A Look at Blindness 4:Blinded by Greed

"But the leprosy of Naaman shall fasten upon thee,and upon thy seed for ever.And he went out from his presence leprous as snow".-2 Kings 5:27
"He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house ,but he that hateth gifts shall live".- Proverbs 15:27

This week,the World remembered one of its oldest and most stigmatized diseases,Leprosy.Although advances in Science have made some beneficial changes, it is still a cause of concern especially in India.In the Old Testament times, the priest usually pronounced the diagnosis(Leviticus 13:3,44) and lepers were isolated.The mode of transmission is still repeated contact with infected individuals however some particular individuals  in the Bible contracted Leprosy through unusual means.One of them is Gehazi,the armour bearer of Prophet Elisha(2 Kings 4:12,8:14).

It was Captain  Naaman's best kept secret(2 Kings 5:1) until his wife's maid mentioned that healing was possible in Israel for his Leprosy(2 Kings 5:3).His belief made him travel several miles to meet Elisha.He also took several gifts which he urged him to receive after he received his healing but Elisha declined (2 Kings 5:16).It is not every gift we should accept as depicted here and with Abraham and the King of Sodom (Genesis 14:21-24).Gehazi his assistant however thought otherwise.Without permission,he intercepted Naaman and collected the things his master refused deceitfully.He returned after hiding these items to his master,who unknowingly had followed him in the spirit.He got rebuked and because of his greed,Leprosy was pronounced upon him and his family(2 Kings 5:9-27).

Leprosy may have some spiritual undertone as it can also  be compared to Sin in several ways.Sin is the world's oldest  and most problematic issue.Just like Leprosy is caused by microscopic bacteria,Sin is caused by our invisible human nature.They both can be contracted through repeated contact.No wonder the Bible warns  that "evil communication corrupts good manners"(1 Corinthians 15:33).There are several presentations of Leprosy as well as several manifestations of the sinful nature(Galatians 5:19-21)
The hallmark signs of leprosy are hypothesia(an abnormally weak sense of pain,cold,heat or touch),skin lesions and peripheral neuropathy (loss of sensation in the extremities) with a pronenesss  to inability to blink the  eyes which may result in blindness.How much like sin which can begin to dull our senses spiritually and cause spiritual blindness.

Thankfully,these days free  drugs  for the treatment of Leprosy are  available and distributed to those in need via the support of several organizations.But greater still is the fact the Blood of Jesus(Hebrews 9:22) has the efficacy to cure the problem of sin and this blood is free(Hebrews 10:10-20).Leprosy and Sin both bring isolation with the latter being more severe with  separation from God, but we have been made closer by the Blood of Jesus(Ephesians 2:13).Its power is still as powerful  today as it was 2000 years ago to pronounce cleansing(Romans 5:9, 1 John 1:7;Revelation 1:5).

Nowhere in Scriptures is greed commended (Proverbs 12:9;1 Timothy 6:6).Unfortunately,it is one of the most glorified vices of the 21st Century and  has robbed many of the ability to live contently.We should therefore take  heed as in  its pursuit,there is a tendency to  become dulled and blinded to the things that really matter. Gehazi was more concerned about acquiring those items that he was ready to leave the presence of his master forfeiting the  benefits.No wonder Jesus warns that we cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24).As we make the Kingdom business our business and seek to remain in the presence of God(Matthew 6:33), we are unlikely to be blinded by greed.

Yours in Him,
Grace Tom-Lawyer.

.. ... .

Not for Prayer

This past last week marked the National week of Prayer

One of my friend's six year old son walked up to her room in the morning claiming he had had a very bad dream.She being a woman of prayer wanted to know what the nightmare was about so as to tackle the demons! Her son however replied that he dreamt his father became his teacher.She managed to give appropriate words of wisdom without laughing but you would certainly agree that that was not a case for prayer.

Just as the young child's request sounded funny,there are some times that we actually pray about something when we ought to be doing something about it.There are somethings prayer will not do and it will be irresponsible for us to expect it to.

