The Eomma Talks©

THE EOMMA TALKS – TOPIC ON ‘LOVE’

Thank you for taking time to join me @theeommatalks, where we look at the spiritual side of modern living using the lessons & teachings found in the bible to encourage listeners to discover foundational & powerful principles. If you are joining me for the first time, please know that each time I refer to God, I mean Yahweh, as this is the name God asked that He be called.

As I mentioned in my previous blogs & podcasts, I have learnt most of the topics I will be discussing through personal life experiences and as you know, life experience is often not polite or embellished so I will talk from my heart, particularly as I know it will be more beneficial. I have chosen to start with foundational truths and when you understand this truth, you can apply the principles in the challenging areas of your life. I do believe that the best treatments are those that target the source and not just the symptoms.

All sustainable systems are born out of vision: the creation of the world was born out of God’s vision, Governments, Organisations and businesses, employees support the mission/goals of their employer, so why do we base relationships and marriage on love and not vision? The topic today is ‘love’.

The literature, definition and interpretation of love is plentiful but most often they come short of our real-life experiences. We use words such as ‘I love you’ or ‘I am into you’ or ‘you are the one for me’ to create romance. And people move on to justify their use of these words with reasons such as, I love you because you are cute, sexy, generous, kind, beautiful, handsome, classy, cool, tall etc. These reasons become the foundation of their love.

But if you love someone because of certain qualities they have displayed, what will happen to your love if the person goes through a traumatic experience and their personality or physical appearance alters. Several examples come to mind, say for instance, your wife was a size 8 before childbirth and after child birth she struggles with weight problems. She eventually matures into a size 16. Another example: a situation where the object of your love is involved in a car accident and ends up speech impaired, disabled, mentally impaired or burnt in a fire incident. Invariably, your love is unprepared for this unforeseen disaster and may not be sufficiently grounded to withstand the change.

Love is not supposed to be hinged on reason or attributes. Love is not something you give because you are comfortable with giving it or because you feel like it at the time. For this reason, the bible tells us that you cannot love God if you do not love your fellow human being. This statement is hinged on the understanding that as you cannot see God, it will be extremely difficult to create good reasons to love Him. So, if you need reasons to love your neighbour, colleague or that boy or girl friend, you will equally need reason(s) to love God.

When we tell people, we love them for a reason, it means that you are exchanging the price of your love for the qualities or attributes you have found or like in them. Your love is not free and this is not love. No wonder relationships are breaking down as our love is for sale. In the past families were a unit they had a common goal, shared common values, and everybody simply accepted it and families did not need reasons to stay together. Today, it is different. People throw reason first to enable their decision as to whether or not to stick with their family. But family is important. I shall discuss family in another podcast in the future.

How much is your love worth? And what is the payoff you have received so far? The reason most people find philanthropy so fulfilling, for those who truly engage in it, is because of the principal of giving without receiving anything in return.

Love should not be the basis for friendship, family or marriage. You are already love, so you have it to give; especially when it comes to marriage. Your search in life should not dwell on love. Love is already all around you but you are not seeing this because you are looking for love in a particular person. What you should be looking for is a friend or life partner that you share the same vision with. You need someone that you identify with vision wise. As you are partnering with this person in order to support, grow or live that vision. Please be clear, that it is you willingly giving the support to grow this person and it is not about you searching to see how they will support your own vision. It is non-transactional. It is a partnership of giving, giving, giving. The only love at play is the principal of love your neighbour as you love yourself.

If you are a woman or a man and you are looking for someone to live and share life with, what you are looking for is not someone you love. We are all love, we embody love. When you search for that someone, simply ask yourself if you identify with that person’s vision. Do you know where they are headed and can you give them the support they need to get to their destination without being a hindrance or faltering along the way. Do you know yourself well enough to understand your own vision and how it fits to the other person’s life? Are you willing to give without asking for anything in return because you may not get anything in return from this partnership? Remember two horses tied together facing different directions cannot move away from their position except one agrees to change position.

When assessing your intended partnership, this person should have no reason for wanting to be with you. Not for your personality or even your character. By learning to be your true identity, loving will become more meaningful and less painful. Continuously say ‘I am love’ to yourself every day. This will help you put things into the right perspective. Like the biblical brothers Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, you can go through fire and survive it if you understand your identity and how to operate this principle.

You cannot put a price on your love, it is priceless and if you give your whole self away you are damned if it gets into the wrong hands. Most priceless objects are not sold in the open market. Do not undervalue yourself by selling love to a particular person, you will be placing them on a pedestal that you have created for your reasons and it will be unfair to judge them on this basis.

Give your love freely to all and accept love freely from all. Seek vision that align with yours and you will make a beautiful life story. They last.

As always, remember, you cannot change people but you can change how you perceive and respond to things. Love is part of your identity and you should not struggle to reflect such a beautiful thing. God is love, in the book of John 3:16 it is written:

“God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

This bible verse carries God’s love and assurance of an eternal life after death so choose to believe it. It is impossible to change from a position of disbelief. Ask yourself, what have you got to lose: absolutely nothing, but your ego.

Live life with the right understanding of love and it will be impossible to remain in the same position. I thank you and love you with the love of God.

EOMMA

THE EOMMA TALKS – TOPIC ON ‘WHAT MAKES A PERSON CHRISTIAN?’

Thank you for joining me @theeommatalks. If you are joining me for the first time, please know that each time I refer to God, I mean Yahweh, as this is the name God asked that He be called.

As I mentioned in my previous talks, my focus is on living life with God at the centre of it all. I am not a theologian but I learnt about God through real life experiences and I know He is real. As you know, life experience is often not polite or embellished so I will be frank with my audience especially as I know it will be more beneficial. My initial talks are based on foundational truths and when you understand this truth, you can apply the principles in every area of your life to deal with any challenges that you face. I do believe that the best treatments are those that target the source and not just the symptoms.

