CALL OF DUTY 4

                                                   
Call of Duty 4 is the best game I have ever played and finished. It is an orgy of gunshots, a buffet of weapons, and a shoot-fest. The tidal rush of adrenaline as I sprayed terrorists with hot lead was incredible; the surge of excitement as I finished each stage was indescribable.
 
That is until I got to the stage where I had to follow a veteran called Capt. MacMillan to snipe at a nasty piece of work called Imran Zakhaev. It was pretty hard going on that level. The bad guys were milling all over the place like soldier ants after the smell of meaty stew; getting through them was a nightmare. With every little mistake I made, a pack of jugular loving ferocious canines were onto me in a flash. Even when I didn’t have the hot breath of these dangerous beasts on my neck, getting out of the radioactive zone was like finding a way out of the labyrinth of Crete.  I had to start the stage over and over again until it wasn’t real fun anymore. In short, it became frustrating. Amazingly this was on easy mode.

I was playing the game on two different systems. After failing twice on the other system which was on a more difficult mode, the game became a breeze, easy peasy. Guess what made all the difference. I stuck to Capt MacMillan like a red billed ox-pecker to an Impala. I always made sure he was in front leading the way.

William Ernest Henley said in his Invictus that he is the captain of his soul and that is where I erred. Instead of following the Captain, I gamboled off like an errant lamb and paid for it dearly over and over again because anytime I went off on my own my mission was compromised.
 
Mr. Henley was wrong and in the game of life this is where we also err.  We have never gone through life, so at best we would be recruits as raw as sashimi and not decorated officers. But there is Someone who is timeless. He has been there, done that and knows the ropes of every inch of life. God incessantly pleads that we should follow but we are naturally resistant to the instructions He has laid down for us, we would do anything but. This is the reason why life may be an arduous task, a circuitous tour where one keeps going back to the starting point, a monotonous voyage of stagnancy.
 
Truth is with the Captain, I had to show a lot of restraint and that was not fun. The dude was too boring for me. The thrill of the game for me was to empty my clips into the guts of the enemy with furious abandon but this brother was cramping my swaggering style. On the other hand, doing things my way invited an early exit. In some of the places I lost constraint and rushed into battle, the Captain would rather side step and avoid the danger. It was less thrilling but I completed the mission.

In life sometimes we have to let go of the fun to complete our purpose. For example a young lady who wants to get married but keeps distributing her sexuality like a charity doughnut to all and sundry would have to zip up to attain her purpose of getting married. Exercise is more boring than gorging ourselves with all kinds of ambrosial dainties but it’s the way to a healthier lifestyle (purpose is more readily achieved with a body that is not riddled with diseases).
  
For me it was a continuous battle. The THRILL of the game was constantly pitted against its MISSION, the PURPOSE of my existence as an SAS soldier. My survival was intrinsically woven into being guided by the Captain and following his instructions to the letter. It made the mission simpler, less stressful and way faster. I went on the next stage in no time.

Thrill constantly squares against mission and purpose like gladiators in an ancient arena: the charged pleasure for the iniquitous opposed to eternity, the sensuous bangs of illicit sex leading to divorce against the framework of marriage, the rapacious love for money resists the long term benefits of integrity, the stimulating blasts of drugs stand in the way of a meaningful future, the explosive high of profligate spending  matched against financial liberty, languid indolence faces off with intellectual progress. If the thrill always gets the upper hand, then we open ourselves up to shrapnel and feral beasts that tear up destiny like it were a parchment from the tomb of an Egyptian monarch. God help us all.
 
Any time we follow, we go onto a higher level of living. A group of fisherman was lost in the hum-drum of their fishing business until Jesus told them to follow him. They did and instead of fish, they were upgraded to fishing for men. From limited country bumpkins, they became limitless cosmopolitan city slickers.

Are you tired of your present level? Do you want to rise to the next level in 2012, you had better follow the instructions of the Captain of our souls like I as a new SAS recruit called “Soap” MacTavish followed Captain MacMillan.
 
