Happy New Month! I hope you guys have been well, and apart from the 1st of July last year, I don't think I've ever posted on the first of the month since.
Yeah, so you may have noticed that I'm only posting about 2 times a month now. I'm still following my fortnightly schedule. I also post at odd hours of the day 😊 I always write at night because there are less distractions, and I guess that's what my brain is adapted to doing automatically.
If you've been sticking around since the beginning of Supernatural Superstar (or close to it), then you'll know that I used to post about 5 times a month, because I didn't have any university back then.
And for new or relatively new readers, welcome, I'm glad to have you and hopefully you stick around for a long time.
Before we get into the Underrated Bible Scriptures, I have a very special announcement.
So I started this website June 13th last year, so it's almost been a year. Not only is it almost the one year anniversary, this website is super close to 2,000 views!
I do not check statistics that much, because that's not the reason I wrote this. I check like once every 3 months, although it is nice for me to see how I am doing. Ironically, I just checked them now and I can say that right now, the amount of reads this website has is at:
1,952
I didn't think so many people would read it. Some of the views are from me yes, because I have to check for typos and that, but even then, you guys have still been here despite my inconsistencies.
I would be lying if I said that all my readers are from the UK because they're not actually, it's international.
If you're wondering how, don't worry about it. 😏 Not all secrets must be revealed. 😇 But inevitably, I wouldn't do anything illegitimate.
Either way, I am beyond grateful for the support, and hopefully we can get to 2K this month! I know we can.
So today we are going to continue with the Underrated Bible Scriptures, where I normally do 3 at a time. And I still will, regardless of the time: it was 11:21PM when I wrote this sentence.
I thought of what I wanted the scriptures to be about before today, because later on, there is going to be a story I made up about all of the scriptures today combined. All stories I write on here is fictional and will relate to what I am talking about, so will have a moral to it.
I'll explain it more in due time.
I actually wrote the story first before the post but I will mention it last. Anyway, here are the scripture topics for today.
Doing a good deed
Always telling the truth
Don't make any excuses
Without further ado, let us begin.
#Scripture 37
If you are a new reader (to be fair I didn't exactly tell anyone about my website - I just post it and let people find out. I like elements of surprise) then you can find the first 36 scriptures not in one post but in the Underrated Bible Scriptures pages on the right hand side of this website.
So the first scripture for today will be, even though it is not very underrated, it was what inspired my story.
It's Matthew 5:10, which says this:
Blessed are those who suffer for doing what is right. The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
Somehow, I always forget where this scripture is from (I know the address but not the postcode as we say in church 😊) but today I remember properly.
Life is not always a pretty place to live in, but I think you and I both know that. Life can be painful. Life isn't always fair either.
In fact, I have a very good example of this: I was watching this video late last month that just came to me right now. Let me reference it below.
Mercy, I initially got the wrong video because I didn't realise that there were different versions of the same thing. But here is the right one.
Whilst you can watch the video, I will also do a summary, because I can't control if you will watch everything or not. But this really moved me.
Please note that they fall on purpose because it's an experiment. Don't think that they do so accidentally. 😅 No one can be this accident prone - that would be concerning.
So basically, two different men were dressed up as two different people. One was dressed up as a businessman whilst one was dressed up as a homeless person. Both of them had deliberately fallen down over crutches to see if people would help them.
A lot of people helped the businessman but not many people helped the homeless person because he was homeless. People even watched him fall down, however no one helped - and if they did, I'm pretty sure it was because someone else helped them first.
We need to stop doing that. If someone needs help, help them, regardless of what they look like. Some people would rather help the person that needs less help than the person that needs more.
Stop judging people based on their appearances (this is also for me too, but then again I feel like we unconsciously judge others) - and one day this year, not sure when, I will definitely do a topic on judging others. I even foreshadowed this.
I'm sure if there was an attractive person and a not as attractive person in a room, most of us would flock to the attractive person. I don't blame you but don't forget about the not as attractive person too - said person is still attractive but not as attractive compared to the other person.
Hence why I have purposely not used the word unattractive here.
But here's a plot twist...
The attractive person is rude because they know they can get away with it, and the not as attractive person is the sweetest person ever. The attractive one is less happy than the not as attractive one.
The problem lies though when you put others down due to the way they look.
You do realise people don't decide the way they look right? So it wouldn't be fair to pick on someone for factors they can't control.
Even if they can control it, still don't pick on them.
Looks are deceptive. But yes, like I said, the world can be cruel. Help others regardless of their background or past or appearance. Make a change for the better and not the worse.
This could include giving money to homeless people, which I do sometimes. I'm not saying give money to every homeless person you encounter, as you might not have enough, and you might not be led by God.
Some people pretend well, whilst others are master manipulators. But give money to some of them, God will bless you, and if the person you give money to spends it unwisely, God won't punish you. He may punish them.
Here is another example of the world being cruel, before I go on to talk about Jesus and how he suffered for doing what was right.
