One of the most powerful virtues in our Christian walk is forgiveness and yet it is also one of the least practiced.  I must admit; it’s not easy as our natural tendency is to get back at people when they offend or hurt us deeply. People will go as far as quoting the Old Testament passage that says … “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth… “(Exod 21:2, Lev 24:20, Deut 19:21). However, it is inevitable that once we live here on earth , we’ll get offended one way or another in our dealings with people. It is therefore imperative that , we overcome unforgiveness with the help of the Holy Spirit  and enjoy all the benefits of God’s Kingdom.

When we carefully study the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ, he said he was COMMANDING us to LOVE one another just as he had loved us. Forgiveness is part of walking in love and if it is a commandment, then we have no option but to gladly obey our Lord as true disciples. Besides, he is not expecting us to do  all he tells us to do in our own strength. We can do ALL THINGS through him who strengthens us (Phil 4:13).

So, why should we forgive? Firstly, it is a commandment and we can only experience the power of this new life and the benefits of the Kingdom when we walk in obedience. Jesus said if we really love him, we’ll keep his commandments (John 14:15). Secondly, if we expect to be forgiven by the Lord or by our fellow brothers and sisters, then we must do the same for others (Luke 11:4). Thirdly, it is a proven scientific fact that walking in bitterness and unforgiveness can result in diseases such as Hypertension, Heart attacks and emotional imbalances such as high stress levels. I’m sure we don’t want to attract all that junk into our bodies (remember our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit) when the people who supposedly have wronged us may be enjoying life oblivious to what we may be enduring simply because we’re not “LETTING GO” !

How do we forgive? Well, we just have to DECIDE to forgive if we say we love the Lord enough to want to please him in everything we do. For me, forgiveness is a decision and has nothing to do with how we FEEL. In fact, you may not even feel you’ve forgiven anytime you think about what was done against you or you see the one who caused you the pain. That is normal, but as you continue to remind yourself of the decision you’ve made to forgive and with the help of the Holy Spirit with time, the feelings will align with your decision with TIME.

To help us put all these in perspective, let’s examine one of the most powerful parables  Jesus narrated to his disciples about the importance of forgiveness. In Matthew 18:21:35, The apostle Peter asked Jesus how many times we should forgive our brother when he sins against us. Jesus replied by saying it should be 70 x 7 (i.e. 490 times for one person) after Peter had suggested 7 times. Jesus then compared the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN to this scenario about this servant who owed a King 10,000 talents (equivalent to 10 Million US Dollars) and begged for  more time to settle the debt when it was due. The King had mercy on him and forgave him ALL this huge debt. However, someone owed this servant  100 denarii (about 20 US Dollars) but this servant had his debtor thrown into prison even though the debtor asked for more time to settle the debt as well. On hearing the story, the King turned this servant over to the torturers (or tormenters) until he could pay up his debt which was considerably more.

The lesson here is this; The servant owing this King (10M US) is equivalent to our debt of sin which would take us all to HELL. There is no way we could have paid for our redemption .  Whatever sin or wrong that may have been committed against us is equivalent to us being owed ONLY $20. Trading off $20 with $10 Million, in my opinion, is the bargain of a lifetime. I think I would gladly do that anytime, any day. Do you remember the torturers? They are equivalent to demon spirits who will get free access to our lives because of our refusal to walk in forgiveness. I don’t know about you, but I would rather have the peace of God, free from any demonic oppression and enjoy all the benefits of being a citizen of the Kingdom of God than demons harassing my life.

I trust that anytime we’re faced with an issue of unforgiveness and we go back and meditate on this story, it will ease our pain and give us the strength to forgive as promptly as we can.

At last, Britain has a genuine talent in Jessica Ennis who has just been crowned world champion at this year’s championships in Berlin.

A country starved of natural talent in sports and over obsessed and guilty of making stars out of young “up and coming” sportsmen and women can now be proud of, what I believe, is a true talent who can go on and dominate this event in the near future.

