ALL OUR ESTEEMED READERS, WE HEARTILY WELCOME YOU TO THE MONTH MAY 2025

HOW WELL ARE WE REPRESENTING HIM?
21/05/25“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us…” (2Corinthians 5:20NIV)
We are now Christ’s representatives, His ambassador. An ambassador is a representative of someone. That means, as Christ’s ambassadors, we represent Christ in this world. And it is important that we see ourselves in this manner. You must see yourself as an ambassador of Christ, as a representative of Christ. Where you live, you must see yourself as an ambassador of Christ. Where you work, you must see yourself as His representative. Where you study as a student, you must see yourself as His ambassador. So, you now represent Him wherever you are. You no longer represent yourself or your family.
You know that there are parents that often say to their children when they are leaving home, “Always remember the son of whom you are. You know that you bear the image of this family and carry our name. So always represent this family well.” And that is good talk. But it all depends on what the family stands for. As I said already, most parents like to give their children that kind of prep talk. But what they don’t often ask themselves is, “What does this family stand for?”
See, it is not wrong to want your child to go out and represent your family well. But what does your family stand for? Does your family stand for righteousness? Does your family stand for purity? Does your family stand for uprightness? Unfortunately, parents that are hypocrites will also tell their children to go out and represent them well. Also, parents that embezzle public funds will tell their children to go out and represent them well. They will say, “Be a good ambassador of this family.” Even parents that are not trustworthy or dependable in any way will tell their children, “Be good ambassadors of this family.” That is funny, right?
Also, mothers who will not stay at home and be responsible will tell their children, “Go and be good ambassadors of this family.” And what such parents don’t understand is that such children will actually go and be good ambassadors of their families. They will represent them well. They also will go out and be hypocritical because that is what their family stands for. They will also go out and be immoral because that is what their family stands for.
Well, that is just by the way. We are talking about seeing ourselves as ambassadors of Christ, as representatives of Christ. We are not going to be His representatives in this world. He has already made us so. As many of us as have been reconciled to God through Him have made His representatives in the world. If you have not been reconciled to Him, you cannot be His representative. I know there are many who are trying to be God’s representatives in the world today, who they don’t know the one they are trying to represent; they don’t know what the one they want to represent stands for. They cannot succeed.
But those of us who have been reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ have been given the ministry of reconciliation. We have also been given the message of reconciliation. So we are now Christ’s representatives. But the question is, “How well are we representing Him?” That is what I want us to actually look at. How well are we representing our Lord? Sometimes you hear of certain ambassadors being called back from where they were sent for not representing their nations well. That happens from time to time. The country will say, “Let us call back that man. He is not representing us well. He is not effective. He is not efficient.”
And to say the fact, the reason some of us have not been called back home to heaven is God’s mercy. That is the reason we have not been called back home. Many of us are actually not representing Him well. And you can ask yourself, “Am I representing Him well in this world? Do I stand for what He stands for? Am I doing the works that He has asked me to do? Am I living the life He has called me to live? What is my contact with those of the world producing in their lives?” We all ought to continually ask ourselves such questions. Otherwise, we are not living thoughtfully.
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DON’T BE SELFISH
20/05/25.
“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Phil 2:4NIV)
What does it mean to be selfish? It means to be concerned about yourself alone, especially at the expense of others. It means to do things or go for things for the sole purpose of satisfying ourselves and without considering how others are affected. And the word of God says that is a wrong way to live.
Now is it wrong to be concerned about ourselves? No! Or is it wrong to want to satisfy ourselves? No! Unfortunately, there are people who think we don’t have to be concerned about ourselves at all but about others and that we don’t have to satisfy ourselves at all but others. These are the kind that would say, “Always think of others first.”
But as nice and gracious as that may sound, it is not at all a godly philosophy. Why did I say that? It is because there is nowhere in the Scripture in which God tells us to think of others first. On the contrary, what we have are Scriptures in which God says, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Why is God telling us to love our neighbours as ourselves? The reason is that until we learn to love and treat ourselves right, we cannot love and treat others right. (Cf. Matt 22:39)
By the way, even those who tell us to always think of others first are really not putting others first in their lives. I am saying this because the major reason they love to put others first is that it makes them feel good or accomplished. I mean that there is a measure of satisfaction these people derive or seek to derive from putting others first in their affairs. So, ultimately, their putting others first is not really about others but about themselves. Can we, then, say that they are putting others first? No!
Well, my point is that being selfish is not basically about not putting others first. That is because you can be putting others first and still be dubious. Yes, you can be putting others first and still be cheating them. If you have younger ones and you grew up with them, you should understand what I am saying. Here you were, sharing a lump of meat among you and your younger ones. And you decided to first give them their own share, so that they would see you as selfless. But was that to say you did not cheat them at all? You know the answer.
So, the idea of putting others first may not eliminate cheating or selfishness. However, it is possible not to put others first and still not be selfish. This is a situation in which you are not just concerned about yourself but also about others. And that is what Paul is speaking of in our opening bible text. There he tells us not to look at our own interests alone but also at the interest of others.
What is the difference between a selfish person and an unselfish person? A selfish person is only concerned about their own interests and not at all about yours. So, for example, if they make or sell to you a product, they will only be concerned about the profit they will make from the sale and not at all about your enjoyment of it. That, of course, is the foundation for all fake products and substandard services. The people behind them are only concerned about their own gain and not at all about the benefit or loss you may derive from what they offer you. They are selfish.
Something similar can be experienced in relationships, whether natural or spiritual. When people are merely concerned about how much they can squeeze out of you and not concerned at all about how that will affect you or concerned about what they also can do to show that they care about you, they are selfish. And selfishness irritates. Selfishness puts off kind people. In fact, it will only take a kind person that is walking in the love of Christ to remain forever kind to you, if you are selfish.
So, don’t be selfish. Don’t be concerned about yourself alone but about others as well. If people are helping you or working with you, be genuinely concerned about their welfare as well and show it as often as you can. Yes, be sure you are regularly considering how you can show them that you too care about them and that you are not a parasite.
See, selfish people are parasites, always seeking to drain others. Selfish people don’t move the world forward or contribute anything significant to make it better. It is unselfish people that are moving the world forward and making it better and more enjoyable for everyone to live in. They are the ones coming up with new inventions and easier and better ways and methods of doing things. They are the ones making and selling to us products or services that give us value for whatever money we pay for them.
Yes, they too may be making profit and probably getting richer through what they are doing for us, depending on the kind of relationship we have with them. But whatever they do for us is not just about them but also about us. So, God is happy with them because they are making us happy. And He will be happy with us too, if we will stop being selfish and start making others really happy by being unselfish in all that we do.
Cheers!
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IT IS UNNATURAL FOR HIM TO FORGET YOU
19/05/25.
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” (Isa 49:15NIV)
Those are God’s words to us. And He is asking us in them if it is possible for a mother to forget the baby that she nursed at her own breast and have no compassion on him. That is really something rare to come about. Mothers may ignore many things but not their hungry, crying or sick babies.
But then, we have heard of cases in which certain mothers abandoned their own babies in some strange places. We have even heard of cases in which certain mothers sold their own babies to some strangers and totally turned their backs on them. Why? They saw those babies as some unnecessary burdens in their lives.
In any case, the point the Lord is making is that since it is not natural for any mother to abandon her own baby and not care for him, we too should consider it unnatural for Him to forget us or abandon us to be destroyed by our lives’ challenges. Then He goes to tell us that even if a mother will be so callous that she will abandon her own baby, He will never forget or abandon us.
So, regardless of how tight or difficult things may appear for you or your family right now, I want you to know that God has not forgotten you. It may look like that to you. It may look like He no longer cares about you or the prayers you are offering to Him. But He has not forgotten you or forsaken you. And He will never ever forget you nor forsake you.
“What, then, is the problem?” you ask, “Why has He not come to my aid and rescued me from all these challenges that are seeking to swallow me up?” The truth is that He does not have to come to your aid. That is because He has never left your side to aid you. And the fact that you have not yet seen certain things He is doing on your behalf does not mean that He is not working on your behalf. He is always working on behalf of His people to fulfil all His good intentions for them.
Jesus says, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." (John 5:17NIV) Did you see that? God our Father never stops working. And what is He doing? Paul answers that for us, saying, “We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28GNT) Wow! Paul knew that God is in every situation working for the good of His people. Do you also know that? Do you know that God is working right now in every situation you are faced with to make everything work for your good? If you did not know that before, now you know.
Then, besides the fact that God is busy all the time working things out for our good, He is also not slow about it. Our Jesus says, “Now, will God not judge in favor of his own people who cry to him day and night for help? Will he be slow to help them? I tell you, he will judge in their favor and do it quickly. But will the Son of Man find faith on earth when he comes?"” (Luke 18:7-8GNT) Can you relate to these words? God is never slow in attending to our matters. Instead, He is always quick to handle them. So, if we cannot yet see what He is doing to lift us up or save us from some ugly situations, it will not be because He is slow or does not care about our matters; rather, it will be because a lot things, things beyond our understanding, are involved in making all things work together for our good.
Look at the case of Joseph, for example. When his brother was selling him into slavery, did it look like God was working on his behalf at all? No! Or when his master’s wife lied against him, and he was being dragged unjustly to the prison, did it look like God was working on his behalf at all? No! Instead, it looked as if God had totally forgotten or abandoned him. Yet God was working all the time and using all that this young man was going through to make him ready to take over the leadership of that great nation, Egypt. And when the time was ripe, God brought about the circumstances that led him out of the prison and straight to the throne. What a mighty God! (Cf. Gen 39-41)
In like manner, I want to assure you that God never forgets us but is always working our behalf in all the situations, pleasant or ugly, that we are going through. No, we may not see all that He is doing for us now. But He is working. And whatever good things we are experiencing or enjoying right now is a manifestation of His work in our lives. So, we must not give up on Him or on life, as our Lord Jesus has commanded us. Instead, we must keep on praying to Him, so that our joy will be full over every matter of our lives. But are we going to do this? Will the Lord Jesus find us keeping faith and trusting God to perfect all that concerns us, when He returns? I pray that He will find us so.
Have a blessed day.
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RESTLESS UNTIL HIS WILL IS DONE 18/05/25.
I pray for you today that God will awaken everyone that He has appointed to lift you up to make no effort to rest until they have done His will for you. Amen.
After Ruth had spoken to Boaz about the possibility of a marriage between the two of them, as she had been instructed by her mother-in-law, Naomi, to do, she came back to tell the woman how the whole thing went. And in response, she said to her:
“Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today." (Ruth 3:18NIV)
Interestingly, Boaz acted exactly the way Naomi had said he would act. He did not settle down to rest at all until the matter of Ruth’s marriage was settled. But who made that happen? It was God. It was He that drove Boaz to run up and down that day until Ruth no longer had to worry about being a widow or being childless. And if you too will entrust your life to Him, as Ruth did, He will also cause people to run up and down for you, taking no rest until they have established you in that place of fruitfulness, rest and prosperity that He has prepared for you.
Also, as we are shown in the bible, the very night before the day Mordecai’s, enemy, Hamman, was going to have him hanged, King Xerxes became so restless that he had to call in for the record book of the happenings in his kingdom. And it was why it was being read to him that he realised that he had neglected something important. He had not duly rewarded or honoured Mordecai for saving his life sometimes before from those who wanted to assassinate him. (Cf. Esther 6)
So, in his restlessness, he pondered on the matter till the following morning, when Haman came in to talk about how Mordecai would be hanged. That, of course, was what God used in overruling the plans of Haman. Therefore, instead of getting the king’s permission to have Mordecai hanged, what Hamman got was the king’s order to have him honoured all through the city of Susa.
What is that telling us? It is telling us that when God is set to honour and lift a man, He knows how to awaken those who are supposed to do the job, even if they are his enemies, and make them restless until they get it done. And that is going to be your experience this new week and throughout the remaining part of the year. God will wake up all the people He has already appointed to lift and honour you but who have been sleeping. He will wake them up and make them restless until they have done His will for your life.
Now if you believe that, banish anxiety from your heart. Then begin to thank and praise Him for what He is already doing. And before you know it, you will see all the wonderful things He has been doing for your exoneration and exaltation manifesting and causing people to praise His holy name on your behalf. Amen.
Do have a splendid week.
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YOUR OWN ENEMY 17/05/25.
My prayer for you today is that God will rid your life of everything that is hindering the full manifestation of His blessings in your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
In the parable of our Lord Jesus about a man who gave his servants certain amount of money to work with, we see a very important life principle. And it is that anyone who will not intelligently put their God-given relationships, abilities, opportunities or privileges to work will not increase in good works or in the good things of this life. It is only those who sensibly utilize and continue to utilize what God has given them that will continue to abound in good works and good things. (Cf. Matt 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-26)
As the account goes, a man, who was going on a long journey, decided to share some of his money among his servants, so that they may put it to work. In other words, he did not want all of his money lying fallow and gathering dust in his safe while he was away. So, he gave part of it to his servants to work with, according to the ability of each of them. To one he gave five talents. To another he gave two talents. And yet to another he gave one talent.
Now, after a long time, this man came back and began to settle accounts with the servants he had entrusted his money to. And to his surprise, only two of them worked with the money he had given them and multiplied it. The man with five talents made a profit of five more talents with his money. Likewise, the man with two talents made a profit of two more talents with his money. But the man that was given one talent only came around with excuses. He did nothing with the talent he was given and so got nothing in addition to it.
Why did he do nothing with his own talent? Well, the popular answer is that he did nothing with it because he felt that what he was given was too small, when compared to what others were given. But that was never the reason. In the first place, their master gave each of them money according to their abilities. So, what he could handle was what he was given. Second, historians will have us know that a talent at that time was about 20 years of a day labourer’s wage. So, it was a lot of money that this man was given.
It follows, then, that it was not because his money was small that he did nothing with it. Rather, in his own words, it was because he was afraid of losing it that he did nothing with it (Matt 25:25). But as his master told him, he could have deposited the money with the bankers, and he would have received it back with interest. So, fear was not enough reason for him not to do anything with such a huge sum of money. He had another problem, which was laziness. In other words, it was because he was lazy in his mind and with his hands that he made no effort to consider how to multiply what he was given. So, he allowed the very thing his master was trying to avoid to happen – he allowed his money to lie fallow.
To cut a long story short, apart from the punishment that this lazy and unprofitable man was given to serve, his master commanded that his money be taken away from him and given to one of the servants that had shown themselves worthy of receiving more. And in conclusion, our Lord Jesus says that is exactly how things work in God’s kingdom. Those who acknowledge all that God has given them – people, resources, skills, gifts, education, position and so forth – however small or insignificant these things may be, and are putting them to good use are the ones He will continue to promote and increase in good things. But those who do nothing with what He has given them can only expect what they have, even if it is little, to be taken away from them. This explains why poor people often get poorer and rich and influential people often get richer and more influential.
So, if you are not utilizing what God has given you or enabled you to acquire by His grace, you are simply showing yourself to be unprofitable and unfit to be introduced or elevated to higher heights in life. You are your own enemy then, regardless of what your excuses may be. You are the one limiting and pulling yourself down. Therefore, you should not expect things to get better but worse for you.
Now my prayer is that things will only get better and better and never worse for you. But praying about it alone will not do. You also need to wake up from your slumber, stop making excuses for failure or poverty and identify everything God has given you that you can use to increase yourself in relevance, good works and resources in life and begin to put it to work. And as you do this, you will be amazed to see all the blessings of God that have been inactive or dormant in your life fully finding expression.
Have a splendid day.
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ACCORDING TO GOD’S WORD 16/05/25.
As you begin this new day, I want you to begin to learn to look forward to a fulfilment of God’s word in your life for your good. God is always speaking to anyone that cares to listen to Him. It is, nevertheless, important that we do not just hear Him speak to us but that we also see His words fulfilled in our lives.
See, God’s word is always given to shape our lives. What I mean is that God’s word is an expression of what He desires to see in our lives. So, as His word is fulfilled in our lives, His desires are fulfilled in us.
The beauty of all this is that God’s word carries in it the ability to fulfil itself in our lives, if we allow it to do so. In Isaiah chapter 55, God says:
“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” (Isa 55:10-11NIV)
Isn’t that remarkable? Surely, it is. God’s word is able to accomplish what He desires in our lives and achieve His purpose in our affairs. This does not call for any kind of struggle on our part; for, as I said earlier, God’s word carries in it the power to fulfil itself.
Nevertheless, we need to accept whatever He says to us as infallible and allow it to affect our thinking and our conduct. Yes, we need to possess the kind of mentality that Mary the mother of Jesus possessed when the Angel brought God’s word to her. She said, “Let it be to me according to your word.” (Cf. Luke 1:38)
My earnest desire and prayer, then, is that everything that will take place in your life today and throughout the remaining part of this year will be according to God’s word, in Christ’s precious name. Amen.
Have a great day.
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WE HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED 15/05/25.
“He (Jesus) was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (Rom 4:25NIV)
The scripture shows us that the reason Jesus died in the first place was our sins. Jesus did not die for himself or for his own sins (for he never sinned); he died for our sins.
However, Jesus’s death does not end the story; for he did not remain dead. The bible says:
“But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” (Acts 2:24NIV)
So, Jesus is alive now. He is not on the cross; neither is he in the grave. He is alive and well, sitting at the right hand of the father. And now, in opening scripture, Paul tells us what the resurrection of Jesus means to us. He says that his resurrection means justification for us. In the same sense that our sins meant death for him, his own resurrection means justification for us.
Therefore, we have been justified. Yes, we have been declared not guilty because of Christ’s resurrection. And this justification, Paul says, is what makes us at peace with God. Praise God! (Cf. Rom 5:1-2)
Consequently, the celebration of Christ’s resurrection that many Christians do every year is a celebration of our peace with God. God is no longer angry with us. God is no longer counting our sins against us. We have now been reconciled to him. And we are no longer without hope or without God in life.
Henceforth, we are expected to walk every day in the light of these realities. We must prove through the lives that we live that the resurrection of our Lord Jesus is not in vain. Therefore, as you face this new day, remember to put these truths to work.
It is well with your soul.
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WE ARE HIS MESSAGE 14/05/25.
“It's clear that you are Christ's letter, written as a result of our ministry. You are a letter written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, a letter written not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (2Cor 3:3GW)
Here is a very revealing and instructive statement. God has sent a letter to the world. And that letter is not the bible. That letter is not the tracts, bulletins and newsletters that we distribute. That letter is the Christian.
See, it has always been God’s desire to communicate the truth about true and real living to the hearts of men. And his way of doing that is to package that message of truth in form of real and tangible men and women. People may misrepresent our sermons. They may misinterpret our writings. But they cannot mistake the lives that we live. That is exactly why God has chosen to talk to them through the lives that we live.
It is unfortunate, nevertheless, that many of us think we can separate the lives that we live from the message that we preach. But that is not possible. There is no way a man can separate the life he lives from the message that he preaches or from the things that he professes to believe. The life every one of us lives is a message on its own. And interestingly, those of the world know that. That is the reason they care more about the life that we live than the message that we preach. And the moment they notice that there is no agreement between the lives that we live and the message that we preach, they immediately label us ‘Hypocrites.’
But what message will God communicate through hypocrites? The answer is ‘NONE.’ God cannot say anything to our world through us until we acknowledge the fact that we ourselves are the message that he wants to send. We are the letter that he wants to write on the hearts of men. So, if our lives are wrong, then, the world will get the wrong message. And if, on the other hand, our lives are right, then, the world will get the right message.
Now what kind of message will your life and my life be to our world today? My prayer is that our lives will be the pure, undiluted, life-changing, message from God.
Have a lovely day.
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THE TEACHER OF THE BEST 13/05/25
“This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the seas.”” (Isaiah 48:17-19)
This is God talking to us. And He is saying that He is the one who teaches us what is best for us. That, of course, tells me that He knows what is best for us. Otherwise, how can He teach us what He does not know.
Well, God knows what is best for you and me. I may not know what is best for me in life. You too may not know it. In fact, we may never know what is best for us in life. But God knows what is best for every one of us in every situation. He is the one to teach us what is best for us in life. He is the one to show us the best things we are to devote ourselves to, the best place to live, the best job to do and even the best relationships for us. He is the one to reveal all these things to us. So, He refers to Himself as the teacher of the best.
Also, God is the one to direct us in the way we should go in life. That means He will not just teach us what is best for us; He will also direct us in the way to go, so that we may experience and enjoy the best He has for us. But we must be willing to follow Him. He is not going to force us to follow Him. We are the ones that must be willing to follow Him, to learn from Him. And as we do so, He will daily teach us what is best for us and also guide us in the way we should go. Then, our lives will not be a waste but a blessing in every way.
Have a lovely day.
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SUSTAIN YOUR VICTORY WITH PRAYERS 12/05/25
“Then Samson said, "With a donkey's jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey's jawbone I have killed a thousand men." When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi. Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the LORD, "You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?" Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi.” (Judg 15:16-19NIV)
Why was Samson thirsty to the point of death, as we see in our opening bible text? It was because he had just, on that occasion, finished fighting and killing a thousand Philistine soldiers (Judges 15:16-17). Think about that. This man fought and defeated one thousand trained men of war in a single encounter. And with what? With a donkey’s jawbone! How did he do that? It was by the Spirit of God. It was the Spirit of God that supernaturally empowered and emboldened him to fight and gain victory over those people.
But then, as to be expected, he was utterly exhausted and thirsty when he was done fighting. Therefore, when he was supposed to be celebrating his victory, he found himself fighting for his life because there was no water for him to drink where he was. That, of course, is showing us that it is one thing to be made victorious by God; it is another thing to have the power to enjoy that victory.
Samson’s victory was evidently given to him by God. Yet he found himself lacking in the power to celebrate or enjoy it. And there have been many like him that received promotion, success, victory over some enemies or some provisions from God but who never enjoyed these things. Why? It may be that death, some sickness or robbers came in right after they were blessed with these things and made it impossible for them to enjoy them.
Yes, I know that when calamities befall people after they have just won some victories, others around them, including Christians, may grow suspicious of them. They may start finding fault with their victories and saying things like, “Who knows how she got promoted in the first place? Look at the way she was rising fast. Was she the only smart and hardworking person in that place? When people are rising fast like that you just have to watch out for them.”
But we see through Samson’s case that it is possible for God to be fully responsible for someone’s victory or success and the person won’t still be able to enjoy it. And will that be because God is wicked and just loves to do as He pleases? No! Yes, we are shown in Scriptures that God may prevent people from enjoying His provisions for them, if they will not acknowledge Him for it (Luke 12:16-21). But even when people acknowledge God as the source of their success or victory, they may still not enjoy it.
Now why will that be? There are probably a thousand and one things more that could be responsible for that. For example, in Samson’s case, thirst and tiredness were the things that wanted to rob him of the enjoyment of his victory. In some other people’s situations, it may be a reckless or thoughtless celebration of their victories that will ultimately rob them of the enjoyment of those victories.
Then there are equally times in which people’s victories may be bring upon them more battles to fight. And if they should let down their guard at such times, their enemies may pounce on them when they least expect and rob them of the enjoyment of their victories. So, don’t ever let down your guard, regardless of what degree of victory God has given you in life. Instead, always put on the whole armour of God. And you will be able to frustrate the schemes of the devil against you any day and any time. (Cf. Eph 6:10-18)
Well, as we see in Samson’s case, he was not going to allow thirst and tiredness to kill and rob him of the enjoyment of the victory God has given him. And what did he do? He sustained his victory with prayers. The bible says he cried out to God and said, "You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?"
Did you see that? Samson, while praying, first acknowledged that the victory he had over those one thousand Philistine soldiers was given to him by God. Then he went on to tell him how ridiculous it would be for him to die of thirst. In other words, he was saying to God, “If you could give me victory over a thousand soldiers, is it water you won’t be able to provide for me to sustain what you have given me?”
Now did God answer him or not? The bible shows us God answered him immediately. God opened up the hollow place of the area he was and caused water to gush out from it. So, Samson was able to find water to drink and to be revived to fight another day. But what if he had not prayed to God? What if he had surrendered to the situation? He would have not have been able to sustain the victory God gave him that day. Instead, he would have died. But he chose to pray and sustain his victory instead of dying.
In like manner, you too can choose to sustain and enjoy every victory God gives you instead of losing it to another attack of the enemy. All you need is to be devoted to praying to God. See, when you are devoted to praying to Him, you will not see any time of victory as a moment to relax but as a moment to further strengthen yourself in the Lord. After King Ahab once won a battle against the Arameans, God sent a prophet to say this to him: “Strengthen your position and see what must be done, because next spring the king of Aram will attack you again." (1Kings 20:22NIV)
What was God saying to that king? Don’t relax! Don’t let down your guard! Why? His enemies would come for him again. And if he was not ready when they came, they would defeat him soundly. We too must learn from this. Victory not well managed can equal defeat. And victory without the strength to enjoy and sustain it may be as good as defeat. So, never stop praying, even in your moment of victory, for you may need more strength to sustain that victory than you need to win it.
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ENCOURAGE THEM 11/05/25
“Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites, who showed good understanding of the service of the LORD. For the seven days they ate their assigned portion and offered fellowship offerings and praised the LORD, the God of their fathers.” (2Chron 30:22NIV)
As we see in the bible, that is, under the old covenant, it was the duty of the Levites and their priests to learn and understand the written will of God about how He was to be served and worshipped. That way, they would be able to lead the whole nation of Israel to serve God faithfully and stay away from unclean and impure things. (Cf. Ezek 44:15-31; Malach 2:7)
But as we also see in the bible, it was not every generation of these Levites and priests that demonstrated understanding and faithfulness in handling the worship of God. To say the fact, most of their generations did not handle the service of God truthfully at all. Therefore, we have several prophets of God condemning them and pronouncing God’s judgment on them.
For example, we are introduced to the sons of Eli in 1Samuel and told how they were nothing but sons of the devil, even though they were the leading priests in the land. So, God had to ruthlessly judge them and their descendants after them. Also, we have God expressing His displeasure towards the ways of the priests of the time of Malachi. Look at how this is set forth in the bible:
“And now this admonition is for you, O priests. If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name," says the LORD Almighty, "I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me. "Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will spread on your faces the offal from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it. And you will know that I have sent you this admonition so that my covenant with Levi may continue," says the LORD Almighty.” (Mal 2:1-4NIV)
Did you see that? God had no word of praise for those priests at all. And that was because they were corrupt and would not serve His purpose for choosing them. In other words, instead of leading the people in the true worship of God, they were misleading them and getting them into trouble.
Since the nation of Israel, then, had a history of having corrupt and irresponsible priests and Levites, what should be the response of the people, if they suddenly stumbled upon an upright priest? It should be a response of gratitude to God and encouragement to such a priest.
Now that is what we see Hezekiah demonstrating in our opening bible text. This king was leading a spiritual reformation and restoration in the land at that time. So, he needed all the spiritual help he could get. And given the history of corruption of the priests and Levites in the land, he must have been surprised to find that there were still certain priests that understood how God was to be served and that were also devoted to serving Him accordingly. So, the least he could do was to speak encouraging and kind words to those priests. That way, they would be inspired to do better and better in their service to God and to His people who had abandoned Him for years.
In like manner, any time we see people in our land who are devoted to doing what is right and to maintaining justice where they are, we should do all we can to encourage them instead of discouraging them. We know what our country looks like today. We know that it is hard to find in our neighbourhoods, schools, government offices and business centres people who are upright in heart, diligent and trustworthy.
Therefore, anytime we come across anyone who has these qualities, anytime we come across anyone who has refused to be corrupted and made irresponsible by sick our society, we, like Hezekiah, should do whatever we can to encourage them. That is how to strengthen goodness and righteousness in our world.
Interestingly, Paul admonishes us to do similar things in the church. He tells us that wherever we see church leaders that are doing well in feeding us with the word of God and leading us in His will, we should doubly honour them. Why? It is because such leaders are hard to come by. (Cf. 1Tim 5:17)
As the bible shows us, even in the days of the apostles of old, there were so many so-called church leaders that were greedy, corrupt and irresponsible. Therefore, Paul wanted the brethren to know that they must learn to encourage the upright and faithful leaders among them. Otherwise, Satan may, at some point, get these also to lose heart and start imitating the greedy, immoral, manipulative and injurious church leaders around them. (Cf. Phil 3:17-19; 2Peter 2:1-3)
The point I am making, at any rate, is that we all who love righteousness must learn to appreciate it in others. Then we can strengthen it in our world instead of weakening it.
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CHOOSING FRIENDS 10/05/25
“The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.” (Proverbs 12:26 NIV)
In life, we always have to choose friends. It is not something that we can avoid. It is not something anyone of us can run away from. Consciously or unconsciously, we make friends. But the scripture above is a guide, a guide telling every one of us that in choosing our friends, we need to choose them carefully and wisely.
First, you need to know that becoming a Christian does not mean you are not going to make friends with other people. It does not mean you are to isolate yourself from other people. But that is the idea some people have about Christianity. They think it means to isolate yourself from others or run away from them. So, they say, “Having become a Christian, I don’t want to have anything to do with others again.”
Now, sometimes, it is because people like such think that isolating themselves from others is what will prevent them from living in sin. But isolating yourself from others may not, in any way, keep you from living in sin. If you think you are living in sin because of the people you are walking with now—sometimes this could be true—what about the new set of people you are still going to meet later on in life? What makes you think you will still not live in sin because of your relationship with them?
Then even if you lock yourself up in a place, away from the world, away from friends, away from colleagues, away from family members, it still does not mean that you are going to live a life that is pleasing to God—a life of victory over sin. The only thing a man needs to live in sin is to think. According to the words of Jesus, immorality, fornication, adultery, hatred, murder, all come from inside a man. They don’t come from the outside. (Cf. Matt 15:19-20)
So, if there is sin in you, even if you lock yourself away from the world, it will still manifest. Staying away from people, then, is not the solution. You need people; and they need you too. You need friends; friends also need you. What is, however, important is the choosing of your friends carefully. What I am saying is that making meaningful friendships is what is important.
Today, a lot of people have identity crises. They have identity problems. And because they have identity problems, they find it difficult to stand alone. Even some people find it difficult to stand alone in a safe place. Truly, they are in a safe place; but because they are alone there, they run out into trouble. That is largely because they are unsure of themselves. They have to depend on others’ opinions of them. They always have to depend on what others have to say about them. They cannot carefully judge their own lives. They can’t carefully examine their own lives. So, they have to depend on what others feel about them or what they say about them.
People like that always choose wrongly when it comes to friendships. They are going to keep friends for the wrong reasons. They will allow people that shouldn’t come into their lives to come in. That is all because they have a problem standing on their own. Such people need to be taught how to choose their friends, at least, till they learn how to stand on their own feet. And if you are one of them, I pray for you today that God will begin to fill you with adequate wisdom and confidence to live on the basis of what He says about you and to choose the right people as friends and companions in life. Amen.
Have a pleasant day.
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THE STRUGGLE MUST BEGIN WITHIN 09/05/25
“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2Cor 10:4-5NIV)
Can you relate to what Paul is saying here? First, he says that the weapons that believers are to fight with in life are not man-made. Yet they have divine power to demolish strongholds. That means God gets to work anytime we employ these weapons to bring down every opposition. And what are these weapons? Basically, they are weapons of righteousness, the word of God, faith and prayer.
Then this apostle goes on to tell us that we demolish arguments and every pretention that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. Doesn’t that tell you that the strongholds he is referring to are arguments and every pretention that sets itself up against the knowledge of God? Those are the strongholds he is talking about. And those are the strongholds that he says the weapons of our warfare are capable of pulling down.
Now let me draw your attention to this: what we are dealing with here has to do with our personal lives, things in our personal lives that are limiting and hurting us. So, the struggle must start within us. That is because the arguments that Paul is talking about, which are bringing all kinds of setbacks into our lives, are within us. Also, every pretention that sets itself up against the knowledge of God is within us. And we must take advantage of the weapons God has given to us to demolish these things. Otherwise, they will hold us captive and make us useless for life.
Then Paul says, “…we take captive every thought…” Whose thoughts is he talking about? He is talking about my thoughts and your thoughts. And he is saying that we must take them captive and make them obedient to Christ. Otherwise, these thoughts will keep making slaves of us and leading us to do things that will destroy us and the world around us.
If you, then, will ever be able to resist the devil, you must first of all deal with yourself. The struggle must begin within you. You must first deal with those things that have become strongholds in your own life. Some of these strongholds have been in our lives for years. Some of them are as old as you are, and so are deep-seated in your mind. They must be pulled down. And it is only when you have dealt with yourself like this that you will be able to deal with the external influences. When you have worked on yourself, then you will be able to handle these external influences.
So, the control must be taken over your life from your inside. The control of your life must be wrested from the hands of your mind, from the hands of your emotions and from the hands of your flesh and placed in the hands of the Spirit of God. But how do you place the control of your life in the hands of the Spirit of God? It is by employing those spiritual weapons I mentioned earlier. In other words, it is by entrusting yourself to God in faith and also by giving yourself to the word of God, prayer and the practice of righteousness. And as you daily do this, you will find yourself living a life of liberty from every work of the flesh and every work of the devil, as God intends you to do.
Have a great day.
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PURIFY YOURSELF 08/05/25
“…what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1John 3:2-3NIV)
I love what John says to us here. He says we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him. This is sure knowledge for those of us who are children of God. We know this. We are not guessing about this. We know that when Christ eventually appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
That means whatever Jesus looks like, whatever He resembles when He is made known, is what we shall be transformed to. And don’t forget that we are not talking here about our spirits; our spirits have been made like His already; our spirits have been recreated. But we are talking here about the totality of our person. We are saying that when our Lord Jesus shows up, whatever He looks like is what we are going to look like.
Now how should that affect us? Knowing that we will be like Him is good. But what impart should that knowledge have on us? How should that knowledge affect our conduct right now? Indeed, we don’t really know what we are going to look like, but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him. And what should that imply to us?
John answers this for us in verse 3 of the same chapter of this epistle. He says:
“All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” (1John 3:3NIV)
That is what is important for us right now. All those who have this hope in the Lord purify themselves. That means if you have this hope that He will appear again to change us, you are going to be purifying yourself. You are not going to be getting yourself contaminated by the people and the things of this world. Instead, you are going to be taking advantage of God’s grace to keep yourself pure.
My prayer, then, is that your heart will be strengthened to daily take this seriously wherever you are and wherever you go, so that you may be pure and blameless in God’s sight when our Lord returns. Amen.
Have blessed day.
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STOP STEALING 07/05/25
“Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.” (Ephesians 4:28NIV)
Notice that Paul, in our opening text, does not just tell those who are stealing to stop stealing; he also tells them to start working. But someone else may say to a thief, “Stop stealing. You are a thief. The Lord is going to judge you, if you don’t stop stealing.” Alright then, when he stops stealing, what else is he going to do? He has to start working. He has to be taught to start working. Otherwise, he may soon enough find himself back in his life of stealing.
Furthermore, Paul does not say that the one who has been stealing should stop stealing and start begging; rather, he says he is to start working. This is why Christianity is involving. See, it is easy for me to give you kinds of rules and instructions. But if I do not participate in your life and you do not participate in my life, it becomes difficult for us to be mutually encouraged and affected for the better.
I may keep saying to you, “Stop stealing.” And you, in response to that, may say, “Yes, I really want to stop stealing. But I don’t know what to do.” What that suggests is that you need help. You have to be showed what you can do with your hands. If you have not learnt a trade, then, you have to learn one. Or if you do not have any formal education, you may need to get some.
But here is a guy who has not learnt a trade or gone to any school to receive a formal education, and you are telling him to stop stealing. How is that going to happen? Don’t you get it? That guy needs to be taught to go receive some formal education or to learn a trade. Then he can begin to do something useful with his own hands and also begin to share with others that are in need.
In 1Thessalonians, Paul says, “Each of you should make it his ambition to work with your own hands and earn your own living, so that your daily life will win the respect of outsiders, and you will not be dependent on anybody.” Can you see that? Christians were not taught in those days to be dependent on others. They were not taught to be parasites but to earn the bread they eat. (Cf. 1Thessalonians 4:11-12)
Sadly, people often come to church and think they have to function in a parasitic way, siphoning the resources of anyone that they come in contact with. God’s people were not taught to function like that in bible days. And we must not teach or train or allow ourselves to function like that today. Instead, we must do all that we can to encourage one another to find something legitimate to do with our hands. Then we will stop being devourers or parasites and start living responsibly and generously.
Have a blessed day
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ANOINTED BUT WEAK 06/05/25
“Then the king said to his men, "Do you not realize that a prince and a great man has fallen in Israel this day? And today, though I am the anointed king, I am weak, and these sons of Zeruiah are too strong for me. May the LORD repay the evildoer according to his evil deeds!"” (2Sam 3:38-39NIV)
Those were David’s words after Joab had murdered Abner, Israel’s army general, in cold blood to avenge the blood of his brother Asahel. But why did he say such words? He said them because he realised that even though he was the Lord’s anointed king, he did not have it takes to keep under control some of his men. And in this situation, he was referring to Joab and his brother Abishai.
Naturally, David was supposed to have the two of them executed or banished for the roles they played in the death of Abner. That was because he did not give them any order to have the man murdered. As we see in the account, Abner and David had just had a feast together to celebrate their alliance before Joab went after him and used deceit to kill him. So, as God’s anointed king that wanted to be just in leading the people, the right thing for him to do was to judge those murderers.
But he could not do anything to them. Why? First, as he himself admitted, they had become powerful and influential among his men. That was because they both of them were mighty men of war and had led his men to experience victory in battle many times. So, they were men that were feared, trusted and respected. That being the case, there was no way he would judge them and not create divisions among his own men.
Second, these men were David’s nephews, sons of his sister Zeruiah. So, if he chose to execute or banish them because of Abner, who was not entirely a good man himself, many of the people may see him as a heartless person. His blood relationship with them, then, also weakened him and prevented him from judging them for what they did to Abner. (Cf. 1Chro 2:13-17)
Now what did David miss? Was it his fault that Joab and Abishai were his nephews? No! And did he do any wrong by recognising their prowess and allowing them to lead his men in battle? No! But it is clear that he allowed their familiarity with him to breed contempt for his authority. If, right from the time they just came to him as young men, he had been strict or hard in disciplining them and showing them that he would not accept any form of disregard for his authority from them, simply because they were his blood, they would most likely not have become emboldened to do anything without his permission.
Also, David must have given these men, Joab and his brother, too much independence as leaders of his army. That was why they were bold to call Abner back on that occasion without first checking in with their king. But authority must always be checked. If you give someone some measure of authority and will not check it or place some restrictions on it, it will take the grace of God for that person not to use that authority to strengthen himself against you.
As we see in David’s case, Joab and his brother used their relationship with him and the positions he gave them in his army to strengthen themselves against him. So, even though they were loyal to him to the end, they also had a culture of doing whatever pleased them, even if it was contrary to what he wanted. And he remained weak in handling them till he died. The best he could do was to entrust the judgment of Joab to his son Solomon, who, of course, was too wise for the man to contend with (1Kings 2:5-6).
Well, what is the point of this? It is that you should not allow any relationship to make you weak in using your position to do the will of God. It does not matter whether it is a blood relationship, work relationship or spiritual relationship, don’t handle it in a way that it will introduce weakness of character into your life. We have seen husbands made weak by their wives and vice versa, so that they are now unable to always do the will of God with their positions. And we have seen parents made weak by their children and vice versa, so that they are now unable to do what is right where God has placed them. We have even seen employers, bosses and anointed preachers made weak through some unclean relationships with those under them, so that they are now unable to do what God wants with their respective positions.
So, you really can be made weak in doing what is right or in judging wickedness by the people you love, trust or admire. And that is what will most likely happen, if you will not exhibit discipline and self-control in your dealings with them all the time. Who, then, knows how far they will go in abusing your relationship with them? Remember that the only reason Abner responded to Joab’s call to come back that day was his relationship with David. And he took advantage of that to destroy him.
Therefore, don’t let anyone make you weak and, by so doing, turn you into a partaker of their sins. And be very careful too not to weaken anybody in doing what is right through your relationship with them or through the authority they have entrusted to you. Otherwise, like Joab, you may expose yourself to God’s judgment.
Have a blessed day.
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BE SURE YOU ARE NOT IN ERROR 05/05/25
“Then the LORD said to Moses, "Say to the assembly, 'Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.'" Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. He warned the assembly, "Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins." So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents.” (Num 16:23-27NIV)
Why did Korah, Dathan, Abiram, On and the men that joined in their rebellion against Moses and Aaron make no move to repent and ask God to forgive and spare them? It was because, all the time, they felt that they were doing the right thing. These men did not see themselves as going against the will of God at all. So, as we see in our opening text, even till the very moment that the ground opened up and swallowed them, their families and possessions, they still saw themselves as fighting the right cause and having nothing to fear.
What this means is that Korah and his people saw everything Moses was saying to them as nothing but empty words that could hurt nobody. They saw his words as the mere ranting of a frustrated man. So, they boldly stood at the entrances to their tents to see what he would really do. Unfortunately for them, Moses’ words eventually proved not to be empty; his words eventually led to their utter destruction.
What is the point of this, then? It is that it is possible for us to be in error and yet believe we are within our rights. It is possible for us to be walking in a path of destruction and yet see ourselves as doing the will of God. And where this is the case, it does not matter how zealous or passionate we are about doing whatever wrong thing we are doing, our passion can only hasten our destruction. So, in all that we do, we must aim for correctness.
Jesus once said this to His disciples: “See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.” (Luke 11:35NIV) What does this mean? It means we must be certain that what we believe to be right is actually right and that what we believe to be wrong is actually wrong. That is because if, for some reasons, we embrace what is wrong as right or reject what is right as wrong, there is no way we will not get punished for it at some point, unless we are shown mercy.
Korah and his people thought they were right in challenging and rejecting Moses and Aaron’s authority to lead them. And why did they think they were right in this way? They thought they were right because they were acting according to their own feelings and view of what was right and wrong. They just felt within them that there was nothing Moses and Aaron possessed that made them special or deserving of the kind of attention and respect they were getting from the people. (Cf. Num 16:3)
But Moses and Aaron did not choose themselves as the leaders of God’s people. It was God Himself that chose and ordained them. Also, there was nothing these men did that was their idea; everything they did was ordered by God. To oppose them, then, was to oppose God, who had appointed them. And that was what led to the destruction of Korah and his group.
So, if you are one who usually acts on the basis of how you feel or think instead of on the basis of what is revealed as the will of God in the Scriptures, you will often surely find yourself in error. And as long as you are walking in error, you cannot tell how dangerous the consequences may be. If you, then, don’t want to someday find out how dangerous the consequences of your walking in error could be, begin to give yourself to learning the will of God as taught in the Scriptures instead of following your feelings or reasonings. And the Lord, in His kindness, will lead you away from every path of destruction.
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IT WON’T BE HIDDEN FROM YOU 04/05/25.
I pray for you today that God will always see to it that nothing needed for your prosperity and peace of mind is hidden from you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
As reported by Luke in his gospel, our Lord Jesus once wept over the city of Jerusalem, saying:
“If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace — but now it is hidden from your eyes.” (Luke 19:42NIV)
What was hidden from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as indicated by the Lord here? What they needed for their peace!
In like manner, there are many today that what is needed for their peace of mind and prosperity is hidden from them. And as long as it is hidden from them, they will know no peace of mind or prosperity. Instead, they will only keep wasting their time, energy and resources, seeking peace and rest where they do not exist. So, among the prayers you ought to be offering regularly in life is that God will open your eyes to see those things that are meant for your peace and prosperity, according to every day’s need.
What made the widow of Zarephath and her son survive the three years of famine that the land of Israel experienced during the reign of King Ahab? It was the fact that God opened her eyes to see what she needed to do for their survival. How God did this we are not told. But we do know from the bible that God specifically told Elijah that he had commanded this widow to take care of him during the famine. And because the woman acted based on what God had told her, she and her son survived the famine. (Cf. 1Kings 17)
Also, what made Jabesh come out of poverty and a life of sorrow and pain? It was the fact that his eyes were opened someday to see that if he would pray to God about his situation, things would actually be turned around for good for him. And when he took a step of faith and prayed to God about his matter, God answered him and made him more honourable than all his brothers. (Cf. 1Chro 4:9-10)
Then what made the woman with the issue of blood receive her healing, after twelve years of looking for deliverance in vain? It was the fact that her eyes were one day opened to see that if she could just locate our Lord Jesus and touch the hem of His garment, she would be well. And when she found Jesus and touched the hem of His garment, she was instantly healed of her malady. (Cf. Mark 5:25-34)
Now notice that in all the examples that I just gave, nobody told these people what they needed to do to experience their salvation, prosperity or healing. It was God Himself that revealed to their hearts what they must do. And that may be what you too need. I mean that what you also need to experience the promotion, healing or peace of mind that God has prepared for you may not be something that any preacher or prophet knows or can tell you. Rather, it may be something God Himself has to reveal to you personally.
