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Must reads:

My Pulpit Message: The Criminal at the Cross

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THE CRIMINAL AT THE CROSS

My Devotional: Spititual Signposts

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My Health: Weight loss may cut risk of heart disease and diabetes, even if you regain some weight

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My Health: Weight loss may cut risk of heart disease and diabetes, even if you regain some weight | 8-9

My Kitchen: Grilled fish with fried plantains | 10

My Sports: Verstappen ‘very happy’ with maiden Australian GP win

but says rules were ‘not followed’ in Lap 1 Hamilton tussle |11

My Pulpit Message Notes

THE CRIMINAL AT THE CROSS

1. The Disobedient Arrogant Thief | Luke 23:39

2. The Desirous Repentant Thief | Luke 23:40 - 42

3. The Demonstrative Merciful King | Luke 23: 43

The Disobedient Arrogant Thief

Luke 23:39

One of the criminals on the cross says, “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us”.

Matthew 27:38, these criminals are also called ‘evildoers’. And so this man who is speaking is not speaking because he needs mercy, but he is speaking because he is mocking the Messiah and he is discrediting Him showing that he is not all that powerful as He claimed to be. If indeed He was powerful then why is He hanging on the cross?

So in other words he is saying, you are nothing. You are not what you claim to be. If you were then do it. Display your power.

Secondly, this man was mimicking what the rulers were saying. Him being the evildoer, the rebellious guy, disobedient and arrogant he is simply saying what the leaders were saying, “He saved others, let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God (Luke 23:35). And so he looks around and says sure. This guy didn’t have a history, a story, an encounter with Christ and if he ever did, he simply ignored what Christ was doing.

He didn’t have an encounter with Him performing miracles, healing people, feeding people, showing kindness and generosity to many and showing compassion to the widow of Nain when her son had died. He did not have any idea how Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. And so he mimics what the other guys were saying, ‘He save others, let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the Chosen one of God.

Thirdly, what troubles me, is this man imagined Christ would save Himself and save him, the thief on the cross. Christ’s mission being limited on these three, save Himself and the two thieves on the cross. That is lack of understanding the Scripture and the purpose of Christ. He was to come to die for the entire world. And so he wants to cut short the mission of Christ of dieing on the cross to save you and I and all of us and all those who believe in Him. He is being myopic in looking at things.

But doesn’t it bother you more when he says, “If you are Christ then save yourself. And where we are as a country, it is so easy to look at the difficulty of circumstances we are going through as a nation and globally and begin saying, if God was there, if You claim to be there why can’t you stop this mess that we are experiencing every Monday and Thursday? We can’t go to work, we can’t function, the country is coming to a standstill.’ Where is God? It is so easy to get to that space and fail to recognise that in spite of what was happening, Jesus, the King, merciful and loving, was still in charge.

The Desirous Repentant Thief

Luke 23:40 - 42

This man turns to rebuke the other thief because, he understood the man to be mocking Christ and he says, “Don’t you fear God? Since you are under the same sentence. We are punished justly for we are getting what our deeds deserve, but this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then desirous repentant thief knew his place. He knew he was getting his … He knew he was a criminal and he knew he deserved what he was getting. Equally, he understood that Christ was righteous, faultless. He was there not because He was a criminal. But He was there on a mission saving humanity on that cross. And so this man understood so well that the first criminal was mocking Christ, Who was without fault.

But it also reminds me of the story and a preacher in the old days by the name Jonathan Edwards. This other thief understood like Jonathan Edwards that he was like every sinner who is in the hands of an angry God, hanging on a thread under fire, and every second , the fire could easily consume the thread and the sinner hanging on that thread would fall on the fire, not for a few minutes, seconds, or years, but would be in that eternal fire eternally. And he had the understanding that was the hour for him to make a decision.

And the decision he made that moment, he cried out to the Messiah, “Have mercy on me. Remember me.’

Friends, we do understand that we can be here today, but it is an opportunity for us to make that very critical decision, to mock Christ, or to say, ‘Remember me’ as we celebrate this Passion Week.

