QUESTION 

My question is that is it compulsory for me to have a dream or revelations about a lady before I can be sure she's the will of God for me? 

ANSWER 

You don't need to have a dream or some special revelations about anybody before you are sure they are the will of God for you. In as much as the person involved is a believer, has a reputation has a believer, is submissive to the word of God and to spiritual authority in the church, is responsible, and is willing to walk with you, you don't need a dream to know they are for you. That, however, is not to say that God cannot give you a dream or some revelation to guide you about certain individuals. That is because people can forge their pattern of life to impress those around them. And unless the Spirit of God shows you the hidden truths about their lives, you will most likely fall into their traps, even when you mean well. 

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QUESTION

Who are we giving to, if the church is not a living church, I mean if Holy Spirit is not in that church?

ANSWER 

How do we know that a church is not living but dead? How do we know that the Holy Spirit is not in a church? What are we doing in a church that we know is not alive or that does not have the Holy Spirit in her? To begin with, the bible says, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” (Cf. Rom 8:9) So, any so-called church that does not have the Holy Spirit in her midst is not a church of God but a cult. They may profess to believe in Jesus and even be using the bible and other Christian terminologies. But inasmuch as the members do not have the Spirit of God in them, they are not of Christ, and a child of God has no business fellowshipping with them or sponsoring whatever they are doing with his resources. I am saying that just it is wrong for a child of God to sponsor unbelievers’ idolatrous activities, it is also wrong to give your time, energy or resources to any religious group that is not of Christ. 

Otherwise you will be partners with them in their wickedness. John says, “If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.” (2John 10-11) But then, it is possible for a church to truly belong to Christ and still be spiritually dead for certain reasons. Jesus says concerning His church in Sardis of bible days, “I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.” (Rev 3:1-2NIV) Evidently, the church in Sardis was a true church of God. Otherwise the Lord would not be addressing her at all about her shortcomings (Heb 12:5-6). But though this church had a reputation among men for being alive, she was actually spiritually dead. That means she was no longer alive to hear God or to see what He wanted her to see. She was just doing her own thing and covering up her deadness with religious activities and noise. And only God knows how many assemblies of His are in this same condition today. Everybody sees them as alive because of the noise they are making and all the fancy things they are doing. But God, the true judge of all, sees them as dead. In any case, when you read the Lord’s letter to the church in Sardis carefully, you will see that He does not reject this church or say to her, “You are no longer mine.” Instead, He tells her to wake up from her spiritual slumber and death and become alive to God again. 

That being the case, will it be right for some members of this church to stop giving for anything the church is doing because they can see that she is dead? No! As long as they are fellowshipping with the church, they have to continue to give for causes that are consistent with the will of God and to pray that the church will recover from her sleep and begin to do the will of God. In fact, from what Jesus says in His letter to the church, there are a few people in the church that are still walking in His will. And He knows and recognises them. So, whatever such people give in response to the will of God will be accepted by Him and credited to their account. (Cf. Rev 3:1-6) In like manner, even if you are in a spiritually dead church, you must still continue to give, as long as you are there. But you must make sure that your giving is done in line with the will of God and not to please or satisfy men. Then you are to give only to causes that agree with the will of God. And as long as what you are doing agrees with His will, He will accept your gifts and reward you for them in due time. But if you know you can no longer give there because you no longer believe in what they are doing or trust them with the use of the resources you are giving, then, just leave the church altogether and go to where you can do the will of God without grumbling or suspicion. 

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QUESTION

My question is that: what if one is not ready for a love relationship right now but one keeps meeting people that fits into one's Mr Right or Mrs right list and those people want to be involved with one but one is not ready. what will one do in that kind of situation.  

ANSWER

If you are not ready, then, you are not ready. You must have genuine reasons for not being ready. Unless, you don't know what it means to be ready or not ready. But if indeed you are not ready, and you know it, then, let the seemingly Mr. Right or Miss Right go for now. God has many wonderful brothers and sisters that will be ready when you are ready. Just make sure you are not foolishly wasting your own time, all in the name of 'I am not ready.' 

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QUESTION 

Challenging God with our offering or tithe, when Christian have challenges, is it a sin?

ANSWER 

Let me begin by saying that it is wrong to challenge God or to try to put pressure on Him to do certain things for us because we think we have done or are doing something for Him. In the first place, there is nothing we do for God or give to God that comes out of our sufficiency or adequacy. Jesus says, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” (Cf. John 15:5) Paul says, “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves. Our competence comes from God, who has made us competent ministers of a new covenant.” (Cf. 2Cor 3:5-6) David says, “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.” (1Chron 29:14NIV) Paul says, “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" (Rom 11:35NIV) God Himself says, “No one has ever given me anything that I must pay back, because everything under the sky belongs to me.” (Job 41:11NCV) 

Therefore, no one has any right to insist that God has to do something for him because he too has done something for Him. That kind of prayer is wrong and unacceptable before God. In fact, Jesus condemns it outright in a story that He shares about a Pharisee and a Tax collector. According to Him, the Pharisee just stood up before God and prayed about himself, talking about his righteousness, fasting and tithes and other offerings. He even said that he was better than the Tax collector that was standing near him and also trying to pray to God. So, that man expected God to answer his prayers and do great things for him because he himself had led such a great life. But the Lord said that he just wasted his time and energy – God did not hear him at all. (Cf. Luke 18:9-14) So, it is wrong for us to approach God for anything on the basis of our righteousness or good works. Our righteousness and good works are nothing but pieces of rags in His sight (Is 64:6). Only His righteousness is acceptable in His sight. And only the good works that are done on the basis of His provisions and that are recognised as such that are acceptable in His sight. 