Therefore, pray that God will see to it that everything you need to experience the fullness of His goodness in your life will no longer be hidden from you but clearly made known to you. Then pray that as God is showing you what to do to move forward in life or to experience healing or salvation in your life, you will also have enough wisdom, strength and boldness to act accordingly. And so shall it be, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a splendid day.
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IF YOU WANT TO BE USED BY HIM. 03/05/25.
My prayer for you, today, is that God will always find you useful in communicating His goodness to those in your world. Amen.
God, as we see in the bible, is always looking for those that He can use to communicate His will and His goodness to humanity. And all He requires are those who will make themselves available to Him wholeheartedly. Then, even if they do not have any special ability that could make them outstanding among men, He will equip them with all that they need to serve His purpose. And if they will go on like that to faithfully serve Him, their names may end up being known all over the world.
What special abilities did people like Peter, James and John have to become men that God used in making His glory known all over the world? None that we are aware of! The bible indeed speaks of men like Joseph, Solomon and Daniel who were exceptional in wisdom, knowledge and understanding. But the men who were first called by the Lord to be His apostles in taking the good news of God’s grace all around the world are not described in the bible as exceptional in any way. On the contrary, we are told in the bible that most of them were unschooled. Yet God used them to do fantastic things, things too much for the wisdom of the world to grasp.
Why, then, did God pick such men to use? The bible says it is so that no one would be able to boast that it’s because of certain abilities that he possesses that God is using him. God is able to use anyone, regardless of their abilities or inadequacies. In fact, the bible says God is able to use foolish people to shame wise people and people that are considered to be nothing to shame very important people. (Cf. 1Cor 1:26-29)
Now what does God need to use such people? First, He needs them to be available to Him. Being available to God in this manner, of course, goes beyond being present where He is. It also involves showing that you are present where you are for Him. Someone can be present somewhere and still not be available to help or serve anyone. So, if you want God to use you, in spite of what you have or do not have, always show yourself as someone that is available for Him to use. (Cf. Isaiah 6:1-8)
Second, God needs those that He will use to willingly yield themselves to Him (Rom 12:1; James 4:7). That means they have to submit to Him to do things the way He wants them done and not according to their own desire. It follows, then, that anyone that is not ready to submit to God and do things His way cannot be used by Him to accomplish His good purpose, even if the person is available.
Third, God needs such people to be ready to purify themselves. God is not just after what we can do for Him but also after the heart with which we do it. The kind of heart with which we do His work will either make it effective in accomplishing His purpose or corrupt His work. So, we must be ready to let Him purify us of anything that could contaminate His work through us and make it unprofitable. Anyone, then, who is opposed to words of rebuke, correction or discipline is not a fit candidate for His work, however gifted he may be. (Cf. 2Timothy 2:20-21)
Well, the apostles of old met those requirements, even though they were not educated, influential or wealthy people at the time they were called by the Lord. They all made themselves available to be used by the Lord, yielded themselves to serve Him as He pleased and also surrendered themselves to be washed and made clean by Him. So, He took them, build them up and used them in ways nobody ever thought was possible. And if we too want to be used by Him in like manner, all we need is to do as they did.
Have a very pleasant day.
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FIX YOUR GAZE ON HIM. 02/05/25.
“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” (Luke 12:25-26NIV)
Did you see that? All our worrying and running around cannot make any of us live an hour longer than we are supposed to live in this world. Even our possession of all the wealth of the world cannot accomplish that for us. Yet the Lord says that is a very little thing for Him to do. It is a very little thing for Him to add an additional hour to our lifespan.
And think about this: how long did it take Him to add an extra fifteen years to the lifespan of King Hezekiah? Just a moment! It took Him only the seconds that He used in uttering those words to Isaiah. And it was done. If giving a man an additional fifteen years was as simple as that for Him, then, we should know that there is no difficulty or impossibility we are faced with that will be hard for Him to fix. (Cf. 2Kings 20:1-11)
All that we are required to do, then, is to fix our gaze on Him. For example, as we are shown in the bible, there was a time that the disciples of the Lord saw Him walking towards their boat on the waters of a lake. That is something that is impossible for any man to do. But the Lord did it. And when Peter, wanting to confirm that it was the Lord i.ndeed that was coming to them, asked if he should come to Him on those waters, He said to him, “Come!” And without thinking about it, he stepped out of the boat to walk on the waters of the lake, just as the Lord was doing.
Wow! Peter walked on the waters of that lake like it was nothing. Why? It was because the Lord Jesus said that he could. But the moment he turned away from the Lord and began to pay attention to the wind coming for him, fear settled in his heart and he began to sink. Thankfully, he lost no time to turn to the Lord again and call out for His help. And the moment he did, he was sustained. So, both him and the Lord walked back on the waters of the lake to the boat where the other disciples were. Hallelujah! (Cf. Matt 14:22-33)
What is the point of this story? It is that we too can walk in victory over seemingly impossible situations, as long as we are acting on the word of the Lord Jesus Christ and also fix our gaze on Him. So, as you continue your journey through this year, fix your gaze firmly on the Lord Jesus by continually meditating on His word and also praying without ceasing. And there is no difficult or impossible situation that you will not walk in victory over.
Then, supposing you are already sinking in the ocean of certain challenges for any reason, lose no time in crying out to the Lord for salvation and sustenance. He will answer your cry, stand by you all the way and make sure you reach your desired destination safely.
Have a great day.
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DO YOUR HOMEWORK 01/05/25
“But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, "You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman." Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, "Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister,' and didn't she also say, 'He is my brother'? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands."
(Gen 20:3-5NIV)
Why did Abimelech end up taking Sarah as his wife? It was because he was led by both Abraham and Sarah to believe that they were siblings. And were they not siblings? They were. They were of the same father but different mothers. But they were more than that; they were also husband and wife.
Well, because they had both told Abimelech that they were brother and sister, he freely took Sarah into his palace to be his wife. And that, of course, brought trouble upon his whole household. How? The moment Sarah stepped into their midst, sickness and barrenness also came in to them (Gen 20:17-18). Of course, it was not Sarah that brought these things with her. But it was her presence in their household that made God send afflictions to them. And if God had not been merciful to them and revealed to Abimelech what was wrong, they all would have perished in their barrenness one after the other.
Now could Abimelech have done anything to prevent that situation in the first place? I believe he could. But his lust got in the way. His lust did not allow him to do any proper investigation about Sarah, her age and her background. This man was a king. So, he had the resources to carry out a proper investigation on Sarah and Abraham before jumping into any conclusions. And that is usually what great and responsible kings do. They don't just pick any pretty lady they see and marry her without making some findings about her and her background.
But as I already said, lust would not allow Abimelech to carry out any serious investigation about Sarah before taking her in to be his wife. And though he did what he did with a clear conscience and clean hands, he almost lost his life and nation for it when God began to judge the matter. That, of course, is telling me that having a clear conscience and clean hands may not stop one from suffering for making a bad choice or decision.
See, there are choices that we must not make in life without doing some proper investigations. Otherwise, we may invite unnecessary troubles into our lives through them. And even though there is no trouble that is beyond what God can handle, it is always better not to face any kind of trouble that can be avoided than to first face it and then start crying out to God to rescue us from it.
For example, God placed a curse of untimely death on the house of Eli because of the sins of his sons. What that means is that anyone that married from his household should be expected to become a widow or a widower early in life, as long as that curse was working. If someone, then, should ignorantly and out of a clean heart marry someone from that family, would that stop the operation of that curse of death? No! A curse is like a law that will not discriminate. And like a law it will keep punishing even the ignorant ones, unless it is cancelled or overridden by a more powerful law. (Cf. 1Sam 2:30-36)
Therefore, if you don't want any law, be it the law of death, sickness, poverty or shame, to secretly work against you, learn to do your homework before you make certain choices in life. I am saying that before you rent that house, seek admission into that school, marry that man or woman, buy that land or acquire that property, do your thorough and careful background check-up. That way, you won't be ignorantly walking into Satan's traps.
Yes, if you truly know the Lord Jesus, there is no challenge you cannot handle and no pattern of experience of evil that you cannot reign in victory over. But the word of God also says that God's people can perish for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). So, if you have no knowledge of where or how Satan may afflict you, you can end up as his victim, even though you are a child of God.
Don't be in a hurry, then, to make choices about matters that won't quickly pass out of your life. Instead, do your homework first. How? First, pray to God to fill your heart with the perfect knowledge of His will about such matters. Second, ask relevant questions from relevant people. Third, trust God to lead you to do the right thing, in spite of what you know or do not know. And may you always be kept from walking into traps of ignorance and destruction, in Jesus' name. Amen.
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YOUR SITUATION IS NOT PECULIAR 30/04/25
“In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed…” (Dan 2:1-2NIV)
What do we see here in our opening text? We see Daniel giving a brief description of the kind of people he and his friends had to deal with while serving Babylonian kings. And from what he tells us, it is clear that many of the people they dealt with were magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers (fortune tellers).
It follows, then, that the environment in which these men lived and worked was one that was full of wickedness. That, of course, should not be strange to us. That is because wherever people are given to idolatry, sorcery, witchcraft, divination and other similar things, wickedness is meant to be widespread there. People will, in such a place, freely oppress others and not give a damn. Why? They are operating by the power of the devil and believe no one can challenge them and not get hurt.
For instance, as we see in our opening text, there was a time that Nebuchadnezzar was ready to wipe out all the wise men in his kingdom because they could not tell him the details and the interpretation of a dream he had. Who does that? Who gets angry with people for not knowing his dreams? Who even gets angry because someone is not able to interpret his dreams? Well, the king of Babylon was once angry and breathing murderous threats because his wise men did not know a dream he had, not to talk of being able to interpret it. That's how cruel he was. (Cf. Dan 2)
Also, in this same book, we see Nebuchadnezzar telling people what to worship and that it was a must for them to worship it, even though it was a lifeless image. And he was ready to burn alive in a fiery furnace anyone that would not obey him. As if that were not enough, in the same book, we see another king signing an edict that all his people must abandon the worship of whatever gods they were serving for one month and give themselves to worshipping him and praying to him for their needs for that one month. And the punishment for anyone that would not obey this arrogant and cruel decision was a party in a den of lions. (Cf. Dan 3&6)
So, if you are living in fear every day because certain neighbours or colleagues of yours at work are into sorcery, you need to understand that your situation is not peculiar at all. Or if you are wondering how you will survive the wickedness and hostility against you and your faith where you are, you need to know that you will not be the first person to find yourself in that situation. And you probably won't be the last.
Daniel and his friends also had to deal with men that were utterly wicked and sold-out to the devil when they came to Babylon. Yet they did not lose heart or faint. Instead, they grew stronger and stronger in that land until they stood above all the people around them in character and in prosperity. And if we too will function the way they functioned, we will also walk in victory over all the activities of all the wicked and unreasonable people in our world and prosper.
Now what was the secret of their survival and prosperity in that foreign land? At least, as we see in the book of Daniel, he prospered in Babylon, not just during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who took him like a friend and god, but also during the reigns of Darius and Cyrus. How did he and his friends do it?
The main thing we see about these men was that they took God seriously. In other words, they were men of faith. Yes, they did not come to stay in Babylon out of their own volition. Rather, they were forced to come there. They were brought in as slaves. And that was enough to kill whatever ambitions for greatness they must have had as young men.
But these people did not allow their predicament to make them lose their faith in God. They did not begin to blame Him for the condition in which they found themselves. Instead, they held fast to Him, even in their situation as slaves, knowing that He was able to show them mercy and favour where they were, even though it was the sins of their nation that brought them there.
In like manner, regardless of where we have found ourselves and what is responsible for our being there, as long as there is breath in us, we must hold fast in faith to the living God. That is because there is no situation that He cannot turn around for our good. So, stop complaining about your situation. And stop blaming God or anyone for your problems. Instead, put your faith in God. And He will surely take care of you and see to it that you prosper and flourish, regardless of how bad your life conditions may be at the moment.
Have a lovely day.
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WHEN IT IS NOT YOURS TO POSSESS 29/04/25
“Then the LORD said to me, "You have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north. Give the people these orders: 'You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful. Do not provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land, not even enough to put your foot on. I have given Esau the hill country of Seir as his own. You are to pay them in silver for the food you eat and the water you drink.'"” (Deut 2:2-6NIV)
Before God led the children of Israel out of Egypt, He had made it very clear to them that it was the land of Canaan that He was giving to them as their inheritance. But it was obvious that before getting to this land, they would have to pass through some other lands, which may also be very good lands. And while passing through these other lands, they may be tempted to want to possess them for themselves. So, through Moses, God had to warn them in advance of the futility of wanting to take for themselves what He had chosen for them. That is the reason for what we have in our opening text.
As we see in that text, God makes it very clear to the Israelites that they would certainly pass through the territory of the descendants of Esau on their way to possessing the land He had promised to give them. But that land is not for them but for Esau. In fact, God specifically says that He has already given that land to Esau. Therefore, they are not to covet it or try to fight for it. Otherwise, their effort is going to be in futility. He Himself will fight against them and make sure they do not succeed in taking even a foot of that land.
Furthermore, He warns them not to covet or try to fight for the lands of the Moabites and the Ammonites, the descendants of Lot. As He points out, they will surely pass through the territories of these people too on their way to taking their own land and may be tempted to want to go for their good lands. But if they should do so, what they will meet with is utter failure. And the very one that will be behind this failure is God Himself, who loves them and cares for them. (Cf. Deut 2:9-12&16-19)
Now that is the point of all this? It is that it is not every good thing, place or position that we see or come across in life that is for us. Yes, we may feel that we possess the ability, resources or wisdom to possess something good that we see. But if it is not what God has chosen for us but for someone else, we can only pray or labour in futility to have it. And even if we manipulate or force our way to have it, it won’t be without grievous consequences.
Remember what happened to David and his household when he took another man’s wife and killed the man. Remember also what happened to Ahab when he took another man’s vineyard and killed the owner. God did not act unconcerned in any of these cases. Instead, He moved in justice and dealt with those involved. (Cf. 2Sam 11-12; 1Kings 21)
In like manner, if we manipulate or force our way to possess something or someone God has not given to us but to someone else, we can be sure to have Him as our enemy. And remember that it is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of God (Heb 10:31). So, we will do well to regularly pray that God will fill our hearts always with the perfect and exact knowledge of His choice for us in all things and that He will also make us content with whatever He has chosen for us. This is so that we will not destroy ourselves or lose what He has chosen for us, which is always the best for us, in our quest to have what He has not chosen for us.
(Adapted from ‘Fire in my bones’, Vol. 4, No. 23, October 2021)
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RECOGNISE AND APPRECIATE YOUR WORTH 28/04/25
“When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior."” (Judg 6:12NIV)
Where was Gideon when the angel of the Lord first appeared to him? He was hiding in a winepress threshing his wheat because of his fear of the Midianites. But God had chosen him to be the deliverer of his people. And why did He choose him? First, it was because He knew what He had endowed him with. He knew the fighting and leadership abilities he possessed.
Second, God knew that He was going to be with this man every step of the way. So, he was never going to face the Midianites alone. Yes, the Midianites had so oppressed them that many of them had deserted their inheritance and gone off to hide in some caves and on some mountains. But God was going to be with him in handling them. And since He was going to be with him all the way in handling them, success was guaranteed.
Unfortunately, Gideon did not know these things at all. He did not know what he was worth in the sight of God. He had no true and proper appreciation of the abilities He had endowed him with. So, when the angel of the Lord addressed him as ‘Mighty warrior’, he was quick to protest and tell him that he was nothing close to a warrior. And for him, the facts could speak for themselves. His clan was the weakest in the tribe of Manasseh and he was the least important person among his father’s children. How, then, could he possibly be the leader and saviour of the entire nation of Israel? That wasn’t even something that he could day-dream or fantasise about. (Cf. Judges 6:11-16)
Similarly, there are many of God’s children today that He has chosen and equipped for great things in life but who do not see themselves as He sees them. So, they are hiding in caves of fear, rejection, ignorance, sin, wrong relationships or irresponsible living. And unless they experience a divine encounter that will open their eyes to see God’s plans for them, they may live and pass away in obscurity.
Also, as we see from the story of Gideon, before the Lord came to him, he had no abiding consciousness of the presence of God with him. So, even when the angel of the Lord said to him, “The Lord is with you,” he lost no time to protest again and say, “How can that possibly be true? If the Lord is with us, how come all these bad things are happening to us?”
Unfortunately, most of us who are God’s children also often think and talk as Gideon did on that occasion. That is because we think that if God is with someone, there is no way bad things can happen to them at all. But the bible shows us that the presence of God with us will not always keep challenges from coming to us. However, if we are walking in the consciousness of His presence in our lives, there is no challenge that comes to us that we will not walk in victory over.
Remember the story of Joseph. Remember we are told that God was with him when he was a slave in Potiphar’s house and that He was also with him when he was in the prison. And because he knew that God was with him, he did not lose his mind or lose his character. Instead, he took advantage of God’s presence with him to shine like a star in those bad situations of life in which he found himself. And when the time came for God to vindicate him, he was exactly where he was supposed to be and ready to assume his new status in life. (Cf. Gen 39-41)
Gideon, however, needed to be shown series of signs in order for him to fully embrace the reality of God’s presence with him to give him victory. Perhaps you too need to see some signs in order to embrace fully the reality of God’s presence with you in order for you to go to that place He has always wanted you to be. You can ask Him, as Gideon did, to show you those things that will build up your faith and lead you to accept the roles He wants you to play in His kingdom and to begin to play them. (Cf. Judges 6-7)
Whatever the case is, I want you to know that it will not be a good thing at all for you to come into God’s eternal kingdom and realise that you have actually been in the world something less or far less than what you have been endowed by God to be. So, wake up and get ready to come out of your hiding place. Yes, wake up and begin to talk to God about filling your heart with revelations of all that you can be for Him and also do for Him in this world.
Now I am confident that He will answer you, if you will wholeheartedly pray to Him about it. That is because He has said, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” (Jer 33:3NIV)
Have pleasant day.
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THE GIFT OF A LOVER 27/04/25
My prayer for you today is that your heart will be taught to know God’s love more and more, so that you can always freely and fully yield yourself and all that you have to Him. Amen.
Why did Mary, Martha’s sister, take a jar of a very expensive perfume and pour everything on Jesus’ feet? It was because she loved Him dearly. And why did she love Him so much? It was because He too had shown her and her family immeasurable love. Remember that the Lord had been a friend to their family, visiting them often to know their well-being and also transforming their lives through His teachings. Remember also that He was the one that brought this woman’s brother, Lazarus, back from the dead, having being laid in the tomb for four days. And on the day that she poured this expensive perfume on Him, a dinner was being given in His honour because of what He had done for their family.
So, it was because Mary had known and enjoyed the Lord’s love that she honoured Him with her substance the way she did. And though what she lavished on Him was expensive, expensive enough to pay a man’s one year salary, she did not consider it too much to be used in honouring Him. Therefore, the Lord said that wherever the gospel is preached in the world, what she did would also be talked about, in memory of her. That, of course, is why we are still reading and talking about it today. (Cf. Matt 26:6-13; Mark 14:1-9; John 12:1-8)
Similarly, if we too have known and have been enjoying the Lord’s love, if our lives have been saved and changed by it, we will want to love Him in return. And in doing so, it is not only our lives that we will willingly want Him to have, we will also want Him to have everything we have. In short, there is nothing we have that we will consider too much to give to Him.
Look at how we handle our natural relationships, for example. We don’t often care about how expensive things are when we are dealing with those what we love dearly. Instead, what we will be asking ourselves is, “Can I afford this?” And if we know that we can afford whatever it is we want to get for the one we love, we will just go for it without blinking an eye.
What is my point? It is that if you are not giving much to the Lord and for His cause, it is simply because your love for Him is not much. If your love for Him is much, you will give anything to honour Him, without considering how much it costs or what people will say about it. People complained about Mary’s gift to Jesus. They said that it was a waste. They said that it was not wise spending. But did she care? No! And did the Lord care? No! On the contrary, the Lord said, “The opportunity to honour me in love like this will not always be there for you. And now that it is there, this woman has done the right thing in utilizing it.”
See, only true lovers of God will recognize opportunities to honour Him in love with their substance. So, if you have not been seeing opportunities to honour God with your substance in any way, big or small, you need to check the fervency of your love for Him. That is because opportunities to honour Him are always there every day. But it takes a heart that is overflowing with love for Him to see and utilize them. My prayer is that your heart will be flooded with love for Him, so that you too can always readily recognize your opportunities to honour Him in such a way that people will never stop talking about it.
Do have a fabulous day.
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APPRECIATION INSPIRES 26/04/25
One of the things that is bound to move people to thank God for your life and to also pray heartfelt prayers for you is giving that is rightly done (2Cor 9:12-14). Some years ago, I prepared a bible study commentary for an assembly of God that I was attending. And some days after the commentary had been used by the various groups in the church for their bible study meetings, one of the group leaders sent me a gift.
But why did this group leader send me a gift? According to him, as he was reading the bible study commentary that I had prepared, the Spirit of God opened his eyes to see some bible truth that was of great benefit to his faith. So, right then and there, he decided that he was going to give the person that prepared the commentary a gift. And he did.
How, then, did I respond to that? First, I responded with thanksgiving to God. I thanked Him for giving me words to bless His people. I also thanked Him for causing at least someone to be blessed through what I was doing. Then I also thanked Him for moving this person to bless me with a gift. If he had not blessed me with a gift or come to tell me that he was blessed by the commentary I had written, I would not have known that he was blessed by it. There may have been others in that assembly who were equally blessed through the same bible study commentary. But I will not know them until we get to heaven. And the reason I will not know them until we get to heaven is that they did not show up to appreciate me for being used by God to bless them.
In any case, the one who showed up to appreciate me with a gift unconsciously inspired me to thank God for him. Also, he inspired me to say a word of prayer for him. You know when someone touches your heart with a gift, especially when you are not expecting it, it is natural for you to immediately start praying for the person. And such prayers are often heartfelt. So, they are bound to work mightily, as long as they are consistent with God’s will.
Then, apart from the fact that this person inspired me to pray for him through his gift, he also unconsciously sowed a seed of encouragement into my heart. When you know that what you are doing is not going to waste but is blessing somebody and also stirring up the person to want to be a blessing, you are bound to be encouraged to do more. And there are some people that have gone on in life to be a blessing to millions of people through the encouragement of just one person.
What is my point? It is that you have to learn to appreciate anyone God is using to bless you, especially in the church. And even if you have to be the only one that will appreciate this person among all the people that God is using them to bless, be sure you do so. That is because you cannot tell how far your appreciation will go in making that person better and more faithful in doing the will of God.
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul speaks of how he always thanks God every time he remembers them and of how he always prays with joy for them. In fact, in the letter, he specifically prays that God will supply all their needs according to His glorious wealth in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:19). Why? It is because these brethren had proved again and again that they appreciated his ministry and what God was doing through it. Look at some of the things he says about them in his letter:
“Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need. Not that I am looking for a gift, but I am looking for what may be credited to your account.” (Phil 4:15-17NIV)
Did you see that? Among all the churches that God was using Paul to bless at that time, it was only the church of the Philippians that always gave to support him and to encourage him. No wonder he was always happy to remember them and to pray for them. If you too want those ministering to you in your church to always be glad to minister to you and not just because it is their duty to do so, then, cultivate the habit of always appreciating them. And even if you have to be the only one that will be doing so, just like the Philippian church, do so. That is because you cannot tell to what extent God is able to use the encouragement you are offering them now in leading them to fulfil their ministry. And I pray that God will strengthen you to take this matter seriously, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a fabulous day.
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WHEN YOU MUST SEEK HELP 25/04/25
“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” (1Thess 4:11-12NIV)
One of the reasons God commands us to work, as we see in our opening text, is that we may gain financial independence and not be unduly dependent anybody. So, being financially independent must be the goal of every child of God.
However, there are times that the child of God must seek help in order to be able to attain financial independence. And that is when he can see that what he is making from his work or business is not sufficient to take care of his bills or responsibilities.
Now don’t get me wrong. Seeking help in this sense is not simply about getting people to give us money to take care of our liabilities. Rather, first, it is about getting their help so that we do not sink into financial debt. Second, it is about getting their help so that we can use their help to establish ourselves in financial prosperity.
Will this kind of help always be readily available? No! Otherwise, many hardworking and diligent young men and women would have already come out of poverty and been established in prosperity. But it is important that you recognise when and where you need help and be ready to go for it. I pray that God will begin to open your eyes to see where the help He has provided for your financial independence is and also equip you with all that you need to go for it and make the most of it. Amen.
Have a lovely day.
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DON’T STOP PRAYING 24/04/25
“In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision. At that time, I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.” (Dan 10:1-3NIV)
As we see in our opening text, for three weeks Daniel kept on praying to God without receiving an answer to his prayer. But then, something happened at the end of those three weeks. An angel of the Lord appeared to him to give him the answer to his prayer. Look at some of the things he reports about that from verse 10:
“A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, "Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you." And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling. Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come."” (Dan 10:10-14NIV)
Did you see that? For three good weeks Daniel kept on praying to God about a matter. Yet it did not seem as though God answered his prayer at all. But he kept on praying until the twenty-first day. And that was when an angel showed up to tell him that God actually answered his prayer the very moment he prayed and also sent him to deliver the answer to him. But he was blocked and detained by an evil spirit. And he was held up by that evil spirit for twenty-one days, that is, until another angel, Michael, came and made way for him to go to Daniel.
Evidently, that evil spirit was powerful and wicked enough to stop that angel of God from bringing God’s answer to Daniel’s prayer to him. In like manner, there are times that Satan and his demons may be working in the realm of the spirit towards keeping us from receiving the manifestation of God’s answers to our prayers. And is that to say that God has not answered us? No!
On two occasions, as reported by Daniel in his book, God answered his prayers the very moment he prayed to Him. But on one of the occasions, the angel sent to give him his answer was detained by an evil spirit for three good weeks. And I am saying that there are times that answers to our prayers can be delayed from getting to us like that by evil spirits. But we will not know this, if it is not revealed to us. So, we have to follow what Jesus tells us, which is that we must continually pray and not give up. By praying like that, we will be able to remove all the obstacles placed on our way to receiving what God has provided for us. (Cf. Luke 18:1)
Now it may take days, weeks, months or even years for us to eventually access certain provision of God for us. It all depends on the situation we are dealing with. You know that it may even be certain individuals that are being used by the devil to keep us from accessing or receiving God’s answers to our prayers. So, we don’t stop praying. We don’t give up. Instead, we devote ourselves to prayer, knowing that God is faithful. He is not going to abandon us or be slow in attending to our matters. That is how to receive, find and see doors opened to us.
But then, again, Jesus asks, “Will I find faith on the earth when I return? Will people keep on praying to God, knowing that He will not ignore them or be slow about their matter, regardless of what they see or do not see when they pray?” Those are questions for us to answer. And I pray that He will find faith in us when He returns. Amen.
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NEW EVERY MORNING 23/04/25
“Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lam 3:22-23NIV)
What is Jeremiah telling us here? It is that it is because of the Lord’s great love and compassions that our lives are being preserved in these days of worldwide decay, corruption, violence and economic meltdown. And, according to Jeremiah, these love and compassions of the Lord are new towards us every morning.
Now that is simply marvellous. And what it tells me is that, even though nothing seems different about today or about this month, the Lord’s compassions and love towards us will remain ever new and ever fresh. So, we don’t have to be afraid of new challenges or old trials—the Lord’s love and compassions will take care of them all.
All that we simply need to do is to stay thankful and grateful to God. We should not relate to Him like those who have been blindfolded by the devil and kept from seeing the goodness of God towards them. Rather, we should, as the Psalmist says, get our hearts and minds ready to acknowledge every benefit we receive from the His hand and thank Him for it. (Cf. Ps 103:2; 2Cor 4:4)
Well, I want you to always remember, as you face this new day, that the Lord is on our side and will always be good to us, regardless of the conditions of our Land. Therefore, stop whatever fear or anxiety you have now; you will come out victorious in everything and in every way.
It is well with your soul.
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“Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.'” (Matt 25:24-25NIV)
If we are ever going to become the persons God wants us to be and accomplish anything tangible in this life, one of the things we must rid our lives of is a culture of making excuses. An elderly friend once told me something a senior colleague had told him about excuses. And what was it? It was that excuses don’t move the work forward; excuses don’t get anything worthwhile done.
Now is that not true? Is it not true that excuses don’t get anything worthwhile done? It is true. So, don’t train yourself to be making excuses for not doing what you are supposed to do. Otherwise, you may end up keeping yourself stagnant for life.
As we see in our opening bible text, one servant that was given a huge sum of money to work with by his master only had excuses to give him, when he called him in to give an account of his service. His master, as the story goes, had gone on a long journey after giving him and two other servants of his huge sums of money to do business with. But while others went straightaway to put their money to work and profit with it, he was busy occupying himself with irrelevancies. (Cf. Matt 25:14-25)
Therefore, when his master came back and begun to question him about the money given to him, he lost no time at all to present his excuses. But he had months or perhaps years to work with what he was given. Why did he do nothing with it? Why was he comfortable playing around and doing nothing that his master would consider significant? The answer is simple. This man had no intention of working at all with what he was given. That was why, as his master pointed out, he did not even consider putting the money with him in a bank, so that he would receive it back with interest.
Now if you had ever dealt with people who have a culture of making excuses, you would have observed that they hardly use their heads. And don’t miss my point here. I am not saying that they are stupid. No, they are not. They are just people who usually don’t want to use their brains to get anything serious done well. So, while they are making excuses for their failure, non-performance or poor performance, what they could have done differently will be obvious to you. And you will be left wondering why they could not see something as obvious as that.
Well, the problem is that when someone has a culture of making excuses, it will rob him of initiatives. That is because instead of training his mind to solve problems, he will be training it to make excuses. Therefore, it does not matter how simple the task you give him is, he will surely find himself an excuse to fail at it or to defend his failure in handling it. And such a person has nowhere important to get to in life. He can only expect to daily diminish in relevance.
As we see in the case of the servant mentioned above, when his master would judge him, he called him lazy, unprofitable and wicked. Then he asked that the money with him be given to another person, who had shown himself profitable, and that he be thrown into a place of suffering. And that is the kind of sentence anyone who has a culture of making excuses can expect to receive from both man and God. (Cf. Matt 25:26-30)
So, if unconsciously or consciously you have been training yourself to make excuses instead of training yourself to get results in whatever you are meant to do, it won’t be long before you gain a reputation for being lazy, unprofitable and wicked at work, in your home, in your school, in the church or wherever you find yourself. Then all the people who could have done you good and help you rise in life will start withdrawing themselves and their favours from you.
Now that will be terrible for you, won’t it? It will. So, shape up and rid yourself of the evil mentality of making excuses for failure. And may God strengthen you to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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SEED TO SOW AND BREAD TO EAT 21/04/25
“For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.” (2Cor 9:10NLT)
There are two main things that Paul makes very clear to us about God in our opening bible text. The first is that He provides farmers with seed to plant. This, of course, does not mean that it is only those that farm that God provides for. Rather, it is just to show us that anyone that needs seed to plant in life, whether into his education, business, family, ministry, people or even farm, can look to God to provide it for him.
Now what form of seed do you need to plant to make your life more fruitful and productive? Is it the seed of divine revelations, money, education or people? Whatever it may be, God is able to provide it for you. All you need is to ask Him to do so. For instance, you can say, “Lord, I need the seed of money to plant into my business and take it to the next level. Please, provide it for me from your fullness and generosity.” Or you can say, “Father, I need the seed of competent and faithful people to work with in my office. Please, generously provide them for me.” And you can be sure that He will answer you and make your heart glad.
But then, you need to be careful not to throw away or eat up whatever seed God brings to you because you think it is not much or enough. Remember that you cannot reap what you do not sow. So, even if what God has brought to you is little, as long as it is seed for you to plant, be sure that you plant it in the right place. Don’t eat it. Don’t throw it away. Otherwise, no harvest will come. And if no harvest comes to you, you will not have more seed to plant or more harvest to reap. That means you will not leave where you are for where you can actually be.
The second thing Paul makes clear to us about God is that He provides bread for people to eat. And remember that one of the lines of the prayer illustration once given by our Lord Jesus to His disciples says, “Give us today our daily bread.” So, we don’t have to go hungry any day in our homes. That is because we can tell God to make the food we need available to us, according to every day’s need. And He will answer us and make it available to us. (Cf. Matt 6:11)
But then, we need to understand that what God will be mostly concerned about is making today’s food available to us today. Yes, He may also make tomorrow’s food available to us today. And He does that to us many times. But if He does not make tomorrow’s food available today, we need to be careful not to become anxious, discouraged or discontented. Otherwise, we may block the flow of tomorrow’s food into our lives through our ingratitude or impatience.
In addition, we need to understand that even though God is committed to giving us today’s food today, He may not bring us delicacies. Yes, He will surely see to it that whatever He brings us satisfies us. But that which will satisfy and nourish our bodies may not be delicacies at all (Dan 1:8-16).
For instance, God fed the people of Israel with manna in the wilderness and not with the delicacies of a king’s palace. Why? It was to teach them that they needed more than food to live meaningful and productive lives. They needed every word that came out of the mouth of God as well. And did the manna that they were fed with nourish their bodies well or not? It did. Also, did God ever fail to make this manna available to them? No! Instead, He made sure they had it everyday for forty good years. (Cf. Exodus 16:35)
Also, during the three and a half years of famine that the nation of Israel experienced during Ahab’s reign, God did not feed Elijah and the widow of Zarephath and her son with delicacies. Instead, He fed them with only bread and pastries. But He fed them every day. And He also made sure that what He was giving them nourished and sustained them. (Cf. 1Kings 17)
In like manner, we too can trust God to supply us what to eat everyday, even in a time of famine. What will come to us, however, may not be delicacies. But what will come to us from Him will surely satisfy and nourish us, if we will receive it with thanksgiving. And if we will continue to trust Him for our supply of food and water, He will not keep us forever in the wilderness of manna. Instead, He will surely lead us in due season into our Canaan, where we will have access to abundant milk and honey.
So, maintain an attitude of gratitude to God, regardless of what quantity or quality of food He now makes available to you. That is because your time of plenty and overflowing will soon and surely come. But if you have already died in the wilderness of grumbling, discontentment and ingratitude before it comes, you will have no one but yourself t
o blame. (Cf. Num 11)
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WHAT DOES HIS RESURRECTION MEAN TO YOU? 20/04/25
Welcome to another Easter Sunday. And today, all over the world, Christian faithfuls will be celebrating and talking about the significance of the resurrection of our Lord. So, I want you ask you, “What does the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ mean to you?” Your answer(s) to that will go a long way in determining the kind of experience(s) you will have in your walk with God.
There are people who don’t believe in the resurrection from the dead. They think the moment a man dies everything about his life ends. He has no future to look forward to; he has no past to be held accountable for. So, he can go on and live his life as he pleases, grab all he can for the moment, for tomorrow he will die and disappear forever. (Cf. 1Cor 15:32)
That line of thinking, however, diminishes considerably the purpose of living. It reduces man to nothing but a mere animal, which loses every trace and memory of its existence immediately it dies. But man is not an animal; he is an eternal being, created in the class of God. So, even if his body dies, his spirit will live on. And because his spirit will live on, God is able to hold him accountable for all the things he has done while in the body. (Cf. 2Cor 5:10)
Now that is one of the things the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is meant to lend credit to. He is the first person to be raised from the dead and never to die again. And just as he was raised from the dead, so will every man who dies be raised from the dead, whether he likes it or not. The question, however, is, “What will he be raised from the dead to experience?” (Cf. 1Cor 15:20, Col 1:18, Rev 1:5)
Jesus says this to us;
“Don't be so surprised! Indeed the time is coming when all the dead in their graves shall hear the voice of God's Son, and shall rise again-those who have done good, to eternal life; and those who have continued in evil, to judgment.” (John 5:28-29TLB)
This scripture presents to us a very significant truth about life. And what is that truth? It is that life does not end at death, as we understand death. So, the implications of the things we do here on earth won’t end here; they will affect us throughout eternity.
Now how often do we think about that? I mean how often do we consider the fact that the things we do now and the decisions we make now will have eternal effects on our lives? Among other things, that is what Easter Celebration should once again bring to our minds. And that is what it should propel us to tell others. My prayer is that the Spirit of God will help you live the rest of your life, keeping this in focus, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a very lovely week!
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IT IS A PRIVILEGE
19/04/25
We ought to always thank God for His indescribable care for us in every way and at all times. We also need to continually thank Him for the blessings of His word that we enjoy day by day. That is because, as our Lord Jesus points out, many prophets and righteous men of old desired to hear what we now hear from Him, but did not hear it. Many of them desired to see the things we now see, but did not see them (Matt 13:17). But we are so privileged to have the blessings of God on our eyes, ears, minds and hearts that we are able to see, hear and understand the things of the Kingdom. Glory to God!
Now you may not understand how blessed we are until you consider the fact that many, even today, are struggling hard to be able to relate properly with the word of God. God is always talking. He is always giving His word of power, faith, life, hope and love. The reason many, however, have been unable to use this word to their advantage is that they have not realised that experiencing the word of God is not a function of man’s desire, effort or intelligence; it is a function of God’s grace and mercy.
Moses highlights this very clearly for us in his last words to the Children of Israel when he said:
“…You have seen with your own eyes the great plagues and mighty miracles that the Lord brought upon Pharaoh and his people in the land of Egypt. But even yet the Lord hasn't given you hearts that understand or eyes that see or ears that hear!” (Deut 29:2-4TLB)
Just imagine that! Many times, we get surprised at the unbelief, rebellion and insolence of the Israelites towards God, in spite of all the kindnesses that He showed them when He brought them out of Egypt to take their inheritance in Canaan. But as we consider what Moses says in this scripture, we can now understand why—the blessing to see, hear and understand was not at work in them. And why was it not at work in them? It was because their hearts were not sincerely after God (Matt 5:6).
And you know this scripture also explains why this people missed their Messiah when He was physically present with them, even though they read about Him in their synagogues, Sabbath after Sabbath (John 5:39-40; Acts 13:27). How many today are also continually missing Jesus, even though they are coming in contact with Him day after day?
I am sure you can now see what great privilege we have received from God that we are able to see, hear and understand His word. Therefore, responding with a good conscience, we must not take whatever we have received or are receiving from Him lightly. Instead, we must pay the most careful attention to them, so that we will not run out like leaking vessels (Heb 2:1).
Remember this: if those who are unable to see, hear and understand God’s word will still suffer the consequences of not living according to His word, then, we who are able to see, hear and understand His word will suffer even more, if we refuse to act on the basis of what has been made known to us. My prayer is that we will not err as far as this matter is concerned in Jesus’ name, amen.
Have a lovely day
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DON’T FORGET A SINGLE BLESSING
18/04/25
“Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” (Ps 103:2NIV)
The Message translation renders our opening bible text like this: “O my soul, bless GOD, don't forget a single blessing!” Now I find that very suggestive. That is because one will really have to be thoughtful not to overlook any of God’s blessings. One will really need to be keen-minded not to consider any of God’s blessings as trivial or unimportant.
Now you ask, “Can one actually summarise God’s blessings as unimportant?” Oh yes, one can, and in fact many of us are doing so. That is the reason we usually don’t know what to say whenever we are given an opportunity to thank God. We look at some of the things he has done for us and say, “O, I don’t think that is what talking about.”
But can you really think of something God does, which is not worth talking about? I am sure you know that is an impossible task; for there is nothing God does, which is not worth talking about. Our problem is that we are just too busy to sit down and do a careful consideration of the happenings of our lives. We need to able to sit down to carefully and sincerely consider the roles God has played in our getting to wherever we are right now. That way, we would be able to get a proper perspective of how much we owe him and also see where we would probably have been without him.
At some point in King David’s life, he had to do this. When he looked at his life, where he was coming from and where God brought him to, the bible says, “Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said: "Who am I, O LORD God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?”” 1 Chron 17:16NIV
Now it is only that kind of thoughtful consideration of God’s dealings with us that stimulates thanksgiving. And I call on you, as you face this new day, to begin to thoughtfully consider how good the Lord has been to you. This is not a time to worry about what you don’t have; it is a time to give thanks for what you have already received from God. There is ‘grace for grace’ for the grateful one. So, don’t allow you insensitivity to prevent you from receiving it.
Have a very lovely day.
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WHAT DO YOU TREASURE
17/04/25
Welcome to a new day. And my prayer for you is that the Spirit of God will help you to daily conduct all your affairs in sincerity before God, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
It is a painful fact that a lot of God’s people are not sincere with themselves in their dealings with God. All along, they lie to themselves about their devotion to God and don’t even seem to know it.
Now someone may say, “How is that possible? Can I really lie to myself about my commitment to God?” The truth is that we really can lie to ourselves about our devotion to God. See, a lot of times we express a great deal of devotion to God with our mouths. We talk, sing and write about how much we love him. We even try to commit ourselves to a number of religious activities in order to convince ourselves that we are committed to him. But all these things are just a cover up; our hearts are not really devoted to him.
Our Lord Jesus shows us that it is possible for a man to express a degree of devotion to God with his mouth, when, in the actual sense, his heart is far away from him. (Cf. Mark 7:6) But why will a Christian’s heart be far away from God? It is because he neither treasures God nor sees him as the source of all that a man may ever take delight in.
What do you treasure? In what is your delight? What you treasure is what you live or die for. And what you take delight in is what you spend your time, energy and resources upon. Jesus says, “It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.” (Matt 6:21MSG)
Therefore, it does not matter what you say about God; it does not matter who you say he is to you; if you are not daily spending your time, energy and resources in living to please him and to protect his interests, then, he is nothing to you. And if you do not relate to him as your treasure and the one from which everything you need in life flows, then, all your chants about loving him are mere talks—they are nothing to be taken seriously.
So I ask you, “Does God really mean to you what you say he means?” Or do you just say these things simply because other people are saying them? If that is the case, then, you have been flattering God. And God does not appreciate people who flatter him, just as we don’t appreciate those who flatter us. It is time you faced the reality, then: if you say that you love God, then, live up to it. But if he really does not mean anything to you, then, stop wasting your time among God’s people; go to where you belong—we will understand and even wait until you are ready.
As for me, I join the Psalmist to say, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Ps 73:25-26NIV)
Have a lovely day.
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GOD IS NOT A QUITTER
16/04/25
“God began doing a good work in you, and I am sure he will continue it until it is finished when Jesus Christ comes again.” (Phil 1:6NCV)
That is a very interesting thing to say about God. God is not a quitter. He never starts what he is unable to finish. Once he starts something, he carries it on to completion.
Man, however, may abandon the very work of his own hands. Man may grow tired or become discouraged about a work when the goings get tough. But about God, the scripture says:
“Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary…” (Isa 40:28NIV)
That is a statement of fact! It is not in God to become tired or weary; for he is an everlasting God. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about how things will turn out for you. They will certainly turn out for your good. That is because God will never become tired of handling your case. He will never become tired of working things out for your good. And just as he said to Jacob, he is saying to you now:
“Yes. I'll stay with you, I'll protect you wherever you go, and I'll bring you back to this very ground. I'll stick with you until I've done everything I promised you." (Gen 28:15MSG)
Now will you take that for granted? I mean are you willing to take those words seriously? God says that he is going to stick with you and me until he makes us the persons we are supposed to be. This ought to make us rejoice. It ought to take away from our faces every strain of anxiety.
So as we go today, let us walk, not as a people without God, but as men and women who have God, working for us and with us, every step of the way.
Have a lovely day.
