Emotional Torture in Relationships

Samson as a case study 

Then she said to him, "How can you say, 'I love you,' when you won't confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven't told me the secret of your great strength." With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death. Judg. 16:15-16NIV

Take note of the ground upon which Delilah exploited Samson to his own death; he loved her and she knew it. When she undertook that assignment from the enemies of Samson, they knew that she will surely succeed because Samson loved her. Observe that she did not pick up a knife or gun, but employed nagging as a weapon. She had an agenda to kill him because she did not value him. She said that Samson made a fool of her because he managed to remain safe for a few days longer. The love was a one-sided love; Delilah did not love Samson and we do not need to flog that issue.

It is a pity that there are many people who are into relationships with someone who does not feel for them the same way they felt for the loved. Unfortunately, there is no way to read their mind. It is also very unfortunate that the person in love is blinded by their emotional attachment to the one they love. Unsuspecting persons have fled from the care of those who loved them into the arms of those who hated them enough to kill them.

 Like the case of Samson, these people may be currently bound in a marriage relationship. There was the case of a Christian woman whose husband forced her finger between their iron door and cut it off. Her pastor’s wife told her to leave the house for a time but she refused claiming that she loved him dearly. The man eventually killed her. There was another case of a pastor whose wife’s behavior was undermining his ministry. She often went to church late and by her negative attitude drove away some members of the church. Incidentally they lived in the hometown of the woman. That meant that he repeatedly reported her to her parents but their counsel fell on deaf ears. On a particular occasion, the woman did not turnout for midweek evening service but stayed back in her business place to trade. After the service, the pastor went again to report to her parents, who told him to go and call her. When he got to her stall, she started badmouthing him and in anger he struck her with his fist and she dropped down and died. I don’t know whether he is out of the prison yet.

HOW TO HANDLE SUCH A SITUATION

We will start by saying that there are people who did not have an original intention to torture their partner. The truth is that they are just being them self. That is the way they behave and no matter how you advise them, they are not able to change. That does not change the fact that they are torturing their partner. It could be a cooking or eating manners; it could be in dress code or other human mannerisms but the other party finds it repulsive. Children could behave in ways that torture their parents because they are not following the right paths of life. This has resulted in heartbreak and in some cases, premature death through heart failure. By this we are also calling on the attention of my reader to be mindful of your behavior towards those who love you. You may be killing them gradually. I have met widows who now live in regret because they know that their behavior led to the death of their husband. A young man who is currently jobless and into drug addiction wept before me as he said, “If only I listened to my pastor while he was alive. Now he has died and my life is messed up like this”. Unfortunately, he learned his lessons when it was too late.

For the victims in this kind of situation, my candid advice is that, if it is possible, the other party should find a way to adjust their mind. This is because you will never find a perfect person anywhere. Through prayers and the support of the Holy Spirit, you will be able to move on.

It is needful to mention here that some of these offensive behaviors are inspired by demons. At the time of writing this article, we are talking of the case of a wealthy man who was murdered by his son. The young man had been known for drug abuse. His reason for killing his father was because he did not buy him a beautiful car. My brief time in the deliverance ministry has brought many of such cases my way.

What I mean is that if the issue on hand is like the case of Samson and Delilah where the other party has proven himself or herself a mortal enemy, I will strongly advise you to consider a permanent solution to keep both of you alive. The step you may need to take may be a difficult one, but you need to be alive to explain yourself. I want to say this without the fear of controversy, if you are currently in a life-threatening marital relationship, please leave for some time. If you notice some quire dangerous attitude in someone you are in a relationship with, do not wait to verify. Take some break to allow your mind to think freely.

We are not told how samson met Delilah but I have often told young people not to seek a serious relationship with someone who does not like your tribe, your job or your religion. Delilah was a Philistine woman and Samson was an enemy to the Philistines and the only reason he was alive in Delilah’s family house was because all the efforts they made to kill him had failed. We cannot be sure that one of Delilah’s relations was not among the one thousand Philistines Samson had killed with a jaw bone.

If you propose to a lady and she says something like, “I told myself that I will never marry someone like or from …. ( eg. Pastor or Igbo man) .. or any such thing. My candid advice is that you do not make further effort to win the person over. I know very good servants of God who got married to women they managed to persuade that way and I cannot remember any of the marriages that ended well.