This is why we are taught to never approach God on the merits of our righteousness but on the merits of Jesus’ righteousness (1Cor 1:30; 2Cor 5:21). And since our salvation and justification before God have come to us through Jesus and our faith in Him, not through our works or any other thing, we should not think anything else will come to us from Him through our works or righteousness. Everything we now receive from God comes to us because of what Jesus has done for us. Now I know that our flesh will like to take credit for some things. I mean that we will like to be able to say to others, “Look, it is because I pay my tithes regularly and give great offerings that this thing has come to me.” If that were the case, then, our prosperity is no longer on the basis of God’s grace and favour on the basis of our own effort. And if our prosperity is not on the basis of His grace and favour, then, it is no prosperity at all. But then, am I saying that we cannot ask God to do certain things He has said that He would do, if we too would do certain things? No! We can do that. 

For instance, Moses said to the children of Israel: “When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. Then say to the LORD your God: "I have removed from my house the sacred portion and have given it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, according to all you commanded. I have not turned aside from your commands nor have I forgotten any of them. I have not eaten any of the sacred portion while I was in mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor have I offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the LORD my God; I have done everything you commanded me. Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us as you promised on oath to our forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey."” (Deut 26:12-15NIV) 

What is Moses doing here? He is teaching the people how to call God’s attention to His own promises, so that He may fulfil them. And nothing is wrong with that. Nothing is wrong with saying to God, “You said if I do this thing, you too will do this for me. Now that I have done your will, Lord, you too should fulfil your word according to your grace.” In fact, David once did this when praying to God about the fulfilment of certain promises He had made to him and his household (1Chro 17:23-27). Nehemiah also did something similar when talking about the good he did to his people and saying, “Remember me with favour, my God, for all I have done for these people (Neh 5:19 & Neh 13:14, 22 & 31). But it is totally different from trying to hold God to ransom or trying to pressure Him to do something for us because we think we deserve it. On our own we don’t deserve anything but God’s wrath and judgment. But because of Christ, God has made us deserving of every good thing that He is and that He gives. And in approaching Him for anything, we are to do so with that consciousness.

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QUESTION 

Sir I have question base on this answer. What if we take king Hezekiah as a case study when Prophet Samuel came to met him and told him the message from God? 

ANSWER 

Ok. But if you read the account very well, which is 2Kings 20:1-11 & Isaiah 38, you will see that Isaiah did not pressure God to heal him because of his good works; rather, he simply appealed to his mercy. 

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QUESTION 

But why the pastors use to say, if you give plentiful you reap plentiful, when God don’t look at the money you giving either million or #20? 

ANSWER 

One of the reasons preachers say such things is ignorance. When a church leader or preacher does not understand the concept of Christian giving, there is every tendency that he will use all kinds of tricks and gimmicks to get God’s people to give. Another reason they do such things is greed. I once listened to a preacher that confessed that he had written books in the past on prosperity and also made people to buy them, even though he knew quite well that the things inside those books would not do anybody any good. So, greed is a powerful motivation for doing such things. And the Apostles of old already warned us ahead that we would have such greedy leaders in the church, leaders who would do just about anything to have access to more money and resources. It is now up to us to refuse to be enslaved or misled by them, regardless of their smooth talk or threats. (Cf. 2Pet 2 & Jude) 

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QUESTION 

In this situation of our country now, is it not risky or dangerous to help or assist the person you don’t know? 

ANSWERS

 Indeed the bible tells us not to forget to entertain, help or give to strangers, for we might just be helping God’s own angels sent to do us good (Heb 13). But it is not only because we might be entertaining angels that we are to do good to strangers; rather, it is because it pleases God, who cares about strangers and people who are stranded and have no one to help them (Deut 10:18; Ps 146:9). And because it pleases God when we do this out of a sincere heart, He will certainly reward us and also keep us from getting into any kind of trouble that may be associated with doing so. 

