Itayi Tawona Muchemwa

I feel great comfort when I read the gospels and notice that Jesus faced the same dilemma as us when prayers seemed to be left unanswered. He spent all night praying before he chose the twelve disciples, and even so, one of them turned out to be a traitor. In Gethsemane, Jesus prayed Matt 26:39a "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me." Was the cup of suffering taken away from Jesus? Of course not. Jesus' prayers sometimes seemed unanswered, just like our prayers seem sometimes see to go unanswered. However, look at Jesus' prayer again in Matthew 26:39, but this time look at the second part of His prayer "Yet not as I will, but as you will." Wow! This is real trust! Jesus did not want His will to be done, but that God's will be done. In other words, prayer was for Jesus a way to converse with His Heavenly Father, a way where He could openly commune with His Father and where His Father would share with Him His will. Shouldn't ou...

Apostle  Peter warns us  in 2 Peter 2 V 1-3: “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.”    They will purposely try not to be noticed and bring division in the church by distorting and departing from the word. They will lay down truth alongside the falsehood  and secretly bring in destructive heresies. The truth they lay the Scripture next to their own false interpretations.   This is a malicious intent to deceive, arising from their being deceived first, propagating the same lie they believe.   They will deny the...

                     1- First you must see Jesus Christ is God manifest in the form of a virgin-born Man to pay sin's penalty for you. You must recognize Jesus Christ as  the fullness of the nature and character of the One Person of God expressed in a Man. T his revelation or understanding is called "justification by grace through faith." And to show that faith is genuine you must repent of your past unbelief and wrongdoing, taking scriptural water baptism by immersion in the Name of the LORD JESUS CHRIST for the remission of past sins.  2-Second, you must live your life according to His Word. Up until now you—your soul—has lived to serve the desires of your mortal spirit and flesh. From here on you must live to serve God's Word.  You will become better acquainted with His will as you familiarise yourself with His Word. Not by learning It, good as that is, but by understanding what It means the better you unde...

The Bible presents several different resources to aid us in our effort to overcome sin. In this lifetime, we will never be perfectly victorious over sin (1 John 1:8), but that should still be our goal. With God’s help, and by following the principles of His Word, we can progressively overcome sin and become more and more like Christ.   The first resource the Bible mentions in our effort to overcome sin is the Holy Spirit. God has given us the Holy Spirit so we can be victorious in Christian living. God contrasts the deeds of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:16-25. In that passage we are called upon to walk in the Spirit. All believers already possess the Holy Spirit, but this passage tells us that we need to walk in the Spirit, yielding to His control. This means choosing to consistently follow the Holy Spirit's prompting in our lives rather than following the flesh.   The difference the Holy Spirit can make is demonstrated in the life of Peter, ...

Following the death of Abraham, the covenants of promise were confirmed with Isaac his son (Gen. 26:3-4), and Jacob his grandson (Gen. 28:13-16). These dwelt in Palestine (or Canaan as it was then called - Gen. 46:5-7), until famine drove Jacob and his sons to Egypt to obtain food (Gen. 42:1). In Egypt, the children of Israel received great kindness, and gradually grew into a numerous people. As Abraham had been told (Gen. 15:13-14), his descendants remained there for some hundreds of years. The record of this is contained in Genesis 37 to 50. This section of the Bible is full of interesting detail, woven around the life of Joseph, the beloved son of Israel. In a wonderful manner, Joseph's experiences prefigured those of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was loved of his father, but hated by his brethren; be learned the depths of suffering and tragedy but also rose to the heights of happiness and glory. In all this, he typed the Lord Jesus himself, so that in his life the children of I...

Why are some youth groups more effective than others? What are the distinguishing characteristics of highly effective youth groups? Vibrant youth groups helps youth reach their potential and become self-directing, autonomous adults. Vibrant youth groups are those which have achieved a sense of genuineness and possess a drive toward the future--not in some smug way but rather in a way that they believe in themselves and have a sense of inner confidence. Vibrant youth groups believe in what they do, celebrate their commitments to action and express a sense of hope and courage for youth and their role in it. Ten essential characteristics of vibrant youth groups. · Vibrant youth groups are more concerned with weaning, not winning. Kids are the focus of vibrant groups. Effective youth groups help youngsters develop a sense that they "own" the group. Young people in such programs, particularly older members, want to feel that the group is theirs and want adults to reduce th...