WILL YOU FOLLOW???

HE THAT FOLLOWETH ME SHALL NOT WALK IN DARKNESS, BUT SHALL HAVE THE LIGHT OF LIFE…………

WORD AND WONDERS!

                                                                  

Ranking high on the list of my favourite superheroes is Shazam (Captain Marvel).  Ever since I saw his advertisement in a comic book showing him towering over his boyish alter-ego with a caption that read “the world’s mightiest mortal is a kid at heart”, I have remained absolutely in love.

The story of this hero is that a boy called Billy Bateson someday happened upon an old wizard who gave him the magic word “Shazam”.  Anytime this boy utters it, he is transformed into a mighty being with the super powers of legendary figures whose names form the acronym of the change igniting utterance.   The wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles and the speed of Mercury.

The part of this that hits me like the fist of an enraged incredible Hulk is how one single word alters a lad into someone beyond his wildest dreams. That word for young Billy was an agent of change and amazement. It was inherently imbued with the power to effect astonishing feats by making his cells, muscles, bones, body, mind, soul, will, intellect go through metamorphosis like the conversion of a grubby caterpillar into an exotic butterfly. Likewise in “Masters of the universe”, Prince Adam is an ordinary fellow who turns into He-man, the most powerful being on earth when he holds the power sword aloft and cries “by the power of grayskull, I have the power”.

If you have been following my blog for a while now, you will have gotten acquainted with my reiteration that there is a thin line between fantasy and reality.

Words are usually much more than we think they are. Since they gush from some of us like water from leaky faucets, we make the mistake of thinking they are merely the wheels on which communication is conveyed. But that is where we miss it, WORDS ARE POWERFUL!

Have you ever noticed that spells are cast through the instrumentality of words! Blessings are rained through the same, curses too. No oath is covenanted absent them. The world we live in was formed with words.

The book of Genesis is filled with …..and God said, then God saw………….His words are active and powerful; saturated with living unction, they bring transfiguration and inspire wonder, they are supernatural. Our world was chaotic and disorderly until the Almighty spoke, then out of darkness came light; beauty came of ugliness and order out of chaos. When He wants to deal with a situation, He releases a life changing expression. An ancient Hebrew king recorded that when his people are mired in the quick sand of challenges, His words are the instruments sent to heal and deliver. There is dynamic power in His utterances to bring about a revolution. If God wants to remove a mountain, His words will become bulldozers and dynamite, if He wants a garden of daffodils, His words will become trowels, seed, water, sunshine and weed killers. If He wants to heal a septic patient or a cancerous growth, His words will become a living organism that will gobble up the inimical micro-organisms and malignant cells.  Jesus and his disciples found themselves in a vexing financial conundrum. He told Peter to go catch a fish and that the first one would have enough dough in its mouth to settle their bills. His words caused a chain reaction; not by happenstance a rich merchant while being ferried across the Sea of Galilee was counting his days proceeds when the ship hit a swell which made him lose a coin. The money was accidentally swallowed by a tilapia which got caught on Peter’s line (my own version of the story).

Simon was a shifty dude with the consistency of a reed who could not even stand up to a maid but the Messiah spoke words over him that turned him into Peter a rocky character that would become a bedrock of the early church. We are and become what his words say we are!

Mary even though a virgin conceived when she believed that God’s word can become a baby in her (are you hoping to jump the broom and it seems you are all alone like a marooned sailor on a hostile island, the word can become your mate).

Is your body continually ripped with the cat-o-nine tails of sickness and limitations? Does the tremor of challenges rattle the foundations of your marriage? Has the blight of lack tarnished the verdant growth of the fields of your finances? Have the orchards of your life stopped bearing fruits? Does your career swing like a yo-yo in the hands of a manic clown? Do you need the supplements of wisdom, strength, stamina, power, courage and speed that make one extraordinary? All you need my friends is the transforming power of your Creator’s words. YOU NEED A REVELATION! WHAT HAS HE SAID ABOUT YOU? WHAT DO YOU HEAR? For it is as you imbibe and speak those words that you will find yourself and your circumstances transmuting from an infantile state into a marvelous one like the word shazam turned an unassuming kid into Captain Marvel. All the growth and fruitfulness you need is in one word planted into the heart of your spirit.