However, it is also important that we are discerning and also careful in helping strangers. There were many widows in the land in the days of the famine that came upon the nation of Israel as a result of Elijah’s prayers. Yet God did not send him to stay with all of them and help them through those years of famine. He only sent him to a widow in Zarephath (1Kings 17; Luke 4:25-26). And there were many poor people in the land during the earthly days of our Lord Jesus. Yet it was not all of them that He gave to. In fact, as John tells us in the gospel, it was Judas Iscariot, Judas of all people, that used to handle the business of giving to the poor for Jesus (John 12:4-6&13:29). And you can be sure that someone like Judas would thoroughly screen anyone he would give anything to, just to make sure he was giving only to someone that was really in need. So, first keep in mind that you cannot help every poor or needy person that comes your way or that is in your world – you can only help the ones that God enables you to help (Deut 15:11; John 12:8). And in helping those that you believe you have the ability to help, learn to use your head. Ask very relevant questions, where you can. 

Pay attention also to people’s appearance. Then consider the place where you are to see if you can easily get help, if things turn sour. Also, be mindful of the norms of your society – don’t foolishly ignore them. Otherwise you may get into trouble. Consider Lot, for instance. Was he not aware of what the men of Sodom were capable of doing to strangers before he brought in those angels into his house? He was! Yet he brought them in. Why? It was because he sensed in his spirit that they were not ordinary people. And that was what saved him and his guests. But what if those men had not be angels that were capable of handling the situation? He and them would have been in serious trouble that very night. (Cf. Gen 19:1-11) But there was another man that brought in strangers into his house in bible days that ended up regretting it. And that was because he, for some reasons, ignored the current corrupt situation of his city (Judges 19). 

So, please, learn to use your head before helping any stranger, however helpless the person may seem. But it is not enough to use your head in assessing those you want to help; you also need to be led by the Spirit. And this will be hard for you, if you have not learnt to follow the leading of the Spirit of God in other areas of your life. That explains why some got into very big trouble while trying to genuinely help some supposed strangers or even people that they thought they knew well. Their help was not as led by the Spirit. Read the bible, and you will see that even mighty Joshua and all the intelligent elders with him fell for the deceit of the men of Gibeon and ended up helping a nation that they were supposed to utterly destroy. And that was because they did not seek the guidance of God -- they just used their common sense. (Cf. Joshua 9) 

 See, people are not always what they present themselves to be. And unless we are fully yielded to the Spirit of God all the time, there will times when we will help people that we have no business helping at all, all because they look helpless and vulnerable. So, apart from learning to use our common sense in helping people, which may sometimes involve allowing others also to help us examine the conditions of the ones we want to help, it is equally and even more important that we learn to help according to the leading of the Spirit. That way, we can be kept from getting into unnecessary troubles because of our generosity. 

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QUESTION

When you give to unbelievers, isn’t a wrong giving, am I saving? 

 ANSWERS 

Nothing is wrong with giving to unbelievers. It all depends on why you are giving to them. Are you giving to them because they are truly in need? Or are you giving to them to sponsor them in their immoral or idolatrous practices? If you are giving to them because they are in need, then, you are doing the will of God and will surely have your reward from Him. Remember that God Himself gives to unbelievers and commands us to do likewise (Matt 5:43-48). 

Then Paul also says, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” (Gal 6:10NIV) Can you see that? We are to do good to all people, whether good or bad, as we have opportunity. What is wrong, however, is to give to people when it is very clear to us that they are going to use what we have given them to sin against God. It is better to identify the exact needs of such people and meet them than to just give them resources that they are going to use to destroy themselves in their rebellion against God. 

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QUESTION

 Is giving only limited to Christians  alone? 

ANSWER

No, giving is not limited to Christians to Christians alone. This is similar to the question I just answered. You can just go over the answer for clarifications. But then, someone may ask, "Is true giving limited to Christians alone?" In other words, is it only Christians that can give in an acceptable way to God? No, giving is not limited to Christians alone. People had been giving to God and to others before Jesus came. And God had been accepting and rejecting people’s gifts on the basis of the heart with which they gave. Remember that Cain and Abel brought offerings to the Lord. That is even the first recorded account of giving to God that we have in the bible. And God responded to their offerings in accordance with the heart with which each of them gave. (Cf. Gen 4:1-5) So, giving did not start with Christianity; it had been on before Christianity came.  

But then, even after Jesus had come into the world and finished the works of our salvation and redemption, we still see in Scriptures that there were non-Christians that were giving and whose giving God respected. One of such people was a Roman Centurion called Cornelius. And to him the angel of the Lord that was sent to him said, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God.” (Acts 10:4-5NIV) 

So, even though this man was not a believer in Christ Jesus at that time, God had respect for his offerings and gifts to the poor because he was giving out of a perfect heart. Nevertheless, one thing was still lacking in his life, and that was salvation through Jesus Christ. And God was concerned about that very much, which was why He sent an angel to him to tell him what he must do in order to have salvation and not lose his eternal reward. (Cf. Acts 10) So, it is not only the giving of Christians that gets God’s attention; other people’s giving too that is done out of a heart that fears God also gets His attention (Acts 10:34-35). However, ONLY A CHRISTIAN CAN FULLY AND TRULY MEET ALL OF GOD’S DEMANDS ON GIVING, for he has first given himself to God and he is also indwelt by the Spirit of God, who is teaching him and guiding him to give in line with the will of God. 

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