Sometime in April, I read a news report on Microsoft Edge that a woman was getting beat up and no one stopped to help her. People recorded what happened but they didn't help her.
They were most likely trying to protect themselves. In this scenario it is difficult as it is more dangerous. They didn't have to help by solely helping the woman physically, they could have called the ambulance or something.
I don't think any of them did that.
Jesus suffered for doing right, which can be found in the Bible where he was crucified -- Matthew 27:32-56.
Jesus was flawless, no doubt about it. But not everybody liked flawless, because they knew that they weren't flawless.
Some people wanted to bring Jesus down instead of learning from him. When there is an inspirational person around you, don't be jealous of them, learn from them.
For God to call Jesus his son means that Jesus was and still is very special. He constantly suffered for doing what was right but he didn't let that affect him. In fact, he most likely already knew he was going to face some tribulations in this world.
I reference this website a lot when I talk about Matthew 5:10, because I believe it is important. Here is a quote from this website:
When God calls you to do something and people rise against you, attacking you, ridiculing you, making fun of you, or slandering you, don’t be discouraged or feel alone. They did the same to Jesus and His disciples.
Then they referenced Matthew 5:10-12.
I learnt in church yesterday (it was past midnight when I wrote and published this, as always) that unbelievers will normally criticise Christians. Even if they do, you need to rise above them and shine.
The world will make it seem like being a Christian is a bad thing.
Whilst I don't believe that you can't have unbeliever friends, which is something I disagree with from church, I believe that you can have them, you just can't let them influence you.
Proverbs 13:20 says walk with the wise and become wise, but a companion of foolishness suffers harm. And 1 Corinthians 15:33 says bad company corrupts good character or morals.
Unbelievers are everywhere, so you can't really avoid them. I do have unbeliever friends, but they do not affect me, and I have more Christian friends.
On to the next Scripture!
#Scripture 38
The Lord hates those whose lips tell lies. But he is pleased with people who tell the truth.
As you can tell, this verse is about lying. Lying is a pretty prevalent problem in this world today. Prevalent just means widespread.
I would be lying if I said that I haven't lied before, no pun intended. I haven't lied recently though - except from when I press something saying that I have read all the terms and conditions to something - ain't nobody got time for that.
A very well known Bible story about lying just came to me, which I thank God for because I hadn't remembered it initially. It's the well known story of Ananias and Sapphira.
You can find this in Acts 5:1-11. I referenced everything.
A man named Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, also sold some land.
2 He kept part of the money for himself. Sapphira knew he had kept it. He brought the rest of it and put it down at the apostles’ feet.
3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, why did you let Satan fill your heart? He made you lie to the Holy Spirit. You have kept some of the money you received for the land.
4 Didn’t the land belong to you before it was sold? After it was sold, you could have used the money as you wished. What made you think of doing such a thing? You haven’t lied just to people. You’ve also lied to God.”
5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. All who heard what had happened were filled with fear. 6 Some young men came and wrapped up his body. They carried him out and buried him.
7 About three hours later, the wife of Ananias came in. She didn’t know what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me. Is this the price you and Ananias sold the land for?”
“Yes,” she said. “That’s the price.”
9 Peter asked her, “How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! You can hear the steps of the men who buried your husband. They are at the door. They will carry you out also.”
10 At that moment she fell down at Peter’s feet and died. Then the young men came in. They saw that Sapphira was dead. So they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 The whole church and all who heard about these things were filled with fear.
As we all know, Ananias and Sapphira died, just hours away from each other.
How did it come to this?
Because Ananias and Sapphira didn't lie to man, but they lied to God instead, which is a lot worse.
They kept some of the money for themselves from the land they made. What they should have done was to sell the land first and keep the money for themselves but they didn't exactly do that.
I've been trying to make sense of this chapter so sorry if my analysis is not fully correct.
Lying to God is definitely the worst thing you can do to yourself. Sometimes God might ask you something, which is a test to see if you'll lie to him or not.
Don't lie to God, don't lie to anyone. The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. You can find that in Romans 6:23.
If you know me, you know that I am a very direct person, meaning that if you do something that I don't like, and I'm close to you, I will tell you.
I probably won't tell you straight away but I will, probably when the time is right. I don't like lying, if something upsets me, I can't pretend that I am okay with it. I'm not really one to bottle my feelings.
Unless they're too personal.
It is better for someone to hear a painful truth than a beautiful lie. I guess euphemisms are okay, if you want to tell someone the truth but not directly. That's basically what a euphemism is. Indirecting something.
For example, God forbid but if someone dies, it's understandable not to tell them the truth, but I don't mean lie about someone dying - I'm saying use a euphemism if you don't feel comfortable saying the truth.
There are a lot of euphemisms for death, i.e. gone to be with the Lord, called home, passed on, has eternal rest, etc. I think euphemisms are used more anyway.
That way, you are telling the truth but indirectly. Aside from that, never lie to someone, maybe not even if it's for a good cause - i.e to protect them. God sees the heart yes, but even then I'm not sure lying is the answer.