Experiencing the miraculous in 2012 is dependent on your life being illuminated by the light of God’s word, quickened by the power of revelation. Whatever he tells you will come to pass because He watches over his words to bring them to pass. One of the popular catch phrases of Stone Cold Steve Austin in his hey days was a very emphatic “that’s the bottom line because Stone Cold said so”. If a human can be so cocksure of his statements, how much more the Master of the universe, He would rather self destruct than see any word He speaks to you fall to the ground.

This is what would make 2012 a year of WORD AND WONDERS!!!

 …… AND SO MIGHTILY GREW THE WORD AND PREVAILED!!!

2012

                                                       

                                              

There was something about the apocalyptic theme of 2012 (the movie) that could make one break out in goose bumps as huge as the Andes’.

The hair raising tsunamis, the heart racing earthquakes, the spine chilling disasters that marked the end of the world were almost too much for one’s imagination to conceive.  They were petrifying!

The globe has been inundated with different tales about the world stopping in its tracks in 2012. I read somewhere that following the movie people bought coupons on the internet in the bid to escape destruction when calamity strikes (isn’t it quite preposterous and hilarious that people would buy tickets to avoid death and destruction instead of repenting from nefarious activities).

For me the flick’s conclusion was quite intriguing in the sense that we were not told what happened to the survivors. Did they ultimately meet the end in the depths of a watery tomb like their unfortunate counterparts or did they survive the odds. But I think that was left for our imagination to decide by the producers.

The movie brought to my mind a similar story that happened in the genesis of creation. It was about a man called Noah, his family and the animals in his ark. The world as at then was wiped out by rain leaving this man and his family in a waterlogged earth. Everything had gone south; the world had drowned in the furious tears of heaven mingled with that of terror crazed earthlings. The planet was dead and silent. The only sound heard was that of rippling waves as the vessel was tossed to and fro in the mischievous grip of nature’s wrath .

Something then happened that changed the whole scenario, the scriptures recorded that God remembered Noah and his family. He sent a wind that dried up the world for them and gave the man a rainbow of promise.

You see it doesn’t matter how your previous years might have been nor the kind of sustained pressure the last years might have poured down on you.

Have the rains of life tried to pound you into submission? DON’T WORRY!  I believe strongly that the old is gone and the new has come. You are not forgotten or forsaken. Irrespective of the predictions by the bookmakers, this is your year of positive change.

The last years might have been so cold that you have gone into a frostbitten hibernation.

Have you stopped feeling? Has life has become a stuporous feast? But the truth is the winter season prepares a seed for spring.

I believe God will remember you this year! It all depends on whether you can see the RAINBOW of His promises, the bright colours of a better tomorrow. The rainbow tells us that the things that plagued us yesterday cannot overcome us tomorrow. It impresses on our hearts that the possibilities of tomorrow are better than that of the past. Can you see His assured token of a better future?  

In the midst of all that bleak landscape of never-ending water, Noah sent forth a dove which brought back an olive branch to him. Release your faith and it will come back to you with something that will tell you your life will be green again; your colours will reign once more. Your destiny will be sweet again. Things for you will become better than normal. Out of the oceans of pain will bloom trees of fruitfulness. Your heavens will once more be filled with the joyous cackle of singing birds. All you need to do is to allow the winds of God’s good fortune to blow away the memories of the excruciating agony of days gone by, the flood of pain induced tears. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy!

This is not a year of death but glorious life. You will not drown; you will not be submerged by evil but by blessings. But you will need to sign unto Noah’s friendship terms with the One who controls the seas and the elements.

