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When you pray ‘Let Thy Will Be Done’, you recognize God’s sovereignty over every aspect of our daily lives. It is a way of saying that we will be in deep trouble if God gave us everything for which we asked. In fact we just don’t know what’s good for us. We only see snap shots in time, but God sees the entire planar plane because his perspective is far superior to ours.

To pray ‘Your Will Be Done’ is daily recognition that our wills must be submitted to His will. One of the most comforting thoughts that can penetrate human mind yielded to word of God is that He who has created us also knows what best for us. So if we walk according to His will rather than trying to command Him to according to our wills, we will indeed have peace in the midst of the storm. There is a great peace in knowing that the one who taught us to pray ‘Your Will Be Done’ has every single detail of our lives including stock market and the financial crisis under His control.

Remember, God is not going to spare us from trials and tribulations but He will use the fiery furnace to purge impurities from our lives. Ultimately that was the message in the book of Job. Job endured more tragedy in a single day than most people will experience and yet in his darkest hour he uttered the ultimate words of faith he said…’though he slay me yet will I trust in Him’. A lot of people today are putting their eye on the wrong ball when it comes to the faith game. Faith is only as good as the object at whom it is placed. So, let His will be done.

Excerpts from: Deep Answers From the Bible - By Sampson Enwere

JERUSALEM - Two parts of an ancient biblical manuscript separated across centuries and continents were reunited for the first time in a joint display Friday, thanks to an accidental discovery that is helping illuminate a dark period in the history of the Hebrew Bible.

The 1,300-year-old fragments, which are among only a handful of Hebrew biblical manuscripts known to have survived the era in which they were written, existed separately and with their relationship unknown — until a news photograph of one's public unveiling in 2007 caught the attention of the scholars who would eventually link them.

Together, they make up the text of the Song of the Sea, sung by jubilant Israelites after fleeing slavery in Egypt and witnessing the destruction of the pharaoh's armies in the Red Sea.

"The enemy said: 'I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil. My lust shall be satisfied upon them, I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them,'" reads the song, which appears in the Book of Exodus. "Thou didst blow thy wind, the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters."

An exhibit at Israel's national museum dedicated to the Song of the Sea is now bringing together the two long-separated pieces.

From North Carolina ... and London
One page of the song, known as the Ashkar manuscript, was previously housed in a rare books library at Duke University in North Carolina and was first displayed at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem in 2007.

That's when a photograph of the manuscript in a local newspaper caught the eye of two Israeli paleographers, Mordechay Mishor and Edna Engel, who noticed it resembled a different page of Hebrew writing known as the London manuscript, presently part of the private collection of Stephan Loewentheil of New York.

"The uniformity of the letters, the structure of the text, and the techniques used by the scribe ... it made it very clear to me," Engel said.

The relationship would not be so clear to a casual observer. The Ashkar manuscript has been so blackened by exposure to the elements that the text is all but invisible, while the London manuscript is legible and far better preserved. But after close study of ultraviolet images, the experts were able to confirm that the texts were not only written by the same scribe, but were also part of the same scroll.

May have originated in Egypt
Scholars believe the scroll was written around the seventh century somewhere in the Middle East, possibly in Egypt. It is not known how the two parts were separated or what happened to the rest of the manuscript.

The museum arranged to have the London manuscript brought to Jerusalem. The new exhibit chronicles how the Song of the Sea was written through various ancient manuscripts, from the 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls to the manuscript known as the Aleppo Codex, written nearly a millennium later.

The reunification of the two pieces adds an important link in the chain, showing how the writing of the Hebrew Bible evolved through the so-called "silent" period — between the third and 10th centuries — from which nearly no Biblical texts survived. While in the Dead Sea Scrolls the song is arranged like prose, for example, in the newly reunited manuscript it is written like a poem, the same way it appears in the Hebrew Bible today.

The manuscripts are "filling the gap," said Israel Museum curator Adolfo Roitman. "We can see we are dealing with a tradition that is still alive."

The museum exhibit displays the manuscripts along with other depictions of the Song of the Sea from the museum's permanent collection, including artistic renderings of the biblical passages in frescoes and Renaissance paintings and recordings of the song as it is chanted by Jews in different communities worldwide.

There are two sides to God’s sovereignty: on one side is God’s initiative, on the other side is our response. Paul writes in Romans 12:1, ‘Therefore…in view of God’s mercy’ we are responsible to: (a) resist the pressures of a world system that pulls us in the wrong direction (b) renew our minds each day through prayer and reading God’s Word (c) recognize His will for us and live according to it.