Read people’s behavior and when they give an indication that they do not like you or hate something about you, do not stay around to change their mind. You can do that from a safe distance. If your spouse, son or daughter begins to show violent life-threatening tendencies, take it as a statement from them. Three times Samson woke up from his sleep to find that Delilah had attempted the things she believed would reduce him to a weak man, yet he kept staying in the same house with her.

Let me add that, before you take a final decision about this matter, make out time to discuss the issue with the other party to explain how you feel. If he continues, you can talk to the pastor of your church or someone they respect. Unfortunately, there are people who are in marriages without being duly married and they do not belong to any local church. Such people are lost when they find themselves in such conditions. It is not true that third parties should not be involved in marriage matters. God was the third party in Adam’s marriage to Even, and that was the first marriage. The wrong notion that there should not be a third party in marriage matters have destroyed many Samsons in the houses of Delilah, because they died in silence.

I like to warn against the kind of counsels you listen to.

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. Ps 1:1-2NIV

We have cases of young women who sought counsels from aging prostitutes, witchdoctors and fake prophets and they made matters worse. That is one of my strong reasons to advise you to have a relationship with a mature servant of God, who you can run to when you find yourself in this kind of situation. No matter how anointed a preacher is, do not trust serious marriage matters to him if he is not married, or if he has to listen in the spirit to guide you about your relationships. It is not a safe formula.

That will bring us to these vital matters.

Your lifestyle will determine where you meet your connections. If you are the kind of person who is not committed as a Christian and visit nightclubs and gambling centers, I bet your spouse will come from those circles. Taking jobs in sin centers will only expose you to sinners. You never chose your parents or siblings; you only have the privilege to chose your friends and spouse. Do it wisely.

A disciplined prayer lifestyle and commitment in the things of the Lord, will protect you if you find yourself in that kind of unfortunate condition.

A life of covenant with God will surely be a wall of protection around you. Pay your tithe, be engaged in soul-winning ventures and serve God with any opportunity you find. I can assure you that the Lord will defend you when you need Him. Serve God in truth.

This another side of this matter which we cannot discuss here. And that is Soul-Tie. Some people will gladly leave but they are bound to that person through an ungodly soul-tie.

You can read more about this in my book on the subject. It is available on the PNUR Bookstore and the Selar. Contact me for a direct purchase.

If you have not joined the PNUR Family WhatsApp Platform, I will gladly add you if you contact me.

I love to get your reaction.

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com

MY CASE IS DIFFERENT

TRUMPET OF GOD’S DELIVERANCE

I have great news from the Lord Jesus Christ for you in this new month. 

When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the Lord your God and rescued from your enemies. Also at your times of rejoicing — your appointed feasts and New Moon festivals — you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the Lord your God."  Num 10:9-10NIV

It is a hard thing to confess but it needs to be told; many children of God are currently being oppressed in the land and territories that God has given them. The bible even said that some children of God are currently living in lands that are sick, hence they need healing. 2 Chron. 7:14.

It is not always true that the reason you do not have peace in your marriage is because your spouse is not God’s will for you. It is not always true that the reason your business is not doing well is because it is not where God wants you to be. I have met people who have moved from city to city and from country to country looking for greener pastures. Unfortunately, they suffer the same thing in every new city they moved to. The fact is that some enemies have been following them about to oppress them in the land God has given to them.

Sigh!

Take note that we are supposed to go to war against the enemies that are oppressing us. We are not to fold our hands while we sit in a corner blowing our trumpet. We ought to engage the enemies and the kind of enemies will determine the way we engage them.

If they are demons, we engage them through warfare prayers.

The enemies of ignorance and lack of knowledge in a particular field of interest, are to be engaged through the discipline of reading and attending classes in the area.

If they are enemies called poverty and lack, we are not supposed to use only prayers. The bible tells us how to engage them.

You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, Deut. 30:8-9NIV

First step is to walk in obedience to God’s commandments.   Then, you attack poverty and lack by getting your hands into some kind of enterprise and the Lord will in His own place, prosper the works of your hands. If you are already involved in something but you are not seeing any results,  God will speak to you clearly this season.  Stay tuned to the Spirit 

For those in the ministry; as a servant of God, you do not only spend all the time on the mountain for warfare prayers, you need to launch out on outreaches, crusades and sharing of tracts in your neighborhood. Social media is a very effective platform to reach millions of souls. Instead of posting worldly contents, sports and politics online, use the platform to spread the gospel and tell the world about your ministry.