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BE READY FOR GREATNESS
15/04/25
“And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine." The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. So Pharaoh asked them, "Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?"” (Gen 41:33-38NIV)
One of the things to learn from the bible story of Joseph is the need to get ready for elevation. Yes, God showed him all kinds of dreams of greatness as a young boy. But he would not have become great, if he had not been devoted to preparing himself for greatness.
As his account shows, as a young man, he encountered different situations that threatened to permanently take greatness away from him. First, he was sold into slavery by his own blood brothers. Why? They were determined to make nonsense of his dreams of becoming great. He had been sharing those dreams with them and giving them the impression that he was destined to be greater than them in life. So, in their jealousy and anger towards him, they decided to sell him off and then watch how he would rise to be greater than them in slavery. (Cf. Gen 37)
Second, while in slavery, he got into trouble with his master’s wife and found himself in the prison for a crime he did not commit. And that made it look like he was under some curse or spell. That is because everything happening to him seemed to be taking him farther away from the dreams of greatness God had given him. He, then, would need to have great faith in order to continue to believe and to expect his dreams of becoming great to be fulfilled, in spite of all that he was going through.
Well, what this is showing us is that the fact that God has shown you dreams or visions that indicate that you will be great in life does not mean that there won’t be situations that will want to take greatness away from you. You can be very sure that there will be such situations. And you have to be ready for them. Otherwise, you will not respond to them in ways that will prevent them from destroying you or taking away greatness from you.
Joseph showed himself prepared for greatness at every point in his walk. How? First, he took God seriously and kept on believing that He was able to fulfil for him his dreams of greatness, regardless of where he found himself or what he was faced with. Therefore, he was ready to utilise any righteous opportunity that would take him near greatness. That was why even though he came into Potiphar’s house as a slave, he handled his work diligently and faithfully and ended up becoming the administrator of the man’s household and wealth. (Cf. Gen 39)
Also, when he found himself in the prison, he still did not see that as an end to his dream of becoming great. Instead, he saw every task he was given as an opportunity to bring himself closer to greatness. So, he handled it so diligently and honestly that he rose to become the assistant of the prison warden, managing the prison for the man.
Then we see that Joseph did all that he could possibly do as a human being to avoid anything that could withdraw God’s favour from him or ruin his reputation. He would not steal from his master Potiphar. Instead, he showed himself as reliable. That was why the man could entrust everything he had to him. Also, even though no man was watching and it was for free, he would not defile himself with his master’s wife. That, of course, got him imprisoned. But the situation could not chain or imprison the favour of God at work in his life.
Therefore, on the day that the opportunity for him to become the second-in-command to the king of Egypt came, he was spiritually and mentally ready. As we see in our opening bible text, he was not put in that position by Pharaoh just because he interpreted his dreams. There were magicians and wise men who used to interpret dreams and omens for the king in the land at that time. And none of them was made the king’s second-in-command for doing so.
Why, then, was Joseph put in that position? He was put there because he not only showed Pharoah the problem that was coming but also showed him how to prevent it from happening. Interestingly, he made this king see that the solution to the problem at hand had nothing to do with making elaborate animal or human sacrifices but purely administrative. And when he was done talking, both the king and his officials could see that he was not just a spiritually gifted man but also one that was sound in handling administrative issues and problems, even though he was coming from the prison. So, when the king made him his second-in-command, no one protested.
Now the point of all this is that you too have to be ready spiritually, mentally and physically for your opportunities to attain that great height you have been dreaming of. And you can be ready by following Joseph’s example. How? First, take God seriously and keep on believing that He is able to make your greatness happen, regardless of the odds against you. Second, see every task or job you are given as an opportunity to bring yourself closer to that great height you want to attain in life. So, handle it well. That way, you will be developing in yourself those skills and attributes that will make you fit to handle any position of greatness.
Third, see to it that you avoid anything that could shut the door of God’s favour against you. Among other things, immorality, greed, jealousy, unfaithfulness, laziness and pride can shut the door of God’s favour against you. So, take advantage of the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life to avoid them. Then, when the time for your elevation to that height of greatness you have dreamt of comes, you will find that you are ready to utilise it to your advantage.
Cheers!
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RID YOUR LIFE OF THEM
14/04/25
“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.” (1Peter 2:1NIV)
Why does Peter tell us to rid ourselves of all kinds of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander? First, it is because it is the will of God for us to do so. These things are contrary to what God wants for us. And anything that is contrary to what He wants for us must not be permitted in our lives.
Second, he tells us to rid ourselves of these things because we can do so. God is never going to tell man to do anything he cannot do. So, if He tells us to do something, it is because He has made available to us the ability to do so. That, of course, means we can rid ourselves of all forms of malice, which is the urge to harm others, and all forms of deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy and slander, that is, a defamation of the reputation of others.
Third, Peter tells us to rid ourselves of these things because they will ultimately destroy us, if we do not do so. And I am not talking about eternal destruction here, though it does not exclude it; rather, I am talking about different kinds of destruction or ruins that we can experience here on earth.
What I am saying is that malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander, bitterness, anger, rage and other sins of the heart have very great tendencies to destroy our lives, bodies, homes, relationships and so forth, if we permit them long enough in our hearts. These things have the tendency to drive us to do foolish and reckless things that will take away our peace, health or even lives. Yes, they have the tendency to push us to make very serious mistakes that our entire lifetime may not be able to correct.
Look at the story of Haman and Mordecai, for instance. Haman, as the story goes, was at some point elevated by the great King Xerxes. Why? It was because God wanted it to be so. No one, as we see in the bible, can attain any position of authority or greatness, if God does not sanction it. Yes, people may do all kinds of dubious things or even get involved in the practice of witchcraft to get to some positions in life. But the reason they are able to get there is that God allows it. If He does not, all the witchcraft and manipulations of this world will not be able to get them there. (Cf. Esther 3:1; Rom 13:1-2)
So, the elevation of Haman was God-ordained. However, he allowed malice to fill his heart against a Jew called Mordecai. Why? Mordecai was not going to honour him adequately. Why did Mordecai refuse to honour this man as the king had commanded others to do? We are not told in the account. But the fact remains that he was not going to honour him, as others were doing, even though many people had talked to him about it. (Cf. Esther 3:1-4)
Now Haman could have summoned Mordecai to find out what was responsible for his insolence, so that if he would punish him, his punishment would be just. But he did not. Instead, he allowed himself to be filled with malice towards him. In other words, every time he thought about Mordecai, all he could think of was how he would hurt him and hurt him terribly. And the more he thought about it, the more Satan filled him with evil thoughts about Mordecai. (Cf. Esther 3:5)
Eventually, Haman concluded that punishing Mordecai alone would not give him enough gratification – he must punish all the Jews in the empire of Xerxes along with him. And since the king had become highly fond of him, he took advantage of that to get him to sign an evil edict that gave him the permission he needed to destroy all the Jews in the empire. (Cf. Esther 3:6-15)
Now was Mordecai right to show no regard for Haman the way he did? No! There is nowhere in Scriptures that we are taught to rebel against authority. So, we are not told this story in Scriptures to encourage rebellion against those in authority that we do not like. Rather, we are told the story to let us see how far certain people in authority can go to punish those who dishonour them or rebel against them.
But then, was Haman also right to allow his heart to be so filled with malice against Mordecai that he was willing to destroy an entire nation along with him? No! Punishing Mordecai, if there was a need for it, should have been enough. But because he allowed Satan to possess him to destroy an entire nation, God stepped into the situation. And what happened? He began to make mistakes. Soon enough his mistakes became too much for the king could to tolerate. So, he gave series of commands that made him lose his life, his position and his estate and that saved and elevated Mordecai and his people.
What is the point of all this? It is that regardless of what the people in our lives or around us are doing, regardless of how they treat us or relate to us, we must not allow Satan to drive us to become bitter, malicious, hypocritical, slanderous, unforgiving or envious in relating to them. Otherwise, like Haman, we too, at some point, may find ourselves taking steps or doing things that will become traps of destruction or disgrace for us. And that is how people become so depressed that they end up killing themselves or end up with paralysis or some other terminal illness.
Now my prayer is that you will not end up ruining your own life or the lives of your loved ones. But you must rid yourself all of forms of bitterness, malice, hypocrisy, jealousy, unwillingness to forgive and any other thing that is filling you with anger or rage towards the people in your life. And may you always find sufficient strength in you to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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WHEN YOU ARE THE JUDGE
13/04/25
“Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers. He appointed judges in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah. He told them, "Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man but for the LORD, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. Now let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery." (2Chron 19:4-7NIV)
Among the reasons God gives leaders to people everywhere is to establish, maintain and promote justice. In fact, in his letter to the Romans, Paul tells us that every leader, especially a government leader, is God’s messenger, sent to do good to those who do what is right and to punish those who are wicked (Rom 13:4). So, if you are a leader in any capacity, at home, in an organisation, society or school, in a government establishment or even in a church, God is counting on you to give and strengthen justice among those under your care.
See, ever since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, he has become prone to all kinds of evil desires and tendencies. And unless he is recreated and possessed by the Spirit of God, there is every tendency that he will destroy not only the people around him but also himself. So, there must be in every place people and systems that will judge evil and also reward good. In other words, people must always know that there is justice where they are. Otherwise, they will sell themselves totally to evil and move God to step in and destroy them.
Why did God seek to destroy man from the face of the earth in Noah’s day? Was it just because evil was prevalent all over the world? No! Of course, evil was prevalent everywhere in the world. In fact, God’s own testimony of the situation was that all the thoughts of men at that time were only evil. But was that simply the reason He wanted to destroy them? No! The reason He sought to destroy them was that evil was not being judged – there was no justice in the world. (Cf. Gen 6:1-7)
As Solomon tells us in his book, Ecclesiastes, when we are slow to use our position as leaders to deal with wickedness or evil or when we totally refuse to deal with it, people will become emboldened to commit more atrocities (Ecc 8:11). Even those who have been acting honourably and behaving themselves may become bitter and give themselves to doing evil, when they observe that there is no justice where they are. And where that is the case, God will have to step in at some point and judge everybody Himself, in accordance with His righteousness.
Now how God will judge in such situations is not what anyone can say. In the days of Noah, He judged with floodwaters that destroyed all men, animals, birds and vegetations. Only the family of Noah was spared. Also, in the days of Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah, only he and members of his immediate family were spared. Others, including his disobedient wife, were utterly destroyed, when God decided to judge them for the wickedness that they would not judge.
Therefore, just as King Jehoshaphat admonished the judges serving under him in our opening bible text, you too should consider carefully what you do in that position that you are and with the authority that is now yours. That is because God has permitted you to be there in order that you may represent Him in establishing, maintaining and promoting righteousness and justice. And with Him there is no favouritism or injustice or bribery. So, do not allow these things under your watch. Do not allow wickedness or evil to be strengthened or encouraged under your leadership. And do not allow good to be ignored or to go unrewarded when you are in a position to acknowledge and reward it. Otherwise, at some point, God, who is always watching you, will have to step in and do what you are refusing to do. Then, even you, will not be able to escape His justice.
Remember that Paul says if we will judge ourselves, we will not come under God’s judgment (1Cor 11:31). It is when we refuse to use our position to give justice here on earth that God will have to step in and do the needful. Will you, then, do the right thing now with your position? Or will you wait for God to step in and do what you are refusing to do? Well, the ball is in your court, and I counsel that you play it wisely.
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DON’T LOSE YOUR PLACE
12/04/25
“"For," said Peter, "it is written in the book of Psalms, "'May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,' and, "'May another take his place of leadership.'” (Acts 1:20NIV)
Peter, on the occasion mentioned here, drew the attention of the other disciples to what the Scriptures say about Judas and how another person must take his place in the kingdom of God. But why must another person take the place meant for this man? It was because he lost it. And what made him lose it? It was greed that made him lose it.
In like manner, each child of God has a place in the kingdom of God, a place specially prepared for him by the Father. In fact, our Lord Jesus says people will come from every part of the world and take the respective places prepared by the Father for them in His kingdom (Matt 8:11). But taking one’s place in God’s kingdom while in this world is one thing; keeping their place till the very end of all things is another thing entirely.
Judas, like the rest of the disciples of the Lord Jesus, also came to take his place in God’s kingdom. But he eventually lost it. And God alone knows how many like him have lost their places in the kingdom and have had them occupied by some other people. So, it is not enough for us to know that we have a place in the kingdom with our Lord Jesus and the Father. It is also important that we don’t lose our place with them.
Peter, in his second epistle, says the following to us:
“Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.” (2Peter 3:17NIV)
Did you see that? If we are not on our guard, we may fall from our secure position in the kingdom of God. Greed made Judas fall. And it can make us fall too. But even if it does not make us fall, what about pride, lust, rebellion, jealousy or bitterness? Will any of those not make us fall?
If Judas Iscariot had been on his guard against greed, he would not have fallen the way he did. And remember that the Lord taught them to be on their guard against all forms of greed (Luke 12:15). Unfortunately, he did not pay attention to that. So, he fell and lost his place in the kingdom. And if we too won’t pay attention to what He is saying to us about the things we ought to be on our guard against, we may as well end up like Judas.
Yes, we may travel all around the world in the name of the Lord Jesus and do all kinds of things by His power, just it was the case with Judas Iscariot. But all of these things won’t matter after all, if we should lose our place in His kingdom. And my prayer is that our hearts will be kept steadfast in the truth all the time, so that we will not give in to anything that will make us lose our place in our Father’s eternal kingdom. Amen.
Have a great day.
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WAIT FOR THE LORD
11/04/25
“I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” (Ps 27:13-14NIV)
What is David confident of, as we see in our opening bible text? He is confident that he will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living. And why is he confident in this way? It is because he is waiting on the Lord who does not disappoint.
As we see in the scriptures, as a young man, David was faced with severe persecutions from Saul, who was king over Israel at that time. So, he, his men and their family members had to constantly be on the run and could not live as normal people lived. There was even a time that their temporary camp was burnt down and all their wives and children were taken away by the Amalekites. And all his men became so distressed that they were even talking about stoning him, for they felt that their association with him had brought them nothing but trouble. (Cf. 1Sam 30)
Yet the bible says that David did not lose heart in the face of all these things. Instead, he kept on strengthening himself in the Lord, knowing that He would ultimately give him victory all the way and also end his days of wandering someday (1Sam 30:6). That was why he said I am still confident that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. And did he see it or not? He did. He saw God’s goodness not after his death but during his lifetime. He not became king over the nation of Israel but also had the rare privilege of crowning one of his sons king over the land before his death.
But why was David able to eventually witness the goodness of the Lord in his lifetime, despite all the terrible experiences he had, even as a young man? As we see in the bible text above, it was because he did not lose heart but waited for the Lord. The Lord had ordained him king in place of Saul and given him many great and wonderful promises. But for him to witness the manifestation of all these things, he needed to demonstrate faith and patience in Him. Yes, he had to do this for a number of years. But his faith in God and patience ultimately paid off. Therefore, he is able to tell others in his psalm above to do just as he did, if they too want to witness the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Do you, then, also want to witness the goodness of the Lord in your lifetime? Do you want to be alive and well, when God burns the garment of reproach of our nation and wears her with a garment of glory and praise? I want to be alive and well then. I also want my family to be alive and well then. And, like David, I am confident that the good Lord, who saved us from our sins and brought us into His glorious kingdom, will make this happen.
So, regardless of what I see or hear, I will not lose heart or throw away my confidence in Him. Instead, I will be strong in heart and wait for Him. Yes, I will wait for Him because He cares about me and is also trustworthy. But will you too do the same?
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BE PATIENT WITH GOD
10/04/25
“We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants." And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.” (Heb 6:12-15NIV)
What is the first instruction we are given here? It is that we must not be lazy in our walk of faith. In other words, we must take our relationship with God very seriously, doing whatever needs to be done to build it up. Then we are told to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what God promised them. So, faith and patience, not faith only, must work together in order for us to fully experience the goodness of God in our lives.
Now Abraham’s case is used to illustrate this for us. Abraham, as we see in Scriptures, was truly a man of faith. However, in order for him to receive God’s promise of a son through his wife Sarah, he had to add patience to his faith. But Abraham was not always patient with God. He had to learn it in a hard way. When God first told him that he was going to give him a son and multiply his descendants through that son, he believed Him. And God knew that he truly believed Him. So, He counted his faith to him as righteousness. (Cf. Gen 15:1-6)
However, few years later, his wife, Sarah, grew impatient and advised him to try her maidservant, Hagar, to see whether God’s promise may be fulfilled through her. And he listened to her, without talking to God at all about it in prayer. Yet Hagar became pregnant for him indeed, making it look like they were in the will of God. But soon enough, they both realised that they had missed it. Why? Hagar began to cause trouble for them, doing things that would destroy their marriage of many years. And if he had not been willing to let his wife deal with the young lady, in spite of her pregnant condition, their home would have collapsed. (Cf. Gen 16)
But what led them into all that trouble? Was it unbelief in God? No! Rather, it was their impatience with Him. They had faith in God and were actually trusting Him for their own child. But instead of being patient with Him, they tried to help Him fulfil His promise to them. And that almost ruined them.
Well, much later, God would appear to Abraham again and let him know that he should have been patient. He told him that the son he got through Hagar, Ishmael, was not the fulfilment of His promise to him. So, he would have to wait a little longer for that son that would be the fulfilment of His promise to come. And when he did, Isaac was given to him as the son of God’s promise. (Cf. Gen 18&21)
Now I am sure it must have been a hard thing for Abraham to accept the fact that Ishmael, the son whom he loved and whom he had spent years taking care of was not God’s choice in fulfilling the promise of blessing the whole world through his offspring. But there was nothing he could do about it. He just had to abandon the innocent boy. And that is showing us something of the nature of pains we could bring into our lives and other innocent people’s lives through our impatience with God. It could be something that would not heal for generations to come.
So, if you truly trust God to fulfil all His good word concerning your promotion, prosperity, peace of mind, health, safety and so on, then, learn to also be patient with Him, regardless of contrary circumstances. Don’t try to help Him by stealing, visiting diviners or getting involved in adultery. That will only put you in trouble sooner or later, if it seems to be working. The only way you can help Him is to stay in His will. And I pray that your heart will be strengthened to patiently walk in His will all the time, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a splendid day.
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THE KIND OF LEADERS WE NEED
09/04/25
“He will be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth. In his days the righteous will flourish; prosperity will abound till the moon is no more.” (Ps 72:6-7NIV)
Who is offering this prayer? It is Solomon. Who is he offering the prayer for? He is offering it for himself, for, in the very first verse of this same Psalm, his words are, “Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness.” (Ps 72:1NIV) So, here we have a praying king, a praying leader. Yes, we have here a leader that is talking to God about endowing him with what he needs to be a just leader over his people. No wonder even a prostitute who went to him to judge a very difficult case got justice and was not put to shame (1Kings 2:16-28).
We too need many of such leaders in our country today. We need praying leaders. We need leaders that take God seriously. We need leaders that know that apart from God there is nothing they can accomplish for the country. Leaders who boast in their education, wealth, wisdom or experience cannot take us anywhere. We have had many of them. And where have they brought us? They have taken us backward instead of forward. So, what we need in every part of the country right now are leaders who have their reliance solely in God and who place no confidence in the flesh.
Also, we need leaders who love justice and who want to see it maintained. Solomon, as we see in that verse of his psalm that I gave you above, prayed to God to endow him with justice simply because he wanted to see justice reign in the land. And until we too have leaders who have hearts devoted to seeing justice prevail in our country and who will count on God to supply them with everything they need to make justice prevail among us, the various forms of injustice that are killing our land and keeping us in the mud of barrenness will not begin to disappear.
Furthermore, we need leaders that will continually labour for righteous and hardworking people to flourish in our country. And that is one of the things Solomon prays to God for in our opening bible text. First, he asks that God will make him a leader that will be like showers of rain on the thirsty hearts of his people. In other words, he is asking that God will make him a leader that will provide for his people the enabling environment they need to thrive.
Look at our country today. Many people are hardworking. But their hard work is not resulting in prosperity. Why? It is because the enabling environment for their hard and diligent labour to transform into prosperity is not there. But if these same people should go into some developed country and labour as they are now doing in this country, they would begin to shine like stars in the sky.
So, even though our own leaders will not offer the kind of prayer that Solomon offers for himself for themselves, we can offer it to God. We can tell Him to give us in every part of our country leaders that will be like showers of rain to our hungry and thirsty hearts, leaders that will create for us, our children and generations to come after us an enabling environment for prosperity.
Then the next thing Solomon asks of God in that prayer is that righteous people will actually flourish in the land under his rule. That means it is his desire for honest and righteous people to thrive in the land. It is his desire that those who are doing what is right will not be pushed down or hindered by wicked and unreasonable people from prospering in the land. So, he prays that God will make this happen. He prays that God will supply him all that he needs to clear the way for the righteous in the land to rise and shine.
Unfortunately, we rarely see this kind of desire in the leaders of our country. That is why many of us don't believe in righteousness at all. We don't believe in diligence. We don't believe in honesty. We don't think these virtues can take us anywhere in life. And that is largely because there are not many righteous people around us that are doing well and flourishing in the country.
But all that can change and will change, if we will begin to talk to God, asking Him to give us leaders that righteous, holy, honest and diligent people will prosper under their leadership. Will you pray, then, about this? Will you join me in asking God for an abundant supply of leaders that will give room for righteous people in this country to prosper and also be protected in their prosperity? I pray that God will give you a heart that is willing to continually intercede for the leadership of this nation, in Jesus' name. Amen.
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DON’T GIVE YOURSELF TO DESOLATION
08/04/25
“…And Tamar lived in her brother Absalom's house, a desolate woman.” (2Sam 13:20NIV)
Why did Tamar give herself to living a desolate life? It was the rape experience she had with her half-brother, Amnon. As the account goes in the bible, because Amnon could not deal with his irrational love for Tamar, he resulted to using manipulation to get her into bed with him. Unfortunately for him, the young lady would not willingly participate in the incest that he suggested to her. So, he overpowered her, raped her and then drove her away like as one would drive a stray dog away. (Cf. 2Sam 13:1-19)
To make matters worse, when their father, King David, heard about the case, he was only furious -- he did not do anything about it. He did not give Amnon any serious punishment at all, one that would let him and other rapists like him know that there was no place for them and their nonsense in Israel. Why? He was probably looking at the political implications of punishing the crown prince for raping his own sister. He probably even did his best to hide from the public what happened, so that the image of his family would not be tarnished. (Cf. 2Sam 13:21)
In any case, Amnon got away unscathed after raping his sister. And since he could rape a princess like that and get away with it, then, nothing would have happened, if it had been a commoner that he had raped. The matter would also have been swept under the carpet, and more easily too.
So, we should understand that it is not only commoners that may be suffering injustice in our land. Some highly placed people too may be suffering injustice in silence. They too are angry. And they want to fight back and punish the injustice they have suffered with all the strength, authority and power they have. But some of the people in their lives will not just allow them to do so. Why? Image! They don’t want the public image of their family, company or political party to be ruined. So, though they are hurting and aching as a result of what has been done to them, they just have to let it go and bear their pains in silence for life or until an opportunity to judge those who hurt them without ruining the image they are trying to protect shows up.
If you, then, have been a victim of any form of injustice, don’t think your case is peculiar. Don’t think it is because you are not as rich, influential or educated as some people that your matter has gone unjudged. That is because even if you are rich, influential or highly educated, you may still be unjustly treated and not be able to do anything to punish those who have cheated you.
However, even if you have suffered any form of injustice, what becomes of your life, going forward, is what is important. As we see in our opening bible text, beautiful Tamar refused to move forward with her life because of the injustice that she had suffered. So, as young and beautiful as she was, she retired to her elder brother’s house and began to live a desolate life, a joyless life. In other words, she allowed what happened to her to make a mess of her. Why? She, unlike her father, did not know how to draw strength, courage and wisdom from God to heal and rebuild her life (1Sam 30:1-6).
Now perhaps that is where you too are right now. You are living in desolation because of certain injuries or injustice you have suffered in the hands of some people. You need to wake up, give your life over to God and let Him heal and restore you. That way, you won’t have to make a waste of your life because of the wickedness done to you.
Remember Joseph. Remember that he too suffered all kinds of injustice, first from the hands of his own blood brothers and then from the hands of Potiphar’s wife. Yet he did not allow his life to stop or to become useless because of these things. Instead, he entrusted himself to God and gave himself to diligently doing everything that was committed to his care. So, he was healed and lifted up in due season. And to show that he was completely healed by God, when he eventually met his brothers again, he had no grudges against them. Instead, he forgave them and saved them and their families from the seven years of came upon their land.
In like manner, you too can be totally healed of whatever injury you have suffered from the hands of men, if you will commit yourself to God to heal you. And you should do that without delay instead of giving yourself to a life of desolation and uselessness. That is because if you stop your life, ruin it or make it joyless because of anybody, you will have only yourself to blame.
And guess what? God may eventually win over to His side those people that hurt you and whom you are using as your excuse for messing up your life. They, then, will go on and become useful and mighty instruments that will be highly rewarded in His kingdom, while you will have wasted your life and have nothing to receive from God for it. So, be wise, my friend, and begin to do the right thing right away.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Chr
ist be with you. Amen.
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MIRACLES FOR SUSTENANCE
07/04/25
“She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah.” (1Kings 17:15-16NIV)
How did God feed Elijah and the widow of Zarephath and her son during the three and a half years of famine that the land of Israel experienced in the time of King Ahab? It was through a miracle of renewal. As the account goes, God saw to it that the little flour and the little oil that widow had were daily renewed all through those years of famine. That means they woke up every day to see that there was still enough flour in the jar and enough oil in the bottle to feed on. How God did that is not something anyone can explain. He did it anyway and kept these people alive during that period of famine.
Now the bible tells us that God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8). That means we can trust Him to take care of us too, if we are faced with a period of famine, just as He took care of Elijah and that widow of Zarephath and her son. He may not perform for us the same kind of miracle He performed for their sustenance. But if we will put our trust in Him, He will perform for us also the right kind of miracles for our sustenance and peace of mind, regardless of what nature of famine or lack we are confronted with.
However, first, we need a revelation of what to do or not to do to experience God’s miracle of sustenance in our lives or homes. In other words, we need to know exactly what steps to take or not to take in order to access God’s provisions for us or to experience His miracles of provision for us. As we see in the case of Elijah and that widow, God had to reveal to both of them what they needed to do to survive those three and a half years of famine.
First, when the famine just started, God revealed to Elijah where to go and be fed. He told him to go and hide in the Kerith Ravine and that He had ordered certain birds to bring his food there every day. And when he went, he met things just the way God had told him. Ravens brought him bread and meat there every morning and every evening and he drank water to his satisfaction from the brook. (Cf. 1Kings 17:2-6)
Then, when the brook dried up because of the drought in the land, God spoke to this man again and told him to immediately go to Zarephath because He had commanded a widow there to supply him with food. When and how did God speak to this widow in Zarephath about taking care of Elijah? We would not know, for we are not told in the bible. But it is clear that this widow’s generosity to Elijah when they first met was based on revelation. In other words, she did not give her food to Elijah simply because he showed up before her and announced himself to be a prophet; rather, she gave it to him because God had told her to do so. (Cf. 1Kings 17:7-15)
I said that to warn you not to give your money or anything else to anyone just because the person calls himself a man of God. If you are not certain that someone is a man or woman of God, then, you are not under any obligation to give to support the person. Then even if you are sure that someone is a man of or woman of God, don’t give to her because you are being pressured, threatened or manipulated to do so. Rather, give to her because you want to obey the word of God that says you are to give to those who share the word of God with you and who watch over your soul by the power of the Spirit of God. Otherwise, you will be giving to the flesh and will have no reward from God for doing so. (Cf. 1Cor 9:14; 2Cor 9:7; Gal 6:6-8)
In any case, the point I am making is that both Elijah, who was a preacher, and the widow of Zarephath, who we could call a church member, needed God’s revelations on how to survive the famine that had come upon their land. In like manner, you too need God’s revelations for your sustenance, whether you are a preacher or not, especially during this period of economic meltdown that our nation is experiencing. And you can receive these revelations by continually giving yourself to the word of God, prayer and fellowship with God’s people.
Then, apart from receiving revelations from God on what to do to experience His provisions for their survival, both Elijah and that widow of Zarephath had to obey God. In other words, they had to act on what He had revealed to them. Elijah had to travel to meet this widow in Zarephath and she also had to receive him into her house, even though it was not convenient for her to do so. In short, it was a sort of partnership between the two of them. And it was this partnership that came through their obedience to God that He used in producing the miracle that sustained them.
Remember that though Elijah was carrying God’s anointing to work miracles, he had no substance, no food to perform a miracle on. And though the widow of Zarephath had some flour and oil with her, she had no anointing to renew the food she had and keep it from being used up for three years or so. But by obeying the Lord, both of them were able to use what they had to support and keep themselves alive during that period of famine.
Perhaps we too at this time need this sort of partnership for us to receive miracles of sustenance, promotion or protection from God. Who knows? In any case, whether that is what we need or not, what is clear is that we need to continually receive revelations from God for our sustenance in this life. And as we receive these revelations, we will do well to take them seriously and act on them. That is because that may just be the difference between life and death or stagnation and promotion for us.
suffer. That is because God is never going to ask us to do anything that is not in agreement with His good purpose for us. If we, then, want to see that good purpose of His fulfilled in our lives, we should listen to Him and do as He says, regardless of what we think or how we feel about it
Have a pleasant day.
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GOD WAS WITH HIM
06/04/25
“God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer.” (Gen 21:20NIV)
Who was God with as he grew up? It was Ishmael. And who was Ishmael? He was the son that Hagar, the slave of Sarah, bore for Abraham. As bible accounts go, Abraham had sent both Ishmael and his mother away from his household because they were slaves and had no right to his inheritance. Was he happy to do this? No, not at all! But because God had said that it was the right thing for him to do, in the light of the promises He had made to him, he did it. (Cf. Gen 21:8-14)
So, there may be times when God will require us to do things that we are not happy about, things that may hurt us or hurt our relationships with some people deeply. And it will be wise of us to do as He says, in spite of how we feel or what injury our reputations may suffer. That is because God is never going to ask us to do anything that is not in agreement with His good purpose for us. If we, then, want to see that good purpose of His fulfilled in our lives, we should listen to Him and do as He says, regardless of what we think or how we feel about it.
See, even if what God tells us to do may ruin our relationships with certain people or bring some form of pains into the lives of others, the wise thing for us is to still do it. That is because as long as what we are doing is the will of God for us, we can be sure that He will be there to heal anyone that may be hurt in the process, if such a person will allow Him to heal them. So, if there is a wrong relationship you are meant to severe or end, don't allow your concern for the pains the person involved will suffer to prevent you from doing the will of God. That is because God will be there to heal the person, if they will allow Him. And if they will not, the fault will not be yours.
Abraham's decision to send Hagar and young Ishmael away with nothing and to nowhere in particular was terrible enough to ruin their lives. But God had said this to him before he sent them away: “I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring." (Gen 21:13NIV) In other words, God had plans of greatness for Ishmael and his mother too. And He did not need them to be in Abraham's house for those plans to be fulfilled. So, Abraham had no need to worry about them. God was ready to take full care of them.
Now did God actually take care of them or not? He did. As we see in our opening bible text, God was with Ishmael as he grew up. And where did he grow up? He grew up in the desert. Think about that. The fact that Ishmael was in the desert did not stop God from being with him or making him great. On the contrary, right there in the desert, God forged him into a great archer. And here is what is later written about him and his sons in the bible:
“Here is a list, in the order of their births, of the descendants of Ishmael, who was the son of Abraham and Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's slave girl: Nebaioth, Kedar, Abdeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, Kedemah. These twelve sons of his became the founders of twelve tribes that bore their names.” (Gen 25:12-17TLB)
Did you see that? All the sons that came from Ishmael were great men and leaders, founders of twelve tribes that carried their names. So, the fact that Ishmael was sent away by his own father as a boy did not stop him from becoming great. Why? God was with him to guide him in life and make him great. And this agrees with what David says in one of his psalms, which reads, “Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.” (Ps 27:10NIV)
What is the point of all this? Well, it is that regardless of who accepts you or forsakes you, the most important thing is that you have God with you. As long as He accepts you and is with you, He will see to it that all His good plans for your life are fulfilled. Also, regardless of where circumstances of life lead you, even if it is a desert, God will still stand by you to make you all that He wants to make you. He will not choose where He will be with you. He will not choose to be with you in the palace and choose not to be with you in the desert or in the prison. His promise is to watch over your life both now and forevermore (Ps 121:7-8). And you can count on Him to fulfil it.
Therefore, there is no need for you to be bitter against anyone who rejects you or who does not want to associate with you, whether for right reasons or wrong reasons. Remember that God stayed with Ishmael and made him great, even though his rich father was not there for him. And He is with you too to make you what you ought to be. All you need is to take your relationship with Him very seriously and make the most of every situation you may find yourself, and we will soon meet at the top.
Have a pleasant day.
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THE EXPRESSION OF HIS BLESSINGS
05/04/25
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” (Eph 1:3NIV)
We are to continually praise our God and Father because He has blessed us. When last did you praise Him for blessing you? Do you even know that He has blessed you? He is not going to bless you, if you are one of His children – He has already blessed you. So, right now and right where you are, you are blessed of God.
Then notice also that we are told something of the extent to which God has blessed us. We are told that He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Wow! In blessing us, God decided to pour out all of His blessings on our lives. What this really means is beyond what our minds can ever comprehend. But it is sufficient for us to know that we have enough of God's blessings in us to excel and thrive in this life. And how we respond to this information will go a long way in determining the degree to which the blessings we have received find expression in us.
I said this because there are many of God's people today who are going from place to place seeking the blessings of God, even though they have more than enough blessings they could ever utilise in their lifetime. Why is this so? It is so because they cannot seem to see the expression of the blessings of God in their lives.
As you may already know, a blessing is not something we can see with our eyes. But when it is working in someone's life, those around can see its expressions. It is just like a curse too. You can't see it with your eyes. But when it is working in someone's life, people can tell that he is under a curse. It follows, then, that it is not enough for us to be blessed; there must also be expressions of blessings in our lives. And it is the visible expression of God's blessings, in terms of righteousness, good health, a life of contentment and so forth, in our lives that will make people call us blessed.
Now what will cause God's blessings to fully find expression in us? One of them is thanksgiving. Remember that Paul, in the Scripture I gave you above, begins by praising God for blessing us. Interestingly, this man was in the prison when he penned down these words in a letter. That means, even as a prisoner, he saw himself as a very blessed man. Therefore, being blessed is not about our natural circumstances; rather, it is about what God has made us and also deposited in us. This is why you must never ever again consider yourself disadvantaged because of the natural circumstances you have found yourself in. Instead, always walk in the consciousness of the blessings of God on your life and show it by being thankful to Him.
Another thing that will cause the blessings of God to find expression in us is our practice of His word. How did we receive the blessings of God? Through His word. So, if we want to see His blessings in full expression in our lives, we must devote ourselves to reading and studying His word and to meditating and practising it.
Remember what God told the children of Israel, when He just brought them out of Egypt. He told them that if they would take His word seriously, then, all the blessings He had pronounced on them would find expression in their lives and affairs. But if they would not take His word seriously, all they would experience were His curses. So, they and their leaders were instructed to devote themselves to reading the word, studying it and meditating on it in order that they may practise it and experience the blessings of God. (Cf. Deut 6:4-9 &28; Jos 1:7-8)
We, however, have got something better from God. He has only made proclamations of blessings on us in Christ Jesus. No curses have been added at all. However, we too need to take His word seriously in order to practise it. That way, His blessings on us will be able to find unhindered expression in our lives.
Then we must equally give ourselves to prayers. Prayer is one major way to appropriate or receive what God has given. So, if we observe that the blessings of God are not manifesting in certain areas of our lives, it is on us to pray to Him about them. The children of Israel, for example, were taught by God to pray for an expression of God's blessings each time they give their tithes in obedience to His word (Deut 26:12-15). And the Lord also teaches us to pray without ceasing and to expect to receive from God each time we do so (Matt 7:7-8; Luke 18:1). So, if want to see an unhindered expression of God's blessings in our lives, we must learn to keep praying.
Now, as you go through this new day and the remaining part of the year, may your heart be strengthened to be thankful, to be devoted to God's word and to also be prayerful, so that the presence of the blessings of God in your life will be obvious enough for men to see and to praise God for you. Amen.
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JUST TELL HIM WHAT YOU NEED
04/04/25
“John's disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, he sent them to the Lord to ask, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"” (Luke 7:18-19NIV)
As clearly shown us in Scriptures, John the Baptist was the one that God used in leading the Jews to their Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ. And how did he know that Jesus was indeed the Son of God and the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world? It was by revelation. According to him, God had already told him that the man on whom he saw the Spirit come down and remain is the Messiah. So, when he saw these things fulfilled in Jesus, he began to announce to all those who came to him that He is their Messiah. (Cf. John 1:29-36)
However, at some point, John was arrested and jailed by Herod the tetrarch because the former rebuked him for taking his brother's wife and also for other evil things he had done (Luke 3:19-20). And everybody in the land, including Jesus, heard about this. But nobody really did anything about it. There was no riot in the country against Herod because of it. And it is not recorded in Scriptures that any group of activists rose up to fight for John's right or to plead his cause before Herod. Business just continued as usual in the land.
Now, from what we see in Scriptures, all this did not make John happy at all. He knew himself to be a true prophet of God. And he had been used by God to lead many to righteousness and faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Yet when this injustice befell him, none of the people made any serious effort to secure his release. That, for him, must have meant that his ministry was not really as successful in changing the people as he had thought.
Furthermore, John began to hear from his disciples all kinds of things, miracles, signs and wonders, that Jesus was performing among the people and how the people were praising God on account of Him. This, then, was the piece of straw that broke the camel's back. I mean that this was what troubled John the most. “So, Jesus has the power to do all these marvellous things,” he must have thought. “Yet, even though he knows that I am here in the prison, suffering, he has not visited me or made any effort to set me free. This is bad. This is unbelievable. And I must send him a word about this.”
Therefore, John sent his disciples to our Lord Jesus with the words that we have in our opening bible text, saying, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" But that was a big blunder that he committed. Why would he ask this kind of question, a question of unbelief and doubt, a question that was not worthy of the praise of God? Was he really doubtful about the identity of our Lord Jesus Christ? No! He was the one that God specifically sent to reveal Jesus to the people. And he did this task well. But because he found himself in an unfavourable condition, and the Lord did not seem to show any interest in helping him out of it, he resorted to what one might call blackmail.
Now was it that the Lord was not at all concerned about John the Baptist or that He had no respect for him as a prophet of God? No! From what He later said to the people about him, it is clear that He saw him as one that was more than a prophet and in fact the greatest of all those born of women (Luke 7:24-28). Nevertheless, He did not make any move about his release. Why? We are not given any specific reason in Scriptures. But since He pleased God in all that He did, we can take it for granted that it was not the will of God for Him to interfere in that matter, for it was basically a political one and His ministry at that time was not to get involved in politics (John 18:36).
By the way, the fact that He had not done anything about John's case at that time did not mean that He was never going to do anything about it. What, then, should John have done? He should have made his own request to the Lord for deliverance from Herod's hand. At least, he was getting reports of how many others were being healed, delivered, set free and even raised from the dead. But instead of asking for the Lord's help, he began to indirectly say to Him, “Can you not see that I am in trouble? Or are you waiting for me to call for your help before you do something about my case? Or perhaps you are not even the Messiah we are expecting.” And that, I believe, was what closed whatever door of help John might have received from God against him.
Similarly, there are many today who, instead of making their plain and simple requests to God about the problems of their lives, often try to blackmail Him. If they are not talking about what they have done for Him (giving of tithes, preaching and so forth), which they believe should have qualified them to receive certain things from Him, they will be talking about what He has done for others, which He has failed to do for them. They may even go as far as threatening Him with words that undermine His power, believing that will spur Him to action.
But what such people, like John the Baptist, don't know is that God cannot be blackmailed or threatened to act against His will or to even carry out His will. So, if we need anything from Him, let us just ask, instead of making foolish comments and references. And if we have asked according to His will, He will answer us. Otherwise we are still not going to receive anything.
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DON’T MAKE LIFE COMPLICATED FOR YOURSELF
03/04/25
“This is all that I have learned: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.” (Eccl 7:29GNT)
One of the things we must learn is how not to make life hard, difficult or complicated for ourselves. It is true that things are not what they are meant to be in our nation. But many are also making life hard for themselves. They are continually going for things that they have no wisdom, ability or resources to handle or manage. So, they are always under one form of pressure or the other. And when you ask them why things are so tight and difficult for them, they are always ready to say, “It is the bad economic conditions of Nigeria.”
How long are we going to blame the country's poor economy for all the problems in our lives? You know that the economy is poor. Yet you will not control the way you use your resources or learn to use them wisely. You know the economy is poor. Yet you are willing to borrow unreasonable sums of money for luxury cars, weddings, burials and some other social functions that will ultimately add no value to your life or to your world. What are you doing to yourself? You are making life difficult for yourself and those connected to you.
As we see in our opening text, God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated. That means it is never God's desire for our lives to be hard and difficult. So, He created us to live simply (not foolishly) and not allow this world and the things in it, which are all going to pass away, to own us.
But what do we do? In our attempt to enjoy ourselves and the things of the world without God's wisdom, we do things and create systems that make everything difficult and complicated for us. Then we find something or someone or even God to blame for our ordeals.
You too can consider the challenges you are facing at the moment and ask yourself, “Who brought these upon me?” If you will be sincere, you will see that it is not every problem that you have that has been brought upon you by others, people or institutions. There are problems that you have brought upon yourself. And while it is true that God is able to solve even those problems for you, it is equally important that you stop making life difficult for yourself. That is what God wants me to tell you, as we begin this new day. And may His good Spirit open your eyes to see all those things you are doing to make life difficult for you and others and enable you to do the right thing about them. Amen.
Have a lovely day.
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DON’T MAKE LIFE COMPLICATED FOR YOURSELF
03/04/25
“This is all that I have learned: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.” (Eccl 7:29GNT)
One of the things we must learn is how not to make life hard, difficult or complicated for ourselves. It is true that things are not what they are meant to be in our nation. But many are also making life hard for themselves. They are continually going for things that they have no wisdom, ability or resources to handle or manage. So, they are always under one form of pressure or the other. And when you ask them why things are so tight and difficult for them, they are always ready to say, “It is the bad economic conditions of Nigeria.”
How long are we going to blame the country's poor economy for all the problems in our lives? You know that the economy is poor. Yet you will not control the way you use your resources or learn to use them wisely. You know the economy is poor. Yet you are willing to borrow unreasonable sums of money for luxury cars, weddings, burials and some other social functions that will ultimately add no value to your life or to your world. What are you doing to yourself? You are making life difficult for yourself and those connected to you.
As we see in our opening text, God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated. That means it is never God's desire for our lives to be hard and difficult. So, He created us to live simply (not foolishly) and not allow this world and the things in it, which are all going to pass away, to own us.
But what do we do? In our attempt to enjoy ourselves and the things of the world without God's wisdom, we do things and create systems that make everything difficult and complicated for us. Then we find something or someone or even God to blame for our ordeals.
You too can consider the challenges you are facing at the moment and ask yourself, “Who brought these upon me?” If you will be sincere, you will see that it is not every problem that you have that has been brought upon you by others, people or institutions. There are problems that you have brought upon yourself. And while it is true that God is able to solve even those problems for you, it is equally important that you stop making life difficult for yourself. That is what God wants me to tell you, as we begin this new day. And may His good Spirit open your eyes to see all those things you are doing to make life difficult for you and others and enable you to do the right thing about them. Amen.
Have a lovely day.
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DISCERNMENT IN PRAYING
02/04/25
“You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:2-3NIV)
Here James speaks of two kinds of attitude people can have towards prayers. First, there are those who don't see praying to God as a sure way of solving life's problems. So, instead of praying to God about their challenges or needs, they covet, fight, steal or kill in order to have their problems solved. And people who live like that, even though they claim to be Christians, will never be free from pains and sorrows in their lives.