I must admit that, I have never been a great fun of British sports because the press tend to over hype their sports personalities when they are yet to achieve any major honours. However, I sat watching the heptathlon on Saturday morning and the way I saw this young Brit scaling over the hurdles and high jump, I said to myself; “this girl is different”.

She seemed very comfortable in all 7 events and I think there is a very great capacity for improvement as well. She was very focused on every event as well as humble in her attitude when accessing her performances and chances at winning the event.

It is my belief that if Jessica is protected from the inevitable media hype that is bound to follow after her exploits in Berlin and focuses on improving upon this achievement, she will be a certainty for another gold medal in 2012.

In my opinion, to succeed in the Arts and Sports, the number one criteria has got to be the clear evidence of talent and gifting combined with dedication, discipline and hard work. To me, Jessica has got it all and can become a true sporting great.

I have just set up a new website which is dedicated to the provision of web hosting services, specifically aimed at, but not limited to the African market. Of course, once it’s on the Web, It’s GLOBAL

The internet has undoubtedly become an integral part of our day to day lives and it is unthinkable for an individual, business or organisation to have meaningful impact in our world today without a web presence. In fact, it would be virtually impossible to make any progress locally or globally in the next couple of years without taking advantage of the internet and its resources.

Acquiring a domain name, setting up associated email accounts and having a website are the first steps in consolidating your presence on the web.

Visionwebhost aims to make these facilities very affordable to individuals, businesses and organisations located in Africa and Ghana especially.

With excellent pricing and extremely attractive packages, there is a package for everyone. They are simply unbeatable.

With add-on features such as the design of a FREE holding web page for those signing up for the web hosting package, it is certainly worth considering.

You can check out the website for more details at www.visionwebhost.net and send any queries or question to us via the contact page at www.visionwebhost.net/contact .

You can keep up to date with new developments at Visionwebhost by subscribing to the RSS Feeds from this site’s blog posts.

Please leave your comments by clicking the link below to your right.

Music is a universal language which transcends all cultural and ethnic barriers. Even when you don’t understand the lyrics of a song, the melody or rhythm can somehow get you tapping your toes or moving parts of your body. It is a well-known fact that therapists have prescribed soothing music as “medicine” to the emotionally troubled and have seen dramatic recoveries in some cases.

So, what exactly is the function of music (anointed music or gospel music) for God’s people? In the coming weeks I will attempt to use the scriptures to answer this question in the best possible way I can. I may not have all the answers, but with the insight I have gained in the last couple of years walking with the Lord, I hope to shed some light on this very crucial but most overlooked aspect of our worship experience.

The keynote scripture I will be using is Psalm 89:15 which states:

“Blessed are they that KNOW the JOYFUL SOUND. They will dwell O Lord in the light of your countenance”.

Joy is entirely different from happiness. Happiness is dependent on what’s happening, which implies that if everything around us is going fine, then we are happy.  However, when things go wrong, we become unstable and get involved in wrong things and speak wrong words. Joy on the other hand is maintaining a HEART condition of gratitude and positivity no matter what is happening around us, whether good or bad.  However, this is supernatural condition and cannot easily be faked for long.

“KNOWING the JOYFUL SOUND” is the ability to hear God’s word so powerfully communicated through the medium of music, which will keep you constantly in a state of Joy.  This means that music in the house of God must cut through the soul and touch the spirits of people because JOY is a fruit of the Spirit.  Music must not just excite but should heal and bring hope to people who are hurting. Producing this type of music, therefore requires more than putting melodies and words together to create a nice sound (as important as this is) – but that it must carry the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

In the next few weeks I will be getting into the nitty gritty of what I believe it takes to constantly and consistently produce that JOYFUL SOUND so that when broken people come into God’s house they will not leave the same.  The scripture in Psalm 47 says……. “There is a river whose streams make glad the City of God…..” must literally be fulfilled every time we gather in God’s house. The stream of the life of God (symbolic of a river since water is life giving) in His house must always make people glad (satisfy their thirst).

Join me next week as we explore this crucial topic together…………. See you!!!