OLUSEGUN ISAAC BLOG

'Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward...' (I Samuel 16:13 NKJV).      The first three sons of Jesse - Eliab, Abinadab and Shammah, were men of valour who served in the army of their nation. But in spite of their princely qualities and admirable stature, God did not consider them suitable for kingship. Rather, He chose their apparently ineligible baby brother David and made him king over them. The remarkable thing here is that, rather than turn against their 'king' in envy and strife, they faded into the background while still quietly supporting their God-chosen brother, and vice versa (1Sam.17: 17-18). David was installed king in place of the reigning monarch King Saul, and as would be expected Saul desperately sought to kill his rival. But hear what David said to his men when he found a great opportunity to destroy his opponent and persecutor, "T...

"The old order changeth yielding place to new And God fulfills himself in many ways Lest one good custom should corrupt the world...More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of." (Alfred Lord Tennyson).       Lord Tennyson wrote the famous satirical poetic piece 'King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable',  as an old English story of power interplay among the royalty. The author clearly illustrates that however magnificent and worthy any institution of power might have been, it is only appropriate in God's divine plan that it should pass away and give way to a newer institution because any institution which lives on and on will only become irrelevant or even corrupt, thus harmful to society. This is why empires rise and fall, kingdoms come and go; the only kingdom that will endure is the Kingdom of God and of His Christ. The bible tells us, 'Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel gro...

 "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord .” So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods..:(Joshua 24:15-16 NKJV). Let's face it, almost all of us have found ourselves on the verge of decision taking before. The teenager had to choose which course to study at which university; the marriageable youngster had to choose Mr. Right or Mrs. Right (sometimes one out of two or more); which job to do; which place to live or how many children to have. The sad news is, many have chosen by a mere toss of the coin and have regretted their actions painfully thereafter. They failed to bring into their choices the God factor. Right from the Garden of Eden, God had given mankind the privilege of making choices. In Genesis 2, God showed man two types of fruits, those good to eat and one that would lead to death, spiritually...

'It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him...but David remained at Jerusalem. Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” Then David sent messengers, and took her...and he lay with her...and the woman conceived...' (II Sam.11:1-5 NKJV).      The story of Humpty Dumpty is not just a nursery rhyme but could also be a proverb. It says, 'Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall,  Humpty Dumpty had a great fall; All the king's horses and all the king's men, Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again!' The proverbial aspect may be traced in these questions, What made Humpty Dumpty sit on the fence? What happene...

'Where there is no vision, the people perish...' (Proverbs 29:18 KJV)    The great American inventor, Thomas Edison, was an unrepentant visionary. When his mother's life-saving surgery had to be postponed in a dark theater till there was daylight, he started thinking of how incandescent light could be provided indoors. It is reported that young Thomas made ninety-nine failed attempts in his laboratory to generate light but refused to give up. It was his hundredth effort that succeded in producing light and that was the beginning of incandescent light in our world.    I attended Sunday service in one of our churches and I listened to the message in which the young preacher emphasized what he called 'visionlessness'. While one could query the authenticity of this word in proper English usage,  the message delivered was quite motivating, but it left me thinking beyond motivation. 'Visionlessness' could be lack of vision, true, but it could also mean having v...

But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62 NKJV)       History tells us that the great General George Washington in his battles at the birthing of America as a nation, employed a peculiar strategy. After the conquest of a battle, he moved on, crossed the river and sets ablaze the bridge on it behind them. First, his own soldiers no longer have the temptation to deflect to the enemy camp; secondly the enemy would not sneak to their camp behind them for a counter-attack!   Moses led the children of Israel successfully across the Red Sea and the Lord closed the sea upon the pursuing enemy Egypt to destroy them. No sooner the people crossed over to the other side after some difficulties than they started hollering to go back to Egypt. Had God not closed back the sea, many probably would have insisted on turning back! God does not expect us to look back with desires to go back...

'Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.' (Philippians 3:12-14 NKJV).         Jamaican star Usain Bolt was the fastest man on earth, at least till the 2016 Rio Olympic games when he ran the 100 meters sprint in 9.58 seconds. Some call him 'lightning bolt'. At 32 years of age he was already worth $24 billion according to the Forbes Index. Many know him as a sprint star alone, but he is also a footballer, dancer, coach etc. When asked the secret of his success he made these statements among others: "Those seven guys behind you in that track want it much as you want it. So you have to want it more. This is why you train harder." Another: "It doesn't matter where you start, as long as you finish strong. There are better starters than me but I am a ...

'And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night' (Exodus 13:21 NKJV). During the days of my medical laboratory practice, we went to render a service at the clinic of a military cantonment. We drove to the closed main gate and stopped. The sentry on duty bellowed to us from his cubicle: "Advance to be recognised!" We drove closer, presented our ID's and told him our mission. He looked us over, checked our car contents, then signalled to his mate to pass us in. We went in and accomplished our mission. Moses led the children of Israel to the bank of the Red Sea. When he saw no way forward he hesitated. Not knowing the magnitude of the power he was carrying with him, he lingered and started crying to God. But God told him back, "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward...lift up your rod over the sea and divide it!..." (Ex....

"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11 NKJV).              Have you heard the saying that Christmas comes but once a year? That's because the world has set aside a particular date, December 25 of every year to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world. It doesn't matter on which day of the week it falls, leap year or not, Christmas day is Christmas day.  To many Christians, particularly in the western world, it is the greatest day of the year. Even non-christians look forward to the day as a special holiday marked with joy and festivities; there are many who, like Christians, spend their money buying and shooting fire-crackers during the season! My wife and I asked two of our casual workers what a particular December public holiday was. They both said 'Keresimesi' (Christmas in vernacular). But it was not Christmas; it turned out to be Mohammed's birthday which fel...

The book of psalms is a collection of Hebrew poetry and songs compiled for use in individual, devotional and congregational communion. It reflects the religious, relational and worship life of the Hebrew race for about 1000 years of their history. It is composed of 150 chapters, comprising King David's poems, songs and prayers (50%), those by Asaph (8%), Korah's sons (8%), Moses, Solomon and Ethan (1 song each), other named psalmists (26%) and other unnamed writers (6%). Bible scholar Dr. Charles Greene explains the popular religious use of psalms: "In the course of dealing with the adversities of life, people are often frustrated by not being able to express adequately their emotional pain or mental anguish. The psalms release us from that frustration. With emotionally drenched complaints, humble confessions, desperate pleas, penitent prayers or screams of pain, the writers of the psalms skillfully expose and express the yearning of our deepest thoughts...By song and spi...