Then James also speaks of those who pray and do not receive. And he says the reason they don't receive is that their hearts are not right. So, it is not that these individuals are asking God for things that are bad in themselves, things that He does not expect us to ask Him to do for us. And there are indeed things that we all can tell are bad for us and for others, regardless of what excuse we may make for wanting to have them. But those are not the things these individuals that the apostle speaks of are asking of God. They are asking Him for things that are good in themselves. But they are asking for those things for the wrong reasons. So, God does not answer them.
What this is teaching us is that God is not only concerned about the things we ask for when we pray; He is also concerned about why we ask for them. First, He does not want us to ask for those things that are obviously bad for us and for others. Then, even when we are asking for those things that are good for us and perhaps for others too, He wants us to have upright and righteous reasons for wanting to have them.
See, there are times that things that are good and wonderful in themselves can end up becoming snakes or scorpions in our hands, poisoning us and others and destroying every other good thing that is in our lives. That is why one of the prayers we ought to continually pray to God is for Him to teach us to always ask Him for the right things and to ask for them at the right time. What I am saying is that we need discernment in praying. And we can only get it by allowing the Holy Spirit to renew our minds with the word of God.
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TROUBLE INSTEAD OF HELP 01/04/25
“Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came to him, but he gave him trouble instead of help. Ahaz took some of the things from the temple of the LORD and from the royal palace and from the princes and presented them to the king of Assyria, but that did not help him.” (2Chron 28:20-21NIV)
One of the things made abundantly clear to us in Scriptures is that no one can help anyone that God does not help. So, if you want true help about any matter of life, the one you should turn to is God. Otherwise, anyone or anything you turn to for help apart from God may end up making an already bad situation worse for you.
As we see in our opening bible text, there was a time that King Ahaz of Judah turned to the king of the Assyrians, Tiglath-Pileser, for help. Why? He was being attacked by his neighbouring nations from different angles. So, he was losing his people and his territory at a very alarming rate. (Cf. 2Chro 28:5-15)
But why was he losing his people and land in that manner? That was the first question he ought to have asked himself. His father, Jotham, did not lose his people or land at all. Instead, he made them stronger and richer. Also, his grandfather, Uzziah, did not lose his people or land at all. Instead, he made them stronger and richer. (Cf. 2Chro 26-27)
What, then, was his own problem? Why could he not keep what was passed on to him? He could not because he did not take God seriously as did his grandfather and father. Instead of worshiping God, he gave himself to the worship of idols and the practice of divination. Therefore, God withdrew His protection from him and from the land. That, of course, was the reason for his trouble. (Cf. 2Chro 28:1-8)
So, even though Ahaz needed help in order to be saved from his enemies, there was something he needed more than help. And that was repentance. If he had repented and turned back to God, the God of the nation that he was king over, he would have had all the help he needed to defeat his enemies and win his land and people back.
Ahaz, however, was too arrogant to humble himself before God and seek His face. Therefore, he turned to the king of the Assyrians for help. Unfortunately, as we are told in our opening bible text, instead of getting help from this man, all he got from him was trouble. And even though he gave him some of the treasures laid up by his ancestors in the temple of God and in his palace, all he still got from him was trouble. Eventually, he gave himself to more idolatry and messed up the entire nation even more before his meaningless reign ended.
In like manner, there are many like Ahaz today who are going from place to place and people to people for all kinds of assistance or support. But what they need may not just be help but to take God seriously in their lives and stop living according to their own ways. And as long as they do not realise this and act accordingly, any help they find may soon enough prove to be no help at all but trouble.
Then, like Ahaz, there are many all around the world who keep looking for help and solutions to the problems of their lives outside God. And will they get helped? No! Instead, like Ahaz, what they will keep finding are people like Tiglath-Pileser, who will keep taking from them but never giving them anything but trouble.
Now perhaps you already have such people in your life. They keep asking you to give them all kinds of things and taking you to all kinds of places, all in the name of wanting to help you. Yet their help is not forthcoming. If you are not careful, such people will be the ones that will run you dry. Then you will wake up one day and realise that your home, possessions, savings, health and everything else you care for are gone. Yet you have not been helped.
So, stop seeking help where it does not exist. Your help is with only one person. And that person is God. You just need to humble yourself, put your trust in Him and stop relying on your understanding. And He will see to it that you get the right kind of help you need without having to lose your head, sleep, relationships or resources.
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BECAUSE OF THEIR UNBELIEF 31/03/25
“So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.” (Heb 3:19NIV)
Who is the writer of the book of Hebrews referring to in our opening text? It is the children of Israel that Moses brought up out of Egypt. And where were they not able to enter? It was the land of Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey which God had promised to give to them. Why, then, were they not able to enter it? They were not able to enter it because of their unbelief.
Therefore, God was not the problem of these Israelites. They were their own problem. God made a promise to their forefathers that He was going to give them the land of Canaan. And why was it the land of Canaan that He wanted to give to them and not somewhere else? It was because it was a beautiful land. Moses describes it in this way:
“But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.” (Deut 11:11-12NIV)
Is it not interesting to know that God can take a special interest in a particular place, to preserve it, to watch over it and to make it a blessing to those who occupy it? It is! And that was how it was for the land of Canaan that God wanted the children of Israel to have. God cared about it. God was watching over it from the beginning of the year to its very end.
So, that land was meant to be a land of rest for those Israelites. It was meant to be a land of prosperity for them. And all they needed to have it was to simply go into it and possess it. But when God said that it was time for them to take it for themselves, they were unwilling to do so. Why? They could not trust Him to make it theirs.
But why could these Israelites not trust God to make the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey, theirs? It was because they were looking at the sizes of the giants in the land instead of looking at the greatness of the power of God. God had brought them out of Egypt by His powerful hand. And neither the stubbornness of Pharoah nor the sorcery of Egypt could keep them back when God was ready to set them free.
Also, God had divided the Red Sea before them so that they crossed it on dry ground. And when the Egyptians tried to do the same, they perished in the waters of this sea. What about other miracles that He performed for them in the wilderness? He gave them food there every day. He gave them water to drink from the rock. He kept their bodies warm and healthy and preserved their clothes and sandals. Yet they could not trust Him to deliver the land of Canaan and the giants in it to them. Instead, they told themselves that they would appoint a leader over them who would take back to their former house of slavery, Egypt. What a shame! (Cf. Num 13-14)
Therefore, in His anger, God swore that all of them who were twenty years of age and above and who had witnessed all the miracles He had performed for them would not enter the land of rest that He was giving them. And it was so. All of them, twenty years of age or more, wandered and perished in the wilderness, not being able to enter God’s place of rest and prosperity for them. Yes, they saw their prosperity standing very close to them. But their unbelief prevented them from touching and enjoying it.
Now the bible says that these things are written down to teach us not to be like them (1Cor 10:6&11). In other words, they are written down as examples for us, so that we too will not throw away our confidence in God and lose the place of rest and prosperity He has already provided for us.
See, just as God prepared the land of Canaan for the children of Israel and was watching over it to hand it over to them, He has also prepared a place of rest, a place where we will have access to abundant milk and honey for each of us. And He is committed to doing what is necessary to lead us into it. All He expects of us is to trust Him to do so and be ready to take whatever steps He wants to take to be there.
However, there may be giants in the land or on our way into it. Yes, there may be people or things that will want to frighten us away from where God wants us to be or discourage us from taking what He has already given to us. But we must not look at their faces or sizes. We also must not look at their words of threats. Otherwise, like those Israelites of old, we too may throw away our confidence in God and give up on what He wants us to have. And if we do that, just like those Israelites of old, we also may end up not experiencing the rest and prosperity that are meant to be ours.
So, beloved, don’t throw away your confidence in God because of the challenges you are now faced with in life. Don’t give up on the dreams or visions He has shown you about the place of rest and prosperity He wants you to occupy in life. Instead, strengthen yourself in Him and say, “I am taking what God has given to me by His divine power. And the challenges I see will not be able to stop or hinder me. Instead, I will swallow them up in victory.”
Now that was the kind of mentality Joshua and Caleb had, when all the other Israelites were crying and planning to turn away from the place of rest and prosperity meant for them. And guess what? They were the only ones among all the others that made it into Canaan and received their own share of the land. And if we too will function with the same mentality in dealing with the challenges trying to scare us away from our rest and prosperity, we will surely experience Christ’s victory over them and fully receive and enjoy the best God has in store for us.
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DOWNFALL THROUGH ASSOCIATION 30/03/25
“Through Ahaziah's visit to Joram, God brought about Ahaziah's downfall. When Ahaziah arrived, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. While Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah's relatives, who had been attending Ahaziah, and he killed them. He then went in search of Ahaziah, and his men captured him while he was hiding in Samaria. He was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, "He was a son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart." So there was no one in the house of Ahaziah powerful enough to retain the kingdom.” (2Chron 22:7-9NIV)
One of the things we are consistently shown in Scriptures is that association means a lot in life. In other words, those that we associate ourselves with can either promote our welfare or expose us to destruction. For instance, after David fled from King Saul, as pointed out in the bible, a number of people who were in distress, in debt or discontented gathered around him. So, he became their captain. (Cf. 1Sam 22:1-2)
But years later, towards the end of his life, we see that all these people who came to him and who were still alive had become great, influential and wealthy (1Chro 29:6-9). What that means is that their association with him bettered their lives. Their association with him brought them out of the life of discontentment, debt and distress that they had been living before.
Therefore, we need to watch what our association with others is doing to our lives. Is it promoting righteousness or ungodliness in us? Is it promoting our welfare or getting us into trouble? We should note these things and not ignore them. Otherwise, we may someday become partakers of problems or destruction that is not originally meant for us.
As we see in our opening bible passage, God brought about the downfall of King Ahaziah of Judah through his visit to King Joram of Israel. Why? As we see in the account, God was already unhappy with him because he was not walking in the ways of righteousness but in the ways of wickedness, in the ways of the house of Ahab, the father of Joram. And that was because of his association with members of that house. So, literally, God’s judgment was already hanging on his head, even though it was yet to manifest. (Cf. 2Chro 22:1-6)
Unfortunately for him, as we further see in our opening bible text, when God began to execute judgment on the house of Ahab through Jehu, he was with his son Joram. So, even though the judgment was not originally for him, he partook of it. He was slain and buried.
Well, what is the point of the story? It is that people can meet their fall in life through association with the wrong people. Think about it. When Ahaziah was going to visit Joram, who was recovering from battle injuries, it looked like the right thing to do, a very harmless thing to do. But death was hidden in that visit. And he met it.
In like manner, every day, people meet with destruction, failure or poverty by visiting the wrong people, travelling with the wrong people, working with the wrong people, celebrating with the wrong people, paying condolences to the wrong people or going to live with the wrong people. And if we too don’t want to experience a similar fate, we need to be spiritual in choosing the people we associate with in life. Yes, we need to be spiritual in choosing whom we visit, do business with, work with, live with or keep as close companions.
But we will not be spiritual in making these choices, if we do not take God seriously. Even those who take God seriously can sometimes err along these lines. They, sometimes, can allow greed, lust, undue sentiments or desire for popularity or position to drive them to make unspiritual choices of associating with the wrong people in wrong ways.
For instance, why did Jehoshaphat almost die untimely? It was because, even though he was a righteous king, he allowed his desire for popularity to make him associate with Ahab and even accompany him to war. And if he had not been shown mercy, he would have perished untimely. (Cf. 1Kings 22; 2Chro 18)
Also, why did Lot lose everything he had, including his wife, in Sodom? It was because, even though he was a righteous man, he allowed greed to make him go and live with the wicked and unreasonable Sodomites. So, on the day that Sodom and Gomorrah were judged, it was only by the mercy of God that he and his children escaped with their lives. (Cf. Gen 13 & 20)
So, as long as we keep making unspiritual decisions in our association with people, even God may not be able to guarantee our safety from destruction, poverty or death. We must be careful, then, to stick to His word in handling all our relationships. That it is the only way we will not be motivated by the wrong reasons in associating with the people in our world and expose ourselves to unnecessary danger.
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DON’T CAUSE DIVISION IN THE CHURCH 29/03/25
“I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naïve people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent, about what is evil.” (Romans 16:17-19NIV)
What is Paul’s instruction to us in our opening text? It is that we are to keep away from certain individuals in the church. That, of course, is the major punishment to be given to unrepentant brethren. It is withdrawal of fellowship from them. In other words, you refuse to fellowship with them. You refuse to associate with them as you would associate with other believers.
But what will people do to require that we treat them in this way? Paul says if people are causing divisions in the church, we are to deal with them like this. So, we are talking here about those who have a culture of causing divisions among the brethren and putting obstacles in their way. Whether it is through the things they say, do or teach that they are doing this, they are candidates in this matter. Maybe they are spreading rumours in the church or slandering other believers. Whatever it is that they are doing that is causing divisions in the church, causing brethren to bitter against one another, they must be treated in this manner.
Now Paul says we are to first watch out for them. That means we are to identify them before we can deal with them. So, if we observe that brethren are not relating well or are fighting among themselves or are bitter against themselves, we must locate the source. We must identify who is responsible and warn them. If they take correction and change their ways, the matter should end there. But if they are insisting that they are right and will not accept rebuke and correction, then, we must withdraw fellowship from them. We must let the brethren know them and know that they must not continue to fellowship with them or treat them as believers.
You can see now that this is a clear basis for punishing an unrepentant brother or sister. So, if you are causing divisions in the church, we have a clear basis for punishing you, if you will not repent. We have a clear basis to tell the brethren not to have anything to do with you again.
This, however, does not mean they are not to greet you again or that they are not to work with you, if you work with the same organisation. Rather, it means they are no longer to treat you as a believer. They can no longer share their lives with you or be involved with you as they would be with a believer. You have shown yourself as someone that is unrepentant and put yourself in a position where we begin to question your salvation and ask ourselves whether you are saved or not.
So, you need to watch yourself. You may not be involved in sexual immorality, stealing, swindling or sorcery. But as long as you are causing division in the church and troubling the body of Christ, you must be treated in the manner we are talking about.
In fact, writing to Titus, Paul says warn a divisive person twice and then have nothing to do with him again (Titus 3:10). So you must be careful of the things you do and say in the church. Don’t say things that will divide the brethren. Don’t say things that will set them against one another. You need to watch your choice of words in relating to God’s people. Otherwise, you may end up putting yourself in a position where you w
ill be punished.
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HE WILL REBUKE THEM FOR YOU 28/03/25
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom 8:31NIV)
Is God for us? Is He on our side? If He is for us, and He is for us if we are believers in Christ Jesus, then, who can be against us? Nobody! I mean that there is no one powerful enough to oppress or harm us in any matter of life since God is for us. We just need to let this soak in our heads and continually walk accordingly.
For example, because of His presence with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, no one could successfully harm, cheat or oppress them. The bible says:
“He allowed no one to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings: "Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm."” (Ps 105:14-15NIV)
Just think about that. God allowed no one to oppress these people because they were His. And He was ready to afflict or kill anyone who tried to do so. It is no wonder, then, that when Moses was leading the children of Israel into the Promised Land, he did not ask God for wealth, food, water or protection for the people. Instead, he asked for His presence. In fact, he plainly told Him that if He would not be with them all the way into the Promised Land, He should not bother sending them up there.
Why? It was because he knew that God’s presence was everything they needed. In other words, he knew that as long as God was with them, they would have all the food, water, wealth, good health and protection that they needed and even much more. (Cf. Ex 33:12-17)
Now we don’t need to ask for God’s presence in our lives. That is because we already have it through of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is already with us, in us and for us. In fact, the bible says,
“…God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"” (Heb 13:5-6NIV)
Did you see that? God Himself has said that He will never ever leave us or forsake us. That means we will always and ever have His presence with us.
And how should we respond to that? Well, as that bible text also shows us, we should respond by confidently saying, “I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Whose job is it to boldly say I will not be afraid? It is my job. It is your job. And whose job is it to boldly say there is nothing any man can do to me? It is my job to say so. It is your job to say so.
But we are not to say these things because we just want to sound bold or courageous. We are to say them because we know that God is with us all the way to make sure we are adequately taken care of and also protected from all forms of satanic or human oppression. If you, then, know this, get rid of all your fears. Yes, get rid of all your fears of those situations or people that are threatening you, cheating you or oppressing you. That is because God is going to rebuke them and take for you what is rightly yours.
Remember that He rebuked kings, even kings that were being controlled by demons of sorcery and witchcraft, for His saints of old. So, it won’t be anything serious for Him to also rebuke for you anything or anyone that is against your peace of mind, health or progress, regardless of what measure of demonic influence they are exercising. You just make sure you that you always remind yourself that He is with you. And you shall continually witness great manifestations of His power on your behalf.
Have a splendid day.
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USE YOUR AUTHORITY 27/03/25
“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” (Luke 10:19NIV)
Did you see that? Satan actually has power. And that is why he is able to cause all kinds of troubles in our world and even in our lives.
However, the Lord tells us that He has already given us authority to overcome his power and to destroy his works. Think about that. He is not going to give us authority over the devil and his works – He has already given it to us. And it is now up to us to acknowledge what we have received from Him. Yes, it is up to us to daily function as those that have been entrusted by God with the authority to destroy the works of the devil.
Remember that it is said about our Lord Jesus that He came to destroy the works of the devil (1John 3:8). It is also said about Him that He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed of the devil (Acts 10:38). And though He is no longer physically present in the world, He has given those of us who believe in Him the authority to carry on the works He was doing when He was here. He has given us the authority to resist the devil in our lives and all around us and get him running.
But we must show that we have actually received this authority from the Lord. How? First, it is by thanking Him for it. It is written in the bible that people were always praising God for giving to humanity the authority to destroy the works of the devil, whenever Jesus set someone free (Matthew 9:8 & 15:31). And if you too know that you have received the same authority from Him to destroy the works of the devil and make your life and this world better, you should continually thank Him for it.
The second way to show that we have received from God the authority to overcome the power of the devil is to use this authority. Authority that is not used to serve the purpose for which it has been given is useless. So, until we begin to intelligently use the authority God has given us over the devil to frustrate him and his angels, that authority will be as good as useless in our hands.
See, it is our use of the authority God has given us over the devil that will cause peace, joy, prosperity and healing to reign in our lives and in our land. It is our use of this authority that will bring salvation to the lives of many. For example, Luke, speaking about the ministry of Paul in Philippi, tells us of their encounter with a lady that had the spirit of divination in her. According to him, this lady troubled them for many days with her spirit of divination. That was because she was following them up and down, telling people that they were servants of God and giving them the impression that they were being used by the same spirit. (Cf. Acts 16:16-18)
Surprisingly, God did not do anything to that young lady. God did not drive her away or stop her from disturbing the works of these apostles. Why? He had already given them the authority to deal with the spirit in her. If they, then, chose not to deal with it, the problem was theirs and not His. But when Paul rebuked the spirit in her in the name of Jesus, it left her and she was set free. So, she stopped disturbing them and also stopped deceiving people.
In like manner, there are times that if we do not use the authority given to us by God to deal with the devil, God may not do anything about his works in our lives and around us. Yes, we may be in pains and not happy at all because of Satan’s wicked works. Yet, if we will not use the authority we have in the name of Jesus to deal with him, God may just be looking at us. And perhaps that is why you are experiencing pains and sorrow in certain areas of your life right now. While you are waiting for God to do something about those pains you are having, He also is waiting for you to use your authority to make yourself free.
My prayer, then, is that your heart will be strengthened to rise up and begin to use that authority that is yours in Christ Jesus to end every evil work of the devil in your life and around you, so that you may experience perfect peace. Amen.
Have a splendid day.
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DON’T JUDGE WITH YOUR EXPERIENCE 26/03/25
Sometimes ago, I was reading a book of a respected man of God and came upon a part of it in which he was trying to use his experiences in business to establish that his interpretation of certain things said in Scriptures about tithing and the giving of firstfruits was correct. And while nothing is wrong with using our life’s experiences to illustrate bible truths, we must avoid making the mistake of interpreting the word of God with our experiences. The one that must interpret what Scriptures say to us is the Holy Spirit. And He will not interpret Scriptures using our experiences or feelings. Rather, He will interpret Scriptures using Scriptures.
Now, as we see in Scriptures, God once commanded Moses and Aaron to speak to the rock that was before the Israelites so that water would come out of it for the people to drink. But instead for them to speak to that rock, Moses smote it with the rod in his hands twice. And did water come out of it or not? Water came out of it for the people to drink. But is that to say that the experience the people had then was produced by a correct handling of the word of God? No! (Cf. Num 20:1-12)
Moses and Aaron handled the word of God incorrectly on that occasion. Yet their people experienced God’s supply of water. But to show everyone that Moses and Aaron missed it, God told them that they would not make it into the Promised Land. And it was so. So, it is possible for you to handle the word of God incorrectly and still experience what those who are handling His word correctly are experiencing. But then, unless you are shown mercy, you will have to face the repercussions of handling His word incorrectly, as Moses and Aaron did.
In like manner, we may be handling the word of God correctly and still have experiences that are contrary to what His word says. Is that to say that our experiences can invalidate the word of God? No! What, then, is the problem? There is no problem at all with us or with the word of God in such situations. All we need is just to be patient and remain steadfast in handling the truth of God that we know correctly. And at the right time, our experiences in life will be made to agree with what God has said.
As we see in the bible, when Moses first took the word of the Lord to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to set the Israelites free, things got worse for the people. But did their immediate experience at that time stop God’s word from eventually setting them free? No! His word still set them free. But Moses had to persist in confronting Pharaoh and his officials with everything God was saying to him until the Israelites were set free.
So, we too must keep on holding fast to what God has said about our lives and confronting our situations with it, even if our experiences are contrary to what He says. That is because our experiences cannot invalidate the word of God or render it impotent. But His word, if we do not give up on it, will surely change our experiences to conform with His good purpose for our lives. How long, then, shall we need to hold fast the word of God in order to experience it? We have to hold on to it till we experience what it says. And my prayer is that you will always have in you sufficient strength and courage to keep acting on what God says about every situation of your life, so that you may experience every good thing He wants you to experience in life, regardless of how long it may take. Amen.
Have a pleasant day.
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WHAT DID HE DO WRONG? 25/03/25
“So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth's city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them. They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, "Naboth has cursed both God and the king." So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. Then they sent word to Jezebel: "Naboth has been stoned and is dead."” (1Kings 21:11-14NIV)
What did Naboth do wrong to merit this kind of cruel death? Nothing! The man did not do anything wrong or anything contrary to the will of God for him to be killed in the manner that he was killed. All that he did was to refuse to sell his inheritance to a wicked and ruthless king. Then some scoundrels were hired to lie against him and get him executed.
You can see, then, that it is not a new thing for innocent people to be framed and killed, molested or punished for crimes they have not committed. And the shocking part of it is that God may not do anything about it. He did not do anything, as we see, to stop Naboth from being unjustly murdered? Why? We are not told in Scriptures. Yes, we are told that He judged Naboth’s killers. But He did not stop them from killing him, just as he did not stop Cain from killing Abel.
What is this teaching us? It is that it is not every time God prevents evil from happening to good people, if they don’t ask Him to do so. Yes, He will judge every form of wickedness done by men against one another. But which will you prefer, to be protected by God from becoming a victim of the wickedness of men or to have God judge your killers or tormentors after they have already had their way with you?
Well, I already know your answer. You don’t want God to avenge you when He could have protected you. And that is why whenever you are dealing with cruel, unreasonable, bitter or jealous people, don’t hesitate to pray to God for His mercy and protection. Otherwise, you may end up being a victim of their lies, treachery, jealousy or wickedness.
For example, after Peter and John had been quizzed and threatened by the religious leaders of the Jews not to preach any longer in the name of Jesus, they went back to the other apostles and disciples to pray about the matter. They asked God to take note of the threats of these leaders and to also enable them to continue to do what is right, even as He stretched forth His hand to display His power. (Cf. Acts 4:5-31)
Why did they pray like that? They prayed like that because they knew that the men they were dealing with were wicked and ruthless. Remember that these same men killed Jesus. And even after God had raised Him from the dead, they paid the soldiers guarding His tomb to spread a lie that His disciples stole His body while they were sleeping. And that was to nullify any sermon about His resurrection. (Cf. Matt 28:11-15)
So, these leaders were men that were wicked and ruthless enough to make good their threats. And since these disciples knew that they had no power against them, all they could do was commit their lives, ministry and safety into God’s hand. And He answered them that same day and even gave them a sign that He did.
In like manner, don’t ever ignore any threat or display of jealousy or bitterness of those in your world, simply because you think you have not done anything wrong. No, don’t ever assume that they are just bluffing and cannot follow through their threats, for they may be wicked enough to follow them through. Instead, pray to God about them and tell Him to take note of their words and threats. And He will surely answer you.
Then wherever you can take any legitimate step to keep yourself safe from vicious or wicked ones, do so. Don’t foolishly walk into anyone’s traps. And may the Lord continue to keep you safe. Amen.
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KNOW WHEN TO KEEP QUIET. 24/03/25
“But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, "Do not answer him."” (2Kings 18:36NIV)
Who were the people that remained silent and would not reply who was talking to them? It was the Jews under the reign of King Hezekiah. Who would they not reply? It was the commander of the army of the king of Assyria. And why would they not reply this man? They would not reply him because their king, Hezekiah, had told them not to answer him.
Now why would Hezekiah instruct his people not to answer this man? It was because answering him would not solve the problem at hand but only escalate it. As the account goes, Sennacherib, the king of Assyria at that time, had sent his commander with a great army to the land of Judah for the sole purpose of possessing the land and its people. And this commander began his campaign by first threatening the people and ridiculing their king and their God. In fact, at some point, he began to address them in Hebrew, so that his threats and words of annoyance would sink into their hearts more readily. (Cf. 2Kings 18:17-35).
That being the case, Hezekiah suspected that some of his people might become provoked by this man’s words and decide to answer him. And that was exactly what the man wanted. He wanted to provoke the people to respond to his threats, so that he would have an easy reason to attack the land. Then all that Hezekiah had been doing to avoid going to war with the Assyrians would have amount to nothing.
As the account further shows us, the army of Judah at that time was actually no match for the Assyrians’. That, of course, was why Hezekiah was doing all that he could do to avoid any kind of direct confrontation with them. And in doing this, he went as far as giving the king of Assyria all the gold and silver that he could lay his hands on in his treasuries. He even took things from the temple of God in order to appease this ruthless king. (Cf. 2Kings 18:13-16)
Nevertheless, Sennacherib would not stop haunting and harassing the nation of Judah. Why? He was bent on possessing it for himself. And he only needed a little insult or provocation from the people to attack them. This was why Hezekiah commanded his people not to answer the commander of his army whom he had sent to insult them.
See, Hezekiah knew that responding to this man’s threats and insults would not solve their problem in any way. Instead, it would only make it worse by bringing quick destruction upon them. The only one that could solve their problem at the time was their God whom the man had been insulting. He, then, was the person they were supposed to be talking to and not the man. And when they talked to Him about the matter, He answered them and turned all the threats of the commander of the Assyrian army into empty and useless threats. (Cf. 2Kings 19)
What is the lesson for us here? Well, it is that we must know when to keep quiet and not respond to people’s arrogant words or threats. Look, there are times that we may come across human opponents or enemies that we clearly do not have enough education, power, influence or money to defend ourselves against. And these ones may deliberately be provoking us to say or do things that will give them a reason to attack and hurt or disgrace us.
Our wisdom at such times, then, will be to be quiet and refuse to respond to whatever they say or do to us against us, however arrogant or annoying it may seem. That is because responding to them will simply make matters worse, something that we ourselves will know, if we are not foolish or reckless.
Not replying such people in such situations, however, does not mean we are not to take any step towards defending or protecting ourselves against their nonsense. We must take steps towards doing that. But our most important step will be to talk to God about what they are doing and let Him rebuke them for us. How He will rebuke them, of course, is up to Him. But we can be sure that if, instead of trying to fight a battle we cannot win, we will entrust the situation to Him, He will handle it for us. And when He is done, we might find ourselves asking, “God, have you not gone too far in dealing with this?”
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DON’T RELENT. 23/03/25.
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Gal 6:9NIV)
Did you see that? If it is not possible for us to become weary in doing good, we will not be given this instruction. If situations that could make us become weary in doing good do not exist, we will not be told not to become weary in doing good.
But such situations exist. Look at the challenges we are facing in our country, for instance. Fuel price has terribly gone up. There is scarcity of cash to spend everywhere. We also have to daily deal with epileptic power supply. And these things are causing prices of goods and services to increase daily, even though the money many are making is not increasing.
Now because of these things, many who have been generous to God and men before are drawing back and using the situation as their excuse for not being generous again. And if those who have been generous can act like that, how do you expect those who have never been generous to act? Well, the word of God has anticipated that things that can make us relent in generosity can happen. That is why it tells us not to become weary in doing so. Why? It is because at the right time God will reward us for all our acts of generosity. He will not overlook or forget any one of them.
So, if you have been drawing back on giving to the people in your life, you need to renew your devotion to doing so. And if you have been drawing back on giving for the work of God and to the people feeding you with His word, you need to renew your devotion to doing so. Otherwise, you will be cheating yourself of all the benefits of doing so. Remember that you cannot reap what you have not sowed. So, if you refuse to plant because you think your seed is not much and you eat up everything, you will surely have nothing to reap at the time of harvest.
This, I believe, is what Paul has in mind when he says the following to the Corinthians about their giving:
“And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.” (2Cor 8:10-12NIV)
From what Paul says here, it is clear that the Corinthian brethren had once been devoted to giving generously to support other churches of God in need. In fact, this apostle says that they were not only eager to give but also prompt in doing so. But at some point, for some reasons we would not know, they began to draw back in generosity and would not complete what they started.
Therefore, Paul had to address them in his letter about the matter and told them it is not enough for one to express willingness to give; you also have to match up that willingness by actually giving according to your means. And as he furthers points out, as long as the willingness is there, whatever we give will be accepted by God based on what we have and not what we do not have.
So, as long as you have something, be sure you are giving out of it instead of making excuses. That is because God will not reward your excuses but your obedience to His word. My prayer, then, is that you will never find yourself in a position in life in which you will be so empty that you will have nothing to give, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a peaceful day.
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WITHOUT GOD. 22/03/25.
“There is nothing better for people to do than to eat, drink, and find satisfaction in their work. I saw that even this comes from the hand of God. Who can eat or enjoy themselves without God?” (Eccl 2:24-25GW)
Can you see that? Nobody can enjoy his life without God. And we do not by saying that mean that people need to know or acknowledge God before they can enjoy life. What we are saying is that whether people acknowledge God or not, He is still the reason they are living and enjoying whatever it is they are enjoying now about their lives. And the earlier they acknowledge this fact the better for them. (Cf. Ps 145:15-16; Matt 5:45; Acts 14:15-16 & 17:24-25)
Look at the world yourself, and you will agree that the things that happen in it are beyond what meets the eyes. There are so many things that are happening that are beyond what we can explain or control. Yet some people will have us believe that we can be victorious in the face of all these invisible forces that are working against us just by staying positive or by exercising our will-power.
Let me ask you something, “Have you ever at any time failed when success seemed so sure, or have you ever lost something that you thought you already had?” If you have, what explanation do you have to give for that? Did you lose because you were not positive enough? Or did you fail because you would not exercise your will-power and put your potential to work?
Well, my point is that life is beyond what our natural or mental faculties can handle. Life is spiritual. So we need a spiritual being to enable us handle it. And that spiritual being is God, the author of life itself. Yes, there are many spiritual beings all around us that are volunteering to help us handle life. But all of them are created beings, created beings that have lost their ways. So, they don't have what it takes to help us in any way; all they have is what it takes to compound our problems.
You can see why those who get involved in the practice of witchcraft, sorcery, divination or enchantment can never be free from trouble in this life. Each time they attempt to solve one problem, they will create several other ones for themselves and for others as well. The only one who can solve all of our lives' problems and challenges and not create more problems for us is God (Prov 10:22). And when you truly daily acknowledge that and entrust yourself to Him, He also will daily lead you to a true enjoyment of
your life.
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WATCH THEM 21/03/25.
“Don't let anyone deceive you. Associating with bad people will ruin decent people.” (1Cor 15:33GW)
That is self-explanatory, or what do you think? You cannot keep associating with the wrong people or exposing yourself to the wrong information and philosophies and not constantly fall into all kinds of temptations.
So, watch the kind of company you keep to see what sort of people it is made up of. You may have a good heart. But if you keep hanging out with drunkards, adulterers, swindlers, robbers and so forth, even if they are so-called church people, it won't be long before they ruin your decent life or home with their evil behaviours.
Also, watch the way you use the things of this world. The radio, the television and the internet are good and profitable, if they are used wisely. But if you don't watch your fellowship with them, if you don't watch the kind of things you feed your ears and eyes with through these mediums, you will be weakening yourself and destroying your chances of living a victorious life over every kind of sin.
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WE ARE NOT HOPELESS 20/03/25.
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” (2Peter 3:10NIV)
What is Peter telling us in our opening text? He is telling us that all the things that we now see, adore and relate to will be destroyed with fire when the day of the Lord comes. All the things of this world that men cherish, all the things they are struggling and labouring hard to possess and all the things for which they are lying, stealing and killing themselves will in that day be destroyed. Yes, the systems of the world, with all their decays and corruption, will be brought to a certain and final end.
Not only that, Satan, his angels, all the people who are on his side and everything that is causing sin and death will be totally and finally removed from the presence of God and thrown into the lake of fire, which will be their eternal home (Matt 21:31-46; Rev 20). You can now see why the new heaven and the new earth, which God is going to bring, will be the home of righteousness, peace, love, order and immeasurable joy. (Cf. 2Pet 3:13)
Now all these things depict the final phase of the Christian's salvation, a salvation that separates him totally and finally from everything that connects him with the flesh, the devil, the world, sin, death and hell. And as you can see, this has not yet happened. I am saying that we have not yet been separated from our mortal bodies, just as we have not yet been separated from the presence of the devil, the world, sin, death and hell. That is why, every day, we are still confronted with satanic activities and all kinds of temptations to sin and do what is wrong.
Nevertheless, we have this hope that, someday, we are going to be finally saved and separated from the presence of all these things. And this hope, according to the Scriptures, is a blessed hope, a living hope, a hope that does not disappoint. (Cf. Rom 5:5, Titus 2:11-14, 1Pet 1:3)
What we are saying is that we, who have come to trust in God through Jesus Christ, are not hopeless like those of the world (Eph 2:12). Regardless of the economic, political, social, security and religious conditions of our world, we are not hopeless. And that is because we know that our lives go beyond here. We know that we will not continue to live in a messed up and utterly corrupt world. We know that we will not forever endure the injustices, the wickedness, the pollution and the confusion in the world. And that is because God will soon send our Saviour, Jesus Christ, to free us from all these things and bring us to that home of righteousness that He has destined for us.
Therefore, don’t get yourself tied up to anything of this world. That is because everything here in the world will someday be destroyed with fire. But the one who puts his hope in the Lord, looking forward to be a part of His eternal kingdom of righteousness, will live forever. And you should daily encourage yourse
lf with this.
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WHAT TO BELIEVE ABOUT GOD 19/03/25.
“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6NIV)
Here we are given two things to believe about God. Number one, we are to believe in the existence of God. We are told that anyone who comes to Him must first of all believe that He exists. That is the starting point. That must be settled in our hearts—the reality of the existence of God.
Is the existence of God, then, real to you as a person? Or is it only when you are in a church meeting that you feel that God is real? Is it possible that when you are out there you are never really sure of the existence of God?
I want you to know that there are actually people like that. Their opinion about God changes with their environmental situation or social situation. When they are in a church meeting, where everyone is feeling holy and righteous, they will remember that God is actually in existence. But when they are outside church settings, among their friends or colleagues or neighbours, everything changes.
But we are told in our opening text that the first thing to believe about God is His existences. God exists, and until that is settled in your heart, He has nothing else to say to you. There is nothing else He is going to say to you that will make sense to you.
Then, the second thing we are told in that text to believe is the justice of God. God is a rewarder. A rewarder is a judge. God is a judge. He is going to judge man. He is going judge our actions. We are not going to get away with our actions.
See, man is not going to get away with His actions, for there is a judge that will reward him. God is that judge. That is why we need to be conscious of what we do. We need to always remember that there is someone watching what we are doing. There is someone that is monitoring what we are doing. And He is going to judge you and me someday. So, we are not going to get away from your actions.
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IT IS UNCERTAIN. 18/03/25.
“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” (1Tim 6:17NIV)
What is the Spirit’s instruction to those who are rich in this present world, as we see in our opening text? It is for them not to be proud or to put their hope in earthly riches. Now, of course, this instruction is not applicable to those who are rich alone but to all men. That is because it is not only those who are rich who can be proud. Those who are poor can also be proud. And I have seen under the sun very poor and lowly people who are full of themselves, just as I have seen under it rich and influential people who are meek and easy to get along with.
So, to say the fact, it is not wealth that makes people become proud. People are proud because Satan has succeeded in making them have an opinion of themselves that does not exist. And wealth may just be the one thing that will underline that pride that has always been in them.
In any case, we all, not just the rich among us, are being warned by the Spirit not to be arrogant or to put our hope in wealth or earthly riches. And why are we warned not to put our hope in earthly riches? It is because they are uncertain. In other words, wealth is unreliable. Yes, wealth is undependable. So, it can disappoint you or put you to shame when you least expect it to do so.
Unfortunately, many do not know this. So, in a crazy fashion, they run around the world, getting involved in all kinds of foolish and harmful things in order to become rich. And will that definitely make them become rich? No! Eagerness for money or earthly riches will not necessarily make you rich or wealthy. And there are millions all around the world today whose lives are proving this to be the fact. They have been running around for money all their lives. Yet they are poor, very poor today.
Then, even if you have become rich or wealthy, whether through diligent and honest labour or otherwise, it still does not mean that you are going to have the happy, peaceful and rich life your heart desires to have here on earth. And there are many wealthy people today that are not happy. Yes, they are rich in earthly goods. But their riches have not been able to give them peace of mind, a sound body, a great marriage or fantastic children. Why? It is because wealth has no power to give anybody anything God has not given.
Besides all that, wealth can be lost. It can fly away. It can disappear into thin air. As we are told in the bible, in one day, righteous Lot lost all the possessions he had used his entire life to labour for to the fires that consumed Sodom and Gomorrah. And in one day, blameless and upright Job, who was considered to be richest and greatest of all the men of the eastern part of the world of his time, lost everything he had laboured for all his life. Did these men lose their wealth because they were evil? No! Rather, they lost it because life’s circumstances went against them at some point in their lives. (Cf. Gen 19; Job 1; Prov 23:5)
So, the uncertainty of earthly riches can manifest to any man, whether they are righteous or wicked. And if that should happen, what will determine what happens to them afterwards is where their confidence lies all along. If their confidence lies in their wealth and they have been building their lives on it, then, they will most likely perish with it, if it perishes or disappoints them. But if their confidence lies in God, then, He will comfort them and restore them, even if their wealth fails or disappoints them. That was what happened in Job’s case. He did not lose his life and eternity along with his wealth because his confidence was never in it but in God. And though life circumstances really messed him up, God eventually showed up at the right time, comforted him and also restored him. (Cf. Job 42)
Now this same God is always ready to heal, comfort and restore you, regardless of what life throws at you. But you have to put your confidence in Him and not in money or anything else. That is because He is the only one that is certain in His devotion, love and care. But all other people and things can fail you and will fail you, if the circumstances are right.
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JUDGMENT IN THE HOUSE OF GOD 17/03/25.
I pray for you today that your heart will continually be strengthened by the Spirit of God to remain true to the Lord and firmly established in His righteousness, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
As the Lord has clearly made known to me, one major thing that is hindering the spread and reign of the word of God in our land is the inconsistency of the lives of many so-called children of God with His righteousness. In other words, more people are not coming to the Lord Jesus for salvation because they cannot see the fruit of salvation in the lives of many of us who claim to have been saved by Him. How can we tell people to come to the Lord for liberty from Satan and their sins, when we ourselves are still obviously living as their slaves? Who is going to take us seriously?
See, it is not that people do not want to be saved from their sins, bad habits, destructive influences, sicknesses, generational curses, poverty and so forth; it is just that they want people whose lives will prove to them that they can actually be saved from these things. And God has saved us, recreated us, filled us with His Holy Spirit and planted us where we are to be such proofs to them. Unfortunately, many of us are even ignorant of His intentions and purposes for us. So, we frustrate them by living lives that are totally contrary to what we are made to live.
This, of course, is not foreign to the church. Even in the days of the apostles of old, similar things were happening among God’s people. There were also so-called believers at that time who would not stop stealing, fornicating, swindling people, keeping malice, living in greed, cheating their workers or practising sorcery. There were even murderers, hypocrites and drunkards in the church in those days. Therefore, none of the evil practices we see in the church and among God’s people today is new or peculiar to our time. (Cf. Rom 2:21-22; 1Cor 5; James 4:1-2&5:1-6)
However, the apostles of the Lord of old have also made it very clear to us through their writings that every so-called child of God who is involved in these things is not only blaspheming the name of the Lord Jesus and despising His grace but also destroying the work of salvation that He is doing in the world. Therefore, such an individual can certainly expect a revelation of God’s wrath against him (Rom 2:1-11; Heb 10:26-31). And this not something that will be delayed to the day of judgment. Rather, it is something that he will begin to witness right from this world.
All this is why Peter says to us, “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God…” (1Peter 4:17NIV) Did you see that? This apostle is not speaking here about the judgment that is coming on the day of the Lord. Instead, he is speaking of an on-going judgment of God that is taking place right here in the world. And he is saying those in the church also will not escape this judgment. In fact, it will start with them and among them.
Therefore, if you are deliberately doing things that are contrary to the righteousness of God, know that you are a candidate for God’s judgment. And how exactly He will judge is not something anybody can say. But from what the Lord Jesus says to the church in Thyatira and what Paul says to the Corinthian brethren, we know that God may judge His people with sicknesses, weaknesses, labour loss or even death (1Cor 11:28-30; Rev 2:20-23).
Now if you have not experienced any of these things, even though it is obvious that you are living in sin, you need to understand that God is just giving you time to repent. But if you fail to repent within the amount of time He has given you, then, you leave Him with no choice but to judge you in His righteousness. And how that will end for you is not what I can say. So, repent now and also tell your partners in sin to repent. Otherwise, you may end up being crushed under the wrath of God.
Do have a great day.
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TAKE CARE OF ALL YOUR DEBTS 16/03/25.
“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.” (Rom 13:8NIV)
One of the things every child of God must learn to avoid in life is borrowing. Why? It is because, as the bible rightly puts it, the borrower is servant to the lender (Prov 22:7). In other words, borrowing from people can put you at their mercy, especially if they are wicked and unreasonable. It can place you in impossible situations in life. It can make you beg where you shouldn’t be begging, hide where you should boldly stand out or remain quiet where your voice ought to be loud and clear. Borrowing can even lead you to a place of depression or to an early grave. So, if you can totally avoid borrowing from people, especially money, then, do so. It will spell rest of mind for you.
But we know that, as long as we are in this world, we may not be able to totally avoid borrowing from people. Even the richest among men sometimes borrow to do some things. However, one main difference between them and the poor is that they usually borrow to invest in things they are certain will make them more money and not in liabilities. The poor, on the contrary, often borrow to take care of liabilities like weddings, house rents, funerals, luxury cars and so forth, things that will not earn them more money or put them in positions where they can access more resources. So, they end up getting in trouble for nothing.
Then the rich hardly borrow money that they do not have assets or resources to take care of, just in case they are faced with disappointments. The poor, however, borrow only on the basis of hope, the hope that things will soon get better for them or that a miracle will happen that will enable them to pay back what they have borrowed. So, they end up eating their future before it comes.
In any case, the Spirit of God, speaking to us in our opening bible text, instructs to see to it that we owe nobody nothing. He says let there be no outstanding debt. In other words, we are to live our lives in such a way that if our Lord Jesus comes today to take us home with Him, we will have no debt on our necks. Yes, we are to live in such a way that if our time in the world is up today, we will leave no unsettled debt for our children, families or loved ones.
In 2Kings 4 is the story of a man of God that died without settling all his debts. So, his creditors came to take away his two boys as slaves. And when his widow ran to Prophet Elisha for help, he did not say, “No! No! Call those people for me. They cannot do that at all. Don’t they know that your husband was a man of God? Why would they not cancel his debt?”