One of the first things is that prayer will not offer an apology to people.It is alright to offer an apology to God in prayer but it is foolish to think that the place of prayer is where apology to our
fellow o men should be offered.Pride usually hinders us from apologizing wholeheartedly.It is an act of greatness to apologize genuinely without apportioning blame to others.

Another thing prayer will not do is it will not say hello to others.It is amazing how we can be praying for others and never even acknowledge them with a word of greeting for various reasons ranging from being in the spirit or too spiritual to be bothered about such carnal things in quote.Although Apostle Paul was a busy minister and prayed a lot in his Epistles, he always seemed to have time to extend greetings to others  and this leaves us in no doubt that when he was with them physically, he greeted them.Sometimes we could just be hiding under a cloak of maliciousness by saying we are praying about somebody/something and refuse to associate with them .People may never know how much we labor for them in prayer but might be able to appreciate our God better if his children are nice enough to just say hello.

Thirdly,prayer will not stop the process.Most things in life take time and the spectacular is usually the norm.Not matter how much we pray,a pregnancy will still take nine months.Being in a haste is not a sign of spiritual maturity or of our trust in God(Isaiah 28:16).God will not shortchange the process just because we prayed and the Bible rightly states that it is the steps of a good man that are ordered by the Lord (Psalms 37:23).Bishop T.D. Jakes in support  has rightly said "God does not order elevators".

It is true that we have been told to pray about everything but there are some things that prayer will not do.It may be that in addition to our prayer, we need to add an apology, be more friendly and actually say hello to someone.Prayer will not overthrow the process.So before we start to pray about anything,let us be sure to ask ourselves sincerely if our request   is for prayer alone,prayer and deeds  or not for prayer.

Yours in Him,
Grace Tom-Lawyer

A Look at Blindness 3:Blinded by Religion

In an era where suicide bombings and the activities of terrorist groups such as the Boko Haram are rampant, the killings of the cartoonists in their office by some Muslims in Paris two weeks ago still astonished many.These extremists  were furious at the portrayal of the Prophet Mohammed  by the cartoonists and decided to inflict punishments themselves.Fortunately even fellow Muslims have condemned their act and dissociated themselves from such inhumane behaviour. Nevertheless,it is important to realize that  these extremists may not have started out with murder in mind.Gradually and with increasing degree their intolerance for others built up  until murder became an option to support their cause.They are a modern day warning of the dangers of religious blindness.

This is what happened to the Apostle Paul, who did not start out killing Christians.Being a Pharisee he was so consumed with keeping the Law that when the Church started, he opposed it so vehemently.The first time we see him in Scriptures he is holding the coats of those who were stoning Stephen, the first martyr to death(Acts 7:58)  and he progressed from a supportive role(Acts 8:1), to a leadership role(Acts 8:3). In this later role, we find him  on his way to Damascus(Acts 9:1-3)having collected  letters  from the High priest so that he could arrest Christians there.Luckily a dramatic conversion  led to a change.

It is also possible that  as Christians we may become blinded by religion and  religious ways and thus refuse to change ineffective previous  patterns  or embrace novelty.Sometimes it may be our own preference or denominational  style of doing things that we have turned to a law and  a standard by which we  judge others.People who are not following our self imposed laws are then likely to be condemned with their reputation at stake.Sadly,it is not sin that is their offence.They have not just followed our own set of rules,feeding our egos while we are bereft of our blindness.

Religious convictions are so strong that sometimes in a bid to follow them,there is a tendency of being blinded.Paul had this problem with some of the churches(Romans 14:18-23 ,Colossians 2:16) and he used the Scriptures to convey the truth to them.Other spiritual disciplines such as prayer and being led by the Spirit are aides  to the recovery of sight from religious blindness.

