OLUSEGUN ISAAC BLOG

  Worship Devotional.  Sunday May 26, 2024 _Foremost Names and Titles of Jesus_  SON OF MAN _And the high priest answered and said to Him, “I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!” Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”_ (Matthew 26:63-64 NKJV)       My late father left us in Lagos in the late nineteen forties to resume work at the newly founded University of Ibadan. When he had settled down, he brought his whole family to him in Ibadan and we lived in Oke Bola among his friends. We had always addressed him fondly as 'Dad' and the appellation soon spread around the friendly neighbourhood. So everyone called him 'Dad', and called us 'Omo Dad', meaning Son or Child of Dad. That became our family identity!      Jesus's conception was by the Holy Spirit and He...

 Worship Devotional. Sunday May 12, 2024   _Foremost Names and Titles of Jesus_  SON OF GOD    _“...The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God"._ (Luke 1:35 NKJV)       There's this familiar Nigerian joke we sometimes crack when a boy or man we were just talking about suddenly turns up unexpectedly in our midst. We declare, "You are the true son of your father"! I am not sure the joke applies to women or girls!        When Jesus asked His disciples whom they say He is, Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Mt. 16:16). After the baptism of Jesus, God pointedly announced Jesus as His beloved Son for the world to hear, adding that He is well pleased with Him. In my view, that pronouncement by God Himself, clearly heard by the people during Jesus' days on earth, was enough to co...

 _Foremost Names and Titles of Jesus_  KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS   _'And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.'_ (Revelation 19:16 NKJV).       Children's Day, presently celebrated every May 27 in many parts of the world, Nigeria inclusive, started as Empire Day, a day observed throughout the British Empire since the first decade of the twentieth century. It was a day set aside to honour the British Queen as the imperial head of the British Commonwealth, Nigeria being a member. As schools children, we had the privilege of being lined up on the streets waving our mini British flags, a.k.a. 'Union Jack', cheering and hailing the sovereign Queen of Commonwealth nations. Today only relics of the British Empire remain. And it is the same with other kingdoms of this world.       A verse of scripture states, '... “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ; a...

IMMANUEL   _“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”_ (Matthew 1:23 NKJV) Here's a chat with a young father: "You named your son Emmanuel, any particular reason?" "We bear English names in my family. My father gave him the name. Mine is John." "Emmanuel is not an English name, it is a bible name." "I know. I love the name; I chose the name among many that were given the boy." "Do you know it's meaning?" "Not really, I just love calling my son by that name!" "Why?" "It sounds religious, I'm sure you know I'm a Christian." It is obvious from this chat that many are yet to know the truth behind the name and person of Jesus. This is because not every Christian is a true believer in Him, although one prays it was so.        'Immanuel' is translated 'God with us', and is the fulfilment of an...

MESSIAH  “ What about you?” he asked them (His disciples), “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. ”  (Matt.16:15-16 GNB) .          In 1960 as a young lad stepping into the magnificent edifice of Christ Church Cathedral, Marina, Lagos for the first time  I couldn't stop marvelling at the superb, intricate Gothic architecture, hardly able to concentrate on our confirmation through hand-laying ceremony that was going on. Of greatest interest to me was the glass-stained colourful picture of Christ on the cross prominently displayed up above the back of the altar. To me it was like really seeing and knowing the Person of Christ, the Saviour of the world!       We read in John's gospel, 'One of the two who heard John speak, and (who) followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is trans...

ALPHA AND OMEGA “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (Rev. 22:13).      The first letter in the Greek and Hebrew alphabets are 'alpha' and 'aleph' respectively. In the animal kingdom, the first in any group of the same species is named the alpha, and is usually the dominant male. He is the head of the herd, the respected and acclaimed leader whom all the others fear and to whose authority they submit. Like the king, the alpha male rules, defends and judges the others in the group, quick to free the innocent from the oppression of the wicked, and punish the guilty one. He stands in the forefront and defends their territory in the event of  any external attack. He is the image of Jesus Christ in that animal kingdom. Jesus is the King among men, His own kingdom. He is The Alpha!       Jesus is also The Omega - the last letter in the Greek alphabet, thus He will be the end of it all! By the same setting, the d...

  LOVING " Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.  " (I John 4:7-8 NKJV)       The loving nature of God was illustrated by Jesus in the story of the prodigal son. The younger one of two sons walked up to their father one day and demanded that all his own inheritance be given him. The father gave him, he left home, went abroad and squandered his fortune. After living in penury for a while, he came to his senses and went back home. The father, who all the while had been longing to have back his lost son, sighted him first, ran out and welcomed him back with tears and open arms. The father slaughtered his treasured fatted cow (most likely to atone for the sins of the lost son) and threw a party.         Writer James Banks, in Our Daily Bread devotional, quipped, "God doesn't love us for who we are, what we have done o...

  Painting by Tolunimi Ojosipe-Isaac GOD IS MERCIFUL   And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord  God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth..."  (Exodus 34:6 NKJV) ‬‬       One Saturday decades ago, the annual Intercollegiate Debate in Western State took place in a foremost secondary school in Ibadan, and because of the well-groomed girls usually in attendance, four of us broke bounds from our boarding house in Ijebu Ode and came to the attractive gathering on our own, not as part of the school's team. On Monday morning to our chagrin, we were arraigned before the principal during morning assembly. Normally the  offence attracted two weeks suspension at home, but instead we were sentenced to weeding our overgrown athletics field, for which I was still thankful! Else, how would I have explained my rascality at home?        In the bible, the Lord God described Himsel a...

Worship Devotional.  Sunday March 17, 2024.   GOD IS JUST‬    Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.  (Acts 10:34-35 NKJV).      There is this saying, 'Spare the rod and spoil the child', but I was not that sort of father to my children while bringing them up. I introduced a practice that meted out punishment commensurate with the offence. For instance, acts of disobedience, mischief, 'two-fighting', beating or bullying your younger one, breaking or spoiling something valuable in carelessness all fetched punishments depending on the gravity of each offence. And we all accepted the practice as fair!       The Hebrew word translated as justice - Mishpat , actually means more than just fairness in court. It describes God as just – because He is Holy, He sets the ultimate standard. He determines the beginn...

  Worship Devotional.  Sunday March 10, 2024 GOD IS SELF-EXISTENT  Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.    ( Psalm 90:2 NKJV)                We dug a fish pond on my site, then let water into it and treated the water ready for stocking with fish. I asked the fishery attendant when we will do the stocking, and he said when enough micronutrients had come up in the pond. I asked him when and from where and he said, "I don't know; they come from nowhere; they just appear!" True to that statement, in a few days, the water started turning green before our eyes until it was ready for stocking with fingerlings!        Scholars define God’s self-existence as His Aseity, derived from the Latin words _'a'_ and _'se'_ which may be translated 'non' and 'being', saying God's existence is derived from Himself, having...