Elisha did not talk like that at all? Why? It was because he knew that it was not the will of God for His people, not to talk of His servants, to owe anybody anything. In fact, part of the word of the blessings that He gave to them through Moses was that they would be the ones lending to others instead of borrowing from them (Deut 28:12). So, by the leading of the Spirit of God, he told that woman what to do to pay their debt and begin to live lives free of debt.
Now my thought is that that woman’s husband could as well have taken the step his wife later took. He could have met the man of God for help while he was still alive. And the miracle that his wife and children received may have come to them sooner. Then maybe he would not have died as early as he did. Who knows?
What is my point, anyway? It is that you need to settle all your debts, whatever they are, now that you are alive and now that our Lord Jesus has not come. Pay up whatever you owe anybody, whether it is money or promises. Pay up whatever you owe the government, whether you are dealing with taxes, revenues or services. And pay up whatever you owe God, whether it is money, time or devotion.
But then, someone may say, “I really want to pay all my debts. But I just don’t have the money or means to do so at this time.” As honest as that may sound, it is still not an acceptable excuse before God for having outstanding debts. Do you know what He says about people who owe and do not pay back? He says they are wicked (Ps 37:21).
So, if you owe and will not pay back, whatever your excuses may be, you are a wicked person, as far as God is concerned. That is because you are cheating the person that lent you what you owe. You are hindering them from enjoying the fruit of their labour and from advancing in their lives. Also, you are repaying their acts of kindness with evil. If they had not lent you what you owe or sold to you what you bought on credit, would you have taken it from them by force? Quite unlikely! So, not to pay back what you owe them when due or at all is wicked in the sight of God. And it can hinder your own progress and enjoyment of life too in ways beyond understanding. Stop making excuses, then, and make up your mind to pay up everything you owe without any further delay.
Second, you need to wholeheartedly reach out for God’s divine supply to clear all your debts, however huge them may be. That was what that widow that went to Elisha did. And to say the fact, SOME PEOPLE CANNOT COME OUT OF DEBT IN LIFE UNLESS A MIRACLE HAPPENS. So, you too should reach out for God concerning your debts. Pray to Him about them. Study His word to know His will for your finances. Then get spiritual counsel from trusted people of God and act on it. And you will be amazed at how soon God will lead you to begin to live a debt free life.
Finally, you need to begin take legitimate steps that are within your ability in order to settle all your debts. One of such steps will be to stop borrowing, especially for irrelevances and things that won’t make you more money. Another will be to always find worthy alternatives that will cost you less for everything you want to do or acquire until you are financially independent. Then identify and ruthlessly cut off every form of waste of resources happening in your life. Otherwise, regardless of how much help God sends to get you out of debt, you may never be debt free.
Have a splendid day.
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HONOUR IN PLACE OF SHAME 15/03/25.
“At that time I will deal with all who oppressed you; I will rescue the lame and gather those who have been scattered. I will give them praise and honor in every land where they were put to shame.” (Zeph 3:19NIV)
What do we see here in our opening text? First, we see that God promises to deal with the oppressors of His people. So, if there are people oppressing you at the moment, know that their time is up. That is because God will surely lay hands on them and deal with them as their actions deserve.
Now what He will do to them is not your job to know but His job. But you can be sure that when He is through with them, they will never again think of oppressing anyone else, if they are still breathing. King Abimelech of Abraham’s day would tell you what if feels like to have God deal with oppressors, even when they have acted in ignorance, if you would ask him. (Cf. Gen 20)
Then God says that He will give praise and honour to His people in every place where they have suffered shame. And that is going to be your experience, if you will accept His word by faith. He will cause people to celebrate you in all the places where they have mocked and disgraced you in the past.
Remember He did something similar for Joseph. In the same place where he once served both as a slave and prisoner, he also later served there as their prime minister. You can then imagine how people like Potiphar and his wife must have afterwards related to him. That was just an example of how God can lift people up and honour them where they have been despised. (Cf. Gen 39-41)
So, don’t lose heart, regardless of what your current position in life may be. Instead, embrace the word of God to you concerning your elevation and honour. Yes, embrace His word by saying the same thing in agreement with Him, in spite of how things may now look for you. And if you do not faint, you will certainly witness a fulfilment of His good word concerning you at the appropriate time.
Do have a great day.
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RID YOUR LIFE OF THESE THINGS 14/03/25.
“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.” (1Peter 2:1NIV)
What are the things Peter is asking us to rid ourselves of here? They are the works of the flesh. And he gives us examples of the works of the flesh that we need to rid ourselves of. He mentions malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander. Of course, there are several other works of the flesh that this apostle could have used as examples. But he uses these ones, I believe, because they are major among those works of the flesh that often mess up Christian fellowship, ruin the church of God and hinder her growth and effectiveness.
For example, as terrible as adultery and idolatry are, they hardly result in church split or disintegration. But malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander, if not addressed on time, can scatter any church in few weeks and fill the brethren involved with bitterness that may not go away for the rest of their earthly lives. And that is one of the reasons God is sometimes ruthless in judging these sins among His people.
Do you remember the case of Ananias and Sapphira? Why was God ruthless in judging them the way He did? Why did He kill these couples on the same day without even blinking an eye? It was because of deceit and hypocrisy. These people were trying to deceive the church of God about their offering, giving everyone the impression that they were giving more than they were actually giving. So, God judged them with death before they could get any chance to introduce other brethren to a life of deceit (Acts 5:1-11).
What this is showing us is that God cares about His church and will not fold His arms and watch anyone corrupt or destroy her, for the church is His temple. In fact, Paul tells us that God will destroy anyone that destroys His temple. All of this is why we need to take Peter’s admonition that we have in our opening text very seriously. We need to rid our lives of very kind of deceit, malice, envy, hypocrisy and slander, as we relate to one another in our various assemblies. Otherwise, we may bring down God’s judgment on ourselves. (Cf. 1Cor 3:16-17)
Unfortunately, many of God’s people are ignorant of these things. Therefore, they allow malice, hypocrisy, envy, deceit and slander to thrive and fester in their lives and among them. It is no big wonder, then, that we have many in our various Christian assemblies today that are battling with all kinds of sicknesses, poverty and distress that will not go away, regardless of how hard they pray or fast. What these ones need to do is to rid their lives of these terrible works of the flesh that they have permitted in them. And the healing of Jesus will begin to manifest in them.
Now perhaps the reason you too are facing certain problems that will not go away in your life is that you have given room for hatred, malice, envy, slander and hypocrisy in your life. You have allowed the devil to be using you to secretly or openly ruin the church of God. You need to repent now so that your life will be healed and made whole. Otherwise, things may go from bad to worse for you. My prayer is that your heart will be humbled to do the right thing without delay, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a splendid day.
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HE WILL FIND SOMEONE ELSE 13/03/25.
“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.” (Matt 3:8-9NIV)
Those were the words of John the Baptist to the Jews of his time. And why did he say these words to them? It was because even though the will of God had been made known to them through their Scriptures, they were not living accordingly. Yet they never stopped showing pride in the fact that they were Abraham’s descendants.
Sadly, there are still many like them today. They too are living off the names and reputations of their parents or grandparents. But they themselves have no good name or reputation that could make any serious-minded person want to associate with them. And what they do not know is that they if they will not live up to the good names and reputations of their ancestors, a time will come when no one will reckon with their relationships with these ancestors of theirs again. Instead, they will turn to those who are walking in the footsteps of these great people and begin to celebrate their names.
Now that is exactly what John the Baptist was communicating to his people, the Israelites, when he said the words in the above Scripture to them. He wanted them to know that they couldn’t inherit Abraham’s relationship with God. They would have to build their own relationship with Him by taking Him seriously the way he did. Why? It is because relationships are built and not inherited.
See, that someone was a good friend of your late parents does not mean he is going to be a good friend of yours too. If you do not relate to the person the way your parents related to him, he may, at some point, change his mind about you and stop having anything to do with you. Does that mean he has changed his mind about your parents too? No! His relationship with your parents is a settled case. But there is no way he will continue that same relationship with you, if you will not treat him with the kind of respect and love your parents gave him.
In like manner, John wanted the Jews to know that if they would not take God seriously the way their forefather Abraham did, they would not enjoy God the way he did. On the contrary, God would find Himself other children that would relate to Him as Abraham did, even if He had to raise them from some stones. And what that is telling us is that if we will not do the will of God from our hearts, He may at some point find and replace us with other people that will do what He wants, even if we have come from a family of those who once served and cherished Him.
And we have examples in Scriptures of how certain people who would not do His will were replaced by Him with others who would do what He wanted. For instance, He replaced Eli’s sons with Samuel and made him the judge of the nation of Israel instead of them. He also replaced King Saul with David, even though David was not a prince. And my prayer is that He will not have to replace you with another person in His kingdom, in your family, in your neighbourhood or in your workplace or school.
But you have to begin to take your relationship with Him seriously. You have to begin to take the doing of His will seriously. What are the things He wants you to do? Where are the places He wants you to go? Who are the people He wants you to support with your resources? You need to settle down to pray and study His word to know these things and to be devoted to them. Otherwise, He will surely and someday find someone else to do what you will not do, for His work cannot be left undone.
Have a great day.
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IF GOD’S CHOICE CAN FAIL 12/03/25.
“Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.” (1Sam 15:10-11NIV)
What do we see in our opening text for today’s devotion? We see that even though it was God Himself that chose and ordained Saul as king, He later regretted choosing him.
Now people often say that God never regrets doing anything. But that is their own thought, and it is contrary to Scriptures. From what we see in Scriptures, there were times God regretted doing certain things. And He did not lie to Himself at such times. Instead, He faced the reality and dealt with the things that brought Him regret.
So, if you too are having a feeling of regret or disappointment about certain decisions you made in the past, decisions that appeared to be good at the time you were making them but which have now turned bad, don’t be too hard on yourself. Instead, face the reality and do the needful.
God had to face the reality in Saul’s case and do the needful. He had to anoint someone else in his stead, even while he was still on the throne. But was He happy about the fact that He had to do that? No!
What about Prophet Samuel who represented God in handling Saul’s ordination? Was he happy with the fact that the man lost his way and could not be brought to repentance? No! On the contrary, we are told in the bible that he kept on mourning for him until God stopped him from doing so and told him to go and anoint someone else in his stead. (Cf. 1Sam 15:35 & 16:1)
In like manner, even if the people we have as leaders over us in our country, cities, towns, villages, institutions and even churches are God’s anointed leaders, we cannot guarantee that they will not fail us. That is because they may fail both God and us. Now if God’s choice can fail us, can we confidently say that our own choices won’t fail us? We can’t. And if they should fail us, what are we going to do? Are we going to continue to mourn like Samuel until we have no strength anymore to mourn? No! We will just have to turn to God to show us how to resolve the problem.
In any case, my point is that we must be careful not to put our trust in any of human being but in God. That way, even if they fail us, we will be able to count on God to turn their failure around for our good.
Have a splendid day.
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BE THOUGHTFUL IN APPRECIATION 11/03/25.
“When Haman entered, the king asked him, "What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?" Now Haman thought to himself, "Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?" So he answered the king, "For the man the king delights to honor, have them bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head. Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king's most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, 'This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!'" "Go at once," the king commanded Haman. "Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king's gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended."” (Est 6:6-10NIV)
The bible passage above is clearly a familiar one to many readers of the bible. And it speaks of how the great King Xerxes appreciated and honoured a Jew called Mordecai. As the story goes, Mordecai once exposed certain officers of this king that had plotted to assassinate him. Why did they plot to assassinate him? We are not told in the account. But we are told that Mordecai found out about them and was discreet enough to expose them before they were able to carry out their wicked plot or escape. (Cf. Esther 2:21-23)
However, as the account also further reveals, Xerxes did not appreciate Mordecai at all for this act of kindness done to him. Yes, what he did was recorded in the book of the annals of his kingdom right before him. Nonetheless, he did nothing to appreciate him. Why? We would not know. Maybe he did not consider what he did as anything special at the time. Or maybe he was just in a prolonged bad mood. We wouldn’t know.
But there came a time when Mordecai really needed this man to return the favour and spare his life and the lives of his people too. That, of course, was when God, who does not forget people and who knows how to turn people’s mistakes or omissions around for the good of His people, brought about circumstances that drove this king to revisit the matter. And when he did, he himself was surprised that he did nothing to appreciate Mordecai for his act of kindness and faithfulness to him and the realm. So, he immediately began to think of how best to reward him.
Well, as he thought hard about how best to reward Mordecai, that is, in accordance with his own status as an emperor, his most beloved official, Haman, came in. It was he, then, that helped this king in properly dealing with the matter. Of course, he came up with what he came up with because he had arrogantly thought that the reward was coming to him. But the fact that he put himself in the picture helped in coming up with a sort of appreciation that the king himself could not resist or reject. It was just perfect for him.
What, then, is the account teaching us? First, it is that we should learn not to overlook people’s acts of kindness to us. Instead, we should appreciate them on time, that is, when it will make the most sense. Otherwise, we may end up having God drive us to do what we have neglected to do, in a more expensive or grand way.
Looking again at Xerxes’ case: if he had appreciated Mordecai immediately after he saved his life, he may not have needed to go through the trouble of treating him like an emperor. Delayed appreciation, then, will most likely cost you more. So, don’t delay or defer giving appreciation to whom it is due. And even if, for some reasons, you failed to appreciate certain people you should have appreciated, you should still appreciate them the moment your error is brought to your notice. Why? It is better late than never.
Another important lesson from this bible story is the need for us to be thoughtful in appreciating others. Don’t be involved in giving useless or meaningless appreciation or gifts to people. Instead, always be thoughtful about what you want to do. Appreciating people is never mainly about money but about our thoughtfulness in doing it.
That great king, Xerxes, did not spend money in appreciating Mordecai. But the kind of appreciation he gave to him was more than what anyone in his kingdom could hope for in a lifetime. He made him wear his royal robe, ride his royal horse and wear his royal crest on his head. Then he had him led through the royal city by his most dignified official, with the herald ‘This is how the king treats the man he honours.’ That, of course, changed Mordecai’s status in the realm for the rest of his life.
So, it is not mainly about how much we are able to spend in appreciating those who have done us good in life. It is mainly about being thoughtful. It is mainly about carefully considering the best way to appreciate them, in the light of what they have done for us and also in the light of our own status. And if we know how to think well about ourselves, as Haman did, we should have no problem coming up with truly nice and pleasant ways of appreciating people.
Will you try this, then, with someone today? And may God load you with sufficient wisdom, determination and resources to appreciate well all the people that deserve your appreciation, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a lovely day.
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YOU WILL REAP WITH REJOICING 10/03/25.
“Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.” (Ps 126:5-6NIV)
Planting and reaping are a very important aspect of human living. And it is not only farmers that are involved in them; every living person is involved in them. Yes, everyone that is involved in a legitimate labour is involved in planting and reaping. When you start a business with some money, for instance, you have planted something. So, you can expect to reap a harvest of more money from what you have planted.
Also, when you invest money to get yourself educated in a field of life, you have planted something. And sooner or later, you can expect to reap a harvest of more money and prestige in life. Then when you invest your time in teaching or training people, you are planting. And sooner or later, you too can expect to reap a harvest of more money and prestige and more competent people to make the world better. So, you can see that all of us, regardless of our field of work, are always planting to reap.
But then, as we see in our opening bible text, it is not every time that planting comes with joy. There are times that it is actually done in pains and tears. Yes, there are times that we may wish we didn’t have to plant at all. That may be because of our health or because of inadequate seed of money or helpers or because of hostile circumstances. But the truth is that it is better to plant in pains and in tears than not to plant at all.
Why is it better to plant, even if doing so is coming with pains and tears, than not to plant at all? It is better because we cannot reap what we have not planted or sowed. Yes, it is true, as the bible says, that whatever a man plants or sows is what he is going to reap (Gal 6:7). But that is not the only truth about sowing and reaping. There is another truth about it, which people often don’t pay attention to. And it is that you cannot reap what you have not sowed.
Think about it yourself. Can you expect profit from a business you have not started? No! Or can you make use of a kind of knowledge that has not been deposited in you through training and learning? No! Or can you expect anyone to reproduce something that you have not taught him? No! So, it is only what we have planted in this life that we can expect to reap, not what we have not planted. And if we are after reaping an abundance of anything good in life, then, we should give ourselves to planting it, even if doing so is coming with pains and tears.
All this, of course, is why Solomon says, “Do your planting in the morning and in the evening, too. You never know whether it will all grow well or whether one planting will do better than the other.” (Eccl 11:6GNT) Did you see that? Solomon says even if you are not sure how well your planting will do, you must still never be tired of planting. That is because it is only when you plant that you can expect to reap.
Fortunately for all of us who are children of God, we have a prophetic word that we can count on in our opening bible verses. And it is telling us that even though we have planted in tears, we will harvest with shouts of joy. Yes, it is telling us that even though we were weeping, as we sowed into our businesses, academics, children, ministry or whatever it was that we sowed into, we will still harvest with singing.
Mind you, that someone planted with rejoicing and singing does not mean that he will also reap with rejoicing and singing. There have been people who planted with much happiness and rejoicing but who found themselves weeping while harvesting. Why? Their harvest was a disaster. It did not measure up at all with the quantity of seed planted and the amount of effort put into planting.
But for us, the Spirit of the Lord is saying, “No, your labour in life will not be in vain. Instead, you will have a great harvest of singing and rejoicing for all your labour, even your hard, painful and teary labour.” Do you believe this? If you believe it, then, begin to say, “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I will harvest the fruit of all my hard, painful and teary labour this year with much rejoicing and singing.” And so shall it be. Amen.
Have a blessed day.
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ERADICATING POVERTY FROM THE CHURCH 09/03/25.
I pray for you today that God will fill your heart with adequate wisdom to walk with all His children in your life with love and understanding, so that your dealings with them will continually result in encouragement and prosperity for them and not in bitterness. Amen.
As we see in the bible, there were no poor persons in the church in those early days. Why? Luke tells us that it was because, from time to time, brethren who had properties were selling them and bringing the money made from the sales to the Apostles of the Lord to distribute to those who had need. That means poverty was not eradicated from among those brethren through special prayer and fasting programmes or through seed-sowing meetings. Rather, it was through generosity that it was eradicated from among them. And what prompted those generous brethren to give the way they gave? It was the love of Christ in them. (Cf. Acts 4:34-35; 2Cor 5:14)
But then, is generosity enough to eradicate poverty from among God’s people or anywhere? No! Unless people complement whatever measure of generosity they are receiving with some honest and diligent labour, it will most likely amount to nothing in their lives. They will just be consuming the gifts they are receiving instead of multiplying them. And this is why the apostles of old not only taught the brethren to be generous but also to be hard and diligent workers. In fact, they insisted that anyone who would not work must not eat. And that was because they did not want those who were being helped in the church to waste the help they were receiving or to become unnecessary burdens for others to carry. (Cf. Acts 20:34-35; Eph 4:28; 1Thess 4:11-12; 2Thess 3:6-10)
Unfortunately, many who want to be helped in the church today are not ready to engage in any serious labour that will enable them to multiply the help they want to get. They just want the church to bear for them burdens that they themselves are not willing or ready to bear. But that will not work. And it is, in fact, one of the reasons most of our assemblies today do not have any serious programme to help needy brethren. They have learnt from experience that most of those who want help from the church are lazy or irresponsible people who are just looking for opportunities to abuse the grace of God. Some of them are even bound to vanish once they get the help them want. So, if you want the church to support you in any way, you have to prove that you will not dupe the church of God and that the support you will get will count for something.
Another thing that made it possible for the generosity of those early saints to succeed in eradicating poverty from their midst was that it was not lopsided. In other words, it was not that those giving were giving to enrich others while they get impoverished. Also, it was not that those giving were the only ones continually giving and those receiving were also the only ones continually receiving. Instead, everyone was mutually involved in supporting one another based on what they had and according to their needs. (Cf. 2Cor 8:13-15)
Why, then, is this not the case today in most of our assemblies? It is not the case because our leaders are not teaching us not to be selfish in our dealings with one another the way those apostles of old taught their brethren. Paul, for instance, says this to the Philippians: "Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Phil 2:4NIV) Did you see that? Those brethren were taught not to be self-centred, not to look only at what they can get from others but also at what they can give to them or do for them. But many in our assemblies today only look for what they can get from others and not what they can do for them. And as long as we are like this, there is no way those who are supporting us will not be irritated and, at some point, change their attitude towards us.
So, if we want to eradicate poverty in our churches, we must give heed to these three things, besides trusting God to supply all our needs. First, we must allow love to motivate us to be generous to one another. Second, we all that are able-bodied and of sound mind must be involved in some honest labour, so that we do not become unduly dependent on anyone. Third, we must not only be looking at what we can get from the church or others but also at what we can give to them. And may the Spirit of God enable us to act accordingly, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a great day.
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THE REWARD OF THE LORD’S ANOINTED 08/03/25.
I pray for you today that God will cause His favour to overwhelm your life every remaining day of this year and drive all kinds of good and wonderful things that you will never be able to get through hard work to you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
However, it is not enough for us to be praying to God to cause His favour to overwhelm our lives and make amazing things happen to us. It is equally important that we too are doing things that will cause His favour to work for us. And one of such things is being generous to those anointed by Him to feed us with His word, pray for us and lead us to walk in the path of His righteousness.
Look at what our Lord Jesus says about this:
"He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward." (Matt 10:40-42NIV)
Did you see that? Anyone who receives an anointed person of God because he believes that he is truly sent of God will certainly receive the reward of that anointed person. Even if it is just a cup of cold water that he gives him, he will not fail to receive his reward. What that reward will be, however, is not what anyone can say. It all depends on how God leads or moves that anointed person to bless the one involved.
For example, the reward that the Shunammite woman got from God through Elisha was a son that Satan couldn’t take away, having been barren for years (2Kings 4:8-37). Also, the reward that the widow of Zarephath got from God through Elijah was the preservation of her life and her son’s life during a terrible period of famine in their land (1Kings 17). And the reward that Mary, the sister of Martha, got from the Lord Jesus for her generosity to Him was a name that will always be mentioned and praised in God’s kingdom and wherever the gospel is preached (Matt 26:6-13).
So, no one can actually predict how God will reward those who relate in generosity to His servants. But He will surely reward them with things that money, hard work or intelligence can never get. Unfortunately, many of us are missing these things not because we cannot have them but because we are stingy, selfish or insensitive. What will a cup of cold water cost any of us? Nothing much! Yet many of us have been missing the rewards that could be ours just by regularly giving our men and women of God some cups of cold water. Just think about it
Now am I saying that you are to start pursuing your pastor or leader in church with cups of water everywhere he goes, whether he is thirsty or not? No! Or am I saying that as long as you are giving your church leader cups of cold water, you have done all that God requires of you? No! Of course, if all you can indeed afford to give to support your church leader or the Lord’s anointed sent to you is a cup of water, it is fine. God will surely reward you for it, according to His standards.
But the truth is that many of us can do far better than that. And the Lord will not expect us to do any less. Otherwise, we will be cheating ourselves. Look at what He says in the Law of Moses to His people about this:
“Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king," says the LORD Almighty, "and my name is to be feared among the nations.” (Mal 1:14NIV)
Did you see that? Well, thank God we are not under any kind of curse because Jesus has taken care of all curses for us. However, this is written down to teach us that it is a sign of utter disrespect to God to give Him or His servants among us less than He has blessed us to give. It was, in fact, that kind of thing that got Ananias and his wife Sapphira killed instead of being greatly rewarded by Him (Acts 5:1-11).
Now my prayer is that we will not get injured, killed or demoted where we ought to have been richly rewarded by God with all kinds of beautiful things. But we too need to cultivate the right attitude in our generosity to God and to those He is using to minister to us. And may His good Spirit make this so for us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Do have a lovely day.
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MY PRAYERS ARE EFFECTIVE 06/03/25.
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” (James 5:16-18NIV)
James, in our opening text, says the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. And he goes on to give us an example using Elijah and how he prayed and his prayer affected a whole country for three and a half years. Then he tells us that this man, Elijah, was just a man like us. He was not an angel, as some have suggested. He was a man like us. And what is James' point? It is that we also can offer prayers like Elijah and expect similar results. We can offer prayers that will affect whole families, communities, cities, kingdoms and nations.
Have you ever contemplated that? Well, I am contemplating that right now. I am seeing my prayers to God changing lives and situations in my family, community, church and country. That is because I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and can offer prayers that are powerful and effective.
Now what about you? Do you see yourself as in a position to offer powerful and effective prayers that will change your life and world for the better and make it conform to the will of God? If you are a child of God, you are in that position and should begin to see yourself in it. Otherwise, you will be cheating yourself of certain experience of God's power that could be yours in this life.
It is really unfortunate that many children of God do not see themselves as being able to stand before Him and pray as Elijah did. That is because they are continually seeing themselves as unworthy. But if Elijah, who did not have the rare privilege of experiencing the new birth, had no issues of worthiness while praying to God about the nation of Israel, why should we, who have been born again and recreated to be like God in true righteousness and holiness, have issues of worthiness when praying to Him?
Sadly, many have issues along this line because of their ignorance of the will of God for them and of the place they hold in His heart and in His kingdom. So, instead of developing themselves to be devoted to praying to Him, they will keep looking for prayer collectors that will do their praying for them. And this is why we now have many so-called preachers and prayer warriors that have turned praying for others into a commercial enterprise. They will receive their due punishment in due season.
Well, what I want you to know is that anyone, especially if the person is a child of God, who will pray to God wholeheartedly and in accordance with His desire will always experience His power in ways beyond their expectations. In fact, we are told in Scriptures that He always does immeasurably more than we can ever ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work in us. So, be encouraged to pray to Him without ceasing. (Cf. Eph 3:20).
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YOU WILL NOT LABOUR IN VAIN 05/03/25
“They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them.” (Isa 65:23NIV)
As we see in our opening bible text, one of the manifestations of God's blessings in the lives of His people is success. In other words, as many of us that are blessed by God have been blessed by Him to be successful in all that we do. And if you are failing in anything you are doing, know that it is not the will of God for you.
Look at our opening text again. It says that we will not labour in vain or give birth to children that will perish or fail in life. So, it is contrary to the will of God for us to labour and not reap the fruit of our labour or to reap the fruit of our labour and not enjoy it. And if we are, then, having any experience of vain labour, we need to address it and not ignore it. In other words, we need to find out what is responsible for our experience to be contrary to the will of God for us and deal with it.
For instance, Solomon says, “Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat — for he grants sleep to those he loves.” (Ps 127:1-2NIV) So, even though you are blessed of God, if you will not acknowledge that apart from Him you cannot do anything, you will be blocking the flow of His blessings in your life. And that may just result in vain labour for you, even though you are putting in a lot of effort, devotion and bravery into what you are doing. (Cf. Luke 12:16-21)
Also, if we are labouring without paying attention to what the word of God teaches about the quality of our labour, we may end up labouring in vain, if we are not shown mercy. The word of God, for example, teaches us to do whatever we do without grumbling, with sincerity of heart and with all diligence, as one working for the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and not man. But if we fail to take this seriously, we will be hindering the working of His blessings in our lives. And that may result in vain labour for us. (Cf. Col 3:22-27)
In addition, labouring with people that are under the wrath of God or some ungodly influence can result in vain labour for us. For instance, we are told that King Jehoshaphat, who was a godly and prosperous king, once teamed with the king of Israel, Ahaziah, to build a fleet of trading ships. But the wrath of God was on Ahaziah at that time for his wickedness. So, a prophecy came to Jehoshaphat that his labour over those ships was going to be in vain. And that was exactly what happened. The ships were wrecked and they were not able to sail. (Cf. 2Chro 20:35-37)
Therefore, who we team with to work is important. Yes, there are times that we have no power to choose whom we are going to work with. And at such times, we can count on God's power to destroy any negative influence that may want to render our labour in vain. But where we deliberately team up with wicked people or people under demonic influences to do business or anything else, our labour may end up being in vain because of them.
Furthermore, wherever we go against clear instructions from God about how something is to be done, we may end up labouring in vain. When David was first taking the Ark of the Covenant to the place he had prepared for it, God killed someone on the way. And all the effort and resources he put into doing what he did simply amount to nothing, even though he had very good intentions. Why? It was because he and the people involved went against God's clear instructions about how His Ark was to be handled. (Cf. Num 4:15; 1Chro 13&15)
So, even if we are doing something good and beneficial, with all good intentions, if we ignore God's clear instructions or warning about what we are doing, we may end up labouring in vain. Yes, as I pointed out before, it is not the will of God for us to labour in vain. But if we don't pay attention to the things I just shared above, we may labour in vain. And if you are labouring in vain at the moment, why not examine what you are doing in the light of the things I just shared with you? Your salvation from vain labour may just be tied to doing so.
Have a blessed day.
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MAKE YOUR WORK VERY GOOD TOO 04/03/25
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good…” (Gen 1:31NIV)
Why are we taught in Scriptures to imitate God? It is because we can do so. If we could not imitate God, we would not be told to do so. But because we have been created in His image and after His likeness, we have what it takes to imitate Him. And that is exactly why we are told to do so. (Cf. Gen 1:27; Eph 4:24; Eph 5:1)
Now in what ways are we to imitate God? We actually have several instructions in Scriptures pointing us to ways in which we are to imitate Him. But the one I want to draw your attention to has to do with the way we handle our work. How, then, are we to imitate God in the way we handle our work? Or what exactly are we to imitate in the way God handles His work?
As we see in the book of Genesis, everything God made in the beginning was good, perfect and flawless. In fact, in our opening bible text, we are told that when God was done with all His work in the beginning, He Himself testified that all that He had done was very good. And why was His work very good? It was very good because He Himself is a good God. So, He cannot do anything that will not fully communicate His goodness or carry the trademark of His excellency.
That being the case, we too, who are God’s children and creation, must learn to function with the same mentality. We must continually say to ourselves, “I am God’s child and creation. So, I cannot do anything that will not fully communicate the goodness and excellency of God my Father.” And until we begin to function with this mindset, we will not stop handling our jobs and anything else that we lay our hands on anyhow.
When God started the work of creation, His focus was not to create a universe that He would have to come around to repair every now and then. Rather, His focus was to create a universe that would have all that it would need to transform itself with ever-increasing glory. That is why He has never had to repair the sun, the moon or any of the stars. And none of them has ever failed to live up to expectations.
Also, observed that God has never had to put any new thing here on earth since He created it in the beginning. Why? It is because He put in it right from the beginning everything that we would need to make it a wonder. So, we are the ones to do the investigating and searching. We are the ones to labour to find out the things He has placed here on earth to beautify it and make it most enjoyable for us. And ever since some of us have been doing that, we have been finding the earth to be more and more interesting to live in.
You can see, then, that when God judged all His works as very good, He was not overrating Himself. He did a very good creation job in the beginning. And whatever mess we are seeing in the world right now was not made by Him but by us through our sins and various scheming. (Cf. Ecc 7:29)
In any case, I said all of that to show you what we ought to imitate in God about our work. And that has to do with making the works of our hands very good too. In other words, just like God, whenever we are done with anything, we should be able to tell ourselves that what we have done is very good and will truly serve the purpose for which we have done it. But our works will not be very good, if our goal is not to make them very good. No, our works will not be very good, if our minds have not been renewed to embrace the fact that we were originally created by God to do good works and that everything we do must bear testimony to this fact, whether it is spiritual or natural. (Cf. Eph 2:10)
Look, doing things that are not good, things that are substandard, things that are of low quality and things that will not fully serve the purpose for which they are done is contrary to our nature and also to the will of God for us. In fact, we should consider it shameful and beneath us to do such things. So, if you are a child of God, you need to cleanse yourself of every culture of doing things anyhow, of doing things that will make those who are going to use them mad or upset with you.
Yes, sometimes, it is people that will compel you to go below what you know to be good and acceptable because they want something cheap. Yet they are the ones that will go about ridiculing your work as substandard or worthless. So, don’t allow anybody to kill the goodness of your work because of money. That is because it is not a must that you serve everyone. If you have to serve anyone, then, be sure to take from them what will make you serve them well. That way, the goodness of your work or service will by itself continually speak for you. And you will be proved to be a true child of God, your Father, whose eternal goal is to always make everything very good.
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MAKE ADEQUATE USE OF THEIR POSITIONS 03/03/25
I am glad to welcome you to another day of this year. And my prayer is that God will clear the way for you to receive and enjoy all that He wants you to have in the year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Now one of the ways to receive without delay what God has already given to you or experience His salvation from satanic afflictions is to take advantage of the presence of the leaders He has appointed over you in your assembly. As we see in Scriptures, among the reasons God gives us leaders in our various churches is that they may watch over us and also supply whatever is lacking in our faith by the power of the Spirit of God. So, they are authorized to say words that will change our lives forever, to pray to God on our behalf and receive answers and to also rebuke the devil and frustrate his works in our lives. (Cf. 2Cor 10:8; 1Thess 3:10; Heb 13:17)
However, we must learn to recognize the positions they are occupying in our lives and make adequate use of them in order for us to fully enjoy their ministries. For example, we are told in the Scriptures of how a widow ran to Prophet Elisha for assistance and got it. As the account goes, after her husband died, a man he owed began to threaten to take her two sons away as slaves. Now we are not told whether the woman first met their family members or friends to help out in the situation or not. If she met with them, then, they probably had no help to offer her. But she did remember that her family had a close relationship with Prophet Elisha. In fact, the prophet knew her husband well enough to be able to recommend him to anyone as a righteous man. So, she ran to him for help. (Cf. 2Kings 4:1)
Now did Elisha attend to this woman or not when she went to him for help? He did. How? Did he give her money? No! He probably did not have enough money to give her to offset her husband’s debt. But he did have sufficient spiritual authority to bless and multiply what she had, so that she would be able to pay her debt and also come out of poverty. And that was exactly what he did. He gave her a word of blessing that changed her situation forever. (Cf. 2Kings 4:2-7)
But do you know that this woman’s husband also could have taken advantage of his relationship with Elisha to receive a word of blessing that would pay his debt before he died? Perhaps if he had done that, he would not have died prematurely as he did. Who knows? In any case, his wife did what he would not do and saved the family from generational poverty.
In like manner, you too, by taking adequate advantage of the spiritual authority of the leaders of your assembly, may save your business, marriage or family from certain problems that have refused to go away. But will you do so? Will pride allow you to do so? Will timidity allow you to do so? Will your devotion to a life of secrecy allow you to do so?
See, there are many of God’s children that are suffering in their bodies, finances or marriages simply because they will not take advantage of the ministries of the leaders of their churches. And these ones may just die suffering, if they continue to refuse to do what is right. Look at what James says to us along these lines:
“Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.” (James 5:14-15NIV)
Did you see that? Any child of God that is sick does not have to die on his sick bed, even if it is sin that is responsible for his sickness. All he needs is to let his church leaders pray for him in faith. And he will be healed and also forgiven, if he has sinned. Why? They are authorised to receive healing and forgiveness for him through faith in Christ Jesus. But what if he will not reach out for them for prayers? He may just die in his sickness.
Now I am aware, of course, that it is not every so-called church leader that is a person of faith and that can be trusted to do what is right for the good of the children of God under him. But inasmuch as you know that your own church leaders are people of faith and can be trusted to always work for your good, learn to make adequate use of their spiritual authority for your healing, promotion and salvation from every attack of the enemy. And may the Spirit of God continually fill your heart with adequate wisdom and understanding to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a splendid day.
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WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? 02/03/25
Welcome to another day of this year. My prayers it that God will always see to it that you are settled in the right place for His purpose to be fully accomplished in your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Once God appeared to Prophet Elijah at Mount Horeb and twice asked him this great question, “What are you doing here?” Now when do we ask people this kind of question? First, we ask them when we do not expect to find them where they are, that is, when we expect them to be somewhere else. Second, we ask them when we want to know their mission where they are and if it is worthy enough to bring or keep them there.
So, when God asked Elijah, “What are you doing here?” first, He wanted him to know that He was not expecting him to be there at the time. Second, He wanted to know his mission there. And did He not know his mission there? He knew it. Yet He wanted to hear it from his own mouth. (Cf. 1Kings 19)
In any case, Elijah’s reason for being at Horeb at that time did not really matter to God. That was because he was not supposed to be there in the first place. Yes, it was life’s pressure that drove him there to seek death. But he was not supposed to be there. That was because his job on earth was not yet finished. So, God told him to go back the very way he came and complete his mission. And he did.
In like manner, there are people today that are in the wrong place in life. And that is the reason they are not flourishing or seeing God’s purpose being accomplished in their lives. Yes, like Elijah or Hagar, Sarah’s maidservant, life’s pressure has driven them away from where God wants to be to where they are not supposed to be. But regardless of how comfortable they may be in those wrong places, the purpose of God cannot be fully realized in their lives. (Cf. Gen 16)
Therefore, they need to see these things and move away from where they are to where God wants them to be. And He is already asking them, “What are you doing here? Do you realise that you are not supposed to be here? Do you realise that my purpose and promises for you cannot be fulfilled here?” But can they even hear His voice? If they can, are they willing to move to where He wants them to be, so that they may have room to flourish and experience the fulfilment of His good purpose for them?
Now perhaps you are one of such people. My prayer for you is that God will open your ears to hear what He is saying to you and also strengthen you to act accordingly, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Do have a splendid day.
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KEEP AN EYE ON THEM 01/03/25
Welcome to another day. And my prayer for you is that God Himself will keep you pure and blameless, spirit, soul and body, at the appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
As we see in the Scriptures, our Lord Jesus Christ is coming back for His church at the time set by God the Father. But He is not coming for a defiled or polluted church. Rather, He is coming for a church that is blameless, spotless and without wrinkle. All of this is why we are told by Peter to make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him when He returns. (Cf. Eph 5:26; 2Pet 3:14)
But can we really be spotless, blameless and unashamed before Him when He returns? Yes, we can. We can because the Spirit of God is in us and is faithfully committed to making sure this is so. Yes, He is working all the time to ensure that the good work that He began in us when we became born again is carried on till the day of the Lord. So, our being blameless when our Lord returns is not going to be merely a product of our desire or effort but a product of the labour of the Spirit of God in us and over us. (Cf. Phil 1:6 & 2:12-13)
Nevertheless, we must still desire to be blameless when He returns. Not only that, we must also be taking advantage of His grace to live the kind of life He wants us to live. Otherwise, we may end up frustrating all that He is doing to keep us blameless.
Furthermore, it is important that we keep an eye on one another, so that Satan will not succeed in luring any of us away to destroy his faith and life. The bible says the following to us on this note:
“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.” (Heb 3:12NIV)
“See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears.” (Heb 12:15-17NIV)
Did you see that? If we all will remain pure and blameless when our Lord Jesus returns, we must keep an eye on ourselves. That way, we can take bold steps to correct, rebuke and protect our brethren, if we sense that Satan is working to ensnare them through jealousy, greed, bitterness, rebellion, discontentment, fornication or any other sinful act.
For instance, when members of Chole’s family of the Corinthian church saw that carnality had taken over that church, they lost no time at all in informing Paul the Apostle, their spiritual leader, about it. They could see that division, jealousy, pride, sexual immorality, cheating and lack of consideration for the faith of young believers were tearing apart this church. So, they wrote to this apostle about it and asked for his timely intervention. That was why he wrote 1Corinthians. So, that letter was an answer to the cry and prayer of certain brethren who wanted to see the church of God remain pure and blameless at Jesus’ return. (Cf. 1Cor 1:11-12)
Unfortunately, when some brethren do similar things today, when they begin to make effort to keep their assembly sanctified unto the Lord, other brethren may start calling them names and quarrelling with them. Why? They are still in love with darkness. So, they don’t want its works to be exposed or dealt with. And if we permit such people to silence and supress the truth in our midst, we will only be helping them to destroy themselves and others and to also tarnish God’s reputation.
Therefore, if you care at all about our being blameless before Jesus when He returns, keep an eye not just on yourself but also on your brethren. And if you see them missing it in any way, don’t hesitate to confront them or those who can help them with the truth, whether they are happy about it or not. One day, they will either thank you for doing the needful in saving them or blame themselves for rejecting the will of God for their lives.
Have a great day.
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IN SPITE OF THE FACTS 28/02/25
“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So, shall your offspring be,’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.” (Romans 4:18-19NIV)
One of the things that made Abraham receive God’s promise of Isaac was that he did not allow the facts to make him unbelieving. Abraham, without weakening in his faith, faced the fact that his body was as good as dead. He did not deny that fact. Instead, he faced it.
Do you understand that? Abraham did not say, “I am young. So, I will be able to father a child.” That was not what he was saying. Rather, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead, for he was about a hundred years old. So, this man did not deny the reality of the condition of his body. He did not start confessing around, “I am a young man.” No, he did not do that. If he had been doing that, people would have asked him if he was alright. That, by the way, would have been a lie.
Also, he faced the fact that Sarah’s womb was dead, for Sarah herself was about ninety years old then. Those facts were there. And Abraham did not deny them. Nevertheless, that is, in spite of the facts that he was confronted with, he believed. He believed what God said to him. He took God seriously. He did not allow his faith in God to become weak.
Well, again, Paul says, “Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.” Look at that. Sarah’s womb was also dead. And when you read Hebrews 11, you will see that God actually quickened Sarah’s womb in order for her to conceive. God made her womb alive, for it was already dead. So, those facts were there, and Abraham faced them.
Then, from verse 20 of Romans 4, Paul further says, “Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God…” (NIV) That is beautiful. The facts were there. But the man looked away from them unto God. He must have said to himself, “Yes, these facts are here. My body is as good as dead. And Sarah’s womb also is dead. But God has promised me a son, and I believe Him.” This is why he began to give glory to God. He began to thank Him for the son that was coming.
Now that is what we also must learn to do about God’s promises. That is how to walk in faith – you thank God for the fulfilment of His word in your life, in spite of the contrary facts you may be faced with. And as you continue to do that, not being weakened in your faith, God will make His word good
in your life.
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HE SPEAKS THROUGH THE SCRIPTURES 27/02/25
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2Timothy 3:16-17NIV)
Paul, in our opening text, says all Scripture is God-breathed. In other words, they are all inspired of God. That, of course, does not mean that every statement in the Scriptures was made by God. No, every statement made in them was not made by God. But He orchestrated the writing of everything in them. And it is now up to us to use the things we have in them to teach, rebuke, correct and train ourselves in righteousness. That way, we will become perfect and thoroughly equipped for every good work.
So, if you want to be thoroughly equipped for every good work, if you want to be well equipped to live the life God wants you to live, give yourself to Scriptures. That is because God is speaking to us through Scriptures. Many of us are not taking advantage of what is written for us in Scriptures. That is because we do not know that God wants to talk to us through them.
People, many times, will pray and expect God to answer them through visions, dreams or prophetic revelations. And it is not bad to expect God to talk to us through these mediums. But it is not every time that He uses them. Scriptures, however, are always available for us to consult and learn the will of God from.
Daniel, for instance, once learnt the will of God through Scriptures. Look at what he says from verse 1 of chapter 9 of his book:
“In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom – in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned to the Lod God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.” (Daniel 9:1-3NIV)
How did Daniel learn the will of God about how long the desolation of Jerusalem would last? It was through the Scriptures. Also, when Paul came to the Bereans to share the word of God with them, the people went to check the Scriptures to see if what he was saying to them was correct and in line with the will of God for their lives. (Cf. Acts 17:10-12)
Well, the point I am making is that the Scriptures represent the entire body of God’s will for us. They present to us everything God wants us as humans to know about His will for us. And if you want to know His will for you, then, give yourself to the Scriptures. Yes, if you want God to be talking to you everyday, give yourself to Scriptures.
Remember that God does not talk to people everyday through dreams, visions, prophets or angels. There are many who will never see a dream, a vision or an angel from God till they leave this world. But we all can hear Him talk to us everyday through the Scriptures. So, let us give ourselves wholeheartedly to Scriptures and we will always hear God talk to us.
Have a blessed day.
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DON’T DESPISE YOURSELF 26/02/25
“Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?” (NIV)
The part I want you to pay attention to in our opening Scripture is where God says, “Who dares despise the day of small things?” And I want you to pay attention to it because it is showing us that we must not live our lives on the basis of the lowliness of our background. Yes, we may have come from a lowly and unimpressive background. But we are not to think we cannot amount to anything in life because of that. We are not to despise ourselves because of it.