Last but not least, before the story...
#Scripture 39
God gave us his Spirit. And the Spirit doesn’t make us weak and fearful. Instead, the Spirit gives us power and love. He helps us control ourselves. 2 Timothy 1:7
This is about making excuses - indirectly though, as the word excuses isn't exactly in the scripture. Maybe for this version.
Stop making excuses as to why you shouldn't do something, especially if it is for the Lord. God doesn't like it. This is for me too, I make excuses quite a bit.
I'm definitely not a saint, and I don't deserve to be one. None of us do because we've all fallen short of God's glory in one way or another (Romans 3:23), whether you did so recently or not.
When God gives you his spirit, you have to ensure that your spirit is larger than your flesh. Matthew 26:41 says the following:
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
This means that someone wants to do good intentions but they don't live up to them. That could be because they are making excuses. Don't be like that.
God wants mercy and not sacrifice (Hosea 6:6). He wants you to obey him. But you can't really accomplish that if you are making excuses. No disrespect.
So there is a story I made up that was written before the actual post. The last story I did was on the 21st of March and it was about how you shouldn't judge others and how you don't know what somebody else is going through.
You can find this in Posts of Encouragement - Part 3.
It's on the first post, so you don't need to scroll.
In this story, there are two main characters: Kesiena and Jayden. Kesiena is a real name, and it is Nigerian, meaning this:
Apparently, it is a boy's name, but I see it as a girl's, mainly because it ends in a.
This story is going to cover everything we have just talked about. I don't describe my characters because that's time consuming, and also you can imagine them as you wish. Just know that Jayden is African American and Kesiena is Nigerian. Everything is explained properly later.
Read on!
I would never use the names of people I know in real life.
//
It was Friday 17th of March, and Jayden had just come back from school. He had normally finished school early on a Friday, and he also didn't study that much on Fridays either.
Sometimes he did, but today he wasn't going to. That meant that he had to study on Sunday then, because if Jayden hadn't studied on a Friday then he would have done so on Sunday, and vice versa.
As he was waiting for his sister to arrive home, Jayden was chilling on the sofa, talking to his best friend Devon from school over something. They just completed their Mock exams for their A Levels, with both of them doing exceedingly well.
Jayden's parents were running late from work as they wanted to do an extra shift together - they seriously needed the money. His parents hadn't initially worked together - it was just that before when Jayden's father had gone to work, his mother would have still been sleeping, and same for when he arrived.
Occasionally, they had gone days on end without speaking to each other due to their different work shifts. Jayden's mother had her own nursery, with Jayden's father originally being an obstetrician, meaning that he had worked with pregnant women. He quit his work to work alongside her.
Because in a way, they had both worked with children.
"Nah, man," Devon stated to Jayden over the phone. "You seriously need to tell me how you get good grades without studying, J. I can't believe you got an A star again. That Physics exam was extremely hard."
Their science exams were the hardest one, especially Physics. Jayden just shrugged, they were on FaceTime so they could have seen each other. Only the science and Maths exams had mocks of the mocks, as more people did those subjects.
Every other department didn't. Which was unfair but it kind of made sense at the same time.
His legs were up on the sofa because he really needed a break from these mock exams. They were doing his head in, and the thing was they had only started it.
"I did study, as I always do." He wasn't really a last minute person, unlike his sister. No wonder she kept on complaining - how was she supposed to do well in school if she left everything until the last minute?
"Then why did you say you didn't?"
"Because, reverse psychology, Dev. If I tell people I've studied, then they'd expect me to know all of the answers. Or if I tell them I did but then I don't know something, they'd question me as to how much I really studied. So me lying about it means that people don't have any expectations from me."
That was a good point, although if he didn't know something, wouldn't he have revised it?
The past was the past, the exam was done. Devon did well too though - he may not have gotten an A star or anything but he got a B.
"And if you got a B now, then just imagine how well you'd do in the actual exams."
"B isn't good enough, Jayden;, plus it was a mock of the mock. Cambridge wants all A stars for my course. I really want to get into this university."
Devon really had his whole future planned, starting from going to the university of Cambridge after he finished his A Levels.
Jayden wasn't sure what he wanted to do, although he knew he wanted to do Maths at university. He was just going to go to whichever good university had accepted him, he guessed.
If any of them did.
Just as Jayden was about to comfort Devon, Devon realised he had to go.
"Okay bye."
"Actually wait--" Devon exclaimed just as Jayden was about to hang up. "Have you told Kesiena you broke her music box yet? It's almost her birthday, maybe you can get her a new one."
Kesiena was Jayden's adopted sister from Nigeria. Her parents died during a car crash when she was 10 years old, sending her to her aunty and uncle's house.
Kesiena had a really rough past: because soon after, her aunty and uncle sent her out for adoption. They couldn't handle her anymore, but Kes wasn't a bad girl. Her uncle and aunty were just terrible people.