Yours in Him,
Grace Tom-Lawyer

A Look at Blindness 2

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me.He has chosen me to tell good news to the poor.He has sent me to tell prisoners that they are free and to tell the blind that they can see again.He sent me to free those who have been treated badly".-Luke 4:18 ERV Easy to Read Version

"When there is no vision,the people get out of control ".Prov 28:19a CEB Common English Bible


One of the effects of the anointing is recovery of sight to the blind.The sight of the inner eye or the mind is more powerful than that of the physical eyes.The Spirit of the Lord is able to open the eyes of our minds also to see as God wants us to see.This sometimes comes through the ministry of the word(John 17:17,Romans 12:2,2 Corinthians 3:18)

Helen Keller  was  a famous lecturer ,political activist and author who became blind and deaf at the age of 19 months.She was once asked what was worse than being blind and her response was: "The only thing worse than being blind is to have eyes but no vision".How sad but how true that the presence of sight in  physical eyes alone does not automatically translate to sight of the mind; vision.

With vision comes  direction and a sense of purpose towards a goal.According to Proverbs 28:19,absence of vision causes people to get out of control.This means that vision brings boundaries of what we can  and cannot do thus allowing us to focus our energy on profitable activities.Fortunately,these days we have teachers in the church who  are gifted in the practicalities and there is better emphasis on the "how to do it". We are no longer just shouting and claiming it , rather we are now at a "see it, write it and work towards it"( 1Corinthians 15:10,Habakkuk 2:2).

Even the Bible encourages us to write the vision(Habakkuk 2:2) So if you have not written anything,now is the time to do so.If it is not written down, the chances of achieving it is slim.Also  writing  it down makes it easier to identify things that are not in line with it and we should never be afraid to say No to such things.The next step after writing down is to take practical steps towards it.Failure to do this only leads to deception(James 1:22).God blesses what we do(Psalms 1:3),not what we are planning to do.

Yours Sincerely,
Grace Tom-Lawyer

A Look at Blindness

And so today  we celebrate the World Braille Day to commemorate the   birthday of Louis Braille who invented  the Braille language that enables the blind  and visually impaired to read and write.This has helped to ensure that this disability has not robbed them of the benefits of being literate.Blindness could be attributed to several causes and has several types,all of which  usually impose some limitations making it an issue of concern to everyone involved.

God is also concerned about blindness.In the Old Testament,he placed a curse on any one who leads the blind astray ( Deuteronomy 27:18 ).The writers of the gospels were also careful to let us know that Jesus was equally concerned about the blind and healed several of them (Matthew 9:27-28,12:22,Mark 8:22-23,John 9:),mentioning Bartimeaus(Mark 10:46-51) as an example of his personal touch.Part of Jesus's mission statement included restoring sight to the blind(Luke 4:18,John 9: 39b).

The world without Christ is in a state of spiritual blindness caused by the god of this world (2 Corinthians 3:4)  and God expects us to help the blind like Job did(Job 29:15).Sometimes this might mean witnessing verbally but the most powerful witnesses are usually a life lived out for God whose joy is unchanged by circumstances (1 Peter 2:12).But for us to lead the blind, it is imperative that we are not also blind so that we do not end up in the ditch(Matthew 5:14).

As Christians, we can suffer from spiritual blindness and should be wary of the causes such as hatred(1 John 2:9-11)   or spiritual visual impairment which can be caused by inability to add  qualities such as goodness,knowledge,...love to  our basic faith in an increasing measure.(2 Peter 1:5-9).

Louis Braille was not born blind but became blind at the age of three.Those three years when he had his sight put enough  passion in him with a vision  that caused him to help others.We as  Christians were at one time  blinded by the god of this world but have been translated to the kingdom of light (Colosians 1:13,Ephesians 5;8)with its many benefits.This leaves us with an obligation   of helping others  to receive their sight. This can only be done through the preaching of the gospel (Romans 10:14)  by the power of the Spirit(Luke 4:18).His immense contributions to the physically blind and visually impaired have caused Louise to be honoured every January 4th.  The Bible promises us a greater reward and compensation to any work done for the spiritually blind who are unsaved,counting us as wise in this world  (Proverbs 11:30b ) and promising that we will shine as stars  forever(Daniel 12:3).

