“ WE WERE OFTEN TROUBLED, BUT NOT CRUSHED; SOMETIMES IN DOUBT, BUT NEVER IN DESPAIR; THOUGH SURROUNDED BY ENEMIES, BUT NEVER WITHOUT A FRIEND; THOUGH BADLY HURT AT TIMES, BUT NEVER DESTROYED.”
2 CORINTHIANS 4:8-9. (GNB).
TOPIC: - WHERE IS THE BALM OF GILEAD?
TEXT: Is there no balm in Gilead; Is there no physicians there? Why then is the health of the Daughter of my People not recovered? Jeremiah 8:22.
The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, but he’s too holy to behold iniquity; the Israelites would testify to this. Despite the love God has for the Israelites he could not withstand the stale of their sinfulness and they lost the protection and security they always enjoyed. You may be tempted to ask how and why? No other sin than the sin of sexual immorality, because of all the sins in the world sexual immorality is most detestable to God, though no sin is too small before him. for every sin a man commits is outside his body but sexual sin is against the body and our body is the temple of holy Ghost which lives in us; therefore we are enjoined to flee fornication.1Corinthians 6:18-20.
This leads us to the story of Balaam and Balak, Balaam was called upon to curse the Children of God but He couldn’t because they were a defenced city, God himself was their defender and he ended up blessing them instead of cursing them which means no city of this world could defeat them, but when they defiled themselves with adultery and started sleeping with strange Women and worshipped their gods, so God smote them by himself .
“And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand”.
Numbers 25: 9.
The two previous chapters portrayed how Balaam tried and failed, he could not curse them because God’s hand was mightily upon them and when he withdrew his hand of protection from them ;they were utterly destroyed and were defeated by nations who could not withstand them on a normal day.
Oftentimes, God regards reckless talks and desire for the things of this world as idolatry, We could ask our Brother Esau who for a morsel of food sold his birthright and one of the commandments says “Thou shall have no other gods before me”
Exodus 20:3.
Reuben: is another typical example of people who lost their blessing to sexual immorality; When he was supposed to receive his inheritance, as the first born it was transferred to Judah.
“Reuben, thou art my first born, my might and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity and the Excellency of power”
But our attention is on verse 4.
“Unstable as water; thou shall not excel, because thou wentest thou to thy Father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch”.
Genesis 49:3-4.
Many a times when we think God is silent concerning some issues of our lives; we are the root cause. There are some habits in our lives that have become idols in our hearts and whatever you choose to adore above your God has become an idol and a god; hence you are a slave to them; to some it is love of money, to some it is sex while to others it is alcoholics or hard drugs. You may think you are exempted; but yours may be as trivial as excessive sleep or talkativeness or occasional display of unholy anger; all these are things God refers to as idolatry.
“Lest there be any fornicator, or profane Person, as Esau,
who for a morsel of meat sold his birthright,
For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the Blessing, He was rejected: For he found no place for repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.”
Hebrews 12:16-17.
There are so many needless tears and ancient wounds which have defied all solutions as a results of sexual perversions because men do not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient; such as Sexual interaction between people of the same sex (Lesbianism and Homosexualism), having sex with animals(Bestiality),Masturbation, abortion and murder which are like brother and sister, sexual interaction between blood relations e.g. Father and Daughter or Brother and Sister (incest). All these are abominable habits which God detest. This was the major reason why God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, but he had mercy on the city of Nineveh by Sending Jonah to warn them; then they prayed and turn from their wicked ways. That’s why he says;
“If my People who are called by my name will humble themselves,
and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways,
then will I hear from heaven,
and I will forgive their sins and will heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14.
You may be saying that all these are Biblical examples and they happened in the olden days, but I will lead us to our contemporaries; it’s about a lady who taught she could carry fire in the bosom and not be burned, she forgot the Biblical injunction which says ;
“Let he who thinks he stands; take heed, lest he falls (into sin)”.