Why do we need to blow the trumpet?

The sound of the trumpet is to bring our God into the matter.

What I want to tell you is that this month will be a very busy one for us because we are going to war against all the enemies that oppress us in the land our God has given to us. The Holy Spirit does not deceive us; we are told that enemies will rise up to oppress us. They will employ different methods and use different channels. Some of these enemies are very powerful and we cannot engage them in our own power. That is why we have to blow our trumpet. We blow our trumpet to invite our God into the conflict. 

Someone could argue; why would God wait for us to invite Him?

That is the order.

That is the due process.

God created you a free moral being and He only gets involved in the matters you invite Him to.

It is not only in battles that we need to blow our trumpets. Our main text says that we also need to blow our trumpet to invite Him to our feasts and sacrifices. That means our church and fellowship services. 

Verse 8 of our text chapter says that it is the duty of the priests to blow the trumpets. In a sense this speaks of the pastors and those vested with the spiritual responsibility to mobilize the children of God.

Wait a minute! There is one great news for every one of us.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9NIV

You don’t have to wait for anyone to sound the trumpet for you. As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are a royal priesthood.

Praise God!

To blow our trumpet also means to shout out the praises of our God. If you have a trumpet, blow it. If you do not have one, use your voices and sing praises to God in this month. When you begin to sing praises and declare the mighty works and wonders of our great God, the Lord will step in and will deliver you. It is a promise from our trustworthy God. 

I need to remind  you of this.

The PNUR Family has determined to invest one hour of every of the 31 days of the month of May to blow our trumpet to our God. 

At the Door of Hope Christian Center, Port Harcourt, we placed it at 8 – 9 PM every evening. We assemble to blow our trumpet to our God. The trumpet of God’s deliverance.

Yes, He promised to rescue, deliver or save us from those enemies that want to oppress in the land the Lord has given to us.

You can choose your own time in your country, but the important thing is that you blow your trumpet.

I will come back to you on this subject as we start this journey.

Remain in the place of prayer.

Happy New Month 

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com

01 IS IT POSSIBLE TO HEAR FROM GOD TODAY?

 Is It Possible to Hear from God Today? 1

Does God still speak to people today as in bible days? The answer is yes. 

Can anybody, I mean any human being, irrespective of his religion or denomination hear the voice of God? The answer is Yes. 

Why then is it that not many people can boldly confess to have heard from God? That is why we are making this journey on this meditation. 

Many Christians have suffered some casualty because they are not able to hear from God. Some out of ignorance have heard from the devil and erroneously ascribed it to God and so suffered for it. There are people who just close their eyes for few seconds and then open the bible to any page and claim that as God’s message to them. In as much as that is not totally wrong, why should one seek the audience of a living being like God like that? Why should a child of God seek the opinion or audience of his living heavenly father as some operate with a gambling machine?

It is needful that we understand that every Christian should have a natural appetite and desire to hear from God. To put it in another way, it is not possible to find a genuine child of God who does not have a strong desire to hear God speak to him or her. Before we got born again, there is something in us that was not working and that is what I call “the Life of God”. That Life of God is the inherent nature of God which man possessed at creation as the breath of God entered him. When man sinned against God at the Garden of Eden by choosing to disobey God at the suggestion of the devil, that life of God suffered a major blow and died. At the point of salvation, that thing comes alive again. The spirit nature of man resurrects and begins to strive to relate with like spirits. Remember that man was made in the likeness and image of God. The result of this is the questions newly born again people ask.

What do I do next?

How do I overcome temptations?

How do I pray?

How do I read and understand my bible?

How can I serve God in the right way?

And most importantly, how do I hear the voice of God?

If anyone that claims to be a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ does not have these kind of questions bubbling up in him or her, there is every strong reason to doubt that the person is really born again. Hence we can deduce that every genuine child of God deliberately sets his or heart to know and try to hear God’s voice. Most people who may not ask still have the question in their heart but do not know how to communicate it. 

That is also why many believers run here and there looking for prophets that will tell them what God has for them. Unfortunately, some church denominations do not see the need to give attention to this subject. Instead they focus on empty theology and arguments about bible terminologies.