But Paul doesn’t stop there. He continues: ‘Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, and faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.’ (Roman 12:9-17 NIV)

God’s sovereignty doesn’t mean that we’re released from responsibility, have no interest in today’s affairs, need not be bothered about decisions, have no desire to strive for personal excellence or show concern for a lost world. The songwriter Isaac Watts captured the essence of God’s sovereignty in these words: ‘Were the whole realm of nature mine that were an offering far too small. Love so amazing so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all!’

Excerpts from: Deep Answers From the Bible - By Sampson Enwere

Before you answer, read Ten Reasons Why I Never Wash!

1) I was forced to wash as a child
2) People who washed are all hypocrites; they think they are cleaner than everyone else
3) There are so many different kinds of soap; I just can’t decide which one is best for me
4) I used to wash, but I got bored and stopped doing it
5) I only wash on special occasions like Christmas and Easter
6) None of my friends wash
7) I’ll start washing when I get older and dirtier
8) I don’t have time to wash
9) The bathroom is never warm enough in the winter or cool enough in summer
10) The people who make soap are only after your money! Sound familiar?
Speaking of the church, Paul writes: ‘There should be no division….its part should have equal concern for each one of you is part of it’ (1 Corinthians 12:25-27 NIV). You are part of Christ’s body, the church, so you need to be there! Watchman Nee says, ‘Alone I cannot serve the Lord effectively, and he will spare no pains to teach me this. He will bring things to an end, allowing doors to close and leaving me effectively knocking my head against a wall until I realize that I need the help of the body, as well as of the Lord. ‘There are truths taught in God’s house that you won’t hear anywhere else. There you will find a spiritual family to belong to, a faith to live by, and focus that gets your eyes where they should be; on Christ! So, see you in Church on Sunday! Psalms 122:1

Excerpts from: Deep Answers From the Bible - By Sampson Enwere

Today God is saying to you,‘while in process,stick to the plan!’ Nothing takes God by surprise. He’s a master planner. Joseph discovered that when your family turns against you, your friends let you down and you finish up in trouble, God still has a plan. Looking back Joseph could say, ‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good’ (Genesis 50:20 NIV). When your situation seems too hard to handle and downright impossible to explain, remind yourself that God said, ‘I know the plans I have for you.’

Some of us are not sure God has made up His mind about us, so we keep trying to earn His favor. Give it up! Receive the truth that God, for Christ’s sage, has decided to bless you. And when God decides, temporary situations or the actions of others don’t change His decision. There’s nothing the enemy devises against you that God hasn’t already made ‘a way of escape’ for. Paul writes, ‘God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it’ (1 Corinthians 10:13). Observe that:

a) in times of testing you discover how faithful God is

b) He knows what you can handle

c) He will ‘make a way’ so you can exit this season stronger, and ready for what He has next. So stick to the plan. The fact that you have a problem is a sign that you have a promise. It’s only a matter of time before God reveals the solution.

Excerpts from: Deep Answers From the Bible - By Sampson Enwere

When you violate your partner’s trust, you send your ‘relationship account’ into deficit! Intimacy is replaced by painful emotional and physical distance. As the offender, you feel that in spite of your apology and repentance, your wounded partner is still exacting their pound of flesh and making you pay. But they are not! They are simply out of surplus emotional resources. Their tank is empty. It’s taking all they have to just ‘keep it together.’ Expecting them to be their old self is like asking a legless man to hurry up and walk! It’s not going to happen.

What can you do to help? The same thing you do when you have a deficit in your bank account.

1)Stop making withdrawals! Don’t ask or expect from your partner all they normally do for you. Don’t wait to be served. Pick up your dirty dishes. Iron your own clothes. Surrender your sense of entitlement. Practice the Christ-like art of denying yourself. For now, lean on God and your Christian friends and family to help meet your temporarily unmet needs.

2)Start making deposits! Make them small and often. ‘If you give, you will get! Your gift will return to you…pressed down, shaken together…running over’ (Luke 6:38). Consistent deposits can eventually cancel the deficit, moving the relationship into surplus! Quietly find ways to make your partner’s life easier: small courtesies, thoughtful deeds, little considerations that serve and salve. These are the things that invite your partner to feel like its safe to push ‘defrost,’ start taking small risks, reconnect and test the waters again!

Excerpts from: Deep Answers From the Bible - By Sampson Enwere