by Mark Ibigbami GreatMark | Mar 29, 2017 | Uncategorized |
Was the water of Marah truly bitter? After traveling in the wilderness for three days without water. The Israelites finally got to a location where they found water but which was undrinkable. The water of Marah was said to be bitter for the famished and frustrated Israelites. But one would wonder why the waters were bitter?
Why would water be bitter? From scientific point of view, I have thought that this water must have got its source from an alkaline rock. Alkali rocks are rocks in which the chemical content of the alkalies (potassium oxide and sodium oxide) is great enough for alkaline minerals to form. Such minerals may be unusually sodium rich, with a relatively high ratio of alkalies to silica (SiO2). Many alkaline rocks are silica-undersaturated and contain feldspathoid minerals, mainly nepheline and leucite, many also contain alkali feldspars. Let me not bore you with geology.
In this piece, I will be more inclined to the alkalinity pH of the water. “Potential Hydrogen” or pH are used as the measurement of the acidity or alkalinity of a substance. For example, pure water has a pH value of 7 and is considered neutral. Thus, as the pH value lowers, the water is considered more acidic and as it elevates above 7 it is considered more alkaline. Standards for drinking water suggest a pH value of between 6.5 and 8.5.
A soft water has the pH level drop toward the lower side of 6.5 and out of the recommended range. Such water is said to be acidic, and it is associated with higher levels of metals such as iron, manganese, copper, and lead and the health risks associated with each. On the other hand, water is considered hard when the pH level is above 8.5. Hard water does not pose a health risk, but can cause aesthetic problems such as: bitter taste to the water and beverages such as tea or coffee. In spite of its not having a health risk, every rational being would choose a pure drinkable water over a bitter one, as the former is more convenient for consumption. This was most likely the reason the children of Israel cried out on tasting the water of Marah, “Alas, it was bitter”, they cried to Moses.
The turning of Bitter water to sweet was another water related miracle. Previously, they had had water turned to wine (Exodus 7:20-27); Red Sea divided (Exodus 14:21-22); and the Red Sea drowning enemies (Exodus 14:26-29). The experience at Marah was just another one in the training of the Israelites on the need to depend absolutely on God for their supplies. For in God’s plan Marah should come before Elim. Lack of drinkable water should come before abundance of water. In Elim, there were twelve wells of water and seventy palm trees, awaiting the sojourners (Exodus 16:1).
The wilderness is the ground where God acquires His people. God expects us to learn lessons from every of our life challenges. From the words of Matthew Henry, “He can make bitter to us that from which we promise ourselves most, and often does so in the wilderness of this world, that our wants, and disappointments in the creature, may drive us to the creator, in whose Favour alone true comfort is to be had.” Because of His love for us, He sometimes use difficulties to call for our attention. He uses hard times to call us to trust Him for all our needs.
Are you going through a Marah experience? A sharp trial that has wearied your soul, and have plunged you into despair? Perhaps, for you also, It has being a very tiring journey, and at some point you eventually got some respite, but alas, that wasn’t even sufficient to meet your needs. Oh what a life, you cried! Rather than murmur like the children of Israel did against the constituted authority, Moses. Of them the scripture records, “And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” (Exodus 15:24). You should like Moses, cry out to the LORD in absolute reliance! And I am so certain that as God showed Moses a tree which when he cast into the waters, the bitter waters were made sweet, God will show you a way out of the darkness and draught!
In every trial, we should cast our care upon the Lord, and pour our hearts before Him. We shall then find a submissive will, a peaceful conscience, and the comforts of the Holy Ghost, will render the bitterest trial tolerable, yea, pleasant. You are winning! Yes, we are winning!
GreatMark
by Mark Ibigbami GreatMark | Mar 28, 2017 | Uncategorized |
If you are the kind of person who desperately needs to attain your dreams, there’s definitely no price that can be too much to pay. If truly you are compelled and drawn towards a hope, there’s no kind of intimidation that is potent to kill your ambition. “The prices you are willing to pay has to be paid fully and in advance…not after you get results, but whether you get the results or not. (trust that invisible results are building up).”*
An eight-year-old boy approached an old man in front of a wishing well, looked up into his eyes, and asked: “I understand you’re a very wise man. I’d like to know the secret of life.” The old man looked down at the youngster and replied: “I’ve thought a lot in my lifetime, and the secret can be summed up in four words. The first is think. Think about the values you wish to live your life by. The second is believe. Believe in yourself based on the thinking you’ve done about the values you’re going to live your life by. The third is dream. Dream about the things that can be, based on your belief in yourself and the values you’re going to live by. The last is dare. Dare to make your dreams become reality, based on your belief in yourself and your values. ” And with that, Walter E. Disney said to the little boy, “Think, Believe, Dream, and Dare.”
