Author: Victor Obeng-Mensah

“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.” Proverbs 14:34 In Luke  15:11-16, the Bible says “And he said, A certain man had two sons: And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living. And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.” Let us stop here. Only five verses and he is already broke. This guy had a lot of money because the bible says his father gave him half of his wealth. Eve went window shopping and brought a bill Adam could not pay. Unrighteous living is one sure way of dissipating your money. Live a holy life and you will find out holiness conserves money. I thank God I do not have two wives. It would have doubled my expenditure. I also do not drink...

There are some problems we can overcome by a phone call, email, prayer or with money but there are some that we must learn to live with. The problems we learn to live with must not be sins but things that lie outside our control. I was recently talking to a man who was frustrated by his wife’s inability to run their family business. After listening to the whole issue, it seemed to me the wife was not cut out to do business so I advised him that, he should make her concentrate on what she was good at. In other words, I asked him to learn to live with what he could not change. Joshua 15:63 “As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out: but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day.” Israel was able to drive out the Canaanites but they could not drive out the Jebusites although they would have loved to do so. They learnt to live with that problem. It reminds me of the prayer of Reinhold Niebuhr “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference” When we learn to accept the things we cannot change we can avoid many...

Genesis 50:19-20 reads, “And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. Overtime, he became a governor of Egypt second only to Pharaoh. As a man of great power and authority, he could have abused his position by using it for revenge instead of being merciful and a blessing to his family. He chose to use his power for good. He said, “Am I in the place of God?” God gives us power and authority to exercise it as He would. Joseph recognized this power and refused to abuse it. There are parents who use the God given authority they have over their children to abuse them verbally, physically, or sexually. There are husbands who maltreat their wives because the husband is supposed to be the “head” of the home. There are politicians who abuse power by stealing the money meant for the poor. There are pastors who manipulate and take advantage of their members to their detriment. There are bosses who sexually exploit their staff. Remember that authority comes with great responsibility . You may well be in the place of God.You must be merciful,...

Isaiah 11:9 “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Can you imagine there will be a time when there shall be no hurt or destruction? It will be the end of wars, divorce, murder etc. We will experience tranquility or peace. The holy mountain is heaven. It’s also called mount Zion; the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.  Although we are not in heaven yet, I want you to notice there are two contributory factors mentioned that can help us experience a measure of tranquility.They are holiness; remember it’s a holy mountain, and the knowledge of the Lord.  Holiness  When we walk in holiness it helps us to avoid trouble and it creates peace.  How can you be in trouble with law enforcement when you are not into drugs. How can you have a venereal disease when you don’t sleep around. Why will your marriage not be great when you are not rude and offensive.  Knowledge of the Lord There is a scripture that says “thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusted in thee.” The knowledge of God builds your trust in God. Trust creates peace because you know that God is in control irrespective of what is going on. Walk in holiness and read your bible and you will experience tranquility. Kakra...