Sooner or later, Jayden's parents adopted her, after they wanted a second child but never got one due to so many miscarriages. Which was definitely a sign from God that maybe pregnancy wasn't the right way for them to have a second child, because adoption was instead.
Kesiena and Jayden had lived in under the same roof for almost seven years now, and Kesiena's 17th birthday was on the 27th of March, aka in 10 days. Jayden had already turned 17.
During the Christmas holiday, Kesiena's music box broke, which was the last thing she had of her biological mother when she was still alive, so therefore it was worth a lot of sentimental value.
Her mother was an Afrobeat singer and songwriter, always telling Kesiena to pursue her dreams, inspiring her to have a career down a musical path too. Kesiena wanted to continue her legacy.
Shortly before her death, she gave her the box. Kesiena had absolutely no idea that Jayden broke it. He was playing indoor football with his 15 year old twin cousins called Curtis and Savannah who were having a sleepover because their parents wanted to go on their Honeymoon.
He bribed Curtis not to tell Kesiena that he broke said music box and he kept quiet about it. Almost three months later, and she still didn't know.
However, Devon did.
"No, I haven't told her."
"Dude, are you crazy?!" He reprimanded. "How have you not told her yet? She's your sister! And you know how much that music box meant to her."
"I'll do so when she's in a good mood, I haven't found the right time yet--"
"Don't give me that, Jayden! You've had almost 90 days to tell her. Stop making stupid excuses. If you wait for the 'right time' to do something, you may never do it."
Maybe Devon was being protective over Kesiena because he somewhat had feelings for her. Then again, Jayden was being unreasonably stubborn and selfish, even if he hated to admit it.
Why did he tell Devon about this?
"Listen, you better tell her today, regardless of her mood, or I will. You will tell me everything, and I will confirm everything with Kesiena. You hear me?"
I hear you, Jayden muttered under his breath, sighing. Their FaceTime conversation finished just in time too, because there Kesiena was, leaning against the door.
Perhaps waiting until she was in a better mood wasn't such a bad idea, because the girl looked very exasperated - probably the most irritated Jayden had ever seen.
He had never seen anyone so unhappy on a Friday before. Mondays were understandable, but Friday?
Something definitely happened.
"Hey, mum and dad said that they're coming home late, so mum left us some jollof rice and chicken in the fridge."
Kesiena didn't say anything, leaving her position, with Jayden just watching her.
She dashed to the fridge, to get some Capri Sun. Kesiena had a very unhealthy obsession with Capri Sun- especially the orange flavour, but it had to be freezing cold. Warm Capri Sun didn't do it justice.
She pierced the straw forcefully through the hole when she came back, with Jayden being afraid of ticking her off even more somehow.
"Erm..." somehow he was lost for words, completely. "You okay?"
"Do I look okay, Jayden?!"
Her scream was loud enough to burst his eardrums, but didn't.
"I was just being polite."
Taking a deep breath, Kesiena facepalmed herself. He had never seen her in this state before.
Was it too late to run upstairs?
Thankfully, she calmed down, going up to him and hugged him, apologising for the rudeness.
"No worries. Bad day?"
"Bad week," She corrected him, slouching on the sofa opposite him, Jayden not taking his eyes off her. "I was just bottling it up so I could release it at the end of the school week. Thank God for Friday, right?"
Jayden didn't reply, wanting to know how his sister had a bad week.
There were three reasons:
The first was she had so many deadlines and essays due, making her the stressed she had ever been. Jayden would have never guessed that, Kesiena was the most put together person he knew.
The second: her so called 'friends' weren't taking the mocks seriously because they were only 'mocks' - though that didn't take away its significance. Kesiena was taking it seriously - and now her 'friends' were mad at her.
There was just too much drama she didn't need.
"And lastly," she sighed, before saying anything else. "I'm just tired of being a good person. What's the point of being a good person if all you get is bad karma thrown at you?"
Jayden genuinely knew how she felt - even though he hadn't felt this way now, he had definitely done so in the past.
"I know God will give you the strength to finish everything, just don't forget that he will never give you more than what you can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13), and he will provide you with the right friends, you just have to leave them. And pray to him, because faith without works is dead (James 2:14)."
He then quoted Proverbs 13:20 and 1 Corinthians 15:33, which were both about how bad company corrupted good character.
"Why are you tired of being a good person?"
"Because I helped Annoying Alastair with our Mock Music composition - and we got a C. He blamed me even though I did more work than him. I tried to swap partners but I couldn't, though he did get a warning to work harder. He did, at first, then he stopped the day before our work was due. Turns out he has more friends than you think - he told all his friends bad things about me, and now a lot of people in school hate me."
Alastair was a student in Kesiena's Music class and Jayden's Maths class who was very irritating. He snitched on everyone, was a very negative person and didn't really have any friends.
He was very small for a 17 year old, with glasses that were way too big for him. He brought other people down to make himself feel better.