Why should we not despise ourselves because of our lowly background? It is because it cannot limit us or stop us from attaining the height God wants us to attain, if we will not allow it. If you allow it to define who you are, you may end up living a low life for the rest of your life. But if you allow God to define who you are for you and function on that basis, then, the lowly circumstances of your life will not be able to limit you.
Look at David, for example. Even though he started out in life as a shepherd boy, he ended up becoming one of the most powerful kings that ever lived here on earth. And why? It is was because even though he was raised as a lowborn, he did not allow the circumstances of his birth to limit him. Instead, he was looking at what God had deposited in him. He was drawing his inspiration from the fact that God anointed him with His Spirit. So, he had enough potential to become the greatest of kings here on earth.
You can see why he was not afraid to face Goliath. He was not considering the size or might of this giant when he was facing him, neither was he considering his own smallness in size or the lowliness of his family background. On the contrary, he was considering the fact that the Spirit of God was with him and had made him fit to handle such situations. He had before that time dealt with a lion and a bear. So, he did not see Goliath as any different from them. (Cf. 1Samuel 17)
Now, of course, his brothers tried to shame him and discourage him from facing Goliath. But he was not going to listen to them. Why? He knew who God has made him and what He has deposited in him. You too need to know who God has made you and what He has deposited in you. You need to know who you are, in the light of what God has done for you, not in the light of the education you have received or the skills you have or your natural background.
Of course, it is right for you to appreciate the education you have received, the skills you have and any other advantage God has enabled you to have in life. And it is also right to make the most of these things in advancing yourself in life and in making life easier for you. But beyond doing that, it is more important that you know who God has made you on the inside and what He has deposited in you. That is because what He has done for you and what He has deposited in you are the basis for His expectations on your life.
So, do not despise yourself because of your background or because of the lowliness of your life’s circumstances. Those things cannot determine how far you will go in life or how high you will rise, if you will not permit them.
Have a pleasant day.
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NO ONE KNEW WHAT THEY WERE 25/02/25
“One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine. He gathered some of its gourds and filled the fold of his cloak. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, "O man of God, there is death in the pot!" And they could not eat it. Elisha said, "Get some flour." He put it into the pot and said, "Serve it to the people to eat." And there was nothing harmful in the pot.” (2Kings 4:39-41NIV)
Who went out into the fields to gather herbs to cook? It was one of the sons of the prophets serving under Prophet Elisha. And what did he bring in to cook for his people? The gourds (fruits) of an unknown wild vine!
Interestingly, when he came back with those gourds and began to cook them, nobody queried him or asked him questions, even though they did not know what he cooking for them to eat. Why? As the account shows us, it was a time of famine. So, food was scarce. If someone, then, brought something into a house to cook, regardless of what it might be, those in that house may not ask him any questions, as long as there was something to fill their bellies with. (Cf. 2Kings 4:38)
That was the situation that those sons of the prophets found themselves in. Because they were all starving, they did not bother to query their colleague about what he was cooking for them, even though not even he could tell them what it was. But it was not long after they started eating it that they all realised that it was poison they were eating. And if Prophet Elisha had not been around that day to supernaturally heal them and the food they were eating, the story would definitely have ended differently.
Now what is the point of this bible story? It is that we must not allow any situation, however ugly it may be, to drive us into accepting to do something or consuming something that we have no adequate knowledge of what it is. Otherwise, we may end up consuming poison or getting involved in something that will ruin our lives before we know what has befallen us.
How did some people end up being ruined through prostitution or money rituals? It was because when they were about to be introduced into these terrible things, they did not ask enough relevant questions from those introducing them into them. And why did they not ask enough relevant questions from them? They were desperate to come out of poverty and suffering. So, when some people told them that there was a way out, they did not bother to find out what way it was and what taking that way may do to their lives. They just sat down to eat what was set before them. And by the time they found out what was happening, they had taken enough poison to totally destroy their lives. If such people are, then, not shown mercy, they will surely be utterly ruined.
In like manner, some have ended up in some deadly secret societies or in the practice of sorcery because they would not ask relevant questions from those offering them help to their problems. Maybe they wanted to have children, to become influential, to be healed of certain sicknesses or to be protected from some wicked enemies. Then, in their desperation, they agreed to do what certain individuals that volunteered to help them told them to do, without asking relevant questions. And before they knew it, what appeared altogether harmless when they got started became some kind of poison that was ruining their lives, homes and everything else that they held dear. If they also are not shown mercy, they can only be completely ruined.
So, again, before you settle down to eat that free food, know what it is you want to eat. And before you join that group or enlist for that business, know what you are getting involved in and what terms and conditions applied. Many all around this country are running from pillars to posts now because of some debts hanging around their necks. But how did they get into those debts? Almost unconsciously!
Those who dragged them into debt did not make it look like a serious thing when they were offering them loans. They did not make it look like something capable of poisoning their world. So, they got involved without considering the reality about their abilities to handle the situations. And by the time the reality dawned on them, they had sunk so deep in some rivers of debt that it would probably take series of miracles from God for them to be saved.
What is my point? Have adequate knowledge of whatever you are getting yourself involved in or signing up for, regardless of who is introducing it to you. Then you won’t have to needlessly surrender your life and world to be poisoned by some unknown quantity.
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DON’T SETTLE FOR IMPERFECTION 24/02/25
“They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, "Do you see anything?" He looked up and said, "I see people; they look like trees walking around." Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Jesus sent him home, saying, "Don't go into the village.”” (Mark 8:22-26NIV)
Of all the recorded miracles of our Lord Jesus Christ, the one in our opening bible text was the only one in which He had to minister to someone twice before the person was totally whole. Why was this so? We are not told in any clear terms in the account. But we can see from it that there are times that we may need more than a touch or a miracle from God to solve certain problems of our lives.
As the account of this man goes, when the Lord first touched his eyes, he began to see but not clearly. According to him, he could see men looking like trees and walking around. That means his healing was not perfect yet. And he immediately acknowledged that. He did not give the Lord the impression that everything had become totally alright. Instead, he spoke out, so that the Lord would know that He would need to perfect his healing.
Also, the man did not give the Lord the impression that his partial healing was okay for him or that he could manage with what he had just received. Instead, he showed the Lord that he would want to have his sight perfectly restored, since it was in His hands to perfectly restore it.
Now did the Lord Jesus get angry with this man when he said that he still could not see everything clearly? No! Or did the Lord say, “Well, you should be thankful that you can, at least, see something now?” No! What did He do, instead? He once more touched his eyes, and he began to see everything clearly. Hallelujah!
Why did the Lord Jesus act like that towards that man? It was because He is a perfecter of whatever He starts. The bible says He is not just the author of our faith but also its finisher (Heb 12:2). So, if He starts something, He surely has it in mind to finish or perfect it. And we must keep this in mind. Otherwise, we may miss the best that He has in store for us.
Well, as I pointed out before, there are times that God may need to perform more than a miracle for us in order to perfect certain matters of our lives. So, if God has done something for you and you can see that it is not yet perfect, don’t hesitate to talk to Him about it or to present it to Him again. Remember that James says all God’s gifts are not just good but also perfect (James 1:17). So, don’t accept imperfection – don’t settle down for it. That is because if God has given you something good, He will also want to perfect it.
Now God’s perfection of what He has done for you or given to you may not come today or tomorrow. But as long as your heart remains committed to Him and is eagerly desiring that perfection, it will happen. The reason some people have not received a perfection of certain good things God has done for them is that they are not consistent in their devotion to Him. Once they received something good for Him, they go on vacation in their devotion to Him until they need something else or until they lose what they have received from Him.
That is not a good way to relate to God, as we see clearly in Scriptures. And if that is the way you have been relating to Him, you need to change now and be fully devoted to Him. Otherwise, your experience of His goodness, favour, peace or mercy may never be perfect – there will often be something off about it.
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THE SECRET OF RENEWED STRENGTH 23/02/25
“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isa 40:30-31NIV)
As we see in the bible text above, there are circumstances of life that can make young people, who are full of strength, grow tired and weary. Yes, there are circumstances that can make those who are in the best or most advantageous stages of their lives stumble and fall. For example, the current situation of our country has already worn many hardworking, upright and diligent people out. It has already killed many businesses, thrown many families into poverty, ended many lives and caused many to be getting ready to run away.
Then, to make matters worse, there are no visible signs at all that things are going to get better. Instead, every new day, we are confronted with renewed increase in the prices of goods and services and news of worsened cases of insecurity. It is not a wonder, then, that many can no longer hide their anger, tiredness and frustration and their complete loss of hope for a better nation.
But is it the will of God for us to go through life, feeling tired, angry, frustrated and helpless every day? No! Or is it His will for us to go through life, stumbling and falling, and never being able to stand upright as a victor? No! Yet, regardless of how strong, healthy, influential, educated or wealthy we are, if we are confronted with certain circumstances of life, we are bound to get tired and collapse, if we are not equipped by God to handle them.
For example, as spiritually faithful, gifted and vibrant as Paul the apostle was, he once found himself confronted with certain trials of life that made him give up all hope of staying alive. Look at the way he describes the situation to the Corinthians:
“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.” (2Cor 1:8-11NIV)
Can you see that God was the reason Paul and his companions survived that situation that threatened to take everything away from them? He was the one that saved them. And He was the one that continued to save them from other perilous situations they encountered. Why, then, did He keep on saving them in that manner? It was because they had put their trust and hope in Him. And they demonstrated that their trust and hope were in Him by praying to Him.
Well, I shared that with you to let you understand that there is no one that cannot be faced with overwhelming challenges in this life, even if the person is an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. No, there is none in this life that cannot be faced with situations that will daily make them feel sick, confused, tired and defeated. However, whether the overwhelming challenges of life that we are confronted with will destroy us or not depends on just one thing. And that is where we place our hope for victory and survival.
In our opening bible text, we are told that as long as our hope is in God, we will surely find our strength renewed to soar above the same challenges that are destroying the strongest and bravest among men, to run and not grow weary and to walk and not faint. How will God do this? I wouldn't know. But He Himself has said that He would do it. He has said that He would give strength to the weary and increase the power of the weak (Is 40:29).
So, we don't have to be tired, discouraged or depressed because of the current situation of this country, however tough it may be at our different ends. We just, like Paul, need to continually express our faith and hope for victory and survival in God through prayers. And He will see to it that we are daily renewed in strength, wisdom, courage, determination and resources to survive and flourish through it all. That way, when He eventually visits our nation with deliverance from all our enemies and from every form of oppression, as He will surely do, you and I will be among those celebrating His praise with all power.
Have a pleasant day.
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PAY ATTENTION TO HOW YOU TREAT PEOPLE TOO 22/02/25.
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” (Matt 5:23-24NIV)
What is the Lord driving at here? It is the fact that the unhappiness of someone in our lives can make our gifts to God unacceptable. That means we cannot use our generosity to God as a replacement for walking in love with the people in our lives. It will not work. So, if you are sinning against the people in your life, hurting them and making them unhappy, you can be sure that you have been wasting whatever measure of generosity you are showing to God or man.
Similar to that is what Peter says to husbands and wives in relating to one another. He says:
“Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” (1Peter 3:7NIV)
Did you see that? It is not only our giving that can be hindered through a messed-up relationship; our prayers can also be hindered through it.
So, if you are disobeying God's word in relating to your spouse, your children, your parents, your neighbours or your employees, your sacrifices of praise, giving, good works and prayers may not be well-received by God. In other words, all these things may just amount to nothing. And as you can see, that is not my idea. It is a revelation of God's will.
Will you, then, want your prayers, giving and other righteous acts to amount to nothing before God? I am sure you will not want that. So, don’t just pay attention to what you want to do for the Lord; also pay attention to how you are treating the people in your life. That is because one way to show that you truly love God is by loving people. And if you truly love people, as God has loved you, nothing you do for Him will go to waste.
Enjoy your day.
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PERSISTENCE IN PRAYER 21/02/25.
“Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come." (Dan 10:12-14NIV)
From what we see in our opening text, God answered Daniel the very first day he prayed to him about a matter bothering his heart and sent an angel to give it to him. But an evil spirit turned himself into a door of hindrance that kept Daniel away from the answer to his prayer. So, Daniel had to keep on knocking in prayers for the next twenty-one days before another angel of the Lord came to support the angel bearing the answer to his prayer and make way for him to deliver it.
What does this tell us? It is that there are times we need to persist in prayer in order to receive God's answers to our prayers. And at such times, it is not that God has not answered us. Rather, it is that there are things keeping us from accessing His answers to our prayers. Persistence in prayers, therefore, is what we need in such situations.
Now how long will that take us? I cannot tell. Daniel did not know that it would take him three weeks to receive an answer to his prayer on the occasion I just mentioned. But because he did not stop praying, he did receive his answer. If we too won't stop knocking whatever door or doors that are keeping us away from what God has already provided for us, if we won't stop asking Him to clear the way for us, He will surely do so and open those doors for us, even if there are a thousand of them. All we need is to remain steadfast in prayer and not faint or give up.
Have a splendid day.
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GOD CANNOT FORCE US 20/02/25.
I pray for you today that you will be given all the energy you need by the Spirit of God to be the person God wants you to be and to live as He wants you to live every remaining day of your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Now I offered this prayer for you because I know that God is more than able to make us become the persons He wants us to be and live the life He wants us to live. Nevertheless, we also must desire to be what He wants us to be and to live as He wants us to live. We must understand that God cannot force to be what ought to be. He can show us what we ought to be, arouse us to desire to become what we ought to be and make available for us all that we need to be what we ought to be. But He cannot force us to desire to be what we ought to be or force us to take advantage of His provisions for us to be what we ought to be. Those are own responsibilities.
For example, God sent Moses to the children of Israel to bring them out of the house of bondage and take them into the land He had promised to give their forefathers. And Moses did just that. He took advantage of God’s presence and power to bring out the people and to lead them to the place of rest God had prepared for them.
But just before they entered that land of rest, he, as God had instructed, sent some of the men (twelve of them, actually) to go and survey the land. Why? It was so that they would see the beauty and glory of the land and be inspired to take it for themselves. Unfortunately, even though those spies that had been sent to survey the land saw and tasted its beauty, most of them (ten of them, actually) were not at all inspired to go up and take the land. That was why they came back with an evil report that made all the people lose whatever appetite they once had for what God had chosen for them. And the result was that the congregation turned their back on God and came under a great condemnation. (Cf. Numbers 13&14)
But look at the other two men that were in the company of those who went to spy the land, that is, Joshua and Caleb. When they saw what God had chosen for them, they were inspired to take and possess it. And even though they knew that, reckoning on their own abilities, they were not a match for the inhabitants of the land at that time, they believed that the God who chose the place for them was also able to deliver it into their hands. That, of course, was eventually what happened.
Can you now see that becoming what God wants us to be is not all on God? We also have a great role to play in the whole thing. God, on His own side, will definitely continue to inspire and encourage us to embrace what He has chosen for us. But we also must fall in love with that image of His Son, Jesus Christ, which He is showing to us, and take advantage of His provisions for us to conform to it. Otherwise, instead of becoming what He wants us to be, we will end up becoming what He does not want us to be. (Cf. Rom 8:29, 2Tim 3:1-5)
And we see an illustration of how to do this in Paul, the apostle. In his letter to the Philippian brethren, he says:
“Now I have given up everything else-I have found it to be the only way to really know Christ and to experience the mighty power that brought him back to life again, and to find out what it means to suffer and to die with him. So whatever it takes, I will be one who lives in the fresh newness of life of those who are alive from the dead. I don't mean to say I am perfect. I haven't learned all I should even yet, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers, I am still not all I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us. I hope all of you who are mature Christians will see eye-to-eye with me on these things, and if you disagree on some point, I believe that God will make it plain to you- if you fully obey the truth you have.” (Phil 3:10-16TLB)
Now I pray that you and I too will be made to see things the way this apostle saw them and give everything in us to being the person God wants us to be and to living the life He wants us to live, in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.
Have a great day.
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DON’T LET YOUR PAST REPUTATION STOP YOU 19/02/25.
“For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am I what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect [not wasted]. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” (1Corinthians 15:9-10NIV – emphasis added)
If there is someone that should have an excuse for not doing what God had called him to do or for not exercising the gift that God had deposited in him it was Paul. Remember that when Stephen was killed, Paul was there, approving his murder. He was the first martyr to die for his faith in the Lord. And Paul literally supervised the man’s killing. (Cf. Acts 7:54-8:1)
Now think about Paul, going around among God’s people with that kind of reputation. You may not understand fully his condition, if you do not try to put yourself in his shoes. But Paul went around with that reputation when he started his ministry. In Acts of the Apostles, chapter 9, we are told that when he, after his conversion, wanted to associate with the brethren in Jerusalem, nobody was going to have anything to do with him. And that was because of his reputation as a persecutor of the church.
But this apostle would not use that as an excuse for not living to please God or for not exercising his spiritual gifts. He said in our opening bible text, “His grace to me was not wasted—it was not without effect. In fact, I worked harder than all the other apostles, taking advantage of God’s grace that was with me.”
So, whatever your past reputation looks like, it should not stop you from living to please the Lord Jesus or from exercising whatever spiritual gift He has given to you. You may have been known as a prostitute or a thief or an insincere person in the past. Yet don’t allow that to hinder your walk with God. No, don’t let it prevent you from living for Him, from using your spiritual gifts or from doing whatever tasks He has given you. Whatever name people may have called you in the past is irrelevant now. You are now a new creation in Christ Jesus, and you should function like one. And may you be strengthened daily by the Spirit of God to do so. Amen.
Have a great day.
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WOULD HE MAKE A GARMENT OF SKIN FOR YOU TOO? 18/02/25.
“I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.” (1Tim 2:9-10NIV)
The day we live in is one in which indecency and inappropriate dressing are now the order of the day. Yes, it is a day in which women, including some elderly ones, no longer see anything wrong with dressing like prostitutes or walking around almost naked.
Unfortunately, even our women in the church are not left out of this societal menace. Many of them are vitally contributing to it. And this is evident in the kinds of dresses they wear to our church meetings. No, they may not come for church meetings half-naked. But they will make sure they wear something that reveals enough of certain parts of their bodies, so that they could get someone’s attention. It is no wonder, then, that rape cases are daily multiplying at a very alarming rate in our country, just as cases of consensual sex among unmarried people are just too much to talk about.
But from what we see in our opening bible text, God’s people, God’s women, old or young, ought to be different in the way they dress and comport themselves. Is it that God does not want them to look beautiful and elegant when they dress? No! He wants His daughters to look beautiful and elegant wherever they appear. Otherwise, He would not create them to be beautiful.
Look, for example, at what the bible says about the daughters of Job that were later born to him:
“The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.” (Job 42:14-15NIV)
Who gave Job these extremely beautiful daughters? God! So, beauty, any degree of it, is a gift from God. And no should condemn or despise it.
Unfortunately, there are preachers who have mistaken what Paul says in this text to mean that God’s women are not to dress well or beautify themselves at all, especially with articles of gold or silver. So, they condemn any woman who appears beautiful, without making any effort to find out what quality of life the person is living. But these same people may not see anything wrong with their own women braiding their hair or using bags or shoes with gold or silver plates. And that shows that they are ignorant of what this Scripture means.
I remember, for instance, how a so-called prophet once told a brother of mine that the Spirit of God wanted him to be careful of light complexioned ladies. Why? He had earlier that day seen him with a light complexioned lady. But did he know who she was to him? No! If he had, he would not have said that the Spirit of God told him what He obviously did not tell him.
In any case, what the Scripture we have above is telling us, first, is that God’s daughters are never to take their dressing or physical outlook more seriously than their conduct. So, we should not say that you, as a lady, are beautiful simply because of your hair-do, use of jewelleries and cost of wears but because you are a woman that is also rich in good deeds and character. In other words, if you are not rich in character, your physical beauty may as well be as good as worthless.
Second, this Scripture is telling us that when you dress, demonstrate decency. Cover what is meant to be covered and protect what should be protected. Yes, God has made you beautiful. But He does not want you to get outrageous in handling it. Or else you might soon turn yourself into a tool of seduction in the hand of the devil or open the door of your life for ungodly people or criminals to begin to desire you.
Remember that when the first man and the first women fell and the glory of God that was covering them left, the first thing they did was to cover their nakedness with garments of leaves. And when God came and met them in that condition, what did He do? He made garments of skin for them. Why? He could see that they were not adequately covered, even though it was just the two of them. (Cf. Gen 3)
Now if God should physically appear to you too today, what do you think He would do or say about your dressing? Would He freely settle down to relate to you or would He want to make a garment of skin for you to cover your nakedness? I am sure you know the answer. Therefore, what is acceptable to God is what you should always wear, whether you are a woman or a man and not what many of these movie, music or sport stars are leading you to wear. Otherwise, one might begin to wonder whether you are a child of God at all.
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HAVE YOUR OWN FAITH IN HIM 17/02/25.
I want to admonish you today on the importance of taking your own personal relationship with God very seriously instead of relying on the relationship of others with Him in order to enjoy Him. I am drawing your attention to this because there are many so-called believers in Christ Jesus today who rely solely on the faith of their church leaders in God or on the faith of certain members of their families in God for their progress or protection in life. And that can be very dangerous for them.
For instance, we are told this in the bible about a king of Judah called Joash:
“Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years of Jehoiada the priest.” (2Chron 24:2NIV) .
Why did this man do what was right in the eyes of the Lord during the years of Jehoiada the priest? It was because this priest was guiding him in the path of righteousness. We are even told in the account of his life that it was this priest that chose the two wives he married for him (2Chro 24:3).
However, after the death of this priest, things changed for Joash. He forsook the Lord and began to do things as he pleased. Look at what is said in the bible about that:
“After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. They abandoned the temple of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God's anger came upon Judah and Jerusalem. Although the LORD sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.” (2Chron 24:17-19NIV)
Did you see that? After the death of Jehoiada, Joash was enticed by the leaders of the land into idolatry. And he followed them. Why did he follow them? He followed them because he himself did not have any serious personal relationship with God. So, he did whatever he did for God before that time because of Jehoiada and not because he truly believed in God or loved Him. That means he was simply doing eye-service. He was trying to please Jehoiada because he was the one that did not allow him to be killed when he was but an infant and also because he was the one that raised him and made it possible for him to be king. (Cf. 2Chro 22- 23)
But when the man died, and he no longer had any reason to please him, he abandoned God and followed others into idolatry. So, his reign was cut short and he died an untimely death. And this, as I said before, is showing us that it is important that we have our own personal relationship with God. In other words, don’t serve God, go for church meetings or act like a holy person simply because you are trying to please your parents, friends, husband, wife or employer. Instead, serve God and live a holy life because you have come to know Him as one that is truly worthy of your worship. Otherwise, a time will surely come when it will become clear to everyone that you have been a fraud all along.
More so, if you do not have your own personal relationship with God and are just living off the goodness of God in the lives of others, a time may come when their faith in God will only work for them and will not be able to work for you. Look at what God Himself has to say about this:
“The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men and their animals, even if these three men — Noah, Daniel and Job — were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign LORD.”” (Ezek 14:12-14NIV)
I am sure you can now see the explanation for the untimely death of all the children of Job in one day (Job 1). All along, they had been sustained by the faith of their father in God. But his faith could not protect them from the devil on the day that he came to strike the family; his faith could only protect him. What if they had taken God as seriously as he had taken God? Then the story would most likely have ended differently. So, have your faith in God instead of relying on the faith of others in Him. Then even if the faith of others in Him fail or become weak, your own faith in Him will take you over
.
Have a love week.
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WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO YOURSELF? 16/02/25
“…always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.” (2 Tim 3:7NIV)
Those are Paul’s words to us. And they are telling us about the possibility of always learning the word of God and yet not coming to know anything about Him or His truth (2Tim 3:7). And why will someone be attending church meetings and hearing the word of God and yet be ignorant of God and of the basic truths of life? One of the things that are often responsible for that is a lack of concentration.
When the word of God is coming to you and your mind is not following what you are being taught but is busy with something else or you are sleeping, there is no way you will be able to make anything out of what you are learning. Unfortunately, not paying attention to the word of God coming to them or sleeping when the word of God is coming to them has become a culture for many so-called Christians. That means it is what they do all the time. It is no wonder, then, that there has been no noticeable transformation in their lives ever since they have become Christians and have been attending church meetings.
Another reason people often learn the word of God and yet don’t get to know the truth of God through it is a lack of understanding of what they are learning. Our Lord Jesus clearly tells us that when someone hears the word of God and does not understand it, Satan will come to him and snatch what he has heard away from him. Therefore, there is no way what he has heard can translate to anything good in his life -- it can only go to waste. (Cf. Matt 13:19)
Now it is understandable if one who is not a child of God hears the word of God and does not understand it. That is because he does not have the Spirit of God who gives men understanding of spiritual truths in him (1Cor 2:12). But when a child of God, one who has His Spirit in him, keeps hearing His word and yet does not understand what he is hearing, something is either wrong with him or with his teacher. And what is wrong with him may be that he is not making any effort to understand what he is learning. So, he will not bother to think or meditate on what he has heard. And he will not bother to search the Scriptures to see whether what he has heard is the truth or not. Why? He is lazy. So, like the Hebrew brethren, he is uninterested in gaining the knowledge of the truth. And that kind of person will never mature in spiritual things. (Cf. Heb 5:11-14)
Then we have those who hear the word of God and understand it but who have no intention of acting on it. And why will someone hear the word of God, understand it and yet make no decision to act on it? It is largely because he does not believe what he has heard is for him. He may see it as something for someone else to act on, but not him. And this is why, week after week, people hear the word of God and other instructions in their church meetings and still go out and act as though they did not hear a thing or do exactly the opposite of what they have heard.
The question now is, “Why are you doing this to yourself?” Why are you wasting your time learning the word of God, when you have no intention of acting on it or when you are not interested in seeing it work in your life? See, the word of God will not be of any value to you, if you will not embrace it and act on what it says. No, His word will not open your eyes to the truths you need to know to be free in life, if you will not adopt the right attitude in receiving and handling it. So, if you are among those that have been learning the word of God for years and yet are not sound in the things of God, you need to reconsider what you are doing to yourself and change your ways. Otherwise, you will never stop being a victim of the lies of the devil and the errors of lawless men.
Have a great day.
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EVEN IF YOU ARE LATE 15/02/25
“During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, "It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death."” (2Sam 21:1NIV)
David, as we are shown in the bible, was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). Not only that, we are told that he led his people with integrity of heart and skilful hands (Ps 78:72). Yet, during his reign, for three successive years there was a famine.
Therefore, the fact that we are living right before God does not mean that things cannot go wrong with our lives, homes, businesses or anything under our care. Things may go wrong. But what we do if they go wrong is what will determine whether the situations will be arrested or go worse.
As we see in our opening text, the famine the nation of Israel experienced during David’s time was on for three years before he decided to seek God’s face about it. But why did he wait for three years before he sought God’s face about it? It was most likely because he did not think the famine would linger as it did. Then if they had the surplus of the years before the famine to enjoy, they may not immediately pay attention to what was happening to them. But by the time their surplus was gone, everyone would definitely wake up to the fact that they had a very big problem at hand.
In like manner, there are times that we too ignore certain problems in our lives and allow them to fester. That may be because we think these problems will naturally go away or resolve themselves. Or it may be because the presence of certain things or people in our lives is keeping us from experiencing the full impact of the problems. Or it may even be because we are not the ones directly experiencing the pains and the sorrows that are associated with them.
But problems don’t go away by themselves or on their own. And that is because they don’t happen by themselves or on their own. Something or someone is always responsible for any problem we encounter. And if we want it to go away, then, we too must take responsibility for doing so. Otherwise, even if, for some reasons, we are not feeling its real impact today, as long as it is left unaddressed and allowed to go worse, a time will surely come when it will surely get the attention it deserves from us. But who knows how bad things would have become then?
Well, when David realised that the famine his land was experiencing was not going away, even after three years, he decided to seek God’s face about it. In other words, he decided to find out what was wrong instead of allow things to get even worse. And did God speak when He sought His face or not? As we see in our opening text, God spoke when He sought His face. That means if he had prayed to God the very first year the famine began, he would have received the answer he needed to prevent it from lingering for three years.
Interestingly, the famine did not come because of any evil thing he or any of his people had done. Instead, it came because of the sins of a dead man, the sins of their first king, Saul. Now this is not the only place in the bible in which we are shown that the sin or sins of one person can actually become the problem of a whole nation or of a whole family. So, if those who are close to us are doing wicked things, we will be doing well to discourage them. That is because we may not know when their sins will become our problem or the problem of our children after us.
When Saul was zealously killing the Gibeonites, he did not know that what he was doing would earn his country years of famine. On the contrary, as we are equally shown in the bible, he thought he was doing the will of God. And there are many like him today who, in their ignorance, are also doing things to others that may earn them, their families or their nations years of pains, poverty or retrogression. (Cf. 2Sam 2:2)
In any case, even though the sin of Saul against the Gibeonites eventually became a problem for the whole nation of Israel, by praying to God, David was able to learn about it and to take the right steps towards solving the problem. In the same vein, we too can get to know the reason for whatever problem we are faced with in our lives and that has refused to go away. All we need is to seek God’s face about it, as David did. And He will answer us and tell us what we need to know and do.
Yes, we may be coming to God with this late. But it is better to come to Him with our problems late than not to come at all. That is because, as long as there is breath in us, God will always be there to receive us and to fix whatever problem we bring to Him, however late we may be in coming to Him and however hopeless the problem we are bringing to Him may seem.
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TAKE SPECIAL NOTE OF THEM 14/02/25
My prayer for you today is that God will keep your heart right and humble before Him all the time, so that you will not experience any kind of downfall but elevation this year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
As the bible tells us, pride is one of the major reasons people experience downfall or are prevented from experiencing elevation in life. If we are walking in pride, then, we may just be brought down from whatever position of advantage we are or prevented from rising beyond where we are in life. So, watch out for every form of pride and see to it that it is not allowed to take root in your life. (Cf. Prov 16:18; James 4:6-7; 1Pet 5:5-6)
Now one form of pride that God’s people don’t easily recognise but that is very much present in many of us is that which has to do with disobedience to spiritual authority. And when I am talking about spiritual authority, I am talking about those leaders that God has placed over you in your Christian assembly. These ones have been ordained by Him to feed you with His word and to watch over your soul through prayer and fellowship. So, I am not saying that every pastor, prophet, evangelist or apostle you meet is your spiritual leader and that you must obey them.
If someone is not your church leader, you are not under any obligation to follow any instruction he gives you, right or wrong, unless you have a relationship with the person and see him as trustworthy. But if someone is your church leader, you are under an obligation to obey his instructions, as long as those instructions are consistent with the will of God. It is a shame, however, that we often find God’s people showing much regard for church leaders that are not directly over them while despising the ones that are directly over them in their Christian assemblies.
But this is wrong and contrary to the will of God for our lives. Paul, while addressing the Corinthians on this note, says that if they were supporting and respecting church leaders who were not directly over them, should they not support and respect him all the more, since he was their father in the faith and had never stopped ministering to them in the word of God and in prayer? They should. (Cf. 1Cor 9:11-12)
In like manner, if you too find it convenient to support and respect church leaders that are not directly watching over you in the faith or that you have never even met, why should you find it hard to respect and support the leaders of your local assembly that are continually ministering to you even more? Well, one of the reasons we disrespect our church leaders in this manner is pride. When we feel that a church leader does not know enough or is not old enough or is not smart enough or is not educated enough to instruct or lead us, we will not obey them or take them seriously.
Also, when we are ignorant of the consequences of disobeying or disrespecting our church leaders, and many in the church today are ignorant of these things, we may freely disobey or despise them. But as we see in Scriptures, there are very terrible consequences for despising our spiritual leaders or encouraging rebellion against them, regardless of how young or unimpressive they may appear. So, warn yourself concerning these things. Otherwise, you may soon enough get into problems that God won’t save you from. (Cf. Num 12&17)
Finally, Paul says this to us about how we should relate to those who don’t take our leaders in the church seriously:
“If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.” (2Thess 3:14-15NIV)
Did you see that? We are told to take special note of anyone in our Christian assembly that does not take our leaders seriously, talks anyhow about them or encourages rebellion against their instructions. Why? First, it is so that we may warn them. Second, it is so that if they do not take warning, we can separate ourselves from them. Otherwise, we may end up partaking in the consequences of their disobedience.
So, always watch how the people you move with in the church relate to spiritual authority, regardless of how much you like them. Then you will know whether they will contribute to your growth in the kingdom of God or to your downfall. And may God fill you with sufficient understanding, strength and boldness to do this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a splendid day.
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IT’S NOT ABOUT RULING OVER PEOPLE. 13/02/25
My prayer for you today is that you will continually be taught to serve God wholeheartedly, so that you may receive all the good things associated with doing so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Now if any of us truly wants to serve God wholeheartedly, then, he must bear in mind these words of our Lord Jesus Christ:
“You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45NIV)
Can you see that the Lord is not against our greatness? He wants us to be great people, especially in His kingdom. However, He also wants to know that the only way to be seen by God as great people in His kingdom is for us to be devoted to serving others. This, of course, does not mean that we are to turn ourselves to everybody’s slaves and allow them to abuse or insult us. Rather, it means that we, in humility, are to make ourselves available for Him to use in carrying out His will in people’s lives.
As our Lord points out in that text, He Himself came into the world to serve men and not to be served by them. And how did He serve them? It was by doing things that would fulfil the will of God in their lives. For example, He taught them the word of God, healed their sick folks, raised their dead people and eventually died for their sins. Why? It was so that they would become the people God wanted them to be, spirit, soul and body.
In like manner, we also are to serve men as He did. And though we are not required to die for anybody’s sins, there are several other things we can do to serve men and bring about the fulfilment of the will of God in their lives. We can be praying for them, teaching them God’s word, sharing our resources with them, correcting them when they are wrong, looking out for their welfare and interests, making our meeting places comfortable for them to stay in, aiding their ministries and so forth.
In short, when we are talking about service in God’s kingdom, it is all about what we can give to people and not about what we can take from them. Unfortunately, many do not understand this. So, often, they associate service in God’s kingdom with a possession of some measure of power to control God’s people as they like and to take from them whatever they want. In fact, some are so desperate to rule over God’s people that they can go to any extent to have power over them. That is why we have church leaders today that are involved in sorcery, witchcraft, divination, manipulation and so on.
Now people like such are like Simon the Sorcerer of bible days, who wanted to buy the gift of God with money. Why? He was desperate to maintain the control he once had over the people of his city. Such people are also like Diotrephes of bible days who, because he wanted to have control over God’s people, was ready to have a face-off with the apostles of the Lord. But the truth is that individuals like such cannot go far in their attempt to possess and rule over God’s people. That is because, at some point, God, the owner of all souls, will certainly deal with them as their actions deserve. (Cf. Acts 8:14-24; 3John 9-10)
So, do not imitate them or walk in their footsteps. Instead, imitate our Lord Jesus, who gave Himself in service for us all, so that our lives may be a fulfilment of the will of God. And God, who never cheats, will surely reward you adequately and appropriately for all that you do for His people, if you do not faint.
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WORK HARDER FOR HIM 12/02/25
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them — yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” (1Cor 15:10-11NIV)
How was Paul able to work harder for the Lord than all His other apostle? It was through the grace of God. So, it was not because he was smarter, more knowledgeable or more righteous than them that he worked harder than them; rather, it was because he made the most of all that God provided for him to serve Him.
Now did Paul really work harder than the rest of the apostles of the Lord? In his own estimation, he believed that he did. And whether he was right or wrong about this we all will know when the Lord comes to reward all His holy people. So, that is not something for us to debate. What is important for us to pay attention to, however, is the fact that the man did not waste the grace of God that was lavished on him. Instead, he used it to serve Him wholeheartedly, to serve Him more and more to the very end of his time here on earth.
But can we too say the same thing of ourselves? Can we say that we are making the most of the grace of God to abound in His work? Paul, in the same letter to the Corinthian brethren, says this to them:
“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1Cor 15:58NIV)
Did you see that? These brethren are admonished not to be lazy in handling God’s work but to give themselves fully to doing it all the time. Why? It is because their labour will not be in vain. In other words, God will reward them for whatever they do for Him.
Think about it. Even though it is the Lord that provides us with everything we need to serve Him, He still promises to reward us for whatever we do for him. And even though the glory of whatever results we get through our service to Him belongs to Him alone, He still promises to reward us for our labour for Him.
All of this is why we need to wake up, if we are already sleeping, and get busy with His work. Yes, we need to stop hiding or running from His work or looking for excuses to make for doing less for Him instead of doing more for Him. And we need to stop seeing others who are busy doing His work as overdoing things or as working to get the praise of men. That is because it is not in our place to judge the quality of anyone’s work for the Lord. That is His own personal job.
Our own job, then, is to act like Paul and see how we can make the most of God’s grace every new day to work harder for Him than we did before and than those around us. Why? Is it so that we may boast about our works? No! Rather, it is so that we may motivate other children of God around us to be more devoted in giving Him true and quality service. And I pray that your heart will always be on fire to do this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a pleasant day.
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KEEP YOURSELF HUMBLE 11/02/25
“Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.” (Ezek 28:17NIV)
My prayer for you today is that God will keep your heart humble before Him all the time, so that redundancy or stagnation will not take charge of your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
As we are told in the bible, the reason the angel of God that we now call Satan became Satan was pride. Originally, he was made by God to be perfect in beauty and wisdom and was given a very high place among the angels of God. But when he allowed his beauty to fill him with pride, he was thrown down by God from his position of prestige and power. (Cf. Ezekiel 28:11-19)
Why, then, are we told this in the bible? It is so that we may know that God hates pride. And why does He hate pride? It is because pride is a symptom of our refusal to give Him credit for whatever good thing we have or are able to do. As we see in the bible, we all are nothing apart from God and can have nothing apart from Him. He is our creator and the creator of everything else that exists. So, there is nothing we can take credit for in this life or in the age to come. He is before all things and all things are from Him and for Him. (Cf. Ps 24:1; Col 1:16-17; Rev 4:11)
But when we fail to acknowledge this fact and begin to act like we are something, whether towards Him or towards men, we are positioning ourselves to be thrown down by Him, just as Satan was thrown down by Him. The bible says, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So, it does not matter who we are or what height we have attained in life, the moment we allow pride in our lives, the moment we start to think or act as if we were God, we would find Him resisting us. And if we fail to repent quickly, we will soon enough find ourselves trampled down on the floor of life or in the pit of hell. (Cf. James 4:6; 1Peter 5:5)
So, give no room for any form of pride in you, regardless of how smoothly life is going for you or what position of advantage you are or how useful you have become in the hands of God. Remember that Satan was once a great instrument of praise in the hand of God. But pride ruined him. And it can ruin us too. It can corrupt our beauty, wisdom, knowledge, position and usefulness, if we too allow it. It can turn us into beasts, beasts that God will not want to have anything to do with.
And is that what you want? Do you want to become someone that God will begin to seek to discard or get rid of? I am sure you don’t. But that is what may eventually happen, if you allow any form of pride in you. So, watch yourself. Watch the way you relate to God and the way you relate to men. And may the Spirit of God open your eyes to whatever form of pride you have in you, so that you can deal with it before it leads to your downfall, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a lovely day.
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MANAGE YOUR POSITION WITH WISDOM 10/02/25
“A wise servant will rule over a disgraceful son, and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.” (Prov 17:2NIV)
When the prodigal son lost it all and had to go and get a job, he confessed to himself that even the servants in his father’s house were better off than him. In other words, their living conditions as servants were far better than his own living conditions as a son. So, he concluded that he would go back to his father’s house and beg him to take him in, not as a son but as a servant. (Cf. Luke 15:11-20)
But why did he find himself in that situation? He found himself there because he did not manage the rights, opportunities and privileges that his position as a son in his father’s house gave to him with wisdom. And that is what Solomon is speaking about in our opening bible text. There he tells us that our position in life is not what is really important; what is really important is how we conduct ourselves in that position.
As he points out, even if we start out in life as a servant or an errand person, occupying a low place in life, if we will conduct ourselves and our affairs with wisdom, at some point, God is able to raise us up to sit, dine and rule with princes. And if we start out in life in a position of advantage, having access to riches, honour, affluence and so forth, if we will not learn to conduct ourselves and our affairs with wisdom, at some point, we will realise that we have lost it all and that some that should have been our servants are now the ones ruling over us.
Remember Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. Remember that it was lack of wisdom, prudence and character that made him lose the larger part of the kingdom that his father left for him to his father’s servant, Jeroboam. Yes, of course, it was the will of God for Jeroboam to become king and to have the larger part of that kingdom. But it was this man’s foolishness that made it very easy for what God wanted to come to pass. So, if you are given to handling your affairs with a foolish mind, regardless of how high or lofty your position in life may be, you will just be making it easy for people of lesser influences or of lower places in life to push you aside and take over what God has given to you. (Cf. 1Kings 11:26-12:24)
Then remember Joseph too. Remember that even though he started out in Potiphar’s house as a slave, he ended up being the administrator of that man’s house because he conducted his life and affairs with wisdom. Potiphar may have had sons and daughters at that time. But nothing is said in the bible about them or about any of them being the one in charge of his house. Joseph was the one in charge. And he was in charge because overtime he proved to Potiphar that he had what it takes to do so. (Cf. Gen 39)
In like manner, even if you are in a low place in life now, God is able to lift you up to a high place of leadership, power, influence and riches. But you will need to show those that He may want to use to lift you up that you have abilities that belong in the high place of life. Otherwise, it does not matter your level of faith in Him, you may never rise beyond where you are. So, don’t just desire to leave your low place in life for a high place; also, cultivate attributes that will make you fit to function in the high places of life. Then when God opens the door for your lifting, you will not waste the opportunity but be ready to make the most of it.
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LEARN TO WALK AWAY 09/02/25
“Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: "'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"”
(Matt 4:5-7NIV)
The language of the Scriptures can sometimes be very funny and shocking at the same time. For example, as we see in our opening bible text, there was a time that Satan took Jesus, the Son of God, to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. That means it was not the Holy Spirit that led Him on this trip. Rather, it was the devil that led Him on it. And he led Him on the trip for the sole purpose of destroying Him – He wanted Him to commit suicide. Interestingly, the Lord went with Him.
So, don’t think that Satan cannot lead you to go to places you should not go or to meet with people you should not meet or to engage in ventures you have no business engaging in or to say things you are not permitted to say. He can lead you to do any of these things or even something worse, regardless of how spiritual you think you are. He led Jesus to go to a place where He could freely commit suicide without being stopped, as spiritual as He was. And he led Him to do this when He was just done fasting for forty days and forty nights.
That you are fasting and praying and feeling very spiritual, then, does not mean that Satan cannot lead you to do the unthinkable. It does not mean that he cannot in that moment lead you to commit adultery, murder, theft or suicide. If you do not have the word of God in you, as did Jesus, and be ready to act on it, Satan may end up destroying you, even when you feel most spiritual.
And this is something those who have all kinds of prophets and prophetesses in their lives and over their lives ought to be paying attention to. If Satan could lead Jesus to go and attempt suicide, he can lead your prophets too to do things contrary to the will of God for them or for you. So, you need to be loaded with the word of God in order to know when Satan is leading you or someone in your life and to take appropriate and adequate measures to frustrate him.
On the occasion mentioned in our opening bible text, though Satan succeeded in leading Jesus to the highest point of the temple in Jerusalem, he did not succeed in realising the purpose for which he had brought Him there. Yes, the urge to go to that place must have been strong in the Lord. However, because He had the word of God in Him, He resisted the temptation to commit suicide all in the name of proving that He was God’s Son.
Now what particular word of God kept Jesus on that occasion? It was His word that says, “Don’t put the Lord your God to the test.” In other words, recognise the boundaries God has set for you and don’t go beyond them. As Satan pointed out to Jesus, God has clearly said that He would use His angels to protect Him, if he should find Himself in danger. But was the Lord in danger at that point? No! There was nobody pursuing Him or trying to push Him off that temple height. So, if He had thrown Himself down, as suggested by the devil, He would have been the one putting Himself in danger. That being the case, God’s plan of protection may not have worked for Him.
