Joel Kwesi Baidoo

Life in Christ demands that we go through constant transformation each day of our lives. Being transformed into the image of Christ is God’s ultimate purpose for our lives. The mind needs continuous cleansing for it to preserve and maintain the right thoughts. Decency, morality, order and discretion are not obtained once and for all; they are maintained by labour. If we fail to be transformed by the renewing of our minds our virtues shall depreciate and deteriorate. Dear reader, if you are determined to live to glorify the Lord then yield to the per diem industry of being transformed by the renewing of your mind! “Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord” (Pro 8:34-35). BY: JOEL BAIDOO

THE SPIRIT-LED LIFE “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10, NIV) Enrolling in a school but remaining untaught is not a rare possibility. So dear believer, you may have the Spirit of God residing in you but not be led by Him in your endeavors. We often naturally submit to the erroneous assumption that our regular activities are of disinterest to our maker. Our God is keenly committed to His purpose for our lives, and without His direction we shall fail to fulfill it. The Lord’s commitment is not to lead us to fulfill our ambitions but to achieve His purpose. Pursuing the Lord’s purpose for our lives will not be to our demerit for there is not a more glorious life that can be lived than a Spirit-led life. “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25, NIV) Our regenerated spirits gain life from the Spirit of God. The above scripture is in twofold: First, “Since we live by the Spirit”, meaning it is a

PERSISTENCE “…Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20, NIV). The unlikely shall be likely and the indefinite definite if we persist. We have not been promised a smooth sailing but a safe landing. Life’s turbulent moments shall try our resolve so long as we remain in the Lord. The vessel in which Christ dwells is not shielded from the storm, but survives it. “I will be with you always” must always reverberate in our hearts and minds when life’s tempest beats against our ship. We conquer by continuing. The secret place of the Most High is where your strength shall be renewed. Let us resort to the trustworthy shelter of our Father for there alone is our security assured. “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31, KJV). BY: JOEL BAIDOO

LIFT UP YOUR VOICE Lift up your voice Worship your God by choice Singing to God is no noise From our hearts must ascend our praise The evil one wants to stop true worship in our days Lift up your voice Don’t hold back The light of His presence is penetrating the dark The enemy flees before we say Jack By yielding to the leadership of our Lord we shall not lack Lift up your voice Victory is ours As we expend our real prowess And show that we are no cowards In commitment and humility is seated our true powers BY: JOEL BAIDOO

WHAT GOES BEYOND THE GRAVE? When I ponder over the abundance of things we crave I ask myself what shall go beyond the grave Our lives will be valued not by what we received as much as what we gave Obsession with the accumulation of possessions could make one a slave Tied unawares in a deep populated cave The things we trust may later prove to be a mere wave I know a man who is able to save His grace could make even the timid brave The true path to fulfillment only He can pave His life and love are what shall transcend the grave BY: JOEL BAIDOO

HUMILITY Everybody is better than you! Of course, I know your primary reaction will be to repel this statement in your mind, but this is how the Bible admonishes us to think. Philippians 2:3 needs no interpretation: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves” (NIV). Jonathan Edwards called pride “the worst viper that is in the heart” and “the greatest disturber of the soul’s peace and sweet communion with Christ”; he ranked pride as the most difficult sin to root out, and “the most hidden, secret and deceitful of all lusts”. John Calvin once said that “God cannot bear with seeing His glory appropriated by the creature in even the smallest degree, so intolerable to Him is the sacrilegious arrogance of those who, by praising themselves, obscure His glory as far as they can”. True greatness is attained only by following Christ’s example. Are you following Christ? These are Christ’s words: “The Son of Man came not to be