There are many views about the Christian religion. Christians also have different reasons for what makes them Christian. My topic today is centred on the question “What makes a person Christian?”

When you ask a Christian what makes them Christian, they will say things like:

Belief in God
Faith
Acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour
Qualities such as forgiveness, kindness, charitable works, love
Being born again
Fear of heaven and hell
Prayer
Dressing
Spirituality
Church going
Healing & miracles
Promise of wealth, success and life partner
To be a good person
Protection from the devil
Good social standing

Most Christians will tell you they are either Christian by birth. This would usually mean that the person may either have grown up with or without nurturing Christian values at home. For example, the family may or may not attend Church, pray together at home or read the bible. The books, films and television programs in the home may or may not have been selected based on Christian values or morals. Some people are Christians by circumstance. For example, this could be through association with a Christian, friend, colleague, neighbour, or purely through hardship and situations of helplessness. The Church in such circumstances can be seen as a place of refuge.

Irrespective of how a person became a Christian, your love for God will form or become the foundation and pillar of your relationship with Him. But is it the professed love for God that makes a person Christian or is there more to being a Christian? I will not become academic and define what Christianity means to theologians and other studies.

I can tell you what I discovered over the years during conversations with Christians and non-Christians. I found out that these two groups associate physical social benefits from God as a tool for judging a person’s belief and relationship with God. For example, Christians and non-Christians believe their leaders must have a perfect sinless life and the families of these leaders must be perfect. Christians and non-Christians believe every Church leader must heal ailments, just like Jesus and the disciples did. Christians and non-Christians believe that any person who is Christian should not worry about being cash or assets poor, they will receive their reward in heaven. Christians and non-Christians associate being a Christian with living a docile non-competitive lukewarm lifestyle. This is what Christianity means to majority of people, a lot of does and don’ts. Invariably when there are normal life challenges in leader’s family, or with a Christian friend or neighbour, the world and Christians pass judgement with statements such as he or she is a bad Christian or there is no God. Is it possible for any man to achieve a life that is sinless, and challenges free? And some will say, that is why you are Christian, you should achieve this. What a calamitous misunderstanding of what it means to be a Christian.

The bible is God’s manual, complete with how to fix things and what to do and what not to do to help one navigate life on earth. It does not matter whether you read or don’t read the bible because the spirit of God which lives inside everyman to bring the choice of what is right and what is wrong to your awareness. The spirit will not choose for you. Some people call the spirit, conscience or your knower. The spirit of God is life. Thus, the rules of dos and don’ts is for everybody even if you are not a Christian.

Likewise, God has placed economic and social gains across a variety of ways such as: employment, housing, health, success, wealth, and marriage are at the disposal of everyman who is diligent enough to apply wisdom to knowledge. For example, a professor of Economics or Business Management may not do well in real life business company although they have the academic knowledge. A Church leader with an excellent knowledge of the bible may not understand the principle relating to healing or business. The parable of the talents in the bible is a good illustration of God’s principles on how to be successful in life and this teaching is for everyone. Just as the dos and don’ts is for everyone irrespective of if you are a Christian or not, equally, everyone is free to benefit from the resources as God is love and his love is for all. To disagree with this statement is to place God as an unfair God. But from the beginning of time, he placed us on a fair equal playing ground. You may say, Eomma, I was born poor and seriously disadvantaged. I understand this and if it of any encouragement, remember there are many who are born poor but came out really successful or wealthy. There are also people who are born rich but lost it all, sometimes homeless. Most Christians and non-Christians who read me will wonder what the benefits of being a Christian is if everyone is free to benefit from God. The benefit of being a Christian lies in what makes you Christian.

People call you Christian because you have and read the bible, although sadly, most do not have a hardcopy bible at home anymore. The bible is referred to as faith book. This faith book is given to man because we are like Thomas in the bible who asked to see Jesus before he believes that he was resurrected. The Bible is God’s testaments as we cannot see him. However, having the book, reading and going to church is not what God is after. God is after your consent so he can take your spirit when you die. You can only grant Him this consent by the declaration contained in John 3:16 where we are told of eternal life. It reads:

The believers in John 3:16 are God’s children and Christians have the manual with them. Maybe you understand the power of this declaration or you have been too busy to give it a thought. Think of this statement as similar to the oats taken by a person appointed to serve as a President or Head of State. You may have been privileged to watch an inauguration before. By taken the oath of office, they become bound and are given immunity by the State whilst in office. When you declare the statement in John 3:16, God gives you immunity and accepts not your physical body which is still subject to this world (it will die) but your spirit which will no longer be subject to the law. After, you have made this declaration, a demarcation is placed between any person who has taken the oat and any who has not. This where the difference and benefit lie and that is what makes you Christ like. Christ rose and ascended into heaven. At death, the spirit of the person who has made the declaration gets to heaven because there is no condemnation and of course, the person who rejected it accepted not to choose heaven by choice. This is what makes God a fair God. You have the manual that God has given to us on earth and you have an advantage over any person without it. It is like be given the answer sheet before an examination.

This bible verse carries God’s love and assurance of an eternal life after death for anyone who wishes to make the choice. Ask yourself, are the mediums really speaking to dead people, the astrologists and sorcerers? Do you believe all this and choose to disbelief that there is life after death? The evidence of God is all around you. Grant that consent to God. Quit playing politics with your life. If you do not have a bible, go online, read and declare the passage, it is simple, easy and no money involved.

I thank you and love you with the love of God.

EOMMA