"Thankfully my Music Teacher said that I can redo the composition myself and Alastair gets after school detention," Kesiena beamed, standing up. "Anyway, thanks for supporting my venting, big bro. I really appreciate it."
Kesiena did more talking than him, but Jayden didn't mention that.
Although he did mention that she should have never stopped being a good person, since it would have all paid off one day, as long as she was good for the right reasons, and didn't have any ulterior motives.
And if she knew she did the right thing, then she shouldn't have cared what other people had thought. Some people had only liked others as long as it was convenient for them.
Suddenly, Devon's words on the phone came to mind.
Listen, you better tell her today, regardless of her mood, or I will. You will tell me everything, and I will confirm everything with Kesiena. You hear me?
This was going to be a terrible conversation albeit Jayden had to do it.
Just as Kesiena was about to go up the stairs, Jayden took a very huge breath, calling her back.
Speaking of good deeds, he had to do a good one right now by telling her the truth about her music box.
"Wait, Kesiena, I need to tell you something before you leave."
He wouldn't have been surprised if she ended up mad at him - Jayden was mad at himself too.
Stopping dead in her tracks, just as she was about to go up the stairs, Kes turned to face her brother, looking at him intently.
Jayden wouldn't look at her. He couldn't - the guilt was eating him alive. When Kesiena noticed this, she could instantly tell that this was a serious matter.
"What's up?"
Jayden couldn't bring himself round to saying it. Slowly, Kesiena sat back down in the seat she was on before, still looking at him.
"Erm..." His words were muddled up liked the alphabet cereal he used to have when he was younger. Sighing, he then continued.
"You know that music box your biological mum gave you before she died?"
"Yeah, that was literally the last memory I had of her, why do you ask?"
For goodness sake, why did she have to say it was the last memory?
Yes, Jayden knew that, but even then, he didn't need the inevitable reminder.
"I..." He felt ashamed, especially how she was his adoptive sister. If Kesiena was just a stranger, this wouldn't have hurt so much.
Hurting showed that he cared, right?
"I broke it. It wasn't Curtis. It was me. I'm sorry - I should have told you. You just talked about doing a good deed and I felt as though I had to tell you one."
Kesiena went silent for the longest time, her worried face turning into a furious one almost instantaneously.
And if Jayden thought that she had a bad week? He just made it 100 times worse.
"What... what do you mean you broke it?"
"I was playing indoor football with our cousins Curtis and Savannah during the Christmas holiday. It was honestly an accident but--"
"Christmas holiday?!" Kesiena's voice was breaking as annoyed tears filled her face. "This was almost 3 months ago and you're only telling me this now?! What... did you think I was too stupid enough to find out the truth?"
"Not exactly."
"What do you mean not exactly?! Did you not think I would be able to handle it or something?"
Jayden didn't reply.
"You know how much that music box meant to me!"
She raised her voice at the last bit of her sentence and Jayden didn't blame her. Their walls were soundproof so neighbours couldn't have heard inside conversations.
That didn't mean that violence was tolerated though, because it wasn't. But when arguments needed to happen, and it did sometimes, it happened.
"Why didn't you tell me this, Jayden?! And to think, you even bribed Curtis, a helpless 15 year old boy to hide the truth from me! Aren't you supposed to be 17? Or are you secretly 7 instead?!"
To be fair, Curtis was an easy target. He was pretty clumsy, and didn't always listen to rules.
And Savannah too could have been absent minded in her own way -- until Jayden realised she had amnesia from almost drowning the other day.
"I didn't know how you'd react..."
"It wasn't that you didn't know, you didn't care!" Kesiena didn't want to shout anymore, because even when she was mad at Jayden and vice versa, she didn't like raising her voice too much. "You know what? Get out. I can't see your face anymore."
Goodness knew why Jayden kept saying his sister's name even though he couldn't justify what he did. Either way, Kesiena kept shouting at him to leave.
Kesiena, wait, listen.
Get. Out.
I'm sorry. I was going to buy you a new one.
Get OUT!! Forget not raising her voice, she had to do what she had to do. Soon after, she was shouting at him in Yoruba, throwing pillows - when she shouted in another language, Jayden knew very well he had messed up.
Get out of my face! Get out of my sight! How could you do this to me? You think a new one will make up for what you did?! You made it seem like it was Curtis' fault! You let our cousin take the blame for what you did, and you kept it a secret for almost 3 months. You seriously expect me to forgive you? Think again!
Helplessly, Jayden listened to her, going up the stairs, leaving Kesiena to cry angrily downstairs.
He told Devon the truth, but he didn't want him to confirm it with Kesiena. Not telling Kes was bad enough, but Kes finding out that Devon knew about everything whilst she didn't?
That was even worse.
Jayden felt beyond abysmal for what he did, but at the same time, he was glad she knew. It may have been 10 days before her birthday, but it was a lot better than the day before.
//
Like Kesiena, I too like cold Orange Capri Sun from the fridge. It's so nice.