She is a growing heart like every one of us; basking in euphoria of youthful exuberance and wanted to socialize. She has several romantic novels which were not edifying any for born a again Christian, and a time came when started feeling an unusual loneliness, devil being crafty enough organized young Men to her prowl. At first; she was resisting their sexual advances, but when Stanley (not real name) came on board he was more tactful. He used the language which every Lady loves to hear. Nora (not real name) came from a well disciplined Family and she considered staring directly into men’s eyes as inappropriate, so whenever she’s talking to Stanley she would be looking at her feet. Stanley took this for shyness.
On this fateful day, they came of the Church and heading towards Stanley’s car and she was staring at her feet as usual and he uttered the word that swept her off balance;
“Is this how you will be looking down on our wedding day?” she peered at him and laughed.
“No now!” she replied. She was happy throughout that day and shared this with her Friends who warned her to be careful. She ignored their pieces of advice and engaged in series of unwholesome acts which to her was just ordinary Romance. Nora who had vowed to keep her virginity till her marriage night was swept off her feet by that slogan which most lady loves to hear “ Marriage”. By the time the relationship was 2weeks gone she had sex with him, and the relationship did not exceed 3 months.
This was the beginning of her troubles, her conscience started judging her the moment she left his house and she could not forgive herself, she started struggling in place of Prayers and always feels dirty whenever she’s praying which is what sin does to anyone irrespective of the name it’s being called, you feel disconnected from God ; she continued sleeping with every Dick and Harry that promised her marriage, and men kept toying with her heart. This continued for years until she re-dedicated her life to Christ and went for deliverance, and then she took another decision to abstain from pre marital sex.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God
is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 6:23.
The death the Bible is talking about here is not just the physical death where all organs of the body stop their functions, but spiritual death which is very dangerous. This is where your spiritual antenna stops receiving signals from GOD.
“THE GREATEST LOSS IN LIFE IS NO LONGER DEATH,
BUT WHAT DIES WITHIN US WHILE WE ARE STILL ALIVE”.
MOTHER THERESSA.
All these happened while serving; she had an attack and was diagnosed as mental discharge which landed in a psychiatric hospital, this is 6 years after her service year; but she was still living on drugs which costs her nothing less than 8000 naira every month or two months interval and the Doctor did not assure her of stopping the drugs soonest. Note that;
“When purpose is not known; abuse is inevitable.’’
MYLES MUNROE.
Yours may be different from this scenario, and yours may be similar; it is not what happens to you that matters, it is what happens within you, i.e. your reaction, all you need to do is to shake off the dust and sit enthroned, but what the devil does is to keep replaying your past in your memory to weigh you down from moving forward. Once you repent of your sin and give your life to our Lord Jesus Christ, he blots out your guilt because he himself assures us this;
“THERE is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus,
Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1.
Also in Isaiah 44:22,
“I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud ,
thy sins: returned to me; For I have redeemed thee.”
After all has been said and done you must make your Bible your companion because it is loaded with a whole lot of benefits and promises from God. For every decision you take whether good or bad there are one thousand and one persons that will help you fulfill your promise. Learn to think right and live a life worthy of good report; holy, acceptable and pleasing unto God. For this is your living sacrifice.
Jesus is the balm of Gilead, and he has promised to heal every wound and mend every heart, it doesn’t matter how many Guys or lady has broken your heart, he is the only Faithful Friend to the lonely and he said;
“Seek ye out of the book of the Lord and read: no one of these shall fail,
none shall want her mate…….’’ Isaiah 34:16a.
Prophet Jeremiah also prophesied to us an assuring hope;
“ For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord;
Because they called thee an outcast, saying, this is Zion, whom no man seeketh after”.
Jeremiah 30:17.
Jesus Christ is the word of GOD communicated to us, he’s the wisdom of God we need to pilot the wheel of our lives, He’ll give us the enabling GRACE to run race steadfastly and you will never walk alone. For without him we can do nothing.
THE BALM OF GILEAD.
BY:- AGBEJULE ABOSEDE OYEFOLUKE.
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