There will always be reasons why you dreams should not come to reality. These reasons might be you, or your environment. But if indeed you want your dream to become reality, then you must dare to pay the price! In talking about your dreams, I mean such aspirations that would see you digging for your own gold and cultivate what God has given you, for the purpose of blessing humanity and bringing pleasure to God. The truth is, it doesn’t matter what else you did; if it didn’t satisfy the mandate of your creator, then you are not successful! There’s no one who can define success other than the God who created you.
It is expensive to be blessed; and those who would achieve greatness will not be dissuaded by the price of their dreams. “The inflationary times may escalate the price of their dreams but whatever the price, they are compelled to pay.” (T.D Jakes). The price for achieving your dreams may be to give up some habits or addictions. It may be necessary to give up some friends and associations. It might even require you to change your job or location. Also, time or age is no barrier. You can reignite your passion and push forward despite the challenging environment. God makes things beautiful in His time. Better to do something than nothing.
Most often than none, it is not the smartest, wealthiest or the most intelligent, or even the most powerful that always achieve success. It is proven that success goes to anyone that simply doesn’t quit. I have not read or seen anyone who achieves success without paying a price. As they say, “there is no gain without pain.” The temporary pain of sacrifice may be intimidating, but the unquantifiable joy of success is a reward worth dying for. We have a perfect example in our Lord Jesus Christ. Of Him the Bible records, “…who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrew 12:2. For such a perfect example, we are admonished to “…fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, He is he head of all the long train of faith heroes. He is the author and perfecter of our faith. Consider Him. Observe and analyze every part of His life and conduct, and you will be on your path to glory!
To be successful on earth is good, but I believe the greatest achievement that any man could have is to fulfill the purpose of his creator, which includes to do His mandate here on earth, and to spend eternity with Him in heaven. Anything short of this is mere futility! Some great men have gone ahead of us who achieved so much success but they reckoned it as waste at the end of their lives.
Perhaps, the cold winds of opposition and criticism have banked the fire in you, and your dreams are dying down. I challenge you to rekindle your desire to achieve whatever God has promised you. Don’t lose your fire! Fight for your dreams. You are winning! Yes, we are winning!
GreatMark
Ref: *www.multibhojwani.com
by Mark Ibigbami GreatMark | Mar 21, 2017 | Articles, Lifestyles |
Imagine being invited to a dinner party for fundraising for those who are suffering from depression, and to your amazement, you discovered that these people were on the guest list: Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Robert Schumann, Ludwig Von Beethoven, Edgar Allen Poe, Mark Twain and Vincent van Gogh.
When you arrive Schumann and Beethoven are discussing the movements in their most recent musical compositions, Poe and Twain are listening to Van Gogh talk about the meaning of his art, while Roosevelt and Lincoln discuss politics.
You wonder to yourself why these people are here. After all, this is a fundraiser to help people suffering from depression. Maybe they all have someone in their family who suffers from depression? The time arrives during the dinner for speeches by special guests. You are shocked as one by one each of these famous people describes their own battle with depression.
Lincoln even quotes from a letter he wrote to a friend some years earlier: “I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would be not one cheerful face on earth. Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell. I awfully forebode I shall not. To remain as I am is impossible. I must die or be better it appears to me.”**
You are not the only one who is been challenged! Therefore, suicide should never be an option. There are many others whose case are even worst than yours! To think that the whole world is against you; and that your life isn’t worth living is a lie of the devil! You are relevant that is why you are still breathing.
Why would you contemplate Suicide?
To think that you must take your life for whatever reasons you consider tenable is foolish! A mad man roaming the streets is better than a man who commits suicide, because he still has hope of being rehabilitated some day. You may not be where you want to be; you may even be far from your dreams even though you have labored so hard to get to where you are.
Perhaps, you have thought that when you have achieved your goals, then you would be happy and free, but sadly, you are still plunged in depression and fear. I tell you, you need to quickly look beyond yourself, for true victory is from above. Those who think they don’t need God always end in painful regrets, no matter how intelligent, wealthy or famous they may have lived.
