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About the Book
"The Healing Balm" by David Oyedepo is a spiritual book that delves into the power of faith and healing. The author discusses how believing in Godâs word and receiving divine healing is possible for all believers. Through biblical teachings and personal anecdotes, Oyedepo highlights the importance of trusting in Godâs promises for physical, emotional, and spiritual healing. The book serves as a guide for readers seeking overall wellness through faith and prayer.
St. Patrick
St. Patrick, (flourished 5th century, Britain and Ireland; feast day March 17), patron saint and national apostle of Ireland, credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland and probably responsible in part for the Christianization of the Picts and Anglo-Saxons. He is known only from two short works, the Confessio, a spiritual autobiography, and his Letter to Coroticus, a denunciation of British mistreatment of Irish Christians.
Patrick was born in Britain of a Romanized family. At age 16 he was torn by Irish raiders from the villa of his father, Calpurnius, a deacon and minor local official, and carried into slavery in Ireland. He spent six bleak years there as a herdsman, during which he turned with fervour to his faith. Upon dreaming that the ship in which he was to escape was ready, he fled his master and found passage to Britain. There he came near to starvation and suffered a second brief captivity before he was reunited with his family. Thereafter, he may have paid a short visit to the Continent.
The best known passage in the Confessio tells of a dream, after his return to Britain, in which one Victoricus delivered him a letter headed âThe Voice of the Irish.â As he read it, he seemed to hear a certain company of Irish beseeching him to walk once more among them. âDeeply moved,â he says, âI could read no more.â Nevertheless, because of the shortcomings of his education, he was reluctant for a long time to respond to the call. Even on the eve of reembarkation for Ireland he was beset by doubts of his fitness for the task. Once in the field, however, his hesitations vanished. Utterly confident in the Lord, he journeyed far and wide, baptizing and confirming with untiring zeal. In diplomatic fashion he brought gifts to a kinglet here and a lawgiver there but accepted none from any. On at least one occasion, he was cast into chains. On another, he addressed with lyrical pathos a last farewell to his converts who had been slain or kidnapped by the soldiers of Coroticus.
Careful to deal fairly with the non-Christian Irish, he nevertheless lived in constant danger of martyrdom. The evocation of such incidents of what he called his âlaborious episcopateâ was his reply to a charge, to his great grief endorsed by his ecclesiastical superiors in Britain, that he had originally sought office for the sake of office. In point of fact, he was a most humble-minded man, pouring forth a continuous paean of thanks to his Maker for having chosen him as the instrument whereby multitudes who had worshipped âidols and unclean thingsâ had become âthe people of God.â
The phenomenal success of Patrickâs mission is not, however, the full measure of his personality. Since his writings have come to be better understood, it is increasingly recognized that, despite their occasional incoherence, they mirror a truth and a simplicity of the rarest quality. Not since St. Augustine of Hippo had any religious diarist bared his inmost soul as Patrick did in his writings. As D.A. Binchy, the most austerely critical of Patrician (i.e., of Patrick) scholars, put it, âThe moral and spiritual greatness of the man shines through every stumbling sentence of his ârusticâ Latin.â
It is not possible to say with any assurance when Patrick was born. There are, however, a number of pointers to his missionary career having lain within the second half of the 5th century. In the Coroticus letter, his mention of the Franks as still âheathenâ indicates that the letter must have been written between 451, the date generally accepted as that of the Franksâ irruption into Gaul as far as the Somme River, and 496, when they were baptized en masse. Patrick, who speaks of himself as having evangelized heathen Ireland, is not to be confused with Palladius, sent by Pope Celestine I in 431 as âfirst bishop to the Irish believers in Christ.â
Toward the end of his life, he retired to Saul, where he may have written his Confessio. It is said that an angel conveyed to him that he was to die at Saul, the site of his first church, despite his wishes to die within the ecclesiastical metropolis of Ireland. His last rites were administered by St. Tussach (also spelled Tassach or Tassac).
Legends
Before the end of the 7th century, Patrick had become a legendary figure, and the legends have continued to grow. One of these would have it that he drove the snakes of Ireland into the sea to their destruction. Patrick himself wrote that he raised people from the dead, and a 12th-century hagiography places this number at 33 men, some of whom are said to have been deceased for many years. He also reportedly prayed for the provision of food for hungry sailors traveling by land through a desolate area, and a herd of swine miraculously appeared.
