OLUSEGUN ISAAC BLOG

  Text:  The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.  (Matthew 19:20-22) Have you heard the saying about the cat by the riverside that wants to eat fish but does not want its paws wet? So it is with us humans; everyone wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die! There's always a price to pay. The dictionary defines complacency as 'A feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction, especially when coupled with an unawareness of danger, trouble, or controversy'. A parent is complacent when he or she desires God-fearing children but doesn't train them in the way of the Lord. A leader who wants success but condones sloppiness among his followers is complacent. A pastor who wants a ...

  Jesus admonished His disciples in Matthew 7:15-16, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Men do not gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles". This admonition does not address ministers in churches alone but also addresses parents and their children, the discipler and his disciple, mentor and mentee, leader and follower, master and servant, as well as trainer and trainee or apprentice. Recently we lost a politically influential icon in our estate. Many of us residents hardly knew the man because of his nature and the exigencies of his office, but his children were very friendly and well mannered. My heart felt very heavy when I saw the once little girl who was very close to my late daughter crying profusely when she saw me. She had come from Canada to give her father a befitting burial. I comforted her from my heart. To me, her father had lived well. Among his childre...

Introduction A friend of ours whom we mocked as 'S.U.' before we ourselves found Christ and who was suffering from SCD and was too sickly to partake in our frivolities at our youthful days now lives a happy life in the U.S.A. He is now in his late sixties living in joy and prosperity as a husband and father of great children. His love for Christ and committed prayer life has sustained him!   The World Health Organisation recommended that “Where disorders are common, special dedicated Centers are required, to ensure adequate services for treatment and prevention” No country in the world qualifies for this more than Nigeria where one in every four persons is a healthy carrier of the sickle cell gene (Hb AS). Although Nigeria shares this characteristic with neighbouring countries, its large population of over 180 million sets it apart with regard to the number of healthy carriers and, consequently, the number of  children born annually with SCD. In numerical terms, over 40 m...

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.  (Galatians 6:9-10). There's this story making rounds on social media of a hungry man who hadn't eaten for days. He went to a canteen and begged the owner for food on credit. She bluntly refused to give the man food claiming that so many people had failed to pay her to whom she sold on credit. After being severally refused, the hungry man sat dejected by the entrance as several people came in and out of the canteen to eat, ignoring the hungry man crouched by the entrance. Finally, a man came, asked for the matter with the man who appeared to have fallen asleep and the owner narrated the story. The man was moved with compassion; he paid for a good serving to feed the hungry man, but alas on getting to him, they found that the man was not sleeping but had died. Doing go...

  Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. But David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker. ( 2Samuel 3:1NKJV).  If you are going through a tough time, know that it will not last forever. And know that if you are tough, you will make it through. Know that tough times never last, but tough people do!...What separates the people who make it through the tough times and those who don’t is how they handle it. The people who make it through are the ones who are tough.        Televangelist and motivational writer Robert  H. Schuller wrote, "We all experience difficulties in life, fail, divorce, bankruptcy. relative passed away, and countless other scenarios. Going through these situations is no easy task. Sometimes we just want to give up and raise our hands silently. It's easy to see why. These are painful situations that strike directly at the core of our humanity."      If ...

  But Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “Look, my master has spared Naaman this Syrian, while not receiving from his hands what he brought; but as the Lord lives, I will run after him and take something from him.”  (2Kings 5:20) I came across this incredible story of a pastor who told his congregation at the dawn of a new year to give to him personally as their spiritual father, not the church, their entire month's salaries for his own welfare. He promised them unusual breakthroughs in their finances before the middle of the year, and went further to promise them he would refund to anyone of them who hadn't received his or her miracle several fold in return by then. Avarice is defined as excessive desire for more than one needs or deserves.This single, uncommonly used word has a long list of synonyms in the dictionary: it is defined as acquisitiveness, avidity, covetousness, cupidity, graspingness, greed, and grabbiness. The pity behind this nefarious act by ...

And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.  (Genesis 1:12) The banana tree is a unique plant. Unlike other fruit trees that bear fruit seasonally and continue to grow, the banana tree grows to its fullest, bears one bunch of fruits, gives rise to at least one seedling in its place, then dies. Thus it reproduces its own kind not by its fruit, but by bearing its young! Almost all other fruit trees reproduce themselves through dispersal of their seeds.       The Almighty God has blessed all creatures living on earth to reproduce themselves so as to perpetuate their species. The bible says, 'Then God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ' (Genesis 1:28). ...

 ' And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.'  (2 Corinthians 3:18 AMP)   Have you watched a full-grown, completely formed butterfly emerge from it's pupa cocoon and immediately fly away? Scientists call it complete metamorphosis - a progressive change in stages from egg to larva to pupa to adult. But the change only ultimately produces another butterfly, not a moth, showing no shift in nature. A grain of corn can grow to become a cob of maize, producing more corn, but a piece of wood when burnt in fire becomes charcoal, an irrevocable change. The Merrien Webster dictionary defines paradigm shift as a change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way. Example is the experience of Apostle Paul when he had an enco...

'Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest. How long will you slumber, O sluggard? When will you rise from your sleep?' (Proverbs 6:6-9 NKJV). I have often watched ants in action and I believe what the bible says of them. Once as I sat on the paved steps leading to my garden chewing coconut, a few crumbs fell by my side and I planned to pick them up when leaving later. Minutes after when I looked, I saw a number of ants carrying the crumbs away to a far off hole in the pavement. To encourage them, I threw more crumbs on the spot and to my amazement, a larger contingent arrived and were carting the bounty away, some carrying pieces much bigger than their own size! And it all started with one single ant on patrol which found food and ran back to base, not empty-handed, but took with it a piece of the food and brought others back to the discovery...

  '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." And another statement by him: "It doesn't matter where you start, as long as you finish strong. There are better starters ...