When the believer is not able to connect and relate with God the temptation is to conclude that God does not exist. The truth is that most so-called atheists are only expressing their frustration in their inability to hear from God. They will really be glad to hear from Him and when they eventually do, the results is the many books of testimonies of life encounter with God. In some cases, evil spirits take advantage of some people and they begin to hear from demons.

In this meditation my intention is to guide my reader to recognize and hear God speak.

Welcome on board.

Emma, your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com

12 PITFALLS THAT RUIN MIMISTERS OF THE GOSPEL WHO ARE DOING OTHER SECULAR JOBS OR BUSINESSES

I am led to write these down for you, so your ministry assignment will succeed because you have learned to avoid the things that kill the ministry of ministers who are employed in secular jobs or who are engaged in secular businesses.

Most people erroneously believe that working under somebody is more difficult than being self-employed. The truth is that you need more discipline when you are your own boss and greater responsibility is required of you. The problem however is that there

is nobody to demand accounting from you or to compel you to achieve.

If you have somebody over you, the person will put you under pressure and express disappointment if you neglect your duties. On the reverse, when you are your own boss, you can procrastinate for as long as you wish and nobody will place a demand on you. The result is that the ministry will die and such persons will say that their ministry failed because GOD DID NOT CALL THEM.

Most people who are earning peanut from paid jobs would have achieved more if only they disciplined themselves to build their own private enterprises. Absence of this self-discipline is the reason why most pioneer ministry works and private businesses suffer and eventually fail.

I want your rapt attention here!

How do you avoid seeing the work of the Lord suffer in your hands?

1. Respect the ministry work in your hand. That means to treat it as important. You cannot treat it as important if you don’t consider it so. Many people see ministry assignment as part time and at the end of the day, they don’t allocate a particular amount of time to it

2. Understand your assignment. Soul winning and building the Body of Christ is very important to God. Ministry is not one of the activities of your day or one of the businesses one can spend time on. Ministry is God’s mandate for your life to reach mankind. There is no amount of money you can give to God that He will take in the place of one soul. Ministry means to co-labor with God for soul winning

3. Allocate specific time to the work of the ministry. Just as we said earlier, if you treat ministry with respect you will have the time set aside for it. When that time comes, you must show that you respect your ministry work by turning down every other distraction to turn over to the ministry assignment

4. Set up your office structure for the ministry. This does not only mean in the sense of a building or rented office. If you meet with a team of even one person in your house, see it as office. Let there be spelt out goals for this team when you meet and remember to discuss those goals

5. Have material proof that you have a ministry such as, NAME, NESWLETTERS, TRACTS, BOOKS, FELLOWSHIP DAYS and MEETING TIME AND PLACE

6. Don’t neglect fiscal budget for the ministry. You have to decide the amount of money you are setting aside for your ministry work and the sources of such monies. It does not matter whether you have it now or not. Most ministries die because the minister only commit an amount of money to it from what is left over from other expenses. So if there is no left overs, then ministry has to wait. This will kill your ministry.

7. Create periodic report of how far you are reaching at the goals of your ministry. It does not matter how small, let there be the reports.

8. Submit your reports to the one you are accountable to. Whether you are doing independent work or you are heading a chapter or branch of a bigger organization, discipline yourself to submit your report. There is one challenge here if you are independent; nobody has the right to demand you give an account if you don’t decide to submit it yourself

9. Don’t build team with people who are too preoccupied with their own vision or those who see you as their meal ticket but not willing to grow. In fact, if you can afford it, employ one or two staff you can command. They are better than volunteers you cannot hold to account

10. Appreciate your team when they do well. Ask questions about their welfare and pray and counsel them. There is nothing wrong with assisting financially if you have but don’t waste resources on people who are not eager to grow. That is also why you have to organize periodic training and teaching for them. Once you observe a sign of deliberate insubordination, relieve that person. Rather work alone than work with a rebel. No amount of service he can give that will make up for the damage he will cost you the day he leaves.

11. Let the senior minister you are submitting to know by your attitude that you are listening to him. You do this by repeating the instructions he gave to you in your last meeting and explaining how you were able to go with it. You can also do this by sending him questions about issues you are facing in the ministry. You can also send your tithe and seed faith either monthly or as the Lord blesses you. If you don’t, he may loss you in the midst of other activities

12. Keep going for training; keeping studying and attend conferences from different areas. These will keep you fresh and update. But remember to let your mentor know of new teachings you get from other sources. Upcoming ministers have suffered spiritual derail because of some poison gotten from wrong sources.