Another legend, probably the most popular, is that of the shamrock, which has him explain the concept of the Holy Trinity, three persons in one God, to an unbeliever by showing him the three-leaved plant with one stalk. Traditionally, Irishmen have worn shamrocks, the national flower of Ireland, in their lapels on St. Patrickâs Day, March 17.
what if my singleness never ends
It happened suddenly this past May, the moment Iâd prayed for and sought after for quite some time: the moment I became okay with lifelong singleness. Something inside me relaxed as I sat at a coffee shop, my mind not even on relationships but preoccupied with a menu over dinner with friends. And then suddenly, I felt content to be single â not only for another few months, or even years, but even until the day I die, if God chooses that for me. âI donât want to skip what God chooses to give me during singleness.â More than ever before, the years stretching out before me donât seem like a romance-less, spouse-less, and (okay, letâs face it) sex-less gray void. It was a beautiful moment that could come only from God, a moment of triumph over an idol that has long battled for the throne of my heart. Whether itâs for a season or a lifetime, Iâve found that I donât want to skip what God chooses to give me during singleness. Already Loved The more weddings I attend (which is several a year at this stage of life), the more the feeling sinks in that I may never be a bride. But the feeling isnât altogether sad. Because Iâm already dressed in white, you see. My friendsâ immaculate dresses and the wedding day itself symbolize something mysterious and beautiful: the ârobe of righteousnessâ Godâs people already wear (Isaiah 61:10) and the âfine linen, bright and pureâ we will put on at the wedding feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:8). Iâm already pursued by someone who wove the very sinews of my being together. Iâm already loved with a love that will outlast every other. Iâm already known more intimately than I can fathom. Itâs so easy to read that last paragraph and think âso clichĂ©,â especially since this is yet another  Christian article about singleness. Just be still. Do you realize what that paragraph means? Youâre known just as you are (1 Corinthians 13:12). Even the inmost places of your heart â the darkest, the brightest, the most wounded, the most joyful, the most romantic â God knows and comprehends them to their depths. He cares for your unspoken and most intimate needs. There isnât a thought you can speak before God knows itâs there (Psalm 139:4). Dwell on that. Do Godâs presence and promises carry so little preciousness that we can scoff and declare them âclichĂ©â? Faulty Assumptions So often, we spout inane phrases to single people like âGod will bring you the right guy.â They reveal the heart so completely: I have to have a romantic relationship in my life at some point to be whole. We might subtly think, I donât have to have it now, God. Or even next month. But at some point, God, youâve gotta bring someone for me to marry. But he doesnât. God does not have to bring us someone to marry. He simply is not obligated to do anything for us that is not for his glory and for our joy in him. And since weâre not all-knowing, we cannot claim to know what will give us the most long-term joy. We can make guesses, certainly. But the ultimate decision is up to our God, who has never ceased to provide exactly what his people need â from the garments of skin worn by Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21) to our own daily bread (Matthew 6:11). âI am already loved with a love that will outlast every other.â Iâm not  saying you wonât have difficult days where you yearn to be a husband or wife (I have those days too!), but I am saying that Jesus will meet you in those difficult times. He is gloriously gracious like that. The Spirit is willing and able to teach your heart many things, including contentment in singleness as long as God sees fit â and even if itâs lifelong. Donât get me wrong: seeking marriage is great. If youâre interested in a godly someone, use wisdom and discernment and be intentional about it. But donât fret. You may marry that person, and you may not. Whatever happens, donât let it overshadow what God has already done for you and the glorious place you are headed. Three Suggestions âThatâs great,â you may say as you read this. âBut how can I do that?â I donât pretend to know the complete answer to that question, but here are three suggestions that have helped me. 1. Recognize that you canât be content on your own. Contentment is a work of God (Philippians 4:11â13). Pray to him for it. Lay your will and your heart down completely, and not in a way where youâre trying to be holy and spiritual so that you can get the âtrue prizeâ in your eyes. God can change your heart from that too; just ask. He is a Father who listens to his children. 2. Second, donât surround yourself with romance. Iâm not saying avoid all your friendsâ weddings â each is a time for rejoicing and celebrating Godâs work in their lives! But donât inundate yourself with romantic comedies and TV shows and books and other media that are constantly focused on romance. Doing this can easily irritate wounds and give a foothold for envy and comparison to wreak havoc on your emotions. 3. And third, enjoy singleness. Seriously. If youâre not content in singleness, then you wonât be content in marriage. Spouses and significant others are not contentment charms; wedding vows are not magic incantations that produce lifelong fulfillment. âIf youâre not content in singleness, then you wonât be content in marriage.â Give your time to ministering to friends and your community. Pursue your interests intently. Learn to manage your money. These activities do not have to be less fulfilling just because you are spouse-less! Believe it or not, if you do marry, there will be times when you yearn for singleness, and it isnât likely to come again (at least not in the same way). A Better Goal So I come alongside you as a fellow single, encouraging you to join me in laying down the idol of romance. Letâs prepare now to better serve a future spouse or, if we never marry, to enjoy Jesus no matter married or not. Marriage is great, but it isnât ultimate. The honor of âultimateâ remains with our true romance: the God who creates, sustains, intervenes in, and pursues the hearts of his people from eternity to eternity (Psalm 90:1â2). Amen.