But the Lord knew better. So, He would not listen to the devil but simply walked away. Why? It was because He knew that He would be stepping out of His boundaries by deliberately putting Himself in danger, just to prove to the devil that God would protect Him as His Son. That, actually, would be like saying that God would keep His people safe and sound, regardless of what they did, good or bad. And is that so? Will God always keep His people safe and sound, regardless of what they do? No!
So, like Jesus, we too must learn to walk away from anything that takes us outside the boundaries of God’s love and provisions for us. In other words, once something is not within your boundaries, whether financial boundaries, professional boundaries, mental boundaries, physical boundaries or spiritual boundaries (gifts or knowledge), don’t go for it, if there is no legitimate need to do so. Don’t go for anything that is beyond you just because you want to prove a point. Otherwise, you are guaranteed to get wounded or injured in the process.
Yes, if there is a clear need to confront a situation that is beyond you, God will certainly step in and grant you the victory you need. But don’t deliberately throw away caution and put yourself in harm’s way or get yourself involved in things you have no abilities for and that are of no benefit to you or anyone, just because you think God is with you and that you can do all things in Christ. You will be putting God to the test by acting in that manner. And you can be sure that you will be wounded just as some have been wounded who acted similarly.
See, the one always behind all such things that involve people going to the extremes or needlessly going for things they have no abilities for is the devil. And his aim always is to destroy them. If you, then, don’t want to get destroyed by him in this manner, learn to walk away from every thought, idea or suggestion that is leading you to do something dangerous or something beyond you for no reason other than to prove that you are something.
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WITHOUT HIM 08/02/25
“A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment.” (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25NIV)
Those are Solomon’s words to us. And some bible scholars have said that they could be more accurately rendered as:
“There is nothing a person can do to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment.”
In any case, the part I want to draw your attention to is that which says, “This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment.” Now what this means is that without God we cannot find satisfaction in life. That is exactly what Solomon want us understand here.
Without God there is no way you can enjoy your life. I am not saying that you cannot attempt to enjoy your life without God. You really can do that. You really can attempt to enjoy your life without God. But ultimately, you are going to find out that without Him you cannot enjoy your life.
In fact, Solomon breaks what he is communicating to us here down a little bit. He says even in simple matters like eating and drinking, you cannot have any kind of enjoyment without God. That means you cannot enjoy your food or drink without God. You know you can take a cup of water and drink it, almost effortlessly. I mean that looks really simple.
But there are some people in some hospitals, who, as simple as that task is, cannot do it. There are people that cannot eat your plate of fried rice or salad, no matter how hungry they may be. These ones cannot eat the normal way each of us eats because they are terribly ill. But we take these things for granted every day. We walk in a street, buy some groundnuts and start eating them, without even thinking about the fact that what we are doing could never have been possible without God.
Now if, in simple matters like those, we need God, if, in simple matters like those, we cannot minimize the place or relevance of God, how about matters that have to do with our dreams, marriages or homes? Can we handle them without God? Can we actually enjoy our homes without God? Can you enjoy your marriage without God?
You cannot enjoy your marriage or any other relationship without God. You cannot enjoy your life without Him. You cannot fulfil your dreams with Him. In short, there is nothing you can enjoy or do in life without God. And why can’t we enjoy these things without God? It is because God Himself is the author of life. If we, then, will not take Him seriously, there is no way any one of us can truly enjoy life or make sense out of living.
Yes, we may attempt to enjoy our lives without Him. But as I said earlier, a day is coming when it will fully dawn on us that without Him we can’t make any sense out of living. So, take God seriously. That will be the best decision you can ever make in life.
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GO AND GET MARRIED 07/02/25
“Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: it is good for them to stay unmarried, as I do.” (1Corinthians 7:8NIV)
What we have here in our opening text is Paul's own counsel to the unmarried and the widows. But he is not saying that people must compulsorily follow it. You can choose not to get married. And that is what Paul is saying here.
In fact, according to him, it is a good thing not to get married. Do you know why? It is because there are problems you will never face in your life, if you do not get married. If you choose not to marry, there are challenges you will never face in life. For example, you will not have problems with your in-laws, for you are not going to have any in-law. So, you can choose to stay unmarried, as Paul tells us here.
However, according to our Lord Jesus Christ [and Paul], one man has this gift and another that gift. That means it is not everyone who has the ability to stay unmarried. There are people who can actually stay unmarried and not be troubled by it. It is a gift from God to them. (Cf. Matthew 19:11-12; 1Corinthians 7:7)
But there are those who cannot stay unmarried without getting involved in sexual problems. And it is because of them that Paul goes on to say:
“But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” (1Corinthians 7:9NIV)
Now look at the reason that the Scripture is giving us here for marriage. It says instead for you to burn with passion, then, you should go and marry. Instead of living an immoral life, then, go and marry. Some people will say, “It is just that I cannot control my body.” Then go and marry. You don't need to stay unmarried. If you know that you cannot control your body, if you know that sex is a problem for you, then, go and get married.
See, we are not animals. We are not goats that just meet themselves in the streets and start mating. We are human beings, made after the likeness of God. And He wants purity for the human race. That is why He set the marriage institution to be for one man and one woman.
So, if your thought is, “Oh, my body is troubling me; it is a problem for me. And I cannot rest without having sex with someone”, then you should go and get married.
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IS IT A WASTE. 06/02/25
“…Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: ‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’” (Mark 7:8-9NIV)
God is talking here. And He says that His people are worshiping Him in vain. That means their worship is useless – it is a waste. Their praying is a waste. Their singing to God is a waste. They are just wasting their lives. They think they are worshiping God. But what they are really doing is wasting their lives.
Now such people may want to do this and that for God. But ultimately everything will result in a waste. You see people today who want to preach. Yet they don’t want to move out of carnality. They want to preach God’s word week after week. Yet they don’t want to stop fornication; they don’t want to stop their practice of adultery; they want to remain bitter and not forgive those who have offended them. What are they doing? They are wasting their lives. There will be no reward for whatever service they are rendering.
Now I am not saying that when people preach in their carnal situation, others will not be blessed. People may be blessed through their preaching, for the One that will bless them is God. But they themselves will have nothing from God’s hands for what they are doing. Think of the number of preachers we have in our country today. How many of them are actually devoted to doing the desires of God?
Also, there are many who want to be in the choir or the ushering unit or the drama group and so forth. They want to be active, doing this and that for God. Yet they do not want to come out of their life of carnality. It is a fact that in many of our Christian assemblies today many of our choristers are involved in sexual immorality. Yet every Sunday they want to come around and sing.
The same thing applies to many in the drama units or groups of many churches. They are always meeting for rehearsals. Yet they do not want to come out of a life of carnality. And they think they are pleasing God like that.
But you are not pleasing God, if you are living like that. You are just wasting your life and your service. That is what the bible says. But if you will repent right away and begin to take what God is saying to you seriously, you will experience His forgiveness and cleansing in your life. Then your life and service will become a sweet-smelling sacrifice to Him, pleasing and acceptable in His sight. And may you be strengthened today to take these words seriously in your life. Amen.
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PRESSING ON 05/02/25
“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” (Philippians 3:12NIV)
From what we see in our opening text, it is clear that Paul was progressive in his walk with God. He was not stagnant at all. And he said the words we have here after he had preached and blessed lives for a number of years. He did not look at himself as having arrived already. He did not look at himself as already knowing everything that he needed to know. He wanted to know more of the Lord Jesus.
So, he said, “I am pressing on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” He is in other words saying, “There was a reason Jesus Christ took hold of me. There was a reason He saved me. There was a reason He delivered me. And I want to see that reason fully accomplished in my life. I don’t want what He has done for me to be a waste.”
That is a spiritual man. He wants to see to it that what the Lord Jesus has done for him is not a waste. He wants to see to it that he becomes everything that God wants him to be. He is not settling for anything less.
Now can we say that about ourselves? Can you say that about yourself? Are you after becoming all that God wants you to be? Are you after living the very life that God wants you to live? Is that your focus? Do you have your mind fixed on that? Do you want to be the kind of man He wants you to be? Do you want to be the kind of woman He wants you to be? If you are into a business, are you after becoming the kind of businessman he wants you to be?
I often ask myself, “Do I want to be the kind of husband God wants me to be? Do I want to be the kind of father he wants me to be?” And you also can ask yourself, if you are a wife, “Do I want to be the kind of wife God wants me to be?” Or as a son or a daughter in your parents’ house, do you want to be the kind of daughter God wants you to be? Even as a citizen of this country, do you desire to be the kind of citizen God wants you to be?
Do you have your focus on these things? If you have your focus on them, then, you will want to know the Lord Jesus, as Paul says to the Philippians. In fact, you will press on to know Him better and better. That is because it is as we know Him that we know ourselves. And once we know ourselves as we really are in the sight of God, we will surely begin to live accordingly.
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TAKE SUBMISSION SERIOUSLY 04/02/25
My prayer for you today is that none of the beautiful things God has prepared for your enjoyment in life will be hindered from being yours, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Now when we are talking about people experiencing hindrances in their lives, it is not every time that Satan is to be held responsible. Sometimes, God Himself is to be held responsible for it. But why will God, who loved humanity so much that He gave His only begotten Son for them, want to hinder any man or woman from advancing in life? Pride is the reason.
Both James and Peter in their epistles tell us that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6; 1Peter 5:5). So, if you are proud, you can surely expect God’s resistance to progress in certain or all of the areas of your life. And one way we often unconsciously manifest pride is in our unwillingness to submit to authority.
As we see in the bible, there are people God has already commanded us to submit ourselves to. For example, our parents, husbands, employers and bosses, community leaders and government leaders are among those He wants us to submit to. He does not want us to disrespect these people or to disobey them, where their instructions do not conflict with His word and principles for righteous living. And if we go against this and begin to disregard them, we are simply walking in pride and will certainly see Him in action against our progress. Only He knows, then, how many of us are being limited or hindered in life because of this. (Cf. Romans 13:1-5; Eph 5:22; Eph 6:1-3; 1Pet 2:13-14; 1Pet 3:1-2)
Furthermore, in the church, we are taught by the Lord to submit to our leaders out of reverence for Christ (Eph 2:21). That means the church of God is not a place where you flex your muscles and act as you like. There are people God has placed over you there to watch over your soul and care for you, so that you may become all that He wants you to become. It is important, therefore, that you yield yourself to these people and not make it difficult for them to lead you, as long as they are not leading you away from the truth of God’s word. Otherwise, as the bible points out, it will not be for your benefit at all. God will certainly deal with you according to your pride. (Cf. Heb 13:17)
Unfortunately, there are many in the church today that pride will not make them learn what will profit them or make them experience the fullness of the goodness of God that could have been theirs through their leaders. They are like the nobles among the men of Tekoa mentioned in the book of Nehemiah, who would not submit to their supervisors when the walls of Jerusalem were being rebuilt by all the people (Neh 3:5). Such people are unconsciously hindering the work of God among His people. So, He too will limit His works in their lives.
You can see, then, that rebellion to authority is not at all in your interest. So, deal with whatever form of pride you have in you that is causing you to act in rebellion towards those that God has appointed over you. And may be the Spirit of God lead and also strengthen you to do what is right about this matter, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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LIMITING CIRCUMSTANCES. 03/02/25
“Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert.” (Num 14:33NIV)
Why did God say that the children of the Israelites that rebelled against Him in the wilderness, when He was leading them into the Land of Promise, would be nothing but shepherds for forty years? Was it because that was the only vocation available for humans at that time? No! There were all sorts of vocations that people could learn and practise then.
In fact, as we see in Scriptures, there were all kinds of skilled workers among these Israelites at that time. For example, we have people like Bezalel and Oholiab among them at the time. And these young men were experts in all kinds of crafts. There were also among them women who were skilled in spinning cloth materials. (Cf. Ex 31:1-11 & 35:25-26)
So, at that time, there was no shortage of skills to engage in all kinds of vocations that could transform a land into a wonder among these Israelites. But how much could they accomplish for themselves and their nation with their various skills and vocations while wandering in the wilderness? Not much!
The prevailing circumstances in that wilderness did not give much room for them to fully utilise whatever special skills or abilities they had and build great vocations or careers with them. They could not settle down there to farm. They could not settle down there to build houses. And they could not set up a market there for people from different nations to come and trade in. The best they could do there was take care of their animals and wait until God led them out of there into the land flowing with milk and honey, which He had promised them.
But why, then, didn’t they just get out of the wilderness and move into the land God had promised them? They could not. They could not because they had no power of their own to take that land. God had to give it to them. Then why was God not giving it to them, since He had promised to do so? It was because He did not want the unbelieving older generations among them to enter the land. So, He was waiting until the last one of them died before giving the land to their descendants, something that took forty years. And that, of course, also means that those qualified to enter that land of rest and prosperity were stuck in the wilderness because of their natural relationships, their relationships with their parents, grandparents, uncles, aunties and so forth.
What is the point of all this? It is that the circumstances of our birth or of where we are can put certain limitations on us, even lifetime limitations. Yes, the circumstances of our family or those of where we live, work, do business or study can keep us in poverty, illiteracy, danger or illness. And it does not matter how hardworking, diligent, educated or gifted we may be, those circumstances may never allow us to attain certain heights of usefulness, prominence, prosperity or comfort in life.
Unfortunately, many don’t know this. They don’t know that regardless of what degree of hard work, diligence or carefulness they employ where they are, as long as certain circumstances are prevalent there or in their families, their efforts will not succeed in giving them the experience of prosperity or peace that they desire. So, they keep putting in more effort. And if they are not shown mercy by God, frustration and depression are bound to set in at some point and ruin them.
What, then, do such people need? They need divine intervention. In other words, they need God to step into their situation. And what will that accomplish? First, when God steps into their situation, He will open their eyes to see what their problem really is, which is that they are being limited or hindered by certain circumstances of their lives. Second, He will take steps to remove or change the circumstances limiting them or take them away from those circumstances to where they need to be to flourish and be all that He wants them to be.
In the case of the Israelites that we are considering, God, at the right time, had to lead them out of the wilderness into the land He had prepared for them, so that they could flourish with their gifts, abilities and vocations. Otherwise, their names and memories would have disappeared along with them in the wilderness. But in the case of Isaac, when he was living in Gerar and there was a severe famine in the land, all God needed to do was give him favourable circumstances. So, though it was a time of severe famine, the man still rose above all odds and flourished in the land. (Cf. Gen 26)
So, if you feel or can see that certain prevailing circumstances where you are have been working against you and making nonsense of your diligent labour or carefulness and forcing poverty, illness, illiteracy or any other terrible thing on you, don’t waste time at all to take the case up with God. That is because He is the only person that can show you what to do and also fix the problem for you. And He will surely have it handled for you, if you will patiently allow Him.
But if you choose to use your own wisdom to address things and move to where you should not move to or stay where you need to get away from, you will someday realise, like Naomi of bible days, that you have not solved your problem at all but have only made it worse (Ruth 1). My earnest prayer is that you will act wise in this matter and not make things worse for yourself while you are trying to handle them. Amen.
Have a blessed day.
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ACCOMPLISHING DISCIPLINE IN THE CHURCH. 02/02/25
“Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.” (1Timothy 4:15NIV)
Those are Paul’s words to Timothy, his son in the faith. And why does he say these things to him? He says them to him because he is a leader of God’s people. What, then, does he want him to take note of? Well, he wants him to take note of the fact that it is important that everyone see his progress in living for God. That means everyone needs to see how he is maturing in the things of God. Why? It will inspire them and let them know that the things he is teaching them are not just what God expects of them but also practicable.
Now that is part of the basis for accomplishing discipline in the church. But where leaders lead anyhow, they cannot accomplish discipline in the church. Yes, they may be ruthless in punishing God’s people or have all kinds of laid-down rules for disciplining the brethren. But the discipline they will accomplish with such rules will merely be something outward. There will be nothing concrete about it. It will limit things to what happens in church meetings.
Sadly, a lot of times, when we are talking about church discipline, our focus is on what happens in church meetings and how people behave in them. We want people to come in early for meetings, not to make noise in them and to be orderly all the time. And that is fine. God expects us to be orderly in our meetings.
But church discipline goes beyond what happens in church meetings. It also includes what happens in brethren’s lives out where they live and work. Are they orderly in their lives? Are they orderly in their homes? Are they orderly and living in the will of God in their neighbourhoods, schools, offices or wherever they find themselves? .
If they are not living in the will of God in all these places in their lives or in every aspect of their lives, whatever form of discipline or orderliness they show in church meetings is meaningless to God. They may just be trying to please their leaders or impress other people around them. And that is not what we are dealing with. We are dealing with what affects people at the core of their lives, when we are talking about church discipline. (Cf. Ezekiel 33:30-32; Mark 7:6-7)
So, we who are instructing others in the will of God must also stand as examples to them of what God wants to see in their lives. But if we are living anyhow and are not disciplined in the way we handle our various relationships and responsibilities, we are not fit to accomplish the will of God in the lives of our brethren. We do not stand in a position to help them. We are not qualified to help them or discipline them. We will, therefore, need to get our lives right first. Or we may eventually become totally useless to God in carrying out His will in the lives of His children.
Have a pleasant day.
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OBEY YOUR PARENTS. 01/02/25
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” – which is the first commandment with a promise – “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” (Ephesians 6:1-3NIV).
This is God’s word to children. And He is addressing believing children here, children that are raised in the church. They must be taught to obey their parents’ authority; they must be taught to yield to it. The instruction is ‘Obey your parents in the Lord’. Unfortunately, some have taken this to mean ‘spiritual parents’. But this is not addressing spiritual authority at all. There are, of course, places in Scriptures where we are told to obey our spiritual leaders. But this is not one of them.
We have a very clear instruction here, which says, “Obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” So, the instruction is to Christian children who have Christians parents. And it is saying since your parents are Christians, the right thing for you to do is to obey them. That is because you can trust them not to mislead you.
But then, every form of authority has boundaries. So, even though you are a parent and have authority over your children, your authority over them has boundaries. Anything that takes you outside the will of God takes you outside the boundaries of your authority. Therefore, if you are asking your children to do anything that is contrary to the will of God, you are functioning outside the boundaries of your authority. If they will not obey you, then, they will be doing the right thing. That is because we are not talking about blind obedience here. Rather, we are talking about obedience that is in conformity with righteousness.
Also, in Colossians, chapter 3, from verse 18, Paul says this to us along the same line: “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.” (Colossians 3:20NIV) Can you see that? Paul, here, is not saying, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord.” Rather, he is saying, “Children, obey your parents in everything.” Why? It pleases the Lord to do so. And in Ephesians 6 he says it is the right thing to do.
Well, this man of God goes on to remind us that the very first commandment of Moses that was given with a promise has to do with children obeying their parents. It says honour your parents, so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life here on earth. That means there are rewards that go along with acting on the word of God that tells us to be submissive to our parents and other elders in our lives.
At any rate, we are saying children are to submit to their parents. And we must keep in mind the fact that God is talking about children here and not adults. I am saying this because parents sometimes don’t know when to stop issuing out commands to their children. Yes, your children will always be children in your eyes. But they will not forever be children. At some point, they will become adults. And that is even your own desire.
Therefore, it is important that you recognise this and act accordingly. In other words, know that there is a period of time for your children to be under you and for you to train them in the way they should go. But they will not always be under you and you won’t always be in the right position to make decisions for them. At that time, it is the training that you have given to them and the prayers you have prayed for them, entrusting them to God, that you will have to count on, as far as their decision making is concerned. It will not be right for you, then, to think you will always be able to order your children around to do whatever you wish, whether it is right or wrong. That is because when they become adults, they will have to be responsible for making their own decisions.
All the same, as a child, submitting to your parents is the right thing for you to do in the sight of God. And those who so can expect God to fulfil His promise of causing them to enjoy long life and prosperity here on earth.
Have a great day.
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ALL WHO HAVE THIS HOPE IN HIM 31/01/25
“…what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1John 3:2-3NIV)
I love what John says in our opening text. He says we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him. This is sure knowledge for those of us who believe in the Lord Jesus. We know this. We are not guessing about it. We know that when Christ eventually appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
That means whatever our Lord Jesus looks like when He is made known is what we shall be transformed to. And don’t forget that we are not talking about our spirits; our spirits have been made like His now; our spirits have been recreated already. We are talking here about the totality of our person. So, when He shows up, whatever He looks like is what we are going to look like.
Now how should that affect us? Knowing that we will be like Him is good. But what impart should that knowledge have on us? How should that knowledge affect our conduct right now? Indeed, we don’t really know what we are going to look like, but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him. And what should that imply to us?
John answers this for us, saying, “All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” (1John 3:3NIV) That is what is important for us right now. All those who have this hope in the Lord purify themselves. That means if you have this hope in you that Jesus will appear again someday to change us, you are going to be purifying yourself. You are not going to be getting yourself contaminated.
Is that, then, what you are doing at the moment? Are you keeping yourself pure for the coming of the Lord? Are you keeping yourself from being contaminated by the people and the things of this world? If you are not doing so, then, you are not making yourself ready for Him. In fact, you probably are not expecting Him at all. Therefore, His coming again will shock you – it will meet you unprepared. And how, then, are you going to handle that? I pray you don’t have to answer this question when He comes.
Have a blessed day.
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PUT OFF CORRUPT COMMUNICATION 30/01/25
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Ephesians 4:29NIV)
What is Paul saying here? He is saying put off corrupt communication and put on proper or edifying communication. He does not just say, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths;” he also says, “Say something edifying.” Don’t talk nonsense; don’t talk rubbish. Don’t say something because it is a popular thing to say.
There are a lot of phrases and words out there that are popular but not consistent with the life we are called to live. These words are wrong, foul and bad. A Christian must be different in the way he talks. Have you indeed become a Christian? Have you indeed become a New Creation? Then let it show in the way you talk.
So, don’t join others in talking trash. Some people are fond of reducing everything others say to something immoral. They just have ways of giving immoral interpretation to everything they hear. You, as a child of God, must not be involved in such.
Then don’t keep quiet. Don’t say, “Well, they already said I should not say something that is not nice. So, let me keep quiet.” That is not enough. You must not keep mute; rather, you must learn to say something edifying to people. Instead of trying to keep the evil words that are boiling within you from coming out, you must learn to get rid of them and begin to say words that are edifying.
And notice that Paul says our words must be helpful in building others up, according to their needs. Our words must benefit those who are listening to us. That means every time people get to talk or converse with us, they must be edified. Yes, they must hear something that will lift them up, encourage them, enlighten them, comfort them or strengthen them. That is what we have been called to do.
Have a lovely day.
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SUBMIT TO IT 29/01/25
“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” (Romans 13:1-2NIV)
From what this apostle says, you can see that there is no authority that exists anywhere except that which God has established. So, if someone is in a position of authority, it is because God has allowed it. Even those who have forced their way or manipulated their way into the positions they are now occupying are there because God permitted it to be so. If God does not permit someone to be in a position of authority, it does not matter what the person does, it will not work.
Now the one with the highest form of authority in all the creation is the Lord Jesus Christ. That is because God has given His own authority to Him. It is God that has elevated Him to the position where He is now above all. Even Satan had to receive his authority as the prince of this world. Yes, it was through deceit that he received it. Yet his authority was given to by Adam. And God allowed it. He did not stop Adam from passing his authority to rule this world over to the devil.
All of this is pointing to the fact that no one can be in any position of authority if God has not permitted it. So, Paul says we must submit to any authority that is over us because of God. It is because God is the root of all forms of authority that we must submit to those who have authority over us. And to rebel against any form of authority is to rebel against God who has instituted it.
What we are saying is that if we will not submit to any form of authority that is duly established God, then, we are not submissive to God. It is about God. Yes, there are boundaries for every form of authority that exists. So, the degree to which we must submit to any kind of authority is the degree to which that authority stays within its boundaries. But as long as it is within its boundaries, we must submit to it. Otherwise, we will not have God’s praise.
Do have a great day.
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DON’T MAKE A MONSTER OF THEM 28/01/25
““Your servant is in your hands," Abram said. "Do with her whatever you think best." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.” (Gen 16:6NIV)
As we go through Scriptures, we see that Sarah, the wife of Abraham, is consistently described as a virtuous, holy and submissive woman. She was a woman who stood by her husband all the time and who was always committed to doing anything that would keep him safe and happy, even at the risk of her own life. It is not surprising, then, that married believing women are instructed to emulate her way of life, if they want to earn the respect of their husbands and become models for others to follow. (Cf. Gen 12&20; 1Pet 3:1-6)
Nevertheless, in our opening bible text, we are told of a time in which this same Sarah mistreated Hagar, her maidservant. And the maltreatment she gave her was so intense that she fled from her. So, Sarah too had a history of being cruel to someone. And is that something believing women should emulate as well? No!
See, though believing women are told to emulate Sarah, she does not represent a perfect example of who godly women should be. Only Christ Jesus represents a perfect example of who all of us believe in Him, both male and female, should be. He, then, is the only one we are to emulate in all things and at all times. Yes, Scriptures recommend a number of people for us to emulate. But they also tell us what to emulate in them. And we must not go beyond whatever they tell us to emulate in people. Otherwise, to our own disadvantage, we may find ourselves emulating in others attributes that God has already judged as wrong or destructive. (Cf. Heb 12:1-2)
In any case, what was responsible for the cruelty that, at some point, found expression in that beautiful, holy and virtuous woman, Sarah? What was responsible for that stain that was found on her white garment of integrity? It was the misbehaviour of Hagar, her maidservant.
As the story goes, Sarah, because she was desperate about giving her husband Abraham a son, came up with the idea of giving Hagar, her maidservant to him as wife. And her plan was to adopt any child that came of that union as her own child. But why did she consider Hagar for that kind of sensitive task? It must have been because she loved her dearly and also trusted her very much. (Cf. Gen 16:1-3)
Now we know that there is hardly anything that could be more difficult for a married woman to tolerate than to share her husband with someone else. Even Leah and Rachel, who were blood sisters, had serious issues sharing the same husband (Gen 29-30). So, for Sarah to consider Hagar as the best person to bring into her marriage bed in order to raise a child for her husband, she must have thought very highly of her.
But to her utter disappointment, as soon as Hagar realised that she had become pregnant for Abraham, she began to despise her. She despised her so much that she became frustrated. And in her frustration, she began to blame her husband for her suffering. But in the first place, it was her idea to bring Hagar into their bed. How, then, was she able to conveniently blame her husband for the way things turned out? Maybe Abraham overpampered Hagar. Who knows! But it is clear that Hagar got the wrong signal after becoming pregnant and began to think that she had arrived in a place where she could displace Sarah at will. (Cf. Gen 16:4)
Thankfully, Abraham loved Sarah too much to allow anybody to come between them or to insult her personality. So, even though Hagar was carrying his child, he told Sarah to fix her. And that was what awakened the monster in her. She got herself together and treated Hagar to so much cruelty that she ran away from their house. I mean that she showed her who the real mistress of the house was. And if God had not stepped into the situation, giving birth to her son and raising him would have been a sort of hell for Hagar. (Cf. Gen 16:5-16)
But would lovely and gentle Sarah have turned to a cruel monster overnight, if Hagar had not overstepped her boundaries? Not likely! She loved her and trusted her. But her pride made her betray her love and trust. So, even though she was eventually allowed back into that house, things never remained the same for her there again. Sarah, for instance, did not adopt her son to be hers again. And that was why when she had her own son, she insisted that Hagar and her son, Ishmael, leave the house. (Cf. Gen 21)
What is the point of all this? First, it is that we can turn very good and kind people into monsters through our misbehaviour to them. And when they strike, we may not be the only ones that will suffer – others in our lives also may suffer along with us. So, don’t take lightly those who have been good to you or instrumental to certain records of success you have in life, just because you are now richer or better placed in life than them. Don’t abuse their generosity or the rare privileges they have given you. Otherwise, the pains they may feel may be beyond what you can imagine. And those pains may be what will wake up the monster in them. Then you will be surprised to see that the same hand that once fed and nurtured you is now carrying a sword to severe your head.
Second, don’t allow anyone to turn you into a monster and forever ruin your testimony before God and His people. It will always be on record that Sarah once maltreated someone. No, she never thought it would come to that. But her bad decision of bringing Hagar into her bed made things come to that.
So, as we relate to people, we must not allow any form of desperation or excitement to lead us into taking them to beds they are never supposed to be sleeping on or into giving them privileges that they are not mature or wise enough to manage. Otherwise, they may end up using what we have given to them to do to us things that will not only fill us with regrets but also fill us with strong desires for vengeance. Then some monsters will have been created. And it may take God’s intervention for such monsters not to destroy everything in their paths or themselves before they are healed and restored. Therefore, mind yourself.
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BE MORE DETERMINED 27/01/25
“But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land.” (Judg 1:27NIV)
Why did the people of Manasseh not drive out the inhabitants of the land God had given them through Joshua? Was it because they could not? No! If you look at our opening text carefully, you will see that it does not say, “But Manasseh could not drive out…” Otherwise, it would mean that they lacked the ability to drive them out. But the text says, “But Manasseh did not drive out…” That means it was a matter of will. The will to drive out their enemies was not strong enough. So, they left them in the land.
But why was their will not strong enough to drive out those people? At least, God’s instruction was that they must drive them out. In fact, He said that they must not make any treaty with the people or intermarry with them. Instead, they must totally rid the land of them and of their idols (Deut 7:1-6). So, it was utterly against the will of God for them to allow those Canaanites to continue to live among them and to enjoy the goodness of the land with them.
Unfortunately, that was the situation. And why was it so? Why did they leave their enemies in the land and not drive them out completely? As we see in our opening text, it was because those enemies of theirs were determined to stay in the land with them. Yes, they had been subdued and the land taken over from them. But they were determined not to get out of the land. And their determination worked. Why did it work? It worked because the people of Manasseh were not more determined to root them out of the land.
Yes, they had already overpowered these Canaanites, as I pointed out before. So, if they had wanted to make an end of them, they could have easily done so. But their determination to do so was not strong enough.
Now we are not told how those people weakened their determination to permanently and totally get rid of them. But they somehow did so. They somehow made the people of Manasseh let them be. They somehow managed to let them think it was not altogether a bad idea to allow few of them to remain in the land. What sort of threat could few of them be to them anyway?
But they were wrong. Yes, they were wrong to allow any of those Canaanites to stay with them in the land. That was because God had said that any of them left behind would end up becoming a thorn in their flesh. And that was exactly what happened. Those few Canaanites that the men of Manasseh and those of other tribes of Israel left behind ended up luring them into idolatry and all kinds of sexual perversion. And before they knew what was happening, God’s wrath had come upon them and they had begun to gradually lose the land they had possessed. (Cf. Ex 34:15; Joshua 23:12-13; Judges)
What is the point of all this? It is that God does not expect us to permit any work of the devil or of the flesh in our lives. He has already set us free from these things and also given us authority in His Son, Jesus Christ, not to permit them in our lives again. But Satan and his demons, like those Canaanites mentioned in our opening bible text, are very stubborn and determined. So, they will never want their works of sin, sicknesses, failure and death to end in our lives. If we, then, are not more determined to get rid of every trace of their works in our lives, we will find that they will settle down to live and dine with us. And if that should happen, it won’t be long before they again take over our lives and renew their old works in them.
This explains why people get born again and certain evil experiences or generational problems that have been part of their lives before they got born again remain with them. Why? Satan is determined to keep those bad experiences or problems on in their lives. And because they are not more determined to take authority over him and permanently end his works in their lives, because they do not mind cohabiting with some of his works in their lives, perhaps because of certain degree of comfort or progress they are now enjoying because of the presence of the Lord Jesus in their lives, Satan continues to quietly afflict them. If they, then, allow those works that he is doing to go on unchecked in their lives, after a while, he will take over again those areas of their lives in which they are already experiencing God’s rest and make them lose their experience of His rest in them.
So, regardless of how determined Satan may be to work in your life, be more determined to resist and drive him out through prayers, the word of God and the support of God’s people. And since you have authority in Christ Jesus over him and his works, you will surely succeed in expelling him and his works from your life and affairs.
Have a lovely day.
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WHAT ARE CHURCH MEETINGS FOR? 26/01/25
“…your meetings do more harm than good.” (1Cor 11:17NIV)
One of the things we ought to continually thank God for is the privilege of being able to fellowship with Him and with one another in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. But in order for each of us to be reaping the benefits of this kind of fellowship, it is important that we (those of us who lead and organize church meetings and those of us who are being led in the meetings) meet together for the right reasons. And I am saying this because experiencing the blessings of a believers’ meeting is not something automatic. If our reasons for organizing such meetings or being present in them are wrong, we will not witness a fulfilment of God’s purpose for the meetings in our lives.
In our opening text, Paul says that instead for the Corinthian brethren to be experiencing more and more of the blessings of God through their communion meetings, the opposite is the case. What they are experiencing are weaknesses, sicknesses, failures and death. And that is because, even right in their meetings, there are manifestations of envy, jealousy, divisions, pride, selfishness, bitterness and so forth. So, even though the power of God is always present in those meetings, it is not working in their favour as it is expected to. (Cf. 1Cor 11:17-34)
In like manner, there are many today too who attend church meetings almost every day but who are not experiencing the blessings of God that should follow. They are not growing in the grace of God and in the knowledge of His son. They are not increasing in fruitfulness and usefulness in the kingdom. Why? It may be because those handling those meetings are out of touch with God’s reasons for asking us to meet together or because they themselves attend such meetings for the wrong reasons or with wrong dispositions. Or it may even be because of the two reasons I just listed.
In any case, if we don’t want our presence in church meetings or our organization of church meetings to continually be an utter waste of everything, we must keep in mind that God’s reason for instructing us to fellowship together like this is that we may be mutually edified in His grace and goodness. In other words, whatever is done in our meetings must be geared towards the edification and transformation of everyone that is present. And those of us that attend these meetings must attend for the sole purpose of being edified and transformed by the grace of God.
Unfortunately, it is sad today that many of our church meetings are organized by our leaders for the sole purpose of making more money and gaining more influence among men. And all kinds of tricks and gimmicks that promote nothing but sensationalism are employed to accomplish this. Yes, they may say that the meetings are for evangelistic or transformational purposes. But every smart or spiritual person in attendance can tell what they are actually after. No wonder most of those who attend these meetings have remained spiritual babes for as long as they have been attending.
Similarly, many who attend church meetings today attend for wrong reasons. Money, connections with influential people, entertainment, fame and even sex are among such reasons. How, then, can such people experience the transformation that comes with fellowshipping with the Spirit of God and His people in truth? Our Lord Jesus, once while speaking to the Jews about John the Baptist, said, “What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.” (Matt 11:7-10NIV)
Look at that. Those who went out into the desert to meet John the Baptist did not go there to be entertained by him or to marvel at his expensive clothes but to hear God’s word from His mouth. If they wanted to be entertained or to be thrilled by some gorgeously dressed individual, they knew where to go. And certainly, it wasn’t a desert. So, if what you want is entertainment, sex, fame, vain glory, connections or money, find somewhere else to go and not a church meeting. But if you want to hear from God and experience a mighty release of His power for the transformation of your life and your world, then, church meetings are the right places for you to be. And learn to always be there on time and with a humble, loving and open heart.
Have a lovely day.
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ENOUGH IS ENOUGH 25/01/25
Recently, I was thinking about some saints of God that already left this world that I know. I was considering how their lives impacted the world positively and made it a better place for us to live in. And as I was doing that, it dawned on me that those people already did their own bit in making the world safer and saner for us to live in. So, it is up to those of us who are now alive to make sure that we do not undo what they have done by further corrupting or polluting our world.
Unfortunately, the truth is that many of us, including Christians, are only spoiling the world further through our lifestyles. Fine, we know from the Scriptures that we cannot totally eliminate or eradicate evil from this world -- we cannot totally stop the decaying of the world. But those of us that God has made salt in this world can minimize evil in it by living godly, upright and self-controlled lives instead of adding to its problems. (Cf. Titus 2:11-12)
Apostle Peter, in his first epistle, shares some things with us along this line. He says:
"For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do -- living in debauchery, lust, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry." (1Peter 4:3NIV)
And I take what he says here personally and say to myself, "Enough is enough! I have spent enough time lying, stealing, cheating and speaking unwholesome words. I have spent enough time doing immoral things and living in bitterness, hypocrisy and greed. I have corrupted my world enough."
You also need to personalize this and say enough is enough to yourself, as far as the matter of corrupting the world with evil practices is concerned. You need to tell yourself that you have corrupted the world enough. And until you and I make up our minds on this matter, we cannot experience the flow of God's power (grace) to make our world a better place for us all to dwell in.
So, which is it going to be, as you face this new day? Are you going to live as salt and reduce the corruption level of your world or are you going to further corrupt your world through your activities? In any case, you can be certain that if you sow the seed of corruption, you will also reap the fruit of barrenness and death; and if you sow the seed of righteousness, you will equally reap the fruit of life, peace and health.
Do have a beautiful day.
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BE WILLING AND OBEDIENT 24/01/25
“If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land…” (Isa 1:19NIV)
That is God talking to us. And what are the things He says here showing us? First, they are showing us that He wants us to have and enjoy the best of everything wherever we are. No, we may not be enjoying the best of life where we are at the moment, perhaps because of our family background, level of education, lack of financial intelligence and so forth. But that does not change the fact that the will of God is for us to have and enjoy the best wherever we are.
Second, this Scripture is showing us that even though God wants the best for us, we too have our own roles to play in having and enjoying it. And what are those roles? First, we must be willing to have and enjoy the best that He wants for us. God is not going to force us to have or take anything from Him. We have to be willing to have what He is offering. Otherwise, we are not going to have it.
God, for instance, wanted all the children of Israel that Moses brought out of Egypt to have the land of Canaan, a land flowing with milk and honey. But many of them did not make it into that land. Why? They were not willing to take it. Why were they not willing? Fear! The fear of the giants in the land made them unwilling to have it. But God knew that there were giants there before offering them the land. All He needed from them was a willingness to receive it. And it would be theirs. But because they were not willing to have it, they lost it and perished in the wilderness. Only the willing ones among them made it into the land.
If we too are willing to have what God wants us to have, He will deliver it to us, regardless of how hard getting it may seem. And how do we show that we are willing to have the best God wants us to have in life and be the best He wants us to be? We show it by passionately studying His word to know all that He has provided for our enjoyment. We show it by praying to Him without ceasing to bring to pass all His good plans for us. And we show it by taking whatever righteous steps we have the ability to take to be what He wants us to be and to have what He wants us to have.
Now the second thing we need to have and enjoy the best God wants us to have in life is obedience. God has His own ways of making us have and enjoy His provisions for us. And it is only by following those ways that we can enjoy them. So, even if we are willing to have what God wants us to have and become what He wants us to become, if we do not follow His ways and plans for us with a heart of obedience, we will miss it. And even if we do have what He wants us to have by following our own ways, there will certainly be consequences, consequences that may take away things greater than we have already gotten from us.
For example, there was a time that God wanted to give the children of Israel water to drink from a rock. And He told Moses to speak to the rock right in front of everyone and that the rock would bring forth water for them. But because Moses was seriously angry at the time with the people, he disobeyed God by striking the rock twice with his rod. And surprisingly, water came out of the rock for the people to drink. But God told him that he would not enter the Promised land because of his disobedience. (Cf. Num 20:1-13)
You can see, then, that it is possible for us to be disobeying God and still be experiencing some measure of His goodness and favour in our lives. But as it was in the case of Moses, our disobedience may end up taking away from us the very best of things God wants us to have. Therefore, we must watch ourselves and see to it that just as we are willing to have what God wants for us, we are also obedient to His instructions. My prayer is that the strength to function like this will be greatly at work in us at all times. Amen.
Have a splendid day.
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ALWAYS LEARNING BUT NEVER GAINING 23/01/25
Paul, in his second letter to Timothy, says this about certain people in the church that he must not have anything to do with:
“They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.” (2Tim 3:6-7NIV)
From what Paul says here, we can see that one of the reasons he tells Timothy not to have anything to do with these brethren is that they are masters in the art of dominating and manipulating people, especially women. But why is it often easy for them to manipulate and take over people’s lives and homes? It is because they usually go for those who are ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth. In other words, they don’t target everybody. Instead, they target those that are dull in learning and acting on spiritual truths.
I once heard that a certain prophet had a culture of sleeping with married women that came to him for prayers about the problems of their lives. Why was this man successful in doing that? It was because his victims were gullible. And why were they gullible? It was because they had refused to embrace the truth of God that they had been learning.
Was it that they did not know God’s mind about adultery? Or was it that no one ever taught them that having sexual intercourse with someone that you are not married to is wrong? They must have been taught these things again and again, especially if they were Christians. But it is one thing for people to be learning the truth from God; it is another thing for them to understand the truth they are learning and see how it is applicable to their everyday lives.
When people fail to grasp the relevance of the truth they are learning in church, they will most likely not act on it. And it is such individuals that usually become preys of false teachers and false prophets. It is such people that easily fall for the deception of the devil and get corrupted, cheated or injured.
Now ask yourself, “Am I really learning anything from the things I am being taught in our church meetings?” Week after week you go for church meetings to pray, worship God and learn His word. But are you really learning anything? Are you gaining the knowledge of the truth of Jesus through the things you are learning? And are you seeing the application of the truth you are learning to your life?
If your answer to all these questions is not ‘Yes’, then, you too are one of those that are ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth. Therefore, you cannot be trusted to act on the word of God that you are learning. And the prayers of God’s people for you may not be able to protect you from those seeking to take advantage of you and ruin your life.
My prayer, at any rate, is that God will fill your heart with a clear understanding of His word each time you hear it and also strengthen you to always act accordingly, so that you will never again be a prey of any liar or deceiver that Satan may send to ruin your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a splendid week.
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WHAT DO YOU WANT TO HEAR? 22/01/25
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2Tim 4:3-4NIV)
Who are the people this apostle is referring to here? Is he referring to unbelievers? No! Rather, he is referring to so-called Christians, to people who claim to have been born again through faith in Christ Jesus.
And what does Paul say about these people? He says they have a wrong attitude towards the truth of the of the Lord Jesus. In what way is their attitude towards the truth of Jesus wrong? First, as he points out, it is by not putting up with it. In other words, they detest it and do not want to embrace it. In fact, Paul says they turn their ears away from it. Why? It offends and hurts them. Why does it offend and hurt them? It is because it is contrary to their way of life.
Perhaps you too hate to hear the truth about God or about yourself or about life in general. Perhaps you too are continually turning your ears away from the truth when you are confronted with it. It only means that your life is contrary to it and you don’t want to admit it. Therefore, you will never be free from whatever binds you and is destroying you, for it is only the truth that makes people free (John 8:32).
Another thing that Paul says about these so-called Christians is that they gather around themselves a great number of teachers that will tell them what their itching ears want to hear. That means these people know what they want to hear. But it is not the truth. And in order to satisfy themselves, they will do anything to look for those who will tell them what they want to hear. Even if they have to pay handsomely for this to happen, they will do so.
It is no wonder, then, that we have a lot of preachers today who have departed from the truth of Jesus in order to teach errors, myths and other related nonsense. And interestingly, they also have a great number of people that are willing to follow them anywhere.
Now perhaps you too have certain things you want to hear from God or your church leaders other than the truth. Maybe there are things about money, sex, Christian devotion and so forth that you want to hear from God but which are contrary to what He wants to tell you. I want you to know that you will never be free from the trap of sin and death until you humble yourself to hear and embrace the truth He is bringing to you. Yes, you may go from prayer mountains to prayer mountains or from prophets to prophets for deliverance or exaltation. But as long as what you want to hear is not what God wants to say but what your itching ears want to hear, you will never experience the salvation or exaltation you are seeking.
So, what do you want to hear? Is it God’s truth that will bring you perfect liberty in your life or men’s lies and stories that have no power to give you any serious help? As for me, it is the truth of God that I want to hear all the time. And that is why I join Habakuk to say, “I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.” (Hab 2:1NIV)
Do have a great day.
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YOU MUST MASTER IT. 21/01/25
“Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."” (Gen 4:6-7NIV)
Why did Cain end up killing his brother, Abel? It was because he failed to listen to God’s warning. As the account goes, after God had rejected his offering, he got terribly angry with his brother. But was he supposed to be angry with his brother? No! Was his brother the one that rejected his offering? No! Or was his brother the one that kept him from living right before God, so that his offering would be acceptable? No!