Just like all other stories I have done and will do on here (every 1.5 months I suppose), there is a moral.
Jayden waited almost 3 months to tell Kesiena the truth about her music box. Not just that, he blamed it on someone else. Perhaps if he told her earlier then she would have been less annoyed at him. (second scripture)
He was making excuses, saying he wanted to talk to her "at the right time" (last scripture) and Kesiena was tired of doing good deeds to people because she felt like she wasn't getting anything out of it (first scripture)
Please, don't lie to others, it's not right. Especially if you did something really bad.
You don't want to lie so much that you don't even know what's fake and what's real anymore.
If you do struggle with lying, always talk to God about it. There's nothing he can't help you with.
Always do the right thing, and don't get discouraged if people don't treat you the right way. There are some cruel people out there, but you don't have to be one of them. You being good even if people are bad shows your strong character.
Just make sure to set boundaries, and also remember that the more chances you give someone, the less respect they will have for you.
And lastly, stop making excuses. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed to anyone. I think this quote explains everything.
That's it for today, y'all! I don't normally get distracted but I kind of did today unfortunately. That's probably why this post took me almost 4 hours instead of like 2.5 as usual. At least it's over now.
I hope you were blessed reading this as much as I was writing this.
Hello my angels, I hope you have been well and I hope you have had a fantastic Easter.
I promised God I would post today regardless of the time and I don't break promises, especially with the Lord. So here we are. I know it's been a while since I've been here, and I pray that you have all been well.
Can you believe how fast 2022 has gone? I wouldn't say that we're almost at the end of the month - I normally say that when we've hit the 20s, but I would say that we've past halfway.
Ideally, God wanted me to post yesterday, which I didn't do because I went roller skating and when I came back, I don't know. I just wasn't feeling it. I did miss church yesterday, yes - but I can always make up online.
It wasn't my idea to go on a Sunday, of course not.
But I said yes as I thought it would be fun (it was) and it was a new experience. It's always nice for you to step out of your comfort zone.
Also, I didn't want to give you guys a half hearted post.
It was almost 1am when I posted this, this coming late because I had been studying earlier and I went out with my family. I haven't studied for a while because I had work, which has taken up most of my time but I seriously need the money.
To make up for my absence, here is a video of me:
[Song: Adonai by Sarkodie and Castro]
The song is Ghanaian. I'm not Ghanaian, I'm Nigerian, but I do love the song.
I can't lie, I did that just now. I thought it would be nice of me to do a video. This is the kind of thing some people do on TikTok. Personally, TikTok isn't for me but I'm definitely not against it.
If you know me, then you also know that I'm not a huge social media person either. And I don't think I ever will be. If I had social media I wouldn't use it, WhatsApp not included. I had Snap and Insta both but deleted them respectively a long time ago.
Today, I am going to be analysing some underrated Bible Scriptures. For every three underrated Bible scriptures, there will be a post of encouragement. I just finished the 3rd one of that I believe, so therefore, it's time for me to move on.
I haven't done any Underrated Bible Scriptures since November 4th. It's been five and a half months, almost six. Inevitably, I didn't intend for the gap to be that long, life happened.
C'est la vie (That's life in French)
This section of my website is basically just me analysing Bible verses. I will analyse three verses at a time, and when it is long enough in my opinion, I will move on to Part 8 then 9.
I'm not OCD but I don't like numbers that end in 4 or 9, unless I can't avoid it or it's good for something (i.e. for the volume on BBC iPlayer on my laptop). They're too close to 5 and 10, so maybe I'll do up to Part 10. Don't take my word for it.
Without further ado, let us begin! I stopped at Scripture 33, so here are Scriptures 34, 35 and 36. I've decided to stop at 48 or 51 before I go up to part 8, I'm not sure yet.
#Scripture 34
I couldn't not do my favourite verse in the Bible, which I discovered in about January, I can't remember, but my favourite scripture is Isaiah 58:11 now.
It used to be Jeremiah 17:10, which is this. I reference it a lot, especially if I am talking about beauty.
The Lord says, “I look deep down inside human hearts. I see what is in people’s minds. I reward each person in keeping with their conduct. I bless them based on what they have done.”
Unfortunately, Jeremiah 17:10 is now my second favourite verse in the Bible.
I don't know the scriptures I've done before and I don't expect you to either because it's been a very long time since I posted on here in general, not just for Underrated Bible Scriptures. Even I forget what I write sometimes.
I'll try to take note of them one day.
Here is the long awaited Isaiah 58:11
I will always guide you. I will satisfy your needs in a land baked by the sun. I will make you stronger. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water. You will be like a spring whose water never runs dry.
Isn't this verse just amazing?
I discovered it when I found out that God is the only person that can keep you satisfied. I am sure I'm not the only person that has tried to find happiness in material things. The problem though was that I did so intentionally, it wasn't inadvertently.
I'm not one to follow trends, however sometimes I can fall into the trap that quantity is better than quality, especially on social media.