Welcome to 2012, THE DAWN OF NEW THINGS, THE SPRING OF HOPE!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

REMEMBER NOT THE FORMER THINGS, BEHOLD I WILL DO A NEW THING……..CAN YOU NOT SEE IT……………..????   
                             

THE HOLLY AND THE IVY.

                                                  

The Holly and the Ivy is one of my favourite Christmas carols. But I have always wondered why the song started with both plants but ended with the Holly being the superior of the two trees.

The holly is an ornamental tree that is believed to bring good luck and repel evil. It is one tree that remains evergreen even when the cold fingers of winter has withered and shriveled the souls of its surrounding woody cronies; this ability makes it symbolically linked to life and hope. The plant is also associated with exuberance and enthusiasm. In Roman culture it represented good wishes. In summary, the Holly is a plant with a cheerful disposition.

The Holly’s thorny nature also makes it protective in the sense that it is used to make hedges to keep people safe from predatory elements.

On the other hand there is a type of Ivy called the poison ivy. This plant causes a lot of blisters and irritation on people who come in contact with it. Sometimes, the anaphylactic reaction it causes can snuff out a life. The fume it releases when it is burnt is toxic to the lungs. Approaching this plant requires a lot of caution because it is dangerous.

As amazing as it might sound, human beings are likened to trees a lot of times in the pages of life. Jesus was called the Tree of life, David; the famous Hebrew king said that a good man is like a tree planted by the side of a river. He also said that the growth of this dude’s life is akin to that of the cedars of Lebanon and his existence abounds like a flourishing palm tree.

The holly person is jolly, makes people see beyond the winter of life, and helps to insulate people in the warmth of his conviviality. Everyone finds a friend in the holly buddy; he is a Barnabas (son of encouragement) to everyone. He prepares a spread of joy amongst colleagues, dishes out a feast of geniality like Santa Claus giving a toy to an indigent kid. The holly individual helps us forget the frosty attitude of the elements and makes us look towards the hope of spring. With him we feel we are sitting before the comforting heat released by the laughter of crackling logs in a fireplace while the world outside is filled with the howls of nature’s frustration. The holly person is a defense from pain. He heals because he injects us with the serum of roaring mirth and a merry heart doeth good like medicine. The holly nature is sweet.

Unlike the holly dude, a poison ivy person is sour, dour, abrasive and nasty. No one wants to be around this guy. In his wake, is other folks’ shattered self esteem, blistered self confidence, and scratched feelings. God help you if you are around this person on his bad day, you will nearly be choked with the deadly fumes of bitterness. This person is has a noxious effect on a spouse, children, colleagues, neighbors, friends, name it. It is lethal to have him around. He pours cold water on the bonfire of your vivacity. Poison ivies do not feel good except put someone down or backstab another. It is in their nature to cause a world of hurt. People usually cry around them. They rain down snow on others parade, don’t give bonus or even worse still, withhold salaries during Christmas. They are selfish; all they care about is me, myself, I and mine. The poison ivy person is mean!

As much as hampers and all the thrills of Christmas are so cool, please don’t let’s get it twisted and forget the reason for the season. The main gift of Christmas was a human being, the Christ. When he was born, the angels declared that following his birth was goodwill and peace towards men.  We are supposed to be the true gifts of the season.

Truth is if you are not known for peace and goodwill, you have no business celebrating this season, blot it out of your calendar in an awful hurry. Jesus was friendly, it was recorded that he went about doing good.

Considering the differences in these two plants, it is not a surprise that the holly is the king amongst all the trees in the wood. Little wonder too that it is associated with the Christ. IF YOU WANT TO BE A KING AMONGST MEN THEN YOU HAVE TO BE A HOLLY!!!  That is when you will initiate angels to continually sing this refrain to men, “GLORY BE TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST AND ON EARTH, PEACE AND GOODWILL TOWARDS MEN”!!!

Be a holly buddy this yuletide period; stand out as the tallest tree in the forest of humanity. Make someone’s Christmas wonderful and unforgettable.

So, the question is if we are living trees, what kind of tree are you?