Nevertheless, Cain held his brother responsible for his own failure to get God’s approval. In like manner, we have many today who hold people who have absolutely nothing to do with their failure, stagnation or poverty in life responsible for it. So, instead for them to examine their lives careful in order to see what they are missing or getting wrong, all they will be busy doing is considering how the progress of others is affecting their own progress.
I remember how I once had to sound a friend and colleague of mine out along this line. She and a number of others in my office had been terribly upset that very day with certain colleagues of ours that were handling their jobs anyhow. And I did not see anything wrong with that. It is proper for any of us to be upset with those we are working together, if they are slowing us down or messing up our work.
However, this friend of mine went beyond being upset that day to expressing her bitterness by saying, “We get to do all the work. And these ones that are messing up get to take all the money. Yet they don’t have better papers than we do.” So, I had to immediately stop her from fuelling her bitterness by drawing her attention to the fact those so-called slothful colleagues of ours were not the reason she was not being highly paid by the company.
Granted, those people may be slothful. But their slothfulness had nothing to do with her low wages. It was her choice to accept that job, even though the pay was low – nobody forced her to take it. So, holding those people responsible for her low pay was totally out of line. And if she did not quickly get rid of that idea, she would soon enough be filled with bitterness against them, something that may drive her to do something that would ruin them and her as well.
Now that was what happened to Cain. Because he held his brother responsible for God’s rejection of his offering, hatred for him began to fill his heart. So, God had to immediately step in and warn him. Why would God do that? God just rejected his offering. Yet He came to warn him. That means He did not reject his offering because He did not love him. Rather, He rejected it because He wanted him to see that he was not living right and needed to repent. Otherwise, his entire life would end up being a waste.
So, the fact that God has sent a word of rebuke to you about anything wrong that you are doing does not mean that He hates you. Rather, it means that He loves you and does not want you to continue to do what will destroy you or to keep on following a path that will end in ruins and regret. As the bible tells us, it is those that God loves that He rebukes; it is those that He accepts as His own that He disciplines. So, if He is continually setting you right, consider yourself precious to Him. (Cf. Heb 12:5-6)
Unfortunately, Cain did not see the love of God for him in the rejection of his offering. Also, he did not see it in the warning that came to him to guard his heart against all the evil thoughts that were coming to him. So, he ended up murdering his own brother, the very one he was supposed to protect. And that, of course, brought God’s judgment on him. (Cf. Gen 4:8-16)
What is the point of this? It is that if we do not watch the kinds of thoughts we permit in our hearts and master them or take them captive, we may end up holding the wrong people responsible for the failure, shame or stagnation our lives are experiencing. Or we may end up seeking happiness, satisfaction or peace of mind in wrong relationships or activities. And where this is the case, we may end up destroying the very people we are meant to protect. (Cf. 2Cor 10:5)
Look at Amnon, the first son of David, also. Because he would not master his thoughts, he began to seek enjoyment and sexual satisfaction from his own blood sister. So, he ended up raping her, a sister that he was supposed to be protecting from rapists. And that took away not just the throne of Israel from him but also his life. (Cf. 2Sam 13)
So, if you have been tolerating or nursing evil thoughts in your hearts, you may just be preparing yourself to harm those you are supposed to love, cherish and protect. And the word of God is coming to you now to warn you, saying, “Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”
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ACT LIKE RUTH. 20/01/25
My prayer for you today is that nothing needed for your prosperity and peace will be hidden from you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
One of the things we are shown in Scriptures is that we must never use the challenges of our lives as an excuse for living meaningless and unprofitable lives. Instead, in spite of the challenges we may be faced with, we are to open our eyes to see what legitimate things we can do with our hands to make life better for ourselves and those around us. And it is those who function in this manner that will experience God’s glory and exaltation in their lives, regardless of how lowly their positions in life may be.
For example, when Ruth came to the land of Israel with Naomi, her mother-in-law, she came with nothing and to meet nothing. She came to a place where she had no friend or family member to turn to for help. Yet she had to survive and take care of herself and her aged mother-in-law. And did she start crying because of that and saying that she had made a mistake by leaving all her people behind and following Naomi? No! Or did she go out to start prostituting herself? No! (Cf. Ruth 1:19-22)
See, Ruth had very genuine reasons for leaving her people and the comfort she could have been enjoying with them. She wanted to get away from the idolatry, sexual immorality and wickedness that were widespread among them. And it was her decision to do this that made her follow her mother-in-law, a woman who had nothing to offer her, to the land of Israel. So, she knew that she would most likely start life as one of the poorest people in the land when she got there. Yet she came because she would rather be a poor person among God’s people than be the richest of people among the wicked (Ps 84:10).
In like manner, our choice to live for Jesus Christ may place us in a position of poverty or shame in our society. But that does not mean that God wants us to stay in that position forever. What He wants is for His people to be above and not below. So, regardless of how lowly our position in life right now may be, God is able to lift us up from there to where we should be.
However, we also must be willing to act like Ruth in whatever lowly position we may now find ourselves in order to experience God’s favour and elevation. And how did she act in order to be lifted out of poverty into wealth and comfort? First, instead of complaining about her situation or messing around with her body, she found herself a job. This woman did not sit down at her home with her mother-in-law praying and expecting God to be sending money to them. Instead, she went out to look for a job. And God led her to find one, even though the job could only take care of their daily food at the time. (Cf. Ruth 2:1-3)
Now I am not saying that God could not have been sending money to Ruth and Naomi at home. He could. But could they tell when He was going to send it or how much He was going to send each time He did send them money? No! And since He had not said that they could not go out and work and make money, it would only be wise for Ruth to go out and work and expect God to make money available for her by doing so.
So, while it is alright for you to pray and expect God to miraculously supply your needs, you must also find a job to do, for God has commanded it (Eph 4:28; 1Thess 4:11-12). Get yourself a job to do, then, as long as it is legitimate, instead of complaining, stealing or messing up your body to make money. That way, God can supply your needs through that job and through any other miraculous means He may choose.
The second thing Ruth did was to be diligent in doing the job she found. Yes, it was a lowly job she found at that time. But she did it in such a way that the foreman of the field in which she was working took notice of her and spoke highly of her to his master, Boaz, who happened to be a relative of Ruth’s late husband. And that opened a great door of favour for her. If you too will do whatever job you are handling now with all your heart and might, it may just be what God will use in leading you to meet those who will favour you and lift you up. (Cf. Ruth 2; Ecc 9:10)
The third thing to emulate from Ruth was her willingness to accept godly counsel (Ruth 3-4). Yes, she had a godly mother-in-law who was always there to counsel her on the right steps to take. But if she had not taken her counsel seriously, she would not have come out of poverty and be known as we know her today. You too must recognise the people God has planted in your life to give you sound counsel. And as they counsel you, take it seriously and act on it. For their counsel, not even money, may be the very thing you need to rise above all your challenges in life. My prayer is that God will strengthen you to embrace these things and apply them to your life without delay. Amen.
Have a great day.
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WORK HARDER FOR HIM 19/01/25
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them — yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” (1Cor 15:10-11NIV)
How was Paul able to work harder for the Lord than all His other apostle? It was through the grace of God. So, it was not because he was smarter, more knowledgeable or more righteous than them that he worked harder than them; rather, it was because he made the most of all that God provided for him to serve Him.
Now did Paul really work harder than the rest of the apostles of the Lord? In his own estimation, he believed that he did. And whether he was right or wrong about this we all will know when the Lord comes to reward all His holy people. So, that is not something for us to debate. What is important for us to pay attention to, however, is the fact that the man did not waste the grace of God that was lavished on him. Instead, he used it to serve Him wholeheartedly, to serve Him more and more to the very end of his time here on earth.
But can we too say the same thing of ourselves? Can we say that we are making the most of the grace of God to abound in His work? Paul, in the same letter to the Corinthian brethren, says to them:
“Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” (1Cor 15:58NIV)
Did you see that? These brethren are admonished not to be lazy in handling God’s work but to give themselves fully to doing it all the time. Why? It is because their labour will not be in vain. In other words, God will reward them for whatever they do for Him. Think about it. Even though it is the Lord that provides us with everything we need to serve Him, He still promises to reward us for whatever we do for him. And even though the glory of whatever results we get through our service to Him belongs to Him alone, He still promises to reward us for our labour for Him.
All of this is why we need to wake up, if we are already sleeping and get busy with His work. Yes, we need to stop hiding or running from His work or looking for excuses to make for doing less for Him instead of doing more for Him. And we need to stop seeing others who are busy doing His work as overdoing things or as working to get the praise of men. That is because it is not in our place to judge the quality of anyone’s work for the Lord. That is His own personal job.
Our own job, then, is to act like Paul and see how we can make the most of God’s grace every new day to work harder for Him than we did before and than those around us. Why? Is it so that we may boast about our works? No! Rather, it is so that we may motivate other children of God around us to be more devoted in giving Him true and quality service. And I pray that your heart will always be on fire to do this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a lovely day.
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REST FOR PROSPERITY 18/01/25
“He built up the fortified cities of Judah, since the land was at peace. No one was at war with him during those years, for the LORD gave him rest. "Let us build up these towns," he said to Judah, "and put walls around them, with towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the LORD our God; we sought him and he has given us rest on every side." So they built and prospered.” (2Chron 14:6-7NIV)
Who were being referred to in our opening bible text? King Asa and the people of Judah! They were the ones that built their land and prospered. But what encouraged or emboldened them to build their land and experience prosperity? It was the fact that they had peace of mind – they had rest on every side.
Now who gave them rest on every side? As we see in the text, it was God that gave it to them. Asa himself, while encouraging the people to get busy and develop their lives, farms and businesses, clearly testified that it was God that gave them rest on every side. And why did He give them rest on every side? He gave it to them because they sought and found Him.
As a nation, these people, under the leadership of Asa, had abandoned all their idols and put their trust in God. So, He silenced all the enemies around them for years and made sure they did not come to fight them or raid their land. This, of course, gave them the opportunity they needed to focus on building their lives and country and experiencing prosperity. And they did not waste it but make the most of it.
If we too want to build our lives and experience unhindered prosperity, we need to have rest on every side. Of course, someone may be able to build a lot of things, including wealth, in a time of war. But there is no guarantee that lives, houses, businesses or wealth built in a time of war will be safe or not be lost. If the wind of war should blow in the wrong direction just for a while, everything people have used years to build can be lost in a day.
Besides, the time of war is not a time of calm or restful enjoyment. You can be laughing in the morning in a period of war and then find yourself weeping in the afternoon of the same day. So, regardless of how much you have or build in a period of war, if you are unable to peacefully and fully enjoy it, of what use is it? Of no use, as Solomon used to say!
All of this is why we need to have rest on every side, if we want to have and enjoy true prosperity. And this is not applicable to our nation or the place in which we are living alone but also to our personal lives. There are many today who are unable to make any progress in their lives or enjoy their lives because they are always at war. It is not that they are not hard working or that they are not making money. But something is always threatening their lives, marriages, businesses, health or children. So, they often find themselves using the time and resources they should have been using to build a life of wealth and enjoyment for themselves on keeping themselves alive long enough to fight another war.
But when exactly will they stop having wars in their lives? Is that even a possibility? Well, it is possible for them to stop having wars in their lives. And it is possible because God is able to make it happen. The same God that gave King Asa and his people rest on every side, so that they were able to build their land prosper, is still alive and well today. And as He once said to this king, He is always scanning the earth for those who will wholeheartedly trust in Him. Why? It is so that He can show Himself strong on their behalf and give them rest. (Cf. 2Chro 16:9)
So, if you are one of those who need rest on every side in their lives, you can have it by putting your complete trust in God. Forget about who or what you put your trust in before. Instead, focus on who you need to put your absolute trust in right away, so that you can experience an end of all the wars that have been distracting and limiting you in life. And that person is God. If you, then, will trust Him to handle all the wars in your life for you, He will do so and bring you rest on every side.
Now how will He do that? I cannot say. Or how soon will He make your rest absolute? I also cannot say. But I can say that anyone who puts their trust in Him will not be put to shame but will experience true radiance in their lives. So, call out to Him for your peace and rest without delay and you will be glad you did.
Then perhaps the wars limiting you are not personal wars but communal or national wars. You should still call out to Him for His rest. And since He gave the nation of Judah rest on every side under King Asa, there is no nation that He cannot give rest on every side, if the citizens will call out to Him for it. So, let us call out to Him for rest for our nation and all our communities that we may experience times of refreshing and prosperity. And I am sure that He will not fail us or disappoint us, if we will do so with honest hearts.
Peace!
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DON'T FORCE IT ON YOURSELF 17/01/25
“But this word of the LORD came to me: 'You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight.'” (1Chron 22:8NIV)
In those few words, David tells us the reason God would not permit him to build Him a temple. And why would God not permit him to do so? Was it because he did not have enough money to do it? No! Was it because he did not have the wisdom or skill to handle such a great project? No! Was it because he did not have enough manpower to do it? No! Or was it because his motives were not right? No!
As we see in the bible, David was a man after God's own heart. And it was because his heart was always after doing what would make God happy that he was able to receive the inspiration to build God a temple from the Holy Spirit. Not only that, he also received the inspiration to design this temple and to document instructions on the items that would be used in it, on the divisions of priests and Levites that would serve in it and also on how God was to be worshipped in it. (Cf. 1Chro 28:11-19)
Yet God had no intention of allowing him to build Him that temple. Why, then, did He give him inspirations on the design of the temple and on everything that should be happening in it? First, it was because his heart was right and open to receive from Him. Second, it was so that he may document everything about the temple for whoever He would later consider fit to handle the job. Third, it was so that he would use all that he had in resources, power and influence to support whoever would be chosen for the job.
Now, of course, God was very much happy with David because he welcomed the idea. He, in fact, blessed him and also made a covenant with him for welcoming the idea. Nevertheless, He made it very clear to Him that the actual job of building that temple was not his. So, it is not every time that God gives people great and lofty visions that He intends to use them to carry out those visions. He may just want to see how passionately they will welcome what He is showing them. Or He may just be seeking to use them as a vehicle to convey those visions to others who have the competence to carry them out but who may not have the ears, eyes and patience to receive the visions from Him. (Cf. 1Chro 17)
Don't stubbornly drive yourself, then, to do something God has not chosen you to do, just because He has revealed it to you or because you have a passion for it. Yes, you may have the right motives and the skills and resources required to do it. But if God has not chosen you to do it, you will only meet with frustration and disappointment, if you stubbornly want to do it. That is because you will not find God's grace working for you in doing it.
You may have witnessed situations before in which someone had the money, influence, education, wisdom and power to do something. Yet he failed at it. Then someone else who did not have the kind of money, influence, education, wisdom and power that he had went ahead and got the very same thing he failed at doing done. Why? It is all about the grace of God. Yes, it is all about God's provision of power to accomplish things.
When God wants us to get something done, He will not only deliver revelations to us about it, directly or indirectly; He will also equip us with everything we need to get it done. But if He does not want us to get it done, even when He is the one that has given us revelations about it, He will also show us through revelations or through some other circumstances of life that the job is not for us. And it is important that we pay attention to Him in such situations and not stubbornly or arrogantly drive ourselves to do something that His grace will not be available for us to handle. Otherwise, we will only make a waste of the time, resources, energy and whatever else we commit to such destined-to-fail ventures.
The point I am making is that it is not every good or great task that we seem to have abilities for that God has chosen us for, even though He loves us and always wants to use us to do great things. There are good works that He cannot just use us for because we are not suited for the purpose He wants to accomplish through them. As we see in David's case, God could not use him to build His holy temple because he had shed much blood as a warrior. How was that a problem? We would not know. But it was clear that God was concerned on that occasion about the vocation of the person that would build His temple.
Also, look at God's choice of Mary the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. First, God considered her sexual purity. Then He also considered the family that she was marrying into, the family of Joseph, a descendant of David. There may have been other women in the land whose hearts were more right with God than hers. But if they were not virgins, God could not use them. Also, there may have been other virgins in the land at the time that were more pious than her. But if they were not marrying into David's lineage, God would not be considering them. (Cf. Matt 1; Luke 1:26-38)
Therefore, God always has His reasons for not choosing us for certain good works, even though we love Him and our hearts are right. One of the prayers we should be offering, then, is that our hearts will always be filled with sufficient revelations of the will of God about the kinds of good works chosen for us in this life, so that we will not waste our time trying to do good works that His grace will not be available for us to do. And I pray that you will be set right and restored wherever you have missed it and are labouring in vain over tasks God has not chosen for you, in Jesus' name. Amen.
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FOR PREACHERS OF THE WORD 16/01/25
“Don't forget to pray for us too…” (Col 4:3TLB)
A lot of times, we get so carried away by the desire and urge to be ministered to that we forget that those who are ministering to us also need to be ministered to. And this, I believe, is one main reason Apostle Paul usually asks or reminds God's people in his letters to pray for him and his companions in ministry.
Now I want to ask you, “When was the last time you prayed for that man that is feeding you with God's word, week in and week out? And when was the last time you prayed for his family? Or do you think he does not need your prayers at all? Do you think he can make it on his own?”
See, if someone like Paul ever thought that he could make it on his own, he would never urge other believers, especially those that God had saved through him, to pray and to keep on praying for him. This man knew that he was not island—he belonged to a body, the body of Christ. And if he was going to make it and fulfil God's purpose for his life, then, he must respect the body of Christ and allow its members to minister to him in whatever ways they could. That was why he constantly sought that they would pray for him.
Today many of us complain about preachers of the gospel and even abuse them. And a lot of times, we do this because of the greed, impurity and insincerity we see in many of them. But one thing we are deliberately failing to note is the fact that these preachers are also human beings like us; they are also men and women who can miss it or stumble, even in many ways. (Cf. James 3:2)
Now I am not making any excuse for them; rather, I am simply saying that whatever failure you have observed in your own life, you can also see in another man's life, even if he is a man of God. So, the right thing for us to do is to learn to pray for them, as we are taught in the Scriptures.
No, we may not always know their specific needs, but there are general needs of theirs that we can pray about, as revealed in the Scriptures. For example, we can pray for our ministers to increase in effectiveness in their ministries, instead of complaining that we are not being blessed through their ministrations (Eph 6:19-20; Col 4:3-4). We can pray that God will count them worthy of His calling, fulfil every good purpose of their hearts and honour all their steps of faith (2Thess 1:11; Heb 13:18-19).
Also, we can pray for their protection and the protection of their family members, so that they will not be harmed or distracted. And that is because there are many out there whose sole desire is to see God's ministers come to ruin; and they don't care what means they use in accomplishing that (Rom 15:3-32; 2Thess 3:2). In addition, we can pray for them to be strengthened by God to fully discharge the duties of their ministries.
Now I believe that as you look into the Scriptures and open your heart to the voice of the Spirit, God will show you more things you can pray for concerning His ministers that He is using for us in our land. And as you do this, you also will begin to experience God's refreshing in every area of your life in ways that you have never imagined.
God bless you.
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LEADERS WITH HEARTS OF INTEGRITY AND SKILLFUL HANDS 15/01/25
“And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.” (Ps 78:72NIV)
One of the lessons history has taught us is that no nation can rise above mediocrity without sound, upright and responsible leaders. And the same thing is true of our families, businesses, institutions and organisations. They cannot rise above the level of the ordinary and unattractive, if they are not led by leaders that are both upright and skilful.
Now I am saying this because, a lot of times, in choosing our leaders, regardless of the level we are, we don't usually take the need for both uprightness and skilfulness to account. A man, for example, may be upright in heart but unskilful in dealing with people or leading them. And so, even though such a man has a good heart and means well for his people, he will eventually make a mess of his leadership, if God does not send skilful helpers to support him.
Also, a man may be skilful in handling all kinds of people but dishonest in his heart. So, even though he is competent to lead and direct the affairs of his people well, his leadership will, in the final analysis of things, be a disaster because his heart is not right. Such an individual will most likely use his skills to impoverish and oppress the people while enriching himself.
Therefore, the kinds of leaders we need in our homes, schools, government offices, organisations, villages, towns and cities are those who have both integrity and skills. We need leaders who are not just upright in heart but also quick in understanding and competent in leading. We need leaders who can bring both righteousness and effectiveness to bear on their leadership.
Now how do we get such leaders to take over and begin to set things right where we are? Well, my discovery is that such leaders cannot be discovered through our careful observation or effort; they are a blessing from God. What I mean is that it is God who raises and blesses nations, families or groups of people with men and women that have both integrity and skills to lead.
For example, we are told in our opening text that David, the second king of Israel, led his people with integrity of heart and skilful hands. This man brought a high degree of competence and integrity into leadership in his country. In short, he raised leadership to such a standard that the success of every other leader that came after him was measured by his. But how did David become Israel's leader? Was it as a result of the efforts of the people? No! He became Israel's leader because God sought him, raised him and cleared the way for him to lead. He was God's blessing poured out on the people. (Cf. Ps 78:70-71, Acts 13:22)
In addition, outstanding leaders like Joseph, Moses, Joshua and Nehemiah did not emerge through men's effort or politics; rather, they emerge because God Himself trained them, brought them forth and cleared the way for them to lead. So they were all a blessing from God to the generations that they led.
Now how do we receive such blessings from God? It is through prayers. Joseph, for example, just before he died, prayed that God would visit and take his people out of Egypt. And God did so by sending Moses centuries after that. Also, Moses prayed that God would appoint a leader for His people, so that they would not be without a shepherd. And God answered him by giving the people Joshua. And Nehemiah, through his own prayers to God for the welfare of his people, was empowered by God to lead them out of their state of disgrace. (Cf. Gen 50:24-25; Num 27:15-23; Neh 1)
We also can receive such great leaders from God, if we will begin to seek His face for them. And may our hearts be tuned to begin to function as such, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Have a great day.
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CHRIST IN YOU 14/01/25
“I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness – they mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:25-27NIV)
Paul is here speaking about the mystery of God that He kept hidden for generations. What is this mystery? He says, “It is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” In other words, the mystery of God consists in the manifestation of Christ in us. Christ is referred to in this same letter to the Colossians as the image of the invisible God. It is also said in the letter that it has pleased God to cause His fullness to dwell in Christ. So, with Christ in us, the fullness of God is now dwelling in us. (Cf. Colossians 1:15&19)
But then, will His fullness be evident in us? That is the big question. God’s will is that His fullness will find expression in those of us who believe. But is it happening in me already? Is this happening in you already? Paul prays for the Ephesian brethren that God’s fullness will fill them. In other words, he wants His fullness to take charge of them and be evident in them. Why? That is what will draw men to God, the revelation of Christ in them, the revelation of the fullness of God in their lives. (Cf. Ephesians 3:14-19)
What, then, is the place of preaching Christ in all this? Well, it is indeed important that we preach Christ to those in our world. But any form of preaching that is not accompanied with the manifestation of the wisdom of God and His fullness will not draw people to Him or accomplish His purpose in their lives. People want to see what Christ has done in us. They want to see His image in us. They want to see what He is doing or has done in us. That is what they can appreciate.
If someone wants you to marry someone, for instance, and you have never met the person before, what is reported about that person may not be enough for you to want to meet him or her. But if you are shown the picture of that person, you will want to see whether it is appealing to you or not. If it is, then, you want to meet the person. If it is not, then, you may not want to meet the person, even if she is of awesome character.
In like manner, people need to see the image of Christ in us. They need to see His fullness in us. And if it is His image that is seen in us that we are proclaiming, then, it will be easier for those of the world to relate to our message. Paul says this of himself: “But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.” (Galatians 1:19NIV) Did you see that? Paul was preaching the Son of God that was being revealed in Him. He was not preaching a Christ that people could not see in his own life and conduct.
The point I am making is that Christ needs to be seen in us. God wants Him to be seen in us, for He is the exact representation of His being. He wants the worlds of angels, demons and men to see Him in us. This is the secret He has been keeping, the fact that He wants all His creation to see that man is His actual child and that he is capable of manifesting His fullness. He wants them to see His wisdom, righteousness, holiness, love, patience, self-control, gentleness, generosity, goodness, humility and everything He represents in us. This is what will draw all men to Him. This is what will cause them to know that we are
truly divine.
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DESTROY IT BEFORE IT DESTROYS YOU 13/01/25
“Amnon became frustrated to the point of illness on account of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.” (2Sam 13:2NIV)
Why did Amnon, the first child of David, end up raping his half-sister, Tamar? It was because he refused to destroy the evil thought of having something with her that had possessed him. Was it his fault that this evil desire came to him? Not necessarily so! But not handling the evil desire and allowing himself to be possessed by it was entirely his fault.
According to the bible, we don’t have to do anything bad or wrong for evil thoughts to come to us. That is because the origin of every thought is the devil. Remember that, even right after fasting forty days and forty nights, Jesus was still confronted by the devil with the thought of committing suicide. In fact, this evil thought was even supported by him with Scriptures. And if Jesus had not been sound enough in the knowledge of the Scriptures, so that He was able to demolish the evil thought, His ministry would have ended before it started. (Cf. Matt 4:5-7; Luke 4:9-12)
So, whether we like it or not, we cannot escape being confronted with evil thoughts, desires and passions, as long as we are in this world. Yes, putting ourselves in certain conditions or relationships may expose us more readily or frequently to evil thoughts, desires or passions. But the word of God already makes it clear that regardless of where we are in this world, even if it is a monastery, evil thoughts will still locate us. That is because they are being sent by the devil and his demons to make war against our souls. (Cf. 1Pet 2:11)
Since this, then, is the case, it is on us to be determined to say ‘No’ to any evil thought, passion or desire that comes to us and to, in fact, destroy it. The word of God says:
“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2Cor 10:4-5NIV)
Did you see that? As children of God, we have access to His divine power and provisions to demolish any satanic stronghold. And what strongholds are we talking about? As we see in the text, these strongholds are not witches, wizards or even demons; rather, they are thoughts. Yes, they are arguments and pretensions that are standing against the truth of God in our minds. In other words, we are taking about thoughts, desires, passions and philosophies that are contrary to the righteousness of God and that can be built up in our lives as fortresses of protection for evil behaviours.
Now what is our instruction about them? It is that we are to demolish them. We must not allow them to grow in us, not to talk of take us captive to do evil. But if we refuse to destroy them, if we are making excuses for them and giving them room to possess us, it won’t be long before they drive us to do the unthinkable and foolish. Then we may find ourselves, like Amnon, corrupting those that we are supposed to protect their purity or, like Judas Iscariot, betraying those we are supposed to honour and protect.
So, be determined to destroy every evil thought, desire or passion that Satan may send to war against your soul. Otherwise, it will ultimately destroy you and perhaps all that is dear to you as well, if you are not shown mercy. But will you be able to do this, if you cannot distinguish between thoughts that are contrary to God’s righteousness and the ones that are not? You won’t.
All of this is why you, like our Lord Jesus Christ, need to be sound in the word of God. You need to continually give yourself to reading, studying and meditating on His word. That way, you will be able to recognise even those wicked thoughts of the devil that appear righteous and legitimate and destroy them before they have any chance of hurting you.
Also, you need to give yourself to praying without ceasing, especially to be strengthened by God within. Otherwise, you will know what thoughts you must reject but may not have the strengthen to say ‘No’ to them. Then the Scripture will be true concerning you that says, “The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” And may that not be your experience in any area of your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Cheers!
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PROBLEM SOLVERS – SOLUTION BEARERS 12/01/25
“From Issachar's descendants there were 200 leaders who understood the times and knew what Israel should do. Their relatives were under their command.” (1Chron 12:32GW)
What is the main thing said in our opening text about certain two hundred men of the tribe of Issachar that joined David’s army in order to establish his kingship in Israel? It is that they were all leaders. In other words, they were men that other people, especially their relatives, were willing to follow.
But could these men have been the only leaders in the land of Israel at the time? No! A careful examination of the entire bible passage where their matter is mentioned shows that there were several other leaders and competent men with David at the time. What, then, separated these two hundred men from the other leaders?
Well, as we see in our opening bible text, those men of Issachar had two distinct qualities that separated them from others. The first was that they understood the times. The second was that they knew what their country ought to be doing. That means these men were problem solvers. They were solution bearers. They were men that knew how to turn difficulties into opportunities. They were men that knew how to turn curses into blessings. It is no big wonder, then, that David kept them with him. He knew that they would make his job of leading the nation a lot easier and simpler.
If you too want it to be easier and simpler for you to be profitable or progressive with a business, project or position you are handling, it is problems solvers and solution bearers you should choose to work with. Don’t allow sentiments to make you choose individuals who have nothing in their heads to contribute to the success of your work. Don’t choose individuals who will always be confronting you with the problems that need to be solved instead of bringing you the solutions. Otherwise, you may end up doing all the work you are paying them or funding them to do yourself.
In like manner, in all your relationships, stand as a problem solver and a solution bearer. Don’t be someone that only sees problems and never sees solutions. Don’t be someone that rarely shows that he understands what those in his life are dealing with, not to talk of help them fix it. Otherwise, you will often be seen by others as nothing but a liability.
Now none of us wants liabilities. What we want are blessings. And it is those in our lives that are solving our problems for us and bearing our burdens with us or for us that we see as a blessing to us. They, then, are the ones that we will always want to see in our lives and around us. But those who are just taking from us and never adding any value to our lives are seen as nothing but liabilities to us. We may not be able to readily separate ourselves from them, for one reason or the other. But if we truly search our hearts, we will know that a part of us can’t wait for such people to willingly let us be.
So, don’t be that kind of person that those in your life will want to avoid at any given opportunity, just because you have nothing to contribute to their progress. Every time you show up, it is with a problem to be solved and not with a solution to a problem or a testimony of a problem already solved. And this is not always about money. Those men of Issachar did not come to David with their money. Instead, they came to him with their brains. So, even if you do not have money to offer those in your life, you should be able to offer them your brains, prayers, encouragement, influence or strength.
You may want to pray to God, then, that He will open your eyes to see those things in you that can make you a blessing to others and to also drive you to begin to make the most of them. How did those men of Issachar become men who understood the times and what their country should be doing? We are not told in express terms in the Scriptures. But it is clear that it was a gift from God. And the reason we are talking about them today is that they used that gift. They so used it that it took them from their local level to the national level.
You and I also have our own gifts from God. And if we will recognise them and begin to use them to lift others and solve their problems, only God can tell how far doing so will take us. So, begin to make every gift of God in your life count by using it to make life easier and better for yourself and others. Doing so may just be the vehicle that will take you to those great heights of your dreams.
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BE A PERSON OF PEACE 11/01/25
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18NIV)
What our opening text is telling us is that there are times it is impossible to live at peace with some people. These ones do not just want peace. And there is nothing you can do to make peace with them, for they do not know the way of peace. So, you may have to stay away from such people in order to experience peace or you may have to hand them over to God or use the instrument of the law to keep them where they belong in order to experience peace in dealing with them.
But as far as it depends on you, you are to labour to be at peace with everyone. So, pursue peace this year. That is how to show that you are eager for God, for our God is a God of peace. In your neighbourhood pursue peace. In your office, pursue peace. In your family, pursue peace. Let the things you will commit yourself to doing this year be things that will promote peace.
Peter, sharing with us in his epistle and quoting one of the psalmists, says one of the things anyone who wants to enjoy life and see many good days must do is to seek peace and to also pursue it (1Peter 3:10-11). So, be a person of peace. Let those around you know you as a person of peace. That is because you are a kingdom person. Your friends, neighbours, colleagues at work or in school and family members should know you as a person of peace. That is because that is what the kingdom you represent is about.
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UTILISE YOUR TIME ACCORDINGLY 10/01/25
“In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.” (2Samuel 11:1NIV)
What time was it on David’s timetable? It was the time when kings go off to war. But he did not go off to war as did other kings. Instead, he sent his men to go and fight without him. Therefore, he was exposed to adultery, deceit and murder. That, of course, almost ruined his life and testimony. It brought all kinds of problems into his peaceful and prosperous family. In short, it was the only stain on his garment of integrity. (Cf. 2Samuel 11-18)
Not only that, by not going off to war at that time, he almost lost the opportunity to take the city and establish his dominance over it. Joab had to send a message to him, telling him to muster the rest of the army and come to take the city. Otherwise, he would take it and have it named after him. That, of course, is telling us that there are opportunities we may miss, if we will not recognise the time we are in and utilise it accordingly.
So, we must know what time it is in our lives and function accordingly, day after day. Then we will not be doing the wrong things with our lives or doing the right thing at the wrong time. I pray that the Spirit of God will enable you to always recognise what time it is in your life and to make the most of it for His glory and for your exaltation and peace. Amen.
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CAN THEY TELL THE DIFFERENCE 09/01/25
“By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’” That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.” When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward the man shrivelled up, so that he could not pull it back. Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the Lord.” (1Kings 13:1-5NIV)
This prophet, as we can see here, clearly proclaimed the word of the Lord, and it was confirmed by a sign. The king, of course, wanted to arrest him for this. But he could not because his hand shrivelled up. And he had to plead with him to intercede to God on his behalf in order for his hand to be restored, which he did.
Well, after that, the king wanted to give him a meal and some gifts. But he would not accept it. Why? It was because the Lord had instructed him not to eat there and also not to go back the same way he came. So, he took another road and left.
Unfortunately, there was another prophet in the land at the time. He was an old prophet. But he was not there when that prophet delivered the word of the Lord to King Jeroboam. His sons who had witnessed what happened, however, told him. So, he went after that young prophet to bring him back to his house and give him food. And when he found him, he told him that he was a prophet like him and that an angel of the Lord had asked him to bring him back to his house and entertain him. And was that true? No! He was simply lying to him.
However, that young prophet could not tell the difference between the voice of God and the voice of man. So, he followed him to his house and refreshed himself there. That, of course, was the end of his life and ministry. He was mauled that same day by a lion. Interestingly, it was the same old prophet that lied to him that God also used to prophesy His judgment on him.
So, you can see that the mere fact that someone is a prophet does not mean that he truly knows how to differentiate God’s voice from other voices. And if you follow a prophet that can’t tell the difference between God’s voice and other voices, both of you may one day end up being destroyed, if you are not shown mercy. This is why you must be able to tell the difference between God’s voice and the devil’s voice yourself. But you won’t be able to do this, if you are not given to the word of God. So, give yourself to God’s word like never before this year. Then you will not be misled by any prophet or anyone that can’t tell the difference between when God is talking to him and when Satan is talking to him.
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IT IS NOT A WASTE OF TIME 08/01/25
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8NIV)
Everything Jesus says here is said to motivate us to pray. So, if we will ask God for whatever we need, we will receive it from Him. Also, if we will seek out His provisions for us, we will find them. Then if we will knock on doors of the places holding His provisions for us, they will be opened to us.
Therefore, we have assurances that our praying to God is not a waste of time. And when you know that the time you are spending in praying is not a waste, you will be motivated to pray without ceasing and without giving up.
What we are saying is that prayer works. Look at what James says about this in verse 16 of the fifth chapter of his epistle:
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” (James 5:16-18NIV)
Did you see that? The prayer of a righteous person is power and effective. So, your prayer can change things. Your prayer can change the situations of your life and even of your country. And James goes on to use Elijah to illustrate his point to us. According to him, Elijah, as one man, once prayed that it would not rain over the nation of Israel, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Then he prayed again that he should rain, and it rained. And James’ point is that we too can accomplish the same feat and even bigger things, if we will pray.
But have you seen yourself in that light? Have you seen yourself as capable of offering prayers that will change situations, prayers that will accomplish great and astonishing things? I must see myself in that light. I must see myself as capable of offering prayers that will change situations. And if I am functioning with that mindset, I will be motivated to pray to make my world a better place.
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HOW TO WITNESS A MANIFESTATION OF HIS BLESSINGS 07/01/25
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” (Eph 1:3NIV)
Among the most challenging declaration of facts of the bible is that God has blessed all His children with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, as we are shown in our opening bible text. In other words, we already have all the blessings we could ever hope to receive from God, the blessings of the Holy Spirit, righteousness, prosperity, good health, protection, wisdom and every other thing necessary for godly living. We can, therefore, not be any more blessed than we already are, for we are fully and thoroughly blessed.
But then, even though one has been blessed by God in this manner, the blessings he has received may still not be manifesting in many areas of his life. Why? The reason is that God’s blessings are essentially spiritual. So, there are things we must give ourselves to doing for them to physically manifest in our lives.
For example, a boy may have been gifted by God to be better than Cristiano Ronaldo in football. That gift, though we may call it natural, is still in a sense spiritual. That is because it is unseen. And it will remain unseen until the boy begins to give himself to playing football. Then even when he begins to play football, if he will not give himself to the training and discipline necessary to make him shine with the gift, the gift may not prove to be a blessing to him.
In like manner, even though we have received all the blessings God could possibly give us, if we will not begin to take the steps that will cause those blessings to manifest in our lives and affairs, we may still live and pass out of this world as though we were never blessed. And may that not be our experience, in Jesus’ name. Amen. So, we need to know what we must be doing to cause God’s blessings to daily find expression in our lives and be devoted to doing it.
Now what are those things we must be devoted to doing in order to begin to witness a great manifestation of God’s blessings in our lives? One of them is prayer. The bible says, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” (Col 4:2-3NIV) Why must we devote ourselves to prayer, with a heart of thanksgiving? It is because prayer is a sure way of receiving what God has given.
The bible says a man can receive only what God has given him (John 3:27). So, if God has not given it, you cannot receive it, even if you use your entire lifetime to pray for it. But if God has already given it, then, you can receive it. And how do you receive what He has given? It is by asking. That is why Jesus says, “Ask and you will receive, for those are asking are receiving.” Since God, then, has given us all His blessings, we can receive a manifestation of each one of them through prayers. So, if you observe that certain blessings of God are not evident in your life as they should, open your mouth and pray to receive their manifestations. (Cf. Matt 7:7-8)
But then, if we don’t know what God has already given us or blessed us with, we may never ask for its manifestation in our lives. That is why another way to begin to witness a great manifestation of God’s blessings in our lives is to devote ourselves to the word of God. Paul, speaking to the Ephesian elders, once said to them, “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32NIV) Did you see that? The word of God is able to deliver our inheritance, our blessings, in Christ Jesus to us, here in this world and also when the Lord returns.
How, then, does His word do this? First, it is by getting us acquainted with all the things that God has freely given to us in Christ Jesus. When we know what God has already blessed us with, we can thank Him for it and receive it through prayers and our declarations of faith. Second, His word opens our eyes to those things that promote the manifestations of His blessings and also to the things that hinder them.
For instance, His word shows us that generosity can promote the manifestation of His blessings in our lives (2Cor 9:6; Gal 6-10). Likewise, His word shows us that pride or bad conduct in our marriages, Christian assemblies or work relationships can hinder our promotion, prayers and the manifestation of His blessings of good health, longevity or prosperity in our lives (1Cor 11:17-32; James 5:1-6; 1Pet 3:7; 1Pet 5:5-6). And if we take His word seriously, doing those things that it commands us to do and abstaining from those things He wants us to abstain from, we will witness His blessings finding expression in our lives in ways beyond our reasoning.
Now I know that you will want to see all of God’s blessings finding expression in your life and affairs this year. Therefore, give yourself to praying like never before and also to studying and practising His word like never before. And the manifestation of His blessings that your life will witness in the year will be immeasurably more than you can ever imagine.
Have a fabulous new year.
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THE WILL OF GOD FOR YOU 06/01/25
“No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess 5:18TLB)
Are you among those who are asking, “What will God have me do this year?”? Well, what God wants you to do sounds very simple: Paul says God wants you to live a life of thankfulness.
Now living a life of thankfulness or gratitude to God indeed seems to be most simple thing to do here on earth. But, in actuality, it is the most difficult thing for the natural man to do. And it is not that the natural man does not want to thank God; it is that the natural man finds it very hard to see what God is doing in every affair of his. And until a man begins to see the role God is playing in the realisation of his life, he cannot see the need for him to begin to thank Him.
In one of his psalms, David beautifully captures for us the indescribable participation of God in our lives when he says:
“Lord, you have examined me and you know me. You know everything I do; from far away you understand all my thoughts. You see me, whether I am working or resting; you know all my actions. Even before I speak, you already know what I will say. You are all around me on every side; you protect me with your power. Your knowledge of me is too deep; it is beyond my understanding.” (Ps 139:1-6GNT)
How amazing and true! God's knowledge of every one of us is simply beyond our grasp or understanding. He understands us better than we understand ourselves and knows our situations better than we do. That is why only He can make our lives work and only He is always working to make our lives work.
Now that is the very first thing our coming to Christ Jesus ought to make known and clear to us. Others may not see God's role in their success and advancement, but a Christian ought to see it. Others may not see how God is able to turn their moments of shame and distress into moments of opportunities and honour. But the child of God ought to know and see that no matter what situations or circumstances life throws at him, his Father is always there to put him over and work all things out for his good. (Cf. Romans 8:28)
It is on this note, then, that Paul tells us to maintain a life of thankfulness, a life that always recognises and appreciates God's role in all its affairs. He says that is the life God wants us to live; it is the right way for us to live. And that, of course, cancels out any place for grumbling, complaining or griping about anything or anyone in the New Year.
‘Complaints’ and ‘Thanksgiving’ don't flock together. So, stop complaining and start giving thanks; for your father will work out every situation, pleasant or sour, for your good this new year. Remain blessed.
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DON'T BE IN A HURRY TO START AFRESH 05/01/25
Now at the beginning of a new year like this, there is every tendency that we will want to run ahead and begin to take on fresh opportunities to do big things and also enjoy ourselves in the year. And is anything wrong with that? No! On the contrary, the word of God shows us that God's desire is that we will recognise every opportunity He brings our way to live meaningful lives and make the most of it (Eph 5:15-16).
However, while nothing is wrong in being set to make the most of whatever opportunity we are privileged to have in life, it is important that we learn to always thank and appreciate God first for making it possible for us to be alive and well enough to see that opportunity and be able to utilise it. And that is one of the lessons from the bible account of our Lord Jesus and certain ten lepers that He healed. As the account goes, these leprous men had approached Him on a certain day, asking Him to show them mercy and heal them. And in response to that, He told them to go and show themselves to the priests. (Cf. Luke 17:11-14)
But then, as we have in Scriptures, it is only lepers who had been healed and cleansed of their leprosy that were in a position to show themselves to the priests. Therefore, by telling these men to go and show themselves to the priests, the Lord Jesus was taking it for granted that they had already been cleansed of their leprosy. And interestingly, because they obeyed His word and set out to show themselves to the priests, even though their skins still looked the same, their healing manifested on their way to seeing the priests. Glory to God! (Cf. Lev 14)
Try, then, and imagine how joyous those men must have been. We are not told in the account how long they had been in that position before the Lord healed them. However long it may have been, it really did not matter anymore. What mattered was that by being healed like that, they were able to dream again, to dream of seeing and utilising all kinds of opportunities to live like normal people and do great things for themselves and perhaps others.
Therefore, the moment they realised that they had been cleansed, they all began to run ahead to find the priests that would proclaim them fit to live like normal people again. And though that looked like the very normal thing to do, it was not normal at all. It was not normal because they did not cleanse themselves of their leprosy, neither were they cleansed by accident. Someone cleansed them. That being the case, the first right step for them to take was to go back and thank the one that had cleansed them. And doing so would not have been a waste of time at all. Rather, it would have given them an opportunity to perfect their wholeness.
Sadly, it was only one of them that thought clearly about this and went back to thank Jesus before going ahead to utilise whatever opportunities his fresh start would expose him to. Look at what Luke writes about that: “One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him — and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."” (Luke 17:15-19NIV)
Did you see that? The Lord was expecting all those ten lepers to come back and give praise to God for their healing and for giving them a fresh start in life. Coming back like that would have shown that they truly acknowledged God as their healer and the one giving them a fresh start in life. But only one of them came back to show appreciation. And it was only the one that came back that received another word of blessing from Jesus – your faith has made you well. What this word of blessing would translate to in his body or life is not something I can say. But it is clear that he was able to receive more than the other nine lepers through his attitude of thanksgiving.
In like manner, before we too will begin to run up and down to make plans and to do things this year, we should, like that Samaritan leper that was healed, first take out time to wholeheartedly thank God for giving us another fresh start in this new year, year 2025. Yes, it is another fