The Prerequisite to God's Blessings

by Irvine Syazyombo

There are so many things that you have done  for various reasons. As you attempt to do what you do,you  mainly  expect success at the end of the day.

You have seen many people succeed in their endeavours in life. You have looked forward to God’s blessings in what you do for a living too.

God’s blessings do not just come by chance. You have a role to play. You have a step to take as a creature that came from His creative hands.

The Bible is clear on the kind of person God will bless in his or her efforts. The Holy scriptures put it plain on what is required to qualify for a blessing from the Almighty God.

“But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does”, says James 1:25.

This is the key to open endless blessings in whatever you do. It lies in being an effectual doer of what the law prescribes.

Mind you, when the Bible says ‘the law’, it  refers to the ten commandments as given to Moses. That does not exclude the forth commandment that demands the keeping of the Sabbath day holy.

No wonder Christ Himself kept the seventh day Sabbath(Luke 4;16).It is up to you whether to desecrate the law, including the Sabbath and lose your blessing, or follow it along with the promised blessings from heaven.To follow Christ's example,the fundamental of Christianity, means to walk as He walked,including keeping the Sabbath day holy as he did.

Joy in the Ten Commandments

by Irvine Syazyombo

In every social group, there are certain expectations of behaviour. There are certain ways of doing things that are acceptable. In a class,for example, there are rules. A class monitor will not tolerate noises and other forms of disruptive behaviour..

In a school, there are rules to follow too. For example leaning institutions  could expel pupils for fighting. Schools will not allow beer indulgences   either.

Even countries have ways of regulating citizens’ behaviour. For example, murderers are severely sentenced. All these means of regulation are put in place to ensure the happiness of society.

All the ways of regulating human behaviour derive from the law of God. God wants humanity to be happy. It is only through obeying His commandments that we can be happy(Proverbs 29 : 18).

Just like we live happily at home  by avoiding behaviour which is  unacceptable socially or indirectly following God’s law, we cannot be happy if we break God’s law.

Christ summarized the commandments into two when he talked about loving God and one’s neighbour (Matthew 22;37-40).

The first four commandments are on loving God  and the last six concern loving one another as humans. There is no happiness in breaking any of the commandments. For example if you steal, a mob might lynch you. Adultery leads to three Ds; divorce, disease and death too.

Happiness comes through keeping God’s commandments. It is about keeping all God’s commandments. If you violate any of them, sadness will haunt you. Happy is he who keeps the law(Proverbs 29 ; 18), the ten commandments as given to Moses.If you want joy, find happiness in the law of God.

Hatred kindles disaster

by Irvine Syazyombo

There is rife hatred in the world today. Country hates country, religion hates religion, tribe hates tribe, race hates race and individual hate individual too.

But is it wise to hate? Is there any good in hatred? The Bible gives an answer that people who hate are foolish(10 verse 18).

But why should hatred be perceived as unwise? The world has been thrown into strife because of hatred. There is no wisdom in strife.

For example, you get killed for religious reasons. This has happened in countries like The Central African Republic, Nigeria, France and elsewhere in the world just because of religious hatred. The 

Bible says it plainly that hatred causes strife(Proverbs 10:12).Tribal hatred has caused genocide like the 1994 bloodshed  in Rwanda.Ethnic hatred led to the death of hundreds of thousands of people. It is sheer hatred that resulted in all that.

When countries hate each other that could lead to bloodshed, for example the gulf war between Iraq and the allies which caused innumerable deaths.

As for racial hatred, we have seen it cause strife in South Africa. Precious lives were lost in race related violence until that country renounced apartheid.

But what is the solution to hatred? The Bible says love covers all sins (Proverbs 10:12).Jesus said we should love our enemies , bless and do good to those who hate us(Matthew 5:44).The Bible further says those who hate walk in darkness without knowing where they are going(1 John 2:11).

When you do good to those who hate you, you are doing good to yourself too.The solution to the world strife is to learn to love one another and avoid hatred. As long as there is the darkness of hatred in this world, strife will continue. Many have died today. Many more will die tomorrow because of world hatred.