Sometimes I'd wish to be social media famous. Not famous in real life, famous online, on this specific app. Not Blogger, something else. I used to think that fame was the answer to all problems.
Researchers at the University of Rochester in New York tracked 147 college graduates, evaluating their goals and their happiness at two points in time -- one year after graduation, and then 12 months later.
"The attainment of extrinsic, or 'American Dream,' goals does not contribute to happiness at all in this group of people, but it actually does contribute to some ill being," said study author Edward Deci, a psychology professor.
The study is published in the June issue of The Journal of Research in Personality.
Those who had attained the wealth and fame goals were less happy, he said, than those who achieved more intrinsic goals such as personal growth.
Why?
Here is what some of the students told him: "The whole process of being so on the treadmill to wealth, fame and image leaves me feeling like a pawn or a puppet in life."
//
If you want to be happy in life, then I think you should stay out of the spotlight, but let me enlighten y'all.
I'm not saying that fame is bad, or that all famous people are unhappy. It all depends on what you do with your fame, and goodness knows, some famous people could be flexing their happiness online.
Some people don't chase fame and it just comes to them naturally, i.e. through genetics. Just don't let it consume you, not all that glitters is gold. There are many brilliant famous people out there: religious and non religious too.
Little did I know that fame only causes more problems. If you're out here reading this and you're trying to chase material things, stop right there. They won't make you happy - and even if they did, it would definitely be temporary. The novelty will always wear off.
I have a personal example; when I was younger, I always wanted an iPhone. I had a Samsung, it was pretty decent. I don't want to say anything worse than that because I don't want to sound ungrateful.
Besides, having a phone is a luxury because not everybody does - say they can't afford it.
When I first got an iPhone, I was over the moon. Now that I have one, it's just like any normal thing. It's not really that special anymore. Let me quickly reference Psalms 30:5b (the end of verse 5, but not everything), occasionally the scriptures I am analysing will have cross references to other ones.
Weeping can stay for the night. But joy comes in the morning.
Let me show you something: the verse says that joy comes in the morning.
Not happiness - joy.
You might be wondering what the difference between happiness and joy is. Or you may already know, and perhaps you need a reminder.
Happiness is temporary but joy is eternal. They are also both girls' names - I know people named both Happiness and Joy. So whilst you are looking for temporaryhappiness in material things, why not try to find eternaljoy in the Lord?
There's a reason Colossians 3:2 says that you should set your mind on things above. Not to set your mind on material things. This is because whoever wrote Colossians knows that material things will not make you happy, but God can, forever.
When I've had a bad day and I listen to Gospel music, I feel better. I gave up secular music for Lent, so I didn't listen to it, unless I was in a place where I genuinely couldn't control the music being played.
Now that Lent is over, I re-listen to it, but obviously I'm cautious of lyrics and I listen to Godly songs more. I personally do not think all secular music is bad. Some are great, especially old school songs - you just have to be careful of lyrics and hidden meanings.
Some people might lose respect for me because of that but I don't mind. I shouldn't be able to change my views on my website, but if I do disagree with something I will mention it kindly.
No hard feelings 💗
I have learnt not to change who I am to please others. You should learn to do the same. Don't let anyone or anything control you.
The second part of Isaiah 58:11 says:
I will make you stronger. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water. You will be like a spring whose water never runs dry.
I pray this happens to you, amen.
People can help you to be stronger, but as soon as they've done that, they might leave your life. For example you could have a personal trainer that is helping you to be strong, i.e. say for this gymnastics competition.
They will help you train and be stronger, but once you've gotten the hang of everything, you won't need them anymore. However, with God - he will make you stronger, and he will stay.
Speaking of people that stay, ensure you know who your real friends are.
See the eye roll Tupac gave? The guy he hugged probably did the same thing. They're not true friends.
Some people pretend well. Some will stay with you until they get something from you, then they leave. Behind your back, they talk badly about you, but in front of your face, they're all sunshine and rainbows. I try to be a true friend to everyone when necessary.
Again, this links to quality over quantity. When I was in a large circle of friends during sixth form, I found myself progressively moving to a smaller one. There is nothing wrong with large friendship groups, but as I always say, I'm not exactly an extrovert. Then again, it depends on who I'm with.
One of my university lecturers always tells me I have a quiet voice.
But you seriously need to ask yourself how many real friends you have in your friendship group. If you had a crisis, or God forbid, crises, who would be there for you?
On to the next scripture.
#Scripture 35
Romans 7:14-16
14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.
15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.
16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
I just love the NLT version of this passage. I normally use the NIRV version of the Bible as it is easier for me to understand, but it does not always suffice.
Everybody has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. You can find that in Romans 3:23.
I was even saying to myself earlier when I was studying for an exam that I have probably sinned like 2 million times in my life.
The thing that's important is what you do after you've sinned.
I'm sure you've heard of the quote below many times:
Sounds cliché, doesn't it? It's not.
You could ask God for forgiveness of your sins, but then you commit the same sin again. Sin is inevitable, just make sure you stay out of it as much as you can.
