Jackson Jareg Materu

Why in the Lord’s Prayer do we ask our heavenly Father not to lead us into temptation? God tempts no one (James 1:13), so why make that kind of request? The mistake we make is that we do not view the full thought within the prayer. Jesus does not simply say, “Lead us not into temptation.” He continues: “but deliver us from evil.” That is crucial. Asking God not to do something, but instead to do something else, is a pattern of prayer firmly established in the Psalms, and that pattern is continued in the Lord’s Prayer. This is why praying the Psalms is so crucial. The Lord’s Prayer is, in many ways, a digest of all 150 psalms. If we do not hear it with psalm-shaped ears, we will misunderstand it. In the Psalms, we repeatedly see this “not this, but this” form: “O Lord, do not be far off; come quickly to my aid” (Ps. 22:19) “Do not forsake me, O Lord… make haste to help me” (Ps. 38:21–22) “Do not deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries… have regard for the covenant” (Ps. 74:19–20) “Do not incline my heart to any evil… set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth” (Ps. 141:4; 141:3) Sometimes the negative comes first, sometimes the positive, but together they form one complete thought. O Lord, do not do this, but do that. That same pattern is at work in the Lord’s Prayer. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” is not two separate ideas. You cannot take either part in isolation. Together they form a single request: Father, do not let us fall into temptation, but instead rescue us and deliver us from evil. God is not going to tempt anyone. Rather, we are praying that he would preserve us, guard us, and deliver us from any evil that may harm us or lead us into what is contrary to his will. That is what we are asking: rescue us, deliver us from every evil of body and soul. And we understand this only when we hear the Lord’s Prayer through the voice of the Psalms. _____ We read Matthew 6 today in Bible in One Year. Join us at any time at 1517.org/oneyear

behind reasonable doubt!!!!

I found a beautiful verse in Isaiah 46:4. I have made you. I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

I urge you to study Ezekiel 37:1-14. You will understand the importance of speaking into your life. You can literally recreate your future with the words you speak, especially when you declare the WORD of GOD over any circumstances. I charge you to start speaking to your finances, start speaking to your marriage, speak to your job, speak and declare your expectations over all that concerns you. And watch what will happen!

Always pray for alignment. To be at the right place, at the right time, around the right people who will help you get to your destiny.

Isaac found his wife Rebekah at a well Jacob found his wife Rachel at a well Moses found his wife Zipporah at a well And Jesus? At the well, He meets the Samaritan woman, and in her, He meets each of us. She is the image of the thirsty human soul, searching, broken, and yet loved and deeply desired by God. The well becomes a place of encounter. The water is no longer just for the body, but the living water of grace, the Holy Spirit, and the new life God gives. Christ is the Bridegroom, and we, His people, are the Bride. The Church is the place where we return again and again to draw from Him. In baptism and in the life of faith, we are brought into covenant love with Christ, the Bridegroom of the Church. He still waits for us at the well, in the Church, in prayer, in His Word, and in the sacraments. Will you come and drink from His living spring? Happy Sunday, friends 🎉

As crazy as it sounds, this also applies to your relationship with God. The difference is that ‘conflict’ with God should not look like rebellion or hostility, but relational tension. And relational tension, rightly understood, is one of the most sacred things a person can experience. The Psalms are awash with it. “How long, O Lord.” “Why have you hidden your face.” “I am forgotten like a dead man.” These are not the words of apostates. They are the words of David, a man so close to God he could afford to bleed in front of Him. Job doesn’t curse God, he demands an audience. Jacob doesn’t flee the angel, he grabs hold and refuses to let go until he receives a blessing. And Jesus, the one in whom the fullness of God dwells bodily, carries relational tension to its most devastating height on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me”, not as a loss of faith, but as the most intimate cry in all of human history. I think silence toward God is not peace, it is distance. And so honest wrestling (conflict) is not doubt, it is nearness. If you never feel tension with God, something is worth examining. Either you are not listening deeply enough to hear what He is asking of you, or you are not being honest enough to admit what it is costing you. Real communion has texture. It includes conviction that stings, questions that go unanswered for seasons, prayers that seem to hit the ceiling, ambitions you loved that get quietly taken from you. None of that is divine hostility. All of it is relational refinement. Now, and this is the part that matters most, the conflict is not symmetrical. With humans, conflict is two flawed wills colliding. Both parties are reactive. Both parties are capable of being wrong. Both parties carry wounds that distort their vision. But with God, only one side of that equation applies. He is not flawed. He is not reactive. He is not insecure. He has no ego to protect and no wound to nurse. So when tension arises between you and God, the conflict is never Him needing correction. It is always you being reshaped. That’s why it hurts the way it does, and heals the way nothing else can.