I hope you find this helpful.

I love to get your reactions on this

Emma your brother pnurnigeria@gmail.com 

AGAINST THE TRUTH

03 THEY ALL MET HIM AT THE CROSS 

Against the truth

The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, "Surely this was a righteous man." Luke 23:47NIV

And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!" Mark 15:39 NIV

This centurion also met Jesus Christ at the cross. A centurion is a senior army officer who has a hundred other officers directly under his command. He is the equivalent of a Captain in the Nigeria army. Take note of the clause Matthew applied in his own account, “who stood there in front of Jesus…” That is a professional term. He was standing there as a call to duty. If he was such a high-ranking military officer, then it was his underlines who molested the Lord Jesus Christ; it was his boys who beat Jesus; it was his boys who tore His cloths; it was his boys who put the crown of thorns on His head; it was his boys who blindfolded Him, struck Him and asked Him. “Prophet, tell me who struck you?”

Finally, it was soldiers under him who nailed the Lord to the cross and pushed the cross to a standing position. He stood there that day as a seal of the government’s approval for the gruesome murder of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the senior army officer who was in charge of the killing of a righteous man from whose blood, even the governor, Pilate, had washed his hands. (Matt. 27:19). It is even safe to say he watched the governor wash his hands and the righteous man was handed directly to him as the head of that squad.

We can go further to say that he was the one who pointed at Simon of Cyrene and shouted, “Hey, you bloody civilian, “Come and carry this cross with Him!” (Mark. 15:21)

If you do not know, let me tell you, when one of the condemned criminals rebuked his colleague in crime, “Don’t you fear God?”, he heard it. It is even safe to say that it was at that point that his conscience began to prick him and it was his search for the answer to that general question that forced him to acknowledge that Jesus Christ was the son of God. Even though Luke said, a righteous man. Whichever one he used, it is not a light thing for corrupt men to recognize godly virtues in others and to publicly attest to it.

His conviction did not come because the Lord Jesus jumped down from the cross but because of the manner in which He died. It is not true that the people of the world will quickly repent when they see plenty of money around the believers. It is what we do in the times of difficulty that will tell them the quality of goodness in us. This is a talk for another day but don’t forget that it was the manner Jesus Christ died that convinced him.

Let us go further to the resurrection morning; we cannot say for sure whether he was there but they were soldiers who were under his command who witnessed when a mighty angel from heaven came down and rolled away the rock that covered the tomb of Jesus Christ. we are told that in fear they fell like dead men. (Matt. 28:1-8). It is most likely that he was the one they called first to report this strange but holy occurrence, and he in turn reported to the religious leaders.

When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. Matt 28:12-15NIV

If they gave the soldiers under him a large sum of money, it is safe to say that the money was handed to him in a bulk and the instruction on what they should tell the public was passed directly to him. He was the one who received the bribe in bulk and distributed to every soldier their portion.

When he got home that day, his wife obviously asked him how it went at his duty post, he lied to his family; he lied to his sons and daughters, he lied to his neighbors and to everyone he met. He knew the truth but he chose to spread a lie. He spread the lie because he was bribed.

Times have come and passed; we have it on record that he knew the truth but chose to spread the lie. He did not believe the lie but he spread the lie.

Here again we witness how two principal groups of people who the society look up to as the custodians of the truth, gang up to keep the people in darkness. It is not because they did not know the truth but the lie protected their interest. Some church leaders still do this today; they speak against some other churches and preachers because they fear that if their congregation hear the truth, they would lose the money they get from them. So, they continue to enforce lies.

Hmmm!

There are people who join to spread lies on the social media against some Christian leaders, not because they do bot know the truth but they wanted to sustain the narrative that suits their ego. They do not pay tithe and have never paid but they keep spreading the lie that all pastors do is to collect other people’s money. Once they hear something negative about someone they dislike, they spread it, not because they believe it but because the information feeds their wish for that person.

Till date, there are men and women in authority who receive money or any other kind of compensation to spread lies. Medical workers give those who come to seek medical attention wrong medical testimony because that is how they make their money. some ignorant patient is still receiving injection for days for a sickness he does not have because the Christian doctor have told lies. Someone is still in detention because a Christian police officer will not testify to his innocence. In our offices and homes, we speak lies in words and the character we exhibit and the onlookers believe that our character is the way the followers of Jesus Christ behave.

