The difference between him and his firstborn elder brother Eliab, (whom the LORD explicitly rejected) was that he never looked on any of those virtues as a REASON for his promotion.

Beloved, is your current skillset looking unimpressive? Congratulations, that’s the kind of material that Grace likes to work with. Is your CV loaded enough to make a Doctor of Quantum Physics blush? Don’t place your confidence in it.

Ps 104:21 says, “The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their food from God.”

Yes, they strut about in the jungle and ROAR as they’re endowed to… but ultimately, they expect the food to come from God, not the roaring.

Grace to you in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN

SIN AND GRACE

There’s more to grace than just the forgiveness of sins. Though Grace primarily means that God’s no longer imputing sins to the Believer; using Grace as just that is like using a 335,600-dollar Bentley Mulsanne car as an audio CD player. Yes, if you insert a CD into its stereo system it’ll play your music out for you, but surely it can do more than that, (much, much more in fact).

Grace doesn’t just grant the forgiveness of sins, it gives the Believer power over sin, in the direct sense of the word. Grace is more than a legal term of justification, it is an active spiritual power that can radically transform anyone – if allowed to.

This is one of the revelations the Apostle Paul had of the Gospel. He said in Rom 6:14 that the reason why sin cannot have dominion over you is because “you are not under the law, BUT UNDER GRACE”.

In the same vein, Sin is more than an act of transgression but a spiritual force! In the very first mention of Sin in Scripture, we find it, not as an act, but as an intelligent, aggressive marauder. (Gen 4:7). This is why Christians  who fight sin through self-will and strict regimens find themselves mentally exhausted and spiritually constipated.

But Grace triumphs where self-will fails. Many Believers try to overcome their ‘besetting’ sins through strong will, and when they fall, then they run to Grace for mercy.

That, in itself, is indicative of why they keep failing. We’re supposed to “grow IN grace”, not visit it occasionally. The Christian life was never designed to be lived independent of grace. Grace is the soil we’re to “grow in”.

Beloved, God did not call you into Christianity and then ask you to fight that sin on your own; or to succumb to it and take it as the reality of your life. You can, and will, live a victorious life over sin... by His Grace.

May “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord”. (2Pe 1:2).

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

GREG ELKAN