"To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him the greatest human achievement." — Saint Augustine

The older you get as a man, the more you realize that you must make God the foundation of everything in your life.

Dunia ina mapambano ya wazi na ya siri. Mara nyingi hatuoni tunachopigana nacho. Waefeso 6 :12: Hatupigani na watu, bali na nguvu zisizoonekana. Ndiyo maana bila Mungu, hatuwezi kushinda. 🙏

If you think Peter sank because he doubted, you miss what happened before doubt ever spoke. We often time treat this moment like a cautionary tale; Peter looked away, lost faith, and began to sink. But the part we almost don't pay attention to is the most interesting and uncomfortable one; that Peter starts sinking after he obeys Jesus. Jesus tells him to come. Peter steps out. But notice that nothing in the weather changed. the storm doesn't stop, the wind is still fierce and the waves are still hitting him in the face. The only thing that changes is Peter’s location. He’s no longer in the boat with everyone else. Obedience moved him forward, but not into comfort. He’s doing exactly what Jesus asked. He’s walking toward Him. And that is when fear crept in. Scripture says he saw the wind and became afraid. That’s not unbelief, that’s Peter being human. Fear is the body responding to danger. If fear disqualified him, he never would’ve stepped out in the first place. Notice Jesus doesn’t ask, “Why were you afraid?” He asks, “Why did you doubt?” Fear is what Peter felt. Doubt is what that fear produced. Fear grabbed his attention and pulled his trust off-center. You can be afraid and still believe. You can feel overwhelmed and still be obedient. You can panic and still be moving in the right direction. When Peter began to sink, he cries out "“Lord, save me.” No long prayer, or speech. Just pure honest, desperate cry. That is what we call faith. He never doubted Jesus. And Jesus responds immediately while the storm is still raging, and Peter is still shaking." Jesus reaches out and grabs him. That means Peter was right there; he didnt sink far away, he was close enough to Jesus. He reached the end of his rope while he was still moving forward. He got as close to Jesus as he could, and his human limits just gave out. That’s who God is. Fear doesn’t scare Him off. Panic doesn’t make Him step back. Struggle doesn’t mean you misheard the call or your visions and dreams were far-fetched. All you need is to CALL OUT! Those who call upon the name of the LORD will find salvation. Help might not arrive in the way you expect. Storms may continue to rage, and your pain, regrets, and fears might still pursue you. Yet, Jesus’s hands are always there to prevent you from drowning. Don't act tough when you should be crying for help. Don't assume you are faithless just because you are afraid. It's ok to be afraid, to be overwhelmed. But you must listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, not those that pass judgement on you because you are sinking. So the real question is this: When obedience brings you close, but fear still rises, do you assume you failed or do you reach for the hand that was already reaching for you? #Christianity #BiblicalTruth #FaithOverFear #Peter #SpiritualMaturity Ellis Enobun

BREAKING: Proof PRISON ministry works. Jelly Roll’s Powerful Jesus-Filled acceptance speech shakes the Grammys. Pulling out a Bible, he recounted a pivotal moment in prison: “There was a moment in my life when all I had was a Bible… in a six-by-eight-foot cell… and God had the power to change my life.”

Watu hawapendi kukumbushwa historia zinazowatia unyonge.

Kwa wanaopenda kusali kabla ya kulala kwa kutumia vifungu vya Biblia: Anza na ZABURI 121:7–8 ya ulinzi kamili wa Bwana mchana na usiku, endelea na LUKA 10:19 ya mamlaka dhidi ya nguvu zote za adui, kisha 2 WATHESALONIKE 3:3 ya kulindwa na kuimarishwa na Bwana aliye mwaminifu, malizia na MITHALI 18:10 ya kukimbilia Jina la Bwana lililo ngome imara. Mwenyezi Mungu akufunike usiku huu, akuvike nguvu za mbinguni, akukinge na mabaya yote, na akuamshie ushindi mpya. 🙏🏽

A wise monk once said: You'll be alone in the most difficult times of your life... These times will make you wise, mature, and fearless... They will strip away every illusion and show you who truly matters. You'll earn to be your own strength when no one shows up. In silence, you'll meet the strongest version of yourself. Pain will become your greatest teacher, and growth will become vour quiet reward. One day, you'll look back and realize solitude was a blessing in disguise.