You may be friends with people that are nice to your face, but they have sinful intentions.
For example, say you are popular, some people might only want to be your friend to boost their status - which is another problem with the aforementioned fame.
Anytime I pray, I always ask God to make sure he removes anyone who isn't supposed to be in my life. Earlier last year, I can't remember when, I said a sentence with the 4Ds.
The devil will do anything to destroy your destiny.
Not just with the devil though, devilish people. Also - did you know that the word devil means do evil?
Whether you did or didn't, you learn something new everyday.
You know you've been backsliding or sinning pretty badly if the Bible annoys you - or if any spiritual activity does.
Why should the Bible irritate you? It should be doing anything but. There is nothing irritating about the Bible: there's a reason it stands for Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.
If you feel negatively about the Bible, then like Paul says:
"The trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin."
(Verse 14)
Don't live a sinful life because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
Some people even die because they've lived a sinful life, or they're about to live a life so sinful that they can't really escape it.
So therefore, God decides to call them home and end their suffering - death is better than knowing that you're going to live a life of suffering and die anyway. God would never let anyone suffer.
And he would never give you more than what you can handle - You can find that in 1 Corinthians 10:13.
The last verse for today is:
#Scripture 36
1 Kings 2:3
Observe the requirements of the Lord your God, and follow all his ways. Keep the decrees, commands, regulations, and laws written in the Law of Moses so that you will be successful in all you do and wherever you go.
I'll be honest, this verse came to me yesterday (it was past midnight when I wrote this) by serendipity. 😅😆
It can also link to Joshua 1:8, which says this:
Never stop reading this Book of the Law. Day and night you must think about what it says. Make sure you do everything written in it. Then things will go well with you. And you will have great success.
A serendipity is a happy accident. I was initially looking for any verse from Judges that I could analyse, as I believe that the book of Judges is pretty underrated.
Then I came across this website, topverses.com, that ranks Bible verses based on popularity and chapter.
So for example, it would mention the most popular verses from, I don't know, Obadiah, and the verse's overall popularity in the Bible. There are 31,102 verses in the Bible.
I couldn't really find anything from Judges, and the book of Kings is my favourite in the Bible, and 1 Kings 3:2 was the first one I could find.
Essentially, the verse is linked to Hosea 6:6, which says that obedience is better than sacrifice.
For example, I am obeying God right now by posting: this was a divine instruction from him. Intermittently (at irregular intervals; from time to time), God might ask you to sacrifice something from him, like he did with Abraham.
Abraham sacrificed Isaac in Genesis 22, but due to time constraints, I am only going to mention up to Verse 9. I used the ESV version.
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.
5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy[a] will go over there and worship and come again to you.”
6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.
7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
Abraham was so close to God that he didn't even question God when God wanted him to sacrifice his son. Most of us would have - we need to have that kind of relationship with God.
One where he tells us to do something and we do it without asking questions. Try to do things for God straight away too - and don't procrastinate on it, which is still something I am working on myself.
Sometimes you might have to wait for a specific day to do an instruction sent by God, i.e doing a testimony in church - that happened to me, and it was something I could only really do on a Sunday.
That's different, but if you can do it at any day of the week, then do it.
All these verses can link to the well known Matthew 6:33, which says seek God first and everything else will be given unto you. If you seek God first, he'll give you joy, he will reward you of obeying him (as long as that's not the only reason you want to do so) and he will prevent you from sinning.
Another reason as to why obeying is better than sacrifice, unless God asks you to sacrifice something for him is because you could be doing so for all the wrong reasons. Or you're not sacrificing something right.
For instance, the devil could tell you to sacrifice offering.
Why would you do that? That's definitely not from God, though unfortunately some people do mistake hearing from the devil as hearing from God.
Some people sacrifice their time to go to church, but it's so that they can look good through the eyes of others, or so that they could meet their friends, or I don't know, to check if the person they have feelings for is there. It's not for God at all.
Make sure you obey God at all times.
There's this quote I like that is supposedly from the universe, but I link it to God. Let me reference it down below.
Familiarity breeds contempt. This means that if you're too familiar with something, you could end up resenting it or taking it for granted. Don't become too relaxed with God, you may start to backslide. Always try to do more for him.
A personal example: I have this website. One day, I want to publish a fictional book about this made up Christian competition I've been writing but haven't finished. Not yet though, when the time is right.
I have the title but I'm not going to reveal it. Please don't ask me further questions about it either, but I do definitely want it to happen. God is even urging me to do it.
All in due time. 😁😋
That's doing something more for God. I am using my writing skills to the best. I don't see myself starting a YouTube channel, hence why I made this website. I am more of a writing person than a talking person - also I can easily edit things.
Oh! And linking back to before, quality is better than quantity because Jesus only had 12 disciples. But someone like Adolf Hitler had millions, and we all know what happened with them.
That's all I have to say for today, so I hope you have been blessed.
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