Entrance into Jerusalem - the triumphal entry in the city of Jerusalem, as they burst out and cried out saying, “Hossana Hossana, Son of David.” “Save us , save us Lord.” We can cry out like the thief on the cross and say, “Remember me.” I don’t want to mimic what the world is saying . I don’t want to join them in mocking of the Messiah. I don’t want to join them in mocking the power of God to save. But I am here today to make this critical decision, “Lord Jesus, have mercy on me. Remember me on this day” because you know where you are and God knows exactly where you are. Deep in your heart you know where you are and you can cry out for God’s for His mercy.

The Demonstrative Merciful King Luke 23:43

He speaks not like a helpless man on the cross, but speaks with finality and authority and brings assurance to the repentant criminal, and He says, “Assuredly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” It is a declaration of finality. He is seated on His seat as the Judge and as the King. He is making a ruling based on the cry of the second repentant desirous criminal who desires to be remembered and He is not just remembered, but He is given the assurance that the day of being in paradise is here and he will be with Him that day. And he will not be with Jesus in Paradise for one day, but eternally where there will be no suffering, there will be no hanging on the cross, there will be no condemnation, no famine, no demonstrations, no throwing of stones. There will be nothing that causes us to worry. We will live eternally.

“You will be with me in Paradise. Jesus has he final say over your life depending on the position you make. You don’t have to get to a place of mimicking the world. You don’t have to get to a place of losing hope. You don’t have to get to a place of saying, ‘It’s too late, I have gone to far.’ You can like that man turn to the Lord.

Like the two thieves, you have a chance to make a choice. Shall we disobey to our distraction, or call on God to have mercy on us? The King is waiting on us to make that wise decision. Calling on Him for mercy.

My Life

How to get saved and spend eternity with God

His Love

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.

John 3:16 (NASB)

My response

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Romans 10:9-10 (NASB)

My prayer

Lord God Almighty, thank You for Your love for me. Thank You that You sent Your Son Jesus Christ to die for my sins. Please forgive me for all the sins I have committed against You. I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and that He died on the cross and You raised Him from the dead on the third day. Please write my name in the Lamb’s book of life. Help me to live a life that is holy and pleasing unto You. In Jesus’ Name I pray and believe. Amen

My Devotional

SPIRITUAL SIGNPOSTS

https://sportsspectrum.com/

“Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life…’” — John 14:5-6

Athletes want to stay healthy and on the field at every opportunity. Sometimes injuries happen during competition, but on other occasions, bad decisions off the field put great competitors on the shelf for weeks, months and sometimes even years. Since athletes want the freedom to enjoy every opportunity to fulfill their dreams and help their teammates, it’s a dangerous gamble to ignore proper warnings, such as advice from coaches or peers on how to act away from the game.

In a similar way, we need to pay attention to spiritual billboards that direct our way to Heaven and also instruct us on the best way to live in the meantime. When we hurry or are distracted, we are more likely to make mistakes and cause accidents.

When we see flashing lights in our rearview mirror, it’s not usually convenient, but most likely necessary. In fact, those lights might slow us down enough to save our life, even though it may cost us some money. If someone confronts us about our wrongdoing, it’s not helpful to get angry. We should admit what we did and learn to do better. Though David in the Bible was a sinner, he dealt properly with his sin. Therefore, he found forgiveness from the Lord. “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise” (Psalm 51:17).

Many tragedies are prevented when people look and listen. It’s best to open our car windows and look both ways before driving across railroad tracks — if we try to beat a train, we’ll likely lose. Just as we should think clearly when driving, we need to daily get our hearts and minds right so we are ready to make good decisions. “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23).

When Thomas wondered how to live, Jesus showed him by both His example and His words. “Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life…’” (John 14:5-6).

God doesn’t want us to be careless or reckless. Though the Lord often rescues us after we make bad decisions and sin, it’s so much better when we listen to the Lord the first time. We need His wisdom to live a full life. He’s given us all that we need to know for how to live a Godly life, we just need to follow His ways.

King’s Inspiration

A SUPERNATURAL ADVANTAGE

When you honour God with your life, He puts a blessing on you that gives you an advantage. God says that when we give our tithes and offerings, “I will pour out a blessing that you do not have room enough to store” (Malachi 3:10). It doesn’t say “blessings” plural, it says “blessing” singular.

When you have “the blessing” all kinds of blessings will come. It causes you to rise up when circumstances are trying to push you down. You will accomplish dreams that look impossible. It’s not just because of your skill, talent and determination. There is a force. The blessing causes you to prosper when others are struggling.