Knowledge is not Power; It is what you do with the knowledge that brings the power. No amount of education can transform the life of a person who has refused to apply what he has learned. Our society is not in lack of men and women of character because of the lack of information. The moral decline in our society is not because the pastors are not teaching the truth. Every other Sunday service, people gather in churches to hear the word of God but when they walk away, they still act against the truth they know.

We do not see the bribe they received, but we are left with the pack of lies they leave behind years after they have died. Like the centurion in our bible account, we have moved from the days we acted in ignorance and by continuing to stay around the Church and other believers, we have come to know the truth about the Church and the gospel she preaches. Unfortunately, we continue to spread the lies.

Jesus Christ is risen and you know the truth.

Will you now open your mouth and declare the truth to your circle of influence?

Let it be said about you, “He too met Jesus Christ at the cross in 2026 and all things changed”.

To be continued.

SIMON: FOUND BY GRACE

N8

 Simon: Found by grace

A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. Mark 15:21NIV

Just one verse and one mention but it changed the course of the entire story. A great number of has people has claimed they found their purpose in life and peace with God when they went before the Cross. But here is a man to whom the Cross went. Some went in search of Calvary because they have lost everything but here is a man who was not even interested in the Cross but the grace found him.

I want to let you know that this story was documented some years after the actual event. Simon of Cyrene was not a believer before this time. It is even possible that his entire family had no interest in all this talk about a Jew who claimed to have been sent by God for the salvation of the whole world.

It is possible that he heard rumors of the birth of the messiah but he was not interested. He probably heard about the killing of some children by Herod but he was too occupied with his private life.

Then, all the stories about many miracles of healing, casting out of demons, multiplication of bread and walking on the water all performed by the one they called the messiah but Simon was not interested.

A time came when the discussions in his city revolved around the man called Jesus of Nazareth, some spoke for him while others spoke against him, but Simon did not want to be distracted..

It is possible someone came to tell his family that the man Jesus of Nazareth has been arrested and they were about to crucify him but Simon picked up his back sack and went to work.

While Pilate battled to make the crowd to change their minds but failed; then they took Jesus Christ to be tortured, His cloths ripped off and beaten like a criminal, Simon was not interested. They placed a crown of thorns on His head and struck his head with mock royal staff, Simon was busy with his life.

Then they dragged Him out and placed a heavy cross on His shoulder and instructed Him to carry it to the place He would later be crucified.

Every moment made the sufferings of Jesus heavier; most people were sorry but no one offered to help.

It was in this moment that Simon came by; he did not come to observe; he did not come in scrutiny and he did come to understand why all this suffering by the son of God.

As was his habit, he wanted to walk past and continue with his old life.

That was when divine providence moved the heart of the soldiers; God had to employ the soldiers who will then apply force. Our main text said that they forced him to carry the cross for Jesus. The account indicates that once he took the cross, he never dropped until they got to where Jesus was crucified. That one time he took the cross, he never walked away again. He stood there to observe the crucifixion.

I strongly believe that the impression of that one encounter remained with him. When he later got home and shared the account with his family, the glory he brought home overshadowed them too.

The result was that his entire family surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ and two of his son eventually reputed force in the Church, so that the writer of that story did not need to explain them. Simon was the father of Rufus and Alexander.

How can we be sure of this?

Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. Rom 16:13NIV

That was Apostle Paul talking about this well known Rufus again. Then, Simon’s wife was like a mother to Paul.

While he lived his selfish life no one knew about him. But when he put his hands to help the Lord with the cross, he found purpose. Years after, his name was enshrined in God’s book. His family found relevance.

Hear me today child of God; if you are like those who think that you can make it without Jesus.

Are you among those who think it boring to talk about Christian service?

Are you like those who will not accept the :Lord’s call to serve in the mission field?

Are you among those who fear suffering and so want to focus on becoming rich in this world’s wealth?

Let me suggest something for you; pick up the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be shocked how your life will begin to make a meaning.

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 1 Cor 1:26-30NIV

Before I let you go for now, let me sound a warning; not everyone was as fortunate as Simon. Some died before they could bow. There are those who come to carry the cross when they have wasted all of their energy chasing vanity.

Now they seem too heavy for them because their body strength has sagged.

If you are still a youth, take up the cross now.

It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. Lam 3:27NIV

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them"— before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain. Eccl 12:1-2 NIV