ARE YOU A HOLLY OR A POISON IVY?

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!

THE GOLDEN APPLES OF HESPERIDES.

Greek mythology has it that the eleventh task Hercules had to perform was to get some golden apples from a garden guarded by a 100 headed dragon and some nymphs called the Hesperides.  Now this was one job that was even too much for the strong man so he had to get the help of Atlas in exchange for helping the titan carry the world for a while.

Life is full of herculean tasks and the absolute truth is that we cannot handle most of them on our own. Hercules was a demigod yet he needed the help of a god. All his machismo, wits, muscles, guts could not help him out this time so he needed higher power.

From the genesis of creation, we were not made to function without help, which is why the Elohim said from the beginning that it was not good for man to be alone.
 
The power of partnership is exponentially powerful! Yes I know we live in a world where people hurt one another and try to swindle them out of what is theirs but that is not new. Atlas tried the same thing on Hercules but that does not negate the benefits of team work. In the days of yore when the tag team aspect of the WWE was still rocking, seeing one or two fights in this category would have shed more light on the advantages of pairing power.  “One shall chase a thousand and two shall chase ten thousand” says the good book. When two people make up their minds about something g on earth even the heavens move for them.

Firstly we need a higher power, without God, we can do absolutely nothing. We need God like a sail needs the wind to fly. Our lives are empty without Him, on our own we can’t do zip. It is delusion of grandeur to think we are self sufficient.

Secondly we need our life partners (husbands and wives); this is one area of partnership that is not maximized in our day. We even sometimes look down on our partners thinking they are a burden (men are more to blame in this regard) but this is usually to our detriment. Thing is, the first idea about team work that God had about man was in the form of marriage. The benefits of this great institution can never be over emphasized.  It just boils down to making sure you hitch your cart to the right horse that is someone you agree with (check out my post GENESIS, MAGIC AND THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING). Being alone on the matrimonial bed on a frosty night would rob you of the warmth of companionship when the harsh cold realities of living seep into the soul.

The third thing is we need people. In the chronicles of the Hebrew kings, there is a story of a widow who got into a financial ditch with her children and the revelation a seer gave her was that she should borrow vessels.Of course it should be noted that her borrowing was to develop an assets base and not to fritter it away on liabilities. We need people’s vessels, that is, their ideas, time, experience, expertise, money, name it! Most of the things that move life are based on other people’s books, past movies, technical knowhow, the works. The financial gurus of the world know they need other people’s money (this is one of the reasons the real estate market in Nigeria is exploding, OPM). On the terrain of warfare, we all need someone’s input in fighting back to back with us, so that our rear is covered while we face the issues before. We need the covering fire of friends to keep the heads of our adversaries down when we go for the big prizes.

We are sunk in the race of life without the input of others. God wanted to make man and asked for the input of His Companions. He said “Let Us make man”. Jesus needed the disciples and the women that helped his ministry, Paul had Silas, Batman had Robin, Superman had Lois Lane, Asterix had Obelisk, Bill gates had Steve Ballmer, Starsky had Hutch, Dempsey had Makepeace.The fantasy universe impresses this on us with great teams like the “Avengers, Justice League, X-men, Teen Titans, Legion of the Superheroes, etc. Life is basically team work and we should never forget this.
On the other hand like I mentioned earlier, on the road of working hand in hand with others there are also pit falls which can be avoided if we are sharp. Therefore we need to be wise, look hard and well before leaping so we don’t get burnt. Hercules had enough gumption to get the best from Atlas without being hoodwinked. Fire has great potential for good but it could be destructive; we cannot do without it! In the same vein, we cannot do without others. It is just that caution is needed!

Like Hercules, if you are stuck on the quest for some golden apples in some area of life, then it’s time to change your strategy! Seek for Help! The only time that it was recorded that Atlas moved from his comfort zone (better still comfortless zone) and made some progress in life by doing the seemingly impossible was when someone else helped him carry his burden. WE ALL NEED BURDEN CARRIERS! Even Jesus needed one. If Simon the Cyrene had not carried his cross, the road to the heights of Golgotha would have been more arduous.

