Joshua Ogola

02/03/2022

AN AMAZING FACT: A 2004 Gallup poll indicates that the average American has nine close friends.

In this same poll, 73 percent of Americans say they are satisfied with the number of friends they have, but 23 percent wish they had a few more friends. It’s interesting that the number of friends drops to seven for those in their 30s and 40s, but rises to 12 for those over 65. The researchers also discovered that the more money people made, the fewer friends they had.

In a similar study on friends and churches, Gallup found that people who have friends within their own church could more fully live out their faith than those who tended to have friends outside their church. In other words, if you don’t have friends at church, it can actually impede your spiritual growth! Being isolated or having the wrong types of friends can pull you away from God. My father used to say, “If you sleep with dogs, you’ll get fleas.”

We often think of choosing friends as a thing to do during our teen years. But while it’s true that young people can develop new friendships that will last a lifetime, the principle of choosing our friends wisely is for every age. People might move to a new community or attend a new church or begin a new job and have opportunity to forge new relationships. Good friends at any age can be a powerful influence in our lives.

For instance, I’m impressed with the positive peer influence of friends when I read the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. It’s an example of how the right friends can help you withstand intense peer pressure. King Nebuchadnezzar built a golden image nearly 90-feet tall and commanded all his government officials to come for the dedication.

At the king’s command, everyone was to bow down and worship the image—or face immediate ex*****on. The three young Hebrews didn’t bow down; they stood strong together. As a result, they were thrown into the fiery furnace together … only to be miraculously rescued by God! Choose your friends wisely

03/02/2022

AN AMAZING FACT: America’s largest landfill is Apex Regional Landfill, 20 miles northeast of Las Vegas. It has over 3,199,653 tons of garbage.

Talk about a lot of trash! The Apex Regional Landfill takes in over 9,000 tons of trash a day. Back in 2007, it was getting as much as 15,000 tons of trash a day. And, spanning 2,200 acres, the dump could keep taking trash at the same rate for the next 200 years.

It’s hard to believe, but this particular landfill is just one of many landfills that contribute to America’s burgeoning trash industry. All told, the trash industry in America does about $50 billion worth of business a year!

Perhaps just as hard to believe is what the apostle Paul considered to be trash. In Philippians 3:8 he says that he considered all things to be “as garbage” compared to gaining Christ and knowing Him (NLT). And Paul had a lot to cling to, humanly speaking. He was born into the right family, trained at the best institutions, and was zealous for law keeping. He had a lot going for him. Yet in the grand ledger of his life, he counted all his accomplishments as “debits” and knowing Jesus as a “credit.”

This is because he saw a vision of Jesus that made everything else in the world fade. He had been saved from his former life of persecuting God’s people. He had been redeemed from trying to earn his own salvation by performing good works. He had been granted a new heart and a new life. Thus everything else in this world was utter trash in Paul’s estimation.

What about us? Have we caught the same vision that Paul caught—thus causing all else in life to leave us dissatisfied in light of God’s glory and grace?

KEY BIBLE TEXTS

For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:2

25/01/2022

AN AMAZING FACT: Two of history’s youngest monarchs were King Henry VI, who became king at eight months and 25 days of age; and Mary, Queen of Scots, who became queen at the age of six days.
The wicked queen Athaliah had a plan; she tried her best to wipe out any other heirs to the throne, including her own grandsons. Heir after heir fell to her ruthless plot. From a human standpoint, she seemed destined to succeed.

But God had another plan. Providence caused one young heir to the throne to be rescued by his aunt and safely hidden away in the house of the Lord for six years. At the right moment Joash, the secret heir, was proclaimed king. The seven-year-old was crowned, and his supporters held a great celebration.

When she saw what had happened, Athaliah screamed, “Treason! Treason!” The guards had to drag her away.

Although he was only a small child, Joash loved God. Because he and his supporters chose a righteous path and committed themselves to keep God’s law, the Lord caused them to prevail. He can do the same for you too.
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain. And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land. 2 Kings 11:1-3I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts. Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth. Psalms 119:141-142

22/01/2022

AN AMAZING FACT: The total number of high school dropouts annually in the United States is 3,030,000. The percent of U.S. jobs a high school dropout is not eligible for is about 90 percent.

If you read my book The Richest Caveman, you know that I attended some pretty interesting schools in my younger years, including two different military academies, a school on board a ship, and one place that threw all rules out the window. This experimental school in Maine believed that kids will learn the things that are important to them. Well, I guess it was true, though most of what I learned was from other students … and the things I learned weren’t very profitable!

I made the reckless decision to drop out of high school at 16 and run away. By the time I was 20, I realized my prospects for success would be very limited, so I earned my GED and went on to college.

Today I always encourage young people to get a good education. High school dropouts are more likely to be unemployed, earn lower wages, be more dependent on government assistance, and to be single parents. Even crime stats show that 30 percent of federal inmates have not completed high school, and 50 percent of convicts on death row have not finished grade 12.

The wise teacher in Proverbs says, “Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge.” In other words, if you really want to learn something, you’ll go through the discipline of getting it, no matter how difficult. We are shortsighted to think we can learn to play the piano but never practice or get our driver’s license but never study for the written exam. We should love instruction because we want to go somewhere and be someone.

Sometimes I hear students say, “I can’t wait until I graduate so that I don’t have to take any more tests!” I hate to pop their bubbles, but I tell them life will continue to throw many tests at them. Almost every occupation requires an element of training, study, and ongoing assessment to maintain licenses. Many jobs call for continuin

21/01/2022

AN AMAZING FACT: Nearly 7,000 languages are spoken around the world today, but about 2,000 of those languages have fewer than 1,000 speakers.

Until after the global flood, everyone on earth spoke the same language. In order to stick together, some of Noah’s descendants conspired to build a great city with a sky-high tower. But God made it so the people couldn’t understand each other, so they had to abandon the tower. This is how the Bible explains the origin of the many languages spoken today.

Even communication in the same language can be tricky. With the many different life experiences that form the backdrop of our every interaction, the hurts and disappointment, the egos and preconceptions, it’s amazing we get through to each other at all!

Enter the digital age. According to the United Nations International Telecommunication Union, nearly 200,000 text messages were sent every second in 2010, in addition to 107 trillion e-mails throughout the year. Autocorrect can make things even more confusing. When one retired couple headed to Nepal for a month-long trek, their daughter asked the older couple to e-mail from Internet cafés along the way. The very first message their daughter received said, “Help. Visa bad. Can you send money to the water? Autopsy not working.”

It took $150 and 16 hours over numerous calls to the U.S. Embassy for the concerned daughter to discover that her parents’ credit card wasn’t letting them pay their water bill automatically. Auto-correct had changed “auto pay” to “autopsy.” They laughed about it afterwards, but not all miscommunications have a good ending.

When it comes to communicating with God, Paul says we don’t even know what to pray for. Thankfully, “The Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26). And God promises to hear your prayer—regardless of the language you speak or the eloquence (or lack thereof!) with which you speak it.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS Jeremiah 29:12

20/01/2022

AN AMAZING FACT: During World War I, President and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson kept a flock of sheep on the White House lawn. The woolies, including Old Ike—a ram that enjoyed chewing tobacco—kept the lawn in beautiful condition. This saved money that would have been spent on grounds keeping. Each year the sheep were sheared and their wool auctioned, which raised more than $100,000 for the Red Cross.

Sheep were central to the conflict between Jacob and his often underhanded father-in-law, Laban. While Jacob labored for him with all of his might, Laban changed Jacob’s wages ten times and tried to cheat him.

But God was watching out for Jacob. As Jacob explained to his wives, if Laban said, “‘The speckled shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore speckled. And if he said thus: ‘The streaked shall be your wages,’ then all the flocks bore streaked” (Genesis 31:8).

As God commanded him, Jacob took all of his possessions and secretly left Laban’s property. Laban, unhappy with the manner of Jacob’s leaving, pursued him for an entire week and finally caught up with him.

Bitter words poured out, but eventually they made a covenant between them. Laban, a heathen man, said in parting, “May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from another.” He asked Jacob to be good to his daughters, and the two men agreed never to harm each other.

As God had been merciful and forgiving toward him, Jacob forgave Laban, who had spitefully used him.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS

But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me. Psalms 13:5-6But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; Matthew 5:44

19/01/2022

AN AMAZING FACT: During the first Gulf War, a small team of U.S. Navy SEALS created a diversion so convincing that it completely fooled the Iraqi army. About a dozen SEALS stormed the beaches of Kuwait and created such havoc that Iraqi generals believed the U.S.-led attack was coming from the sea. Iraq sent the majority of their army to repel this fake attack—only to find they had been duped as the main U.S. force came through the Saudi Arabian desert! Within hours the war was over, and it all started with less than 20 soldiers!
We don’t think of the desert as a place where exciting things happen, but don’t be fooled like the Iraqi army. Deserts are places on our planet characterized by little rain or plant growth. Specifically, they receive less than 10 inches of water per year. They are mostly made up of sand, rocks, and gravel. Deserts cover about one-fifth of all the land in the world. The largest hot desert in the world is the Sahara in North Africa. It covers 3.3 million square miles. Others have names and nicknames like “Death Valley,” “The Empty Quarter,” and “The Place of No Return.”

But did you know that deserts are only second to tropical rain forests in the variety of plants and animals that live there? Even though they have a reputation for supporting little life, they have high biodiversity, including animals that remain hidden during daylight hours to control body temperature.

One of God’s greatest soldiers in the Bible was John the Baptist. This prophetic “voice in the wilderness” grew up in the desert. The Bible says, “So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel” (Luke 1:80). Many scoffed at this “wild man” from the desert, but John caught the attention of a growing number of leaders. His message cut deep. His voice rang true. And he eventually introduced the greatest figure in history, Jesus the Lamb of God.

Don’t be surprised at what God can bring out of the desert! Ish 40:3

06/10/2021

Love Letter From Heaven
1. What does God give to guide His people?

"Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path." Psalm 119:105.
2. Through whom did God convey His message?

"God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways." Hebrews 1:1.
3. How were the Scriptures written?

"Every Scripture is God-breathed...." 2 Timothy 3:16.
NOTE: The word "inspiration" comes from the Latin equivalent, divinitus inspirata. The Greek word used here is theopneustos, which literally means "God-breathed." This means that God is directly involved in the writing of the Scriptures. See Fernando Canale, "Revelation and Inspiration," Understanding Scripture, p. 48.

4. Was it through the will of man that the Scriptures were written?

No. "For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit." 2 Peter 1:21.
5. Why were the Scriptures written?

"For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that through perseverance and through encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." Romans 15:4.
NOTE: The word "Bible" does not occur in the Bible itself. It came from the Greek word biblia, meaning "little books” Biblia is derived from byblus, meaning "papyrus"-the name of the writing material. Byblus was also named after the Phoenician port of Byblos.

The Bible is called the "word of God," or the "Scriptures," which means "writings." The Bible has 66 books and was written by at least 40 men from various walks of life over a period of some 1,500 years. See "Sacred Scriptures," Bible Readings for the Home Circle, p. 10.

6. How can the reading of the Bible help us in our everyday lives?

"Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16, 17.
"For the word of God is living

05/10/2021