It is always called foolish of someone to embark on a long Journey without enough fuel, because it will run out en-route, and he/she will end up disappointed. A wise person always prepares for the journey before hand and gets in place all that is required for them to reach their destiny without any hindrance.

Christianity differs not from that, because our destiny is always determined by the level of Oil (in the measure of Righteousness) that we collect in this course of life I.e a viable relationship with God is the wheel on which our hope for eternal life rolls. If any one at any moment has a hope of enjoying Eternal life and reign with God in Heaven, the measure of our Oil should always be increasing as we do deeds of Righteousness, and distance our selves from all evil.

What then is Righteousness?

It is simply defined as doing some thing right, not in the human perspective, but in the Godly view of things. It does not come instantly, but is rather built on and the more it mounts, the closer you draw to God which heightens your chances of qualifying for Everlasting Joy, Peace and Happiness with the Father.

It is all about knowing what to do, when, how, and then doing it as God's grace avails to you. It only becomes a Sin when you refuse to do what you know is right.

This is why we have to dis-associate from whatever we know aint right before our God, and act like we are departing tomorrow, so as to bring that sense of Godliness in all we do. The Bible talks of a narrow Gate that leads to Heaven, which reflects that for us to fit within it, we must have de-linked from every evil that joined us in the course of life, so that we enjoy the afterlife of life. However, those who insist on retaining their luggages, they automatically go for the wider gate but mark this; it leads to Destruction.

You remember the story of the 10 virgins? All were virgins, all had oil in their lamps, all were at the banquet waiting for the Bridegroom, BUT the distinction came over the issue of the Measure of their OIL, where 5 ended up being called wise, and the other 5 were called Foolish.

Those who had Oil enough to keep them alight until the bridegroom arrived were in position to enjoy the pleasure with him, yet those who ran out of Oil were locked out; they went out to buy more Oil, and by the time they came back, the door was locked.

I do not want to receive a treat like that which befell the 'Foolish Virgins', so it's better I work on piling my levels of good deeds, which consequently ups my Oil's level, that I may not be caught off guard.

The Trumpet is blown, and for every one who has heard it, respond with Good deeds, and this will help draw you closer to God, because your good deeds reflect God's goodness to others.

Catch you

To some people, Sinning is a blunder, yet to others, it is by default i.e it is their life style and they choose to do so. To those who blunder, conviction always surfaces as they start to regret as to why they have committed such mistake that has some how derailed them from God, yet those who sin by default just get used and with more attempts, the guilt goes and they do it more often than ever. Was Christ's blood shed in vain then?

We all agree Jesus forgives us for our past and present sins, but did he come so that we can continue to sin without guilt, or did he come to destroy our sin?

Did Jesus come to set the captives free from guilt, or did he come to set us free from the bondage of sin?
Did Jesus come so that we can continue to sin without guilt, or did he come to lead us to repentance and remission of sin?

If knowing the truth will set you free, from what are we supposed to be set free - guilt or sin?
Doesn't a removal of guilt make sin easier for us all, allowing us to sin more without fear; so Jesus came so we can sin more, so Jesus came to promote sin? Doesn't this makes Jesus evil?

This is a major deception. Jesus said, I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. John 8:34. If we are slaves to sin, then he can't be our Lord. You are the slaves of him whom you obey, whether that be to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness (Rom 6:16,19).

Jesus says that that unless we repent, we will all perish (Luke 13:3); this thus means that we are forgiven of our sins if we seek to become free of sin, but we had better be sure we are repenting to work out our salvation that leads to purification and the rest, otherwise we will fall short of the mark.

If we then build a relationship with God, through Christ we are cleansed and forgiven our sins, which leads to the prevalence of our salvation. This salvation is from Sin, and after we are saved from Sin by the cleansing of his blood, the erasing of guilt kicks off, that we become free indeed.

On the other side, continuous sinning tones down the salvation voice, erases guilt, that you feel at Liberty to do whatever you want, AT ANY TIME. This is very dangerous for a person, because sin becomes beautiful to their sight, and it comes part of him/her, that they even find pleasure in exercising their liberty to sin, without any conviction, a clear sign that a person has gone far from God.

BUT never mind, time may be lost, but hope and grace are still at your disposal, because your redemption is a prayer away. Jesus says that Come to me all labor, and I will give you rest. You may be such a kind that is totally off God's rail, But he likes it so much if you come back. Just make a prayer of repentance, commit to God, look unto him for your guidance, and he will truly guide your paths.

Ever felt like giving up? Ever felt like quitting? Ever felt like your situation is so hopeless that the only thing you can possibly do is leave? Just walk away, head out the door and never come back?

In extreme circumstances, people can feel so much emotional pain that they take their own lives. Perhaps you've even considered that yourself. But the real reason people commit suicide isn't the pain. It's the loss of hope. It’s the sense that there's no escape, no way to resolve their problems. It's the conviction that things are never going to get better. They look and look for a ray of hope and only see darkness. That’s how Job felt.

“Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut me off! . . . . “What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze? Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?"

"My body is clothed with worms and scabs, my skin is broken and festering. My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and they come to an end without hope. Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again." - Job 6:8-12; 7:5-7 (NIV)

Job knew what it was to feel despair; to lose hope; to look into the future and see only darkness. He felt as though even death would be preferable to what he was experiencing.

The common denominator is a feeling that the situation is hopeless, that things aren’t going to get better. And when that happens, the temptation is to give up. Sometimes giving up takes the dramatic form of a suicide, a divorce, a worker who takes a gun to work with deadly results. But more often it takes the form of what Thoreau called, "quiet desperation." People going through the motions of a marriage or job; people maintaining the pretense of a relationship with their children or their parents, but who have in reality given up. Detached emotionally. Stopped working; stopped fighting; stopped caring.

All of us have faced this temptation, when it seems pointless to keep trying. Some of you are probably facing it now. You may be hiding it well; so that the rest of us would never suspect the struggle that’s taking place in your heart. But there’s an area of your life where you’re considering just giving up and walking away, regardless of what God says or the Bible says.

And the question for us as Christians is, How do we keep holding on when we feel like giving up? How do we find the strength to persevere, to go on? Where does the power come from to keep on keeping on? This morning I’m going to give you three key principles to store in your heart for that day when you’re tempted just to throw in the towel and give up.

The Core thing in this is Trusting in God’s Sovereignty.

God is sovereign and is in control. No matter how hopeless, painful, unpleasant, or discouraging your circumstances are, He has a purpose for them. He has a purpose for you in the midst of them. And that purpose does not involve giving up. It does not involved despair. It does not involve abandoning your faith. It does not involve panicking. The struggle you are going through has meaning and purpose, because God is sovereign and He does everything for a reason. He doesn’t make mistakes. He isn’t surprised by what has happened to you.

Trust in God’s Power

We become hopeless when we can see no escape from our situation. We despair when it seems impossible that our circumstances will change for the better. But if God desires to do so, He can make a way. As Job stated, "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted".

Place Your Hope in Christ

But whether or not God chooses to change our circumstances, ultimately our hope is not in what he is going to do for us on this earth, in this life. Our true hope is in Jesus Christ. Our true hope is in the forgiveness of sins and eternal life that come from faith in Christ. [That puts everything into perspective].

"Not on your own, but with God's help you can!"

Luke 1:37

37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

If you asked anybody, "What amazes you most about what Jesus did while on this Earth?" You would get responses like, "He raised the dead," or "He died for my sins" or "He healed the blind and the lame." No doubt that each of these are amazing works of God, Calvary can never be denied as the greatest work that Jesus did. I would have responded the same way.

Calvary aside, one of the most amazing things to me that Jesus did while on this Earth was transforming the twelve into disciples, and ultimately into the leaders of the first century church. That was an amazing accomplishment.

I know firsthand how difficult it is to change people. I understand how much time it takes to cause habits and thinking to change.

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that the twelve disciples were total idiots, but let's be honest, they didn't have a whole lot going for them.

They were definitely less than ordinary. They didn't have a lot of natural talent. Their intellectual abilities were lacking. Each one of them was prone to failure, bad attitudes and mistakes, no one more than the leader of the group, Peter. Almost every one of them had issues with their faith. They all had bouts with doubt. On one occasion, Jesus said of them;

Luke 24:25

25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:

Jesus called them fools, yet He also saw them for what they could be, instead of what they were. These twelve "fools," or at least eleven of them, went on to turn their world upside down. They became the propagators of the Gospel after Jesus ascended. They built the church from the ground up. Their ministry continues to influence us to this day.

With this said and heard, 'YES', a loser can be turned into a leader. A fool can become a person of wisdom. In fact, more often than not, God typically calls these kind of men and women to become the leaders in the church, and other spheres of the world, as it is clearly mentioned in the bible...

1 Corinthians 1:27

27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.