Interviewer:ย What does it mean when Jesus said you must lose your life to find it?
Christian:ย He meant you need to lose this life you have completely and take up His own life
Interviewer:ย Wow, is that possible?
Christian:ย Yes, thatโs how we should live. It requires faith.
Interviewer:ย So you give up your life for the life of Christ by faith?
Christian:ย Yes, this is how to be saved.
Interviewer:ย Did you surrender your life to Christ?
Christian:ย Yes!
Interviewer:ย All of your life or some of your life?
Christian:ย All of my life! Of course.
Interviewer:ย So Christ owns you? Is that what you mean when you call him Lord? ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
Christian:ย Yes, exactly.
Interviewer:ย Wow, do you trust him that much?
Christian:ย Absolutely!
Interviewer:ย You mean Jesus owns you? All of you?
Christian:ย All of me, every past, present, future, resources, all!
Interviewer:ย What of your Children, do they belong to you?
Christian:ย No, they belong to God, I am a steward.
Interviewer:ย This is scary. What about your wife?
Christian:ย She belongs to God, she is God sent to help me accomplish what God wants us to achieve.
Interviewer:ย What of your Money, does that belong to God too?
Christian:ย Yes, that too. All of it, Iโm only a steward.
Interviewer:ย What does all these mean practically?
Christian:ย It means I must communicate with God, and get his direction on training my children, on leading my wife, and on spending every penny.
Interviewer:ย ย Forreal?
Christian:ย Yes for real.
Interviewer:ย Does God have time like that?
Christian:ย Yes He does. Heโs a loving father. He speaks to us, more than we care to even listen. We need to read the Bible to decode His language.
Interviewer:ย So God really wants to have a relationship with human beings, he wants to commune with them like everyday?
Christian:ย Yes, exactly. Thatโs the main difference between the law and grace. With the law, you donโt need to talk to God, just look at what he wrote as commandments and tick them off. But with grace, you allow Him to lead you.
Interviewer:ย Wow, so you are free from Law based on grace?
Christian:ย Yes! But it doesnโt mean you wonโt be law abiding though, as most of the law that is not cultural is actually common sense. So youโll find yourself still living based on Godโs moral standards of you allow Him to live out through you.
Interviewer:ย How do you mean the law that is not cultural is common sense?
Christian:ย Thou shall not murder for example. If we donโt have that commandment, weโll self destruct. The moral codes actually make our lives on earth more sustainable. God however is not impressed by your good works, He wants you to have a relationship with Him so that Christ can live out his life and do the works though you.
Interviewer:ย Profound! So back to the matter, God wants you to communicate with him regularly and get his direction on all His goods that are in your care?
Christian:ย Absolutely! They are all His, I am only a steward of all things.
Interviewer:ย Is there anything wrong though with obeying the Law rather than living by Grace?
Christian:ย Yes, everthing is wrong with it. By obeying the Law you never mature beyond a child โ Itโs children that need dos and donโts. With the law your relationship with God will not develop, youโll not need to ask God for anything. Then you canโt obey the law 100% all the time, and God says if you fail in one, you have failed in all. So the law puts you in more condemnation. The law couldnโt save us, thatโs why Christ came!
Interviewer:ย Wow, I now understand it!
Christian:ย Itโs really simple if your heart is right and you are not looking at God based on what you can get, but based on who he is and what he wants.
Interviewer:ย So if all you own is Godโs All, how do you then pay tithes and offering?
Christian:ย It doesnโt make sense does it? If I already surrendered 100% how can I give him 10% of what he already owns? Tithe is like circumcision and Sabbath, all existed before the Law, but were drafted into the law. God wants 100% from the seed of Christ. If our lives are truly sold out to God, we will get his direction for what to give and where to give.
Interviewer:ย Why do pastors then demand for 10%
Christian:ย Well, some of them think that God has provided that as the means of funding church work. I really canโt blame them much, I didnโt understand it well before as well.
Interviewer:ย How practical is 100% though? How does that work really?
Christian:ย Itโs simple. If I belong to God, and the money belongs to God, using the money to buy food that Iโll eat based on Godโs leading still means the money is still with God! He can instruct me to give someone, he can lead me to give it to church. It has to be His leading as itโs His resources.
Interviewer:ย Wow! It sounds like the Goat of the King that ate the Yam of the King.
Christian:ย Yes, so far itโs the King that gave the goat the Yam. Whenever we step into personal agenda, we leave Godโs ownership. It has to be centered around God.
Interviewer:ย What then should believers give to Church?
Christian:ย Whatever they have purposed in their heart, with Godโs leading to give. I truly feel that if people are led by God, many churches would starve of funds. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not really being funded, just empires.
Interviewer:ย If I give to Church, will it multiply? I hear I can sow my money and reap a bumper harvest.
Christian:ย Many rich people have multiplied their money by doing business. I know no scripture to support that type of nonsense. From my understanding of Jesusโ teaching, the seed is the word of God, which became the son of God and birthed the sons of the kingdom.
Interviewer:ย Wowโฆ what can I do to be saved?
Christian:ย Repent!
Interviewer:ย You mean say a sinners prayer?
Christian:ย No! saying a sinners prayer doesnโt mean you are saved, there is what you need to do firstโฆ to be continued.
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Kind Regards
Adeolu Akinyemi