Later on in another letter, Abraham Lincoln, encouraged everyone to persevere. He wrote, “The year that is drawing toward the close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. These bounties are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come.”** Imagined if he had given up on himself when he was dissatisfied about life, he would have not had this beautiful testimony of God’s magnanimity.
How to live above Depression
Who are you, what have you achieved that you think you are bigger than your creator? Even great men whose names and successes remain indelible understood that the way out of depression and hopelessness is God!
Here is one secret to live above depression, and overcome the act of suicide: let your heart be positioned towards God, and then you will be connected to heavenly signals that would position you for divine excellence. If you stand up now from your depression mood, turn towards God and tilt your faith towards heaven, you will be connected to possibilities, and trust me, you will be locked down to winning mode!
Those who are locked down to winning mode are those whose help is in the name of the Lord (Psalm 124:8). “God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him…” (2 Chronicles 16:9).
Are you so worried about your performance? Have you received so many queries and rejections that you think you are so worthless? The truth is, that which you do is not who you are. Your performance is a product of what you do; and who you are is what God has made you to be.
You might have failed in what you do but that doesn’t make you a failure. Your performance may change but who you are doesn’t change! God says you’re His child, His masterpiece -beautifully and wonderfully made. He says you are good, and you are more than conqueror! So why settle for less of God? Why even think of suicide!?
Look, the enemy will do his best to magnify your problems. You’ve got to make the decision that you’re going to keep a positive attitude to life. So many things around you will seek to demoralize you but you must choose to be happy. The enemy always fight you the hardest when he knows that God has great things in store for you. Your best days is right ahead of you!
You’ve got to keep doing the right thing even when the wrong things are happening to you. You’ve got to stay positive and make a decision that you are going to step out in faith and outlast the enemy! Don’t settle for mediocrity so you don’t miss out on God’s best.
Just beyond the adversity is a place of abundance. You are winning! Yes, we are winning!
Also read: THE MANY BLESSINGS OF AN UNGRATEFUL MAN
How to overcome depression: https://thiswayup.org.au/how-do-you-feel/sad/
GreatMark
*Source: based on information found in an article by Liora Nordenberg “Dealing with the Depths of Depression” at US Federal Drug Administration website. **Final Lincoln quote found at sermons.com
by Mark Ibigbami GreatMark | Mar 20, 2017 | Uncategorized |
In recent times, I have studied closely the relationship between Jews and the Ethiopians and this aroused my curiosity to research the history of the two races. My attention was again drawn to this on arriving at the Addis Ababa International Airport on March 18th 2017 while on transit to Dubai. This spurred me to deeply consider if the Ethiopian Jews were Israelis who migrated from Israel or they were offerings of the supposed relationship between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon. There are so many views about the history of the Ethiopian: while the Jewish version attempted to denounce that Solomon had criminal intercourse with the Queen of Sheba, the offspring of which was Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed the Temple (comp. Rashi ad loc.). The Ethiopian believes that the relationship between Queen of Sheba and King Solomon produced a son, whom she named Baina-leḥkem (i. e. bin al-ḥakīm, “Son of the Wise Man”, later called Menilek), and that he is the ancestor of the Ethiopian Jews.
I found the below write up from a biblical sources more convincing, especially given the mention of the ‘land of Cush’, which has been found to be the ancient Ethiopia (Genesis 10:6). This is why I think the queen of Sheba was from the ancient Ethiopia “A wide collection of Jewish traditions refer to a Jewish population in the land of Kush, also spelled Cush, and referred to as Ethiopia. As indicated earlier, these ancient geographical terms referred to what is today Northern Sudan, and not present Ethiopia. Kush represents one of the most powerful civilizations of the ancient world; The Kushites developed several kingdoms through history and in the eighth century BC built an expansive empire that extended all the way from central Sudan to central Palestine, which they eventually lost for the Assyrians.
Unlike all forms of contemporary literature, the Bible ranks the Kushites equally with, if not higher than, the major nations of the Bible world (i.e., the Egyptians, the Babylonians, and the Persians). In Genesis 10:6, Cush (or Kush, i.e., who is ancestor of the Kushites) is listed as the first son of Ham before his brothers, Mizraim(ancestor of the Egyptians), and Put (ancestor of the Libyans), and Canaan (ancestor of the Canaanites). Also, the Bible attributes famous characters to Kushite ancestry including Seba (or Sheba) best known for her encounter with King Solomon (1 Chronicles 1:9), Moses Kushite wife Zipporah (Numbers 12:1), and the legendary Mesopotamian epic hero Nimrod (Genesis 10: 8-9). This is just to cite a few.
The Bible presents some of the earliest written evidence for the possible existence of Jews in Kush:
“In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.”(Isiah 11:11)
“I will record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me– Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush– and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.'(Psalm 87:4). Also, “From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, my scattered people, will bring me offerings.” (Zephaniah 3:10)
References to Kush in diverse contexts appear in various Biblical and extra-Biblical narratives and traditions, such as the elaborate narrative of Moses journey in Kush presented in the Book of Jasher, of which analysis would exceed the possible length of this article.
Also, as mentioned, the Kushite civilization predates that of Aksum with very prolonged times. While the Aksumite civilization saw its early beginnings in the fifth century BC, and did not develop into an organized powerful kingdom until the first century AD, Kush flourished starting from the ninth century BC and was a was already a Mediterranean empire by the eighth century BC.
Furthermore, Kush retains a geographical location that is more accessible to the Mediterranean than that of the more southerly region of Aksum. The rugged and mountainous character of contemporary Ethiopia, as opposed to the flat lands of the Sudan, has always made communications with other civilization extremely difficult. Thus, a journey of a Jewish population from Palestine to Kush is much more reasonably suggestible than an exhaustive journey to the inlands of the mountainous plateau of today’s Ethiopia.
Given the wide number of historical sources that confirms the presence of a Jewish community in Kush, which is in fact beyond the length of this paper– and the strong historical connection established with the Beta Israel in other sources– the case for the descendency of the Beta Israel from a Jewish community coming from Kush, becomes particularly strong. The historical traditions that associate the Beta Israel with Kush, more than that with Aksum or any other region in the world, outlays a solid ground for this argument.
My research continues. Yes, we are winning!
Reference:
1.The Forgotten Origin of the Ethiopian Jews; from Northern Sudan. By Ibrahim Omer © copyright 2012.
2. http://www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/legendary-queen-sheba-and-her-iconic-visit-king-solomon-002547
by Mark Ibigbami GreatMark | Mar 17, 2017 | Uncategorized |
Let him off the hook for your own good! If you are relying on another person to meet all your needs, to become everything in your life you are sure going to be disappointed at some points. I recall that when I gained admission into the university, I received lots of promises of enjoying financial sponsorship and supports from a couple of friends, and brethren in my local church. In my first year in school, I struggled to find financial supports from these people. For months, I waited in vain, and even when I got funded, it never met up to my expectations, and this left me frustrated! At a point, I changed my perspective, I decided to trust in God alone for my needs. I decided that only those whom God would move to help me would do, and anyone who doesn’t, has not been convinced to help me. This attitude helped me to let people off the hook, and to accept them for who they are. Sometimes, God would allow us to go through seasons when we are not getting what we expect from people. Such times he teaches us to not rely on another person but to depend on him for our value, our worth, and need. Therefore, I challenge you that instead of being frustrated, you should change your perspective.
Also, don’t live on other people’s compliment. It’s nice to hear but you don’t rely on people for their approval else you would be discouraged and limited when they don’t validate you. You never going to keep everyone happy. When you come to the end of your life, God isn’t going to asked you if you kept everyone happy, or if you got encouragement or approval from your family, people, friends or colleagues. He’s going to ask you if you fulfilled His purposes for your life! So quit trying to please people or rely on their approval. The key to a good relationship is to recognise the other persons strength and weaknesses and give room to be who they are and don’t squeeze them in your mold. Don’t try to get something from people that they don’t have. Never put your happiness in someone else’s hands. Rather, validate urself!
While preparing for a battle against the Midianites, the Lord said unto Gideon, The people … are too many—Although the Israelitish army mustered only thirty-two thousand (or one-sixth of the Midianitish host), the number was too great, for it was the Lord’s purpose to teach Israel a memorable lesson of dependence on Him. God warned them against their strategy of self dependency. “You have too many people with you…” Judges 7:2. The less you depend on people the more your spiritual muscle will become stronger and the higher you will go. And the higher God takes you the more disapproval, opposition, criticism and hatred you would get. Thus, if you base your worth or value on people you may never become what God wants you to be. Because you have the majority or connected to people of influence doesn’t guaranty your victory. As long as your doing your best and honouring God, you’re winning! Let God be your sufficiency! Yes, we are winning!
GreatMark