Stephen Hawking aliwahi kunukuliwa akisema, “Akili ni uwezo wa kujifunza na kubadilika.” Hawking alimaanisha akili sio idadi ya shahada bali utayari wa kujifunza nini kinabadilika na kufanya uamuzi wa kubadilika. Mtu mwenye akili, tofauti na mjinga, kamwe hachoki kujifunza. Haoni aibu kusema hajui na pale ushahidi unapoonesha hakuwa sahihi haoni haya kusema alipotoka na hakuwa na taarifa sahihi. Akili, kwa kawaida, zinakuondolea fedheha ya kujenga utambulisho wako (identity) na msimamo fulani. Ukiwa na akili mara zote unachagua kuamini data na ushahidi kadiri unavyojitokeza badala ya kusimamia msimamo wa kipuuzi kisa tu uonekane hutetereki. Ujinga, tofauti na akili, una tabia ya kukutambulisha na msimamo na kukufanya usione haja ya kujifunza. Ujinga unakupa hali ya kuridhika na unachojua na kutokuwa tayari kusikiliza, kujifunza na kubadilisha maoni yako inapobidi. Ujinga ni tabia ya kujitambulisha na upande hata kama umekosea. Hakuna mtu ana msimamo mkali kama mjinga. Mjinga habadilishi msimamo hata akijua amekosea. Kwake, kuwa sahihi na kushinda wengine ni muhimu zaidi kuliko kujifunza kitu kipya. Ukiongea na mjinga unajichosha maana hitimisho lazima lirudi kwenye ujinga wake hata uwe na hoja nzito namna gani.

“There is nothing that can take the pain away. But eventually you will find a way to live with it. There will be nightmares. And every day when you wake up, it will be the first thing you think about. Until one day, it will be the second thing.” - Raymond Reddington

Utu uzima unakuja na mengi. Kuna shinikizo la kazi. Kuna kupambana na ndoto. Kuna vita ngumu za kuongeza kipato. Kuna mipango kutetereka. Kuna kuishiwa. Kuna muda na familia. Kuna migogoro isiyosemwa. Kuna kujitafakari kunakohitaji kujitenga. Kuna kupumzika. Mtu wako wa karibu kutokupatikana haimaanishi hakujali. Utu uzima pia hubadilisha mazungumzo. Kila unachokisema kinamkumbusha mtu historia fulani. Maumivu alo’wahi kupitia. Usaliti alo’wahi kukutana nao. Kuna imani zisizobadilika. Kuna tabia mtu anapambana nazo bila mafanikio. Kuna ndoto kubwa na mipango isiyotimia. Kuna hatia. Ombwe. Unyonge. Mtu kuamua kukuweka pembeni haimaanishi hakupendi.

Kwa wanaopenda kusali kwa kutumia vifungu vya Biblia: Anza na Mathayo 11 : 28 ya kumkaribia Yesu ukiwa na mizigo yako, endelea na Isaya 41 : 10 ya kuondoa hofu na kupata nguvu, kisha Mithali 3 : 5 - 6 ya kumkabidhi Mungu njia na maamuzi yako, malizia na Wafilipi 4:6 - 7 ya kuomba kwa shukrani na kupokea amani ya Mungu. Mungu akusikie, akupe amani, akuongoze na akubariki. 🙏🏽

Ukiaminiwa kuzijua aibu za mtu umebebeshwa mzigo mzito. Kuaminiwa ni sawa na kula kiapo cha kutunza siri za aliyekuamini. Hata mkigombana unawajibika kutunza unachokijua. Ikiwa unajifahamu huna kifua cha kumstahi mtu na aibu zake unaweza kuepuka kufahamu undani wa mtu. Kukataa kujua aibu za mtu usiyekuwa tayari kumsitiri ni uungwana.