Yours in Him,
Grace Tom-Lawyer

A License to Sleep

"Today is the National  Festival of Sleep Day and I confess that I did lie in bed longer. The idea of the day is to ensure that we all catch up on sleep which we may have missed during the holidays".

"It is vain for you to rise up early ,to sit up late,to eat the bread of sorrows,for so he gives his beloved sleep". Psalms 121:4 KJV

 During my undergraduate days, I sometimes quoted the above scriptures especially after I had overslept and failed to meet  a scheduled reading plan. I used it to console myself but such comfort was usually short lived as counteracting scriptures such as".. a little slumber, a little sleep and poverty shall come knocking at your door"(Proverbs 6:10-11) usually left me feeling guilty.Poverty of course for a student like me then  meant  low grades, resits and carry over,none of  which was desirable.What I failed to realize then was that I was trying to work round the clock and more often than not, it was not an issue of oversleeping but rather   nature taking its proper course.

 The necessity and benefits of sleep cannot be overemphasized but the danger lies in  failing to strike a balance. There is a time to sleep and a time to wake up(Ecclesiastes 3:1).Either of the extremes has catastrophic consequences on  both our health and function and even our spiritual lives.

As Christians, we are advised not to sleep so that the coming of the Lord does not take us by surprise(Mark 13:33,1 Thessalonians 5:2-4,6) and another year does mean we are now closer to the coming of the Lord than when we first believed(Romans 13:11).

Engaging in spiritual exercises  such as prayer(Colossians 4:2),study of the Word(Acts 20:32),fasting and not remaining idle(2 Timothy 1:6) can keep us spiritually alert. Just as our brains still function while we are fully asleep physically,it is also possible a have a lot of activities while being fully  asleep spiritually.A sure spiritual sleep checker is our reaction to sin which should be godly sorrow and repentance(2 Corinthians 7:10).Continuous participation in what we know is wrong will dull our consciences (Titus 1:15) and lead us to slumber.

 We cannot afford to sleep spiritually(Ephesians 5:14) as it has dire consequences however  God who does not  sleep(Psalms 121:4)   expects us to  do so physically we can have healthy bodies  to carry out our assignments on earth.

Yours in Him,
Grace Tom-Lawyer.

An Acceptable Year

"To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord"-Luke 4:19. American Standard Version
"To proclaim the year of the Lord's favour"-Luke 4:19  New English Translation
"To announce the time has come when the Lord will save his people "-Luke 4:19 Good News Translation
" And to announce that the time the come for the Lord to show his kindness"-Luke 4:19 Easy to Read Version
"And to tell people that the year when the Lord will help them has come"-Luke 4:19 World English
"And to say this is the year the Lord has chosen"-Luke 4:19 Contemporary English Version
"To announce this is God's year to act"-Luke 4:19 The Message

It is a new year and it has come indeed  with all the excitement and promises that a new season usually brings. Amidst all the celebrations is a certain uncertainty about what the year holds which may sometimes be daunting but it need not be especially  when we  remember that there is one who has gone ahead of us(Isaiah 45:2).

Usually in most congregations, there is usually a word for the direction in which the church is moving but if there is going to be a performance of these things, we on an individual basis will have to take it and personalize it. This will require a certain tenacity that must surely go beyond January.On a daily basis this year, we should confess the word from God that we have received as the word for this season.

 Jesus on opening the scriptures that day in the synagogue, proclaimed that " this is  the acceptable year of the Lord".According to some versions, it is a year that the Lord will help and this help will come as a result of God's favour(Psalms 102:13). If God is going to help us, it means that there must be something we are planning to achieve.There is a goal or several goals in mind and as we do something about it, the Lord's help is promised.This year ,we should not use confusion as an excuse for doing nothing.Neither should we be  trying to do with prayer what increase in capacity will do for us. A true sign that we believe all of the good word that has come from God this season is to get to work(James 2:17)

So no matter what the word from God is for your congregation,we will all need the Lord's help and I am so glad  that the year  the Lord' will help has come(Luke 4:19),It is indeed an acceptable year.

Happy New Year
Grace Tom-Lawyer