Having this truth in mind would help us appreciate God, our spouses, friends and other people more. For example, if you have a business, you would not think that you are the benefactor of your workers and without your outfit they cannot take care of themselves or their families. The actual fact is that it is a mutually benefiting relationship. My people have a saying that if the right hand washes the left, the left hand would equally wash the right.

The trail of life is littered with the skeletal remains of people who tried to do it all alone. Life has no place and patience for lone rangers and one man gangs.

TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE FOR THEY HAVE A BETTER REWARD FOR THEIR LABOUR………..

THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS

                                              

The size of bugs makes them very insidious in their nature.  A microscopic organism finds its way into the human system and causes untold damage. If its virulent progress is not countered, it ends up causing overwhelming sepsis and ultimate systems failure resulting in the death of the host.

I have been wondering how human beings survived infections before Sir Alexander Fleming made his accidental discovery of penicillin. It’s a huge relief that antibiotics now exist that can halt the ravaging march of germs.

The best movie I have seen this year is “Limitless” followed by the “Green Lantern”. There was something about the “Green Lantern” that brought Nigeria to my mind. I guess it must have been all that fluorescent green (like T.Y Bello sang, “the land is green”). But Nigeria is the host of various kinds of evil, wickedness, selfishness, greed, corruption, terrorism, tribal and religious bigotry, ritual killing, armed robbery, amongst a few. Evil is what has paralyzed this country and the truth is the government cannot do anything about it. So the buck stops here, here in YOUR laps, irrespective of who you are, where you are so long you are a Nigerian.

The story line of the movie shows that the ring chose Hal Jordan not by random but deliberately, even though he did not seem to have what it took. If you are a Nigerian, it’s not as a result of happenstance. You are not a random act of nature or a product of the big bang, God INTENTIONALLY made you a product of this nation and chose you for a time like this. Like he told Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew and approved of you as my chosen instrument”. YOU ARE THE CHOSEN ONE!!!

Thing about evil is that it flourishes so easily when nothing stands in its way even when it starts out in a presumably innocuous way, for example, when Boko Haram started, instead of ruthlessly extirpating it, our government was shilly-shallying and now, here we are! You don’t tolerate evil, no sane person kisses a live cobra, maybe except a snake charmer but some have even lived to regret it (some don’t even have the opportunity to regret it). A country like Mexico is overrun with drugs and safety in that place has become a thing of the past. It did not make sense to me since God categorically said evil cannot prevail over good and the wicked man will bow at the gate of the righteous but in my musings the answer came to me that the diabolic only has an upper hand over the virtuous when there is complacency amongst good men. The darkness surrounding the throne of Hades himself cannot stand the weakest flicker of light but eclipse that light and see what happens.

To salvage this nation is to dare to be different, to resist being carried away by the flood of bad things prevalent around here, let your light shine wherever you are and believe me your light is not little. Thing is, someone might feel it none of his/her business especially if you are abroad and everything is going swimmingly but life is not only about us but  about posterity, our children and their children. Just as no one can totally dissociate himself from his family, we also can never absolutely cut ourselves off from our country even if we live in Pluto. Life is about responsibility. Funnily enough, everyday people who are not Africans wake up to the call to come do something about this continent, about Nigeria. What about you and me? NIGERIA IS OUR COUNTRY!!!

I completely agree with you that the problems here are enormous that is easier to pull  an Ostrich and hide our heads in the sand like but it all boils down to your will.

The most poignant scene of the movie for me was when Parallax was on rampage and bore down on the Green Lantern with his yellow monstrous power, trying to induce fear in the Super hero by inundating his mind with all the horrific things he was going to unleash on the ring bearer. But Hal Jordan held his ground, refused to listen and instead repeated the Lantern corps vow to himself…

Brightest day,

Blackest night,

No evil shall escape my sight,

And those who worship evil’s might,

Beware my power, the GREEN LANTERN’S LIGHT!

