Daily Trust Sunday

Jesus took your place

- Bishop Dr. Charles Olowojoba is the General Overseer of Dayspring Bible Church Worldwide with HQ in Abuja, Nigeria & President, Dayspring Christian Ministries Int’l. Website: www.dayspringc­mi.org e.mail:dayspringc­m2000@yahoo. com Help lines: 0803515051­5,

There was once a bridge which spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river paralleled with the banks, allowing ships to pass through freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times each day, a train would come along and the bridge would be turned sideways across the river, allowing a train to cross it.

A switchman sat in a small shack on one side of the river where he operated the controls to turn the bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed. One evening as the switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to come, he looked off into the distance through the dimming twilight and caught sight of the trainlight­s. He stepped to the control and waited until the train was within a prescribed distance when he was to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into position, but, to his horror, he found the locking control did not work. If the bridge was not securely in position it would wobble back and forth at the ends when the train came onto it, causing the train to jump the track and go crashing into the river. This would be a passenger train with many people aboard. He left the bridge turned across the river, and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the river where there was a lever switch he could hold to operate the lock manually. He would have to hold the lever back firmly as the train crossed. He could hear the rumble of the train now, and he took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge. He kept applying the pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on this man’s strength.

Then, coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. “Daddy, where are you?” His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge to look for him. His first impulse was to cry out to the child, “Run! Run!” But the train was too close; the tiny legs would never make it across the bridge in time. The man almost left his lever to run and snatch up his son and carry him to safety. But he realized that he could not get back to the lever. Either the people on the train or his little son must die. He took a moment to make his decision.

The train sped safely and swiftly on its way, and no one aboard was even aware of the tiny broken body thrown mercilessl­y into the river by the onrushing train. Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of the sobbing man, still clinging tightly to the locking lever long after the train had passed. They did not see him walking home more slowly than he had ever walked: to tell his wife how their son had brutally died.

Now if you comprehend the emotions which rent this man’s heart, you can begin to understand the feelings of our Father in Heaven when He sacrificed His Son to bridge the gap between us and eternal life. Can there be any wonder that He caused the earth to tremble and the skies to darken when His Son died? How does He feel when we speed along through life without giving a thought to what was done for us through Jesus Christ?

Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmell­ing savour.

Hebrews 7:27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.

Hebrews 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Hebrews 10:12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God;

Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continuall­y, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

The death and resurrecti­on of the Lord Jesus Christ

When God becomes a Man and lives as a creature among His own creatures in Palestine, then indeed His life is one of supreme selfsacrif­ice and leads to Calvary. Author: C.S. Lewis If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.

- C.T. Studd Author: Assorted Authors

One day, a man went to visit a church. He arrived early, parked his car, and got out. Another car pulled up near him, and the driver told him, “I always park there. You took my place!”

The visitor went inside for Sunday School, found an empty seat, and sat down. A young lady from the church approached him and stated, “That’s my seat! You took my place!”

The visitor was somewhat distressed by this rude welcome, but said nothing.

After Sunday School, the visitor went into the church sanctuary and sat down. Another member walked up to him and said, “That’s where I always sit. You took my place!”

The visitor was even more troubled by this treatment, but still said nothing.

Later, as the congregati­on was praying for Christ to dwell among them, the visitor stood, and his appearance began to change.

Horrible scars became visible on his hands and on his sandaled feet.

Someone from the congregati­on noticed him and called out, “What happened to you?”

The visitor replied, “I took your place.”

May you be content knowing you are a child of God! Let His presence settle into our bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, and to bask in the sun. It is there for each and every one of us.

The Bible says He is the way, the truth and the life and no man comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). Accept Him into your heart and you will be saved and everything will change and you will become a new person.

Show love to someone or people around you today.

You are blessed and have a blessed week. the blessed reward of earthly life, without hard work, commitment, discipline, honesty and integrity. They are told that God will bless them, provided they have faith and pay their tithes. These religious contractor­s give spiritual immunity to a bunch of lazy people who do not want to work, yet want to enjoy all the good things of life. Many young people of today have fallen prey to this. They want to just enjoy without toil and without sweat. They just want shortcuts to pleasure and comfort. We need a revolution­ary change of mindset to break out of this typical Nigerian culture of settling for too little, hoping for too little, and doing too little to improve our condition of living.

In blessing those on the margins of life, the Beatitudes are not invitation­s to laziness and complacenc­y. They are a clarion call to each one of us to work to change unjust social structures, which condemn many people to a life of drudgery and servitude. No one should say, “There is nothing I can do, I am just one person out of a multitude.” No. Each one of us can make a difference. Each one of us can change things. The Beatitudes call us to seek justice for the hungry, the oppressed, those who mourn on account of their losses, those who seek purity amidst the moral and ethical decay around them, those who are gentle in the midst of a hustling society that often tries to take advantage of their meekness, those who are seen as weak because they show mercy and forgive, and those who are persecuted on account of their steadfastn­ess in standing for what is right. When we make their cries ours, we can set out to contemplat­e life through the prism of God’s values.

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