As a teenager, God gave Joseph a dream that one day he would lead a nation and people would bow down before him. But he was betrayed by his brothers, taken to Egypt. He could have been bitter and complained, “God, I thought Your blessing was on my life.”

Instead, he kept being his best, doing more than required. The Scripture says, “The Lord greatly blessed Joseph there in the home of his master, so that everything he did he succeeded”(Genesis 39:2). Notice that God was with Joseph in

the unfair situation when nothing went his way, the blessing was still on his life.

Sometimes we think we’re not blessed when something goes wrong, we lose our main client, come down with an illness or a relationship doesn’t work out. That didn’t stop the blessing. Bad breaks and people cannot take away or change the favour God put in you.

Disappointment doesn’t cancel out the blessing. The blessing is why those enemies cannot defeat you or why the sickness can’t take your life. That setback is not the end, it’s a setup for what God is about to do. Don’t get sour when life is unfair. Here’s the key: There is a supernatural blessing on your life put there by the Creator of the Universe.

It will cause things to happen. New opportunities will find you. Good breaks will chase you down, contracts, promotion, healing, vindication, the right people, connections. You won’t have to go after it, the blessing will cause it to come to you. The Scripture says, “We haven’t seen, heard or imagined the amazing things God has for those who love Him.”

Entrepreneur

Discerning your calling

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Psalm 139:13-14, NIV).

Throughout Scripture, God reveals three primary pointers on the road to discerning our calling: our passions, our giftings, and our opportunities to use the combination of those two to glorify God and serve others.

Have you ever wondered why God created the earth and humankind? He certainly didn’t need to. So in one sense, it appears that God created for the pure joy of creating.

It’s impossible to read the creation account in Genesis 1 without imagining the thrill God must have had bringing the earth into being, flinging the stars into the sky, and turning the oceans loose.

This truth points us to the first question on the road to discerning our calling: What are you passionate about? In other words, what work brings you unspeakable joy?

Isaiah 64:8 says that “We are the clay, and [God] our potter.” Through Scripture and human experience, we innately understand that God uses our passions to mold and shape who we are as individuals. One of the ways in which He molds us and helps us to discern our vocational calling is by designing us with unique

passions, the things in life that bring us pure joy.

Are you passionate about entrepreneurship, photography, music, arts, law, coffee, sales, or medicine? Those passions are from the Lord! As Psalm 139:13-14 reminds us, God is the one who knitted us together, passions and all.

But while discerning our calling requires that we first identify our passions, passion alone is not enough to make our chosen work a calling. If we stop with the passion question, we will have identified the work we are most eager to do, but we will not have found our calling.

Why? Because our work can only be a calling if God calls us to it and we work for His glory and the service of others, rather than the service of self. How do we glorify God and serve others through our work? By choosing work that aligns our passions with the gifts God has given us, allowing us to do exceptional work.

My Health

Weight loss may cut risk of heart disease and diabetes, even if you regain some weight

www.medicalnews.com | By

Compared to people who received minimal or no weight loss support, people who lost weight through an intensive behavioral weight loss program had lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose levels for at least 5 years after completing the program.

Lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose levels should theoretically translate into a lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes, but there are currently few studies that prove this.

The findings of this study suggest that joining a behavioral weight loss program grants long-term health benefits even if weight is regained.

Worldwide, nearly 2 in 5 adults (39%) were overweight in 2016, and more than 1 in 10 (13%) were obese.

These statistics are concerning because carrying excessive weight significantly increases a person’s risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (mainly heart disease and stroke), diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders (especially osteoarthritis), and some cancers.

To avoid these problems, programs have been designed to help people lose weight by changing their behavior related to diet, exercise, and lifestyle. Most of these behavioral weight management programs, or lifestyle modification programs as they are also known, are effectiveat helping people lose weight over a 12-month period.

Now, researchers at the University of Oxford want to understand whether behavioral weight management programs have long-term benefits beyond a year.

“Many people fear that weight loss attempts result in rapid weight regain and even over-shooting, so people might end up heavier than before the weight loss attempt. There was a fear that this would mean that weight loss did not benefit

health long-term. We wanted to assess what really happens after weight loss attempts finish.”

