DAILY HOMILIES

Repentance brings healing. Repentance is saying “No” to the devil so as to allow God to come into your life and where God is, sickness, disease, stagnation, demonic possession etc. cannot remain.

The wise men gave gifts to Jesus because they recognized His Divinity, His Kingship and His Sacrificial role for mankind. The question is: “what kind of gifts do I render to Jesus? And what do my gifts say about Jesus?” Indeed, the best gift we can offer to Jesus today is the gift of a righteous life, a pure heart and hands willing to do God’s commands.

We deny Christ by refusing to allow Christ’s words to govern our thoughts and actions. We deny Christ when we behave as if Jesus is not real. We deny Christ when we refuse to use our position, wealth and political influence in the society advance the cause of Christ.

I pray for you that this new year, you shall rise to your true position as a Son in God’s house. That you shall eat no longer remnants but real food from the golden plate of God’s word, the Bible. That you shall be a blessing to the people you will meet throughout this year. I pray that you will be light in the midst of the darkness of sin and evil in our world.

You are either a Christian or an antichrist; there is no middle way. You are either bringing souls to Christ or destroying what is left of their Christian faith. If for instance, as a priest, I am not faithful to my vows or as a married man or woman, I continue to disregard the sixth commandment, I tell lies, steal and so on, then I am an antichrist.

“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” (1 John 2:16-17)

Hatred against another is like poison in our body system. This poison, like venom, destroys others but more importantly, it damages us by extinguishing the light of God in our hearts. To hate a person is to open your heart for the devil’s manipulation.

There is a Herod that lives in us; it is called our “ego”. It wants to reign, to be number one, to pull others down. It wants to be worshipped by all means. It is ready to eliminate, to kill and destroy others so long as it advances our self-interest. How often have you felt threatened by the success of others to the extent of that you find yourself speaking ill of them, spreading false tales and even trying to eliminate them?

Growing up as kids, we read a lot of story books which ended with the phrase: “And they lived happily ever after.” Most of us often make the mistake of assuming that after the wedding ceremony, everything suddenly falls into place by itself. This is not true. If your family is to be holy, then get ready to do the hard work; be prayerful, fear God, live a virtuous life, be faithful to your marital vows, love your spouse to the end. Remember, no one can give what he or she does not have.

If God sent us His Son Jesus Christ while we were still His enemies, we who are made in His image and likeness ought to be so kind to our enemies. This is what would make our Christmas celebration complete.

Today, there are many Christians who literally throw caution to the wind in the name of celebrating Christmas. By so doing and without realizing it, many of us actually celebrate the devil more than we celebrate Jesus Christ during Christmas. Let me ask, where are you planning to go and catch fun today? And why do you feel Christmas is empty without this “fun”?

As we celebrate Christmas, let us join Zechariah to sing songs of thanksgiving to God, let us join David to express thanks to God for all that God has done for us. In whatever way we can, let us end this year not on a note of complaining but on a note of thanksgiving. Let the song of Zechariah become our chorus.