He went on to win a major victory for mankind. His will won the battle.

On your watch and mine is evil going to triumph while we groove and feel it is none of our business? Or are you going to take up the ring of responsibility and make a pledge to this country. Are you going to become an Emerald Knight, one of the green lantern corps of this nation?

If yes, then let’s recite our oath together:

I pledge to Nigeria my country,

To be faithful, loyal and honest,

To serve Nigeria with all my might and uphold her honour and glory,

So help me God.

Edmund Burke said, “Evil only runs riot when good men do nothing”! LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE!!!

FOR YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD……………………………………………

DRAGON SLAYER!

                                                            
One of the delights of childhood aside from popping a Popsicle into your mouth is reading or hearing a fairy tale. From Rapunzel, Sleeping beauty to Snow white, there is something about the damsel in distress that eventually gets rescued by a prince or a knight in shining armour that sweetened my childish palate.

I find it almost inexplicable that the most genteel knight gets reckless in winning the hand of a beautiful dame even to the point losing his life. To me it is the height of gallantry, the zenith of chivalry, the peak of sacrificial love.

As I said in my post “Animated Truth”, there is a thin line between fantasy and reality a good deal of the time. As incredible as it sounds, we all have a Lover who gave everything including his life to win our hands and our hearts. We are His bride, His fixation, His love (irrespective of your deep baritone, and beefcakes, you better believe it bro!).  This is why he declares that He loves us with an everlasting love. He is extremely jealous about us and says that anyone that touches us touches the apple of his eyes. He is drunk on our love.

But his threats usually fall on deaf eyes when it comes to the wily, ole dragon. The bugger would time and time again slink in and hold us captive. We become damsels in distress looking for salvation. We are kept hostage in our enemy’s dank, dark smelly dungeon. Deliverance usually seems so distant in this hot underground pit. Hope becomes as far away as the distant stars you cannot even see. Dragons cause so much pain!

But in comes our Knight in all his splendor, silver armour shining, his sword glittering in the dark like Anduril, never can it be broken, never can it bow before an evil foe. His shield is big enough to cover us from the roaring, searing breath of the ugly beast.  Our eternal Cavalier arrives, hacking, slashing thrusting, savage in his fury, furious in his rage, berserk in his wrath. His lady has been put in harm’s way. He makes the dragon feel the sting of his sword. Good thing is that that steely body that bends the daggers of our human effort is like butter before the steel wielded by the “Lord of Heavensville”. You touch this one to your Peril, He tells the pain inducing monster and before our eyes, his sword pierces the heart of the hideous animal, it falls dead like a felled tree. He cuts of the ropes binding us and sets us free.

Are you currently feeling like a damsel in distress, held and bound by the ropes of limitation in the cave of hopelessness as you look into the bloodshot, hate filled eyes of the dragon? Has its hot breath charred your soul and broken your heart with life’s troubles? Has its slimy scaly skin pierced your health, your marriage, and your finances? Has its tail repeatedly struck fear into your spirit until your faith has almost become as extinct as a dodo? Has its claws torn your dreams and shattered your vision? Has its malevolent presence filled you with desperation and thoughts of self extirpation?

Before you give up, Cry out to your Saviour and listen well! Do you hear the sounds of hooves echoing, charging and thundering through the dark night? In the midst of your challenges, look up with greater hope! Your Knight is coming, your King is on his way and he is bringing victory and healing with him. The fight will be over in the twinkle of an eye and He would bear you on a horse more graceful than Pegasus to a future where you will live, happily ever after.  He will yet make a fairy tale out of your circumstances.

FEAR THEE NOT, BANISH THE DOUBT INSTEAD REJOICE IN HOPE, REVEL IN EXPECTATION BECAUSE OUR INAMORATO IS A WARRIOR KING; THE LOVER OF OUR SOULS IS A DRAGON SLAYER!!!

THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IS RISEN AND THERE IS HEALING ON HIS WINGS…………………………