– Prof. Paul Aveyard, Ph.D., professor of behavioral medicine at the University of Oxford and senior co-author

Prof. Aveyard and his coworkers reviewed randomized controlled trials from around the world to compare long-term health outcomes in people who participated in an intensive behavioral weight management program and others who received minimal or no weight loss support.

Their findings appear in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.

What are behavioral weight management programs?

The goal of a behavioral weight management program is to help individuals achieve and maintain a healthy weight through long-term changes in their eating and physical activity behaviors.

These programs usually involve weekly one-on-one or group sessions with trained professionals such as dietitians, exercise specialists, or psychologists who provide education, counseling, and support to help participants adopt healthier habits and make sustainable changes in their daily lives.

One good example of these programs is the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) Lifestyle Change Program, which was developed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

My Health

Review of 17,000 studies

The researchers searched for randomized clinical trials that reported cardiovascular and metabolic (diabetes-related) outcomes in overweight or obese adults who participated in behavioral weight management programs.

The outcomes they focused on were:

the occurrence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and CVD-related death the occurrence of type 2 diabetes and hypertensionchanges in systolic blood pressure, serum cholesterol, blood glucose, and insulin measures.

Among 17,085 studies, they found only 124 randomized control trials which reported on at least one cardiometabolic outcome with at least 12 months of follow-up.

Lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose

The researchers found clear evidence that, compared with lower-intensity behavioral weight management programs or no weight loss support, behavioral weight management programs resulted in lower systolic blood pressure, lower total cholesterol-to-good cholesterol ratio, and lower HbA1c (a measure of blood sugar levels over the previous 3 months).

These improved cardiovascular risk factors, except for glycemic control, persisted throughout the 5 years following the end of the program, although weight regains reduced these favorable effects over time.

The available data suggested that behavioral weight management programs also delayed the onset of heart disease and diabetes. Still, too few studies have measured these diseases to enable researchers to make high-certainty conclusions.

Dr. Lawrence J. Appel, the C. David Molina professor of medicine and director of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research at Johns Hopkins University, who was not involved in the study, was surprised by the “legacy effect” of weight loss on blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose.

“I was surprised because usually risk factors often track with weight changes,” Dr. Appel told MNT.

“The results provide reassurance that on average, there are long-term, albeit attenuated, benefits once a weight control program ends.”

Dr. Naveed Sattar, Ph.D., professor and honorary consultant of cardiovascular & metabolic health at the University of Glasgow, who was not involved in the study, praised the research and told MNT that “the data do seem to suggest that the longer one loses weight for, the longer will be reductions in cardiovascular risk factors and so the greater the chances for a reduction in cardiovascular outcomes.”

However, Dr. Sattar noted that, in clinical trials to date, “changes in risk factors appear modest so any apparent cardiovascular benefits […] are likely rather

modest with somewhat greater benefits in reducing risk of diabetes (as weight loss is more strongly linked to diabetes risk than it is to atherosclerosis)”

Benefits on heart health persist as weight is regained slowly

In 2022, the same research group published another study focusing on weight regain. They found that people who participated in behavioral weight management programs lost more weight (-2.8 kg) than those who received no support. It took an average of 5 years for the weight of people in the two groups to become similar.

This means that weight regain is slower than most people imagine. The reduced […] cardiovascular and metabolic disease [risk factors] persist because weight loss persists for longer on average than most people think- both last for at least five years. […] Even if weight is regained, which most people do, the health benefits persist.

– Prof. Aveyard

Prof. Aveyard went on to explain that: “[c]ardiovascular disease occurs because over time, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and the high blood sugar gradually fur up our arteries [a process called atherosclerosis], leading to heart attack and stroke. If blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar are lower, then the arteries fur up less, reducing the risk of these problems over a lifetime.”

Dr. Sattar noted that “the process of atherosclerosis […] takes years to develop, and to slow atherosclerosis likely will take a few years, especially if the risk factors are only modestly altered, as they are with modest weight loss.” He added that statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs) and blood pressure-lowering medications give faster clinical benefits than weight loss, but “weight loss gives other benefits that [these drugs] do not.”

Cardiovascular benefits from other weight loss methods

“There is also evidence that big weight loss achieved by surgery lowers important cardiovascular outcomes, but that such benefits may be greater for heart failure and kidney outcomesTrusted Source, something not looked at in this paper,” Dr. Sattar said.

Trials with newer weight loss drugs such as semaglutide or tirzepatide may not definitively prove the cardiovascular benefits of weight loss as the drugs may directly affect such outcomes, Dr. Sattar told MNT.

“But they could go some way to convince cardiologists to consider weight loss more often in the management of their patients,” he noted.

My Kitchen

Grilled fish with fried plantains

www.thedreamafrica.com/grilled-fish-with-fried-plantains-recipe/

Ingredients

1 whole tilapia

2 large ripe plantains

1 large onion, sliced

2 scotch bonnet

1 tbsp minced ginger

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tbsp thyme

1 tbsp rosemary

1 tbsp fresh lemon/lime juice

1 tbsp cayenne pepper

Seasoning cubes; Maggi/Knorr

1 Red bell pepper

Salt to taste

Vegetable oil

Frying oil

Method

Wash and clean the fish, remove the scales. Make 3 diagonal cuts on each side of the fish.

Blend the cayenne peppers, thyme, garlic, ginger, rosemary and onions together with the lemon juice. Season fish with the blended mixture. Set aside and allow to marinate for a minimum or marinate overnight.

Once it’s marinated for at least 24 hours, pre-heat the grill to 220 degrees/F. On a tray place a sheet of foil, use the foil to create a very loose jacket for the fish. Place the fish in the centre and add any loose garnish that is in the bowl on top.

While the fish is grilling, add the scotch bonnet, bell pepper and garlic into a blender and blend roughly. Heat up 1 tbsp of vegetable oil into a pan, add chopped onion and sauté. Stir-in the blended mix, seasoning cube and salt to taste.

Fry for about 10 minutes on medium heat. Take out the grilling fish and glide a little of the pepper sauce on both sides of the fish – put it back in the oven to continue grilling. Set remaining pepper sauce aside.

Peel plantains and dice diagonal pieces – sprinkle with some salt. Lower the plantain slices into the oil, reduce heat and fry until they are brown. Do not to burn them. Remove fried plantain from oil with fork and place on paper towels to drain excess oil.

Grill fish for about 30-40 Minutes check the fish –remember to turn the fish over during the grilling process to enable even heat distribution and thorough grilling.

Serve with dodo (fried plantain) and the rest of the pepper sauce.

Enjoy!

My Sports

Verstappen ‘very happy’ with maiden Australian GP win – but says rules were ‘not followed’ in Lap 1 Hamilton tussle

Max Verstappen was delighted to take his first career Australian Grand Prix victory at Albert Park – but the Red Bull driver did seem to take issue with Lewis Hamilton’s pass on him at Turn 3 on the opening lap...

Verstappen started on pole position after blowing away the competition on Saturday, but Sunday saw him passed by both Mercedes at the start of the race as George Russell took the lead and Hamilton snuck by soon after. The Dutchman soon complained over the radio that Hamilton pushed him wide and out of the confines of the track, but ended up retaking the lead later in the race.

“From my side, I just tried to avoid the contact, it’s quite clear on the rules what is allowed to do now on the outside, but clearly, it’s not followed. But that’s okay. We had good pace, we passed [Hamilton] anyway but it’s something for the next race to take into account,” said the Red Bull driver after the Grand Prix.

“We had a very poor start and then [on] Lap 1 I was careful because I had a lot to lose, and they had a lot to win,” he added.

Verstappen retook the lead with an overtake on Hamilton around Turn 9 later in the race while Russell retired from P5 with an engine issue. The two-time champion reflected on a chaotic day that saw a number of Safety Cars and red

flags, with numerous drivers crashing out in a late restart after which the race restarted again behind a Safety Car for a final lap, and Verstappen confirmed his victory.

“I think the pace of the car was quick, you could see that straight away, we were always there waiting for the DRS to open up, to have a chance to pass. But with these red flags, the first one maybe you can do… but I think that second one, I don’t really understand.

“It was a bit of mess but we survived everything, we had good pace on the car today again, and we won, which of course is the most important.”

Ultimately, the race winner was pleased to break his duck with a win in Australia, where he clinched Red Bull’s first victory at the circuit since 2011.

“It’s great to win here, my first win as well. It’s been a while for the team as well but very, very happy. But also, it’s still great to see that the fans are having a good time even now. They had a long wait for the whole day, so I’ll say a big thank you to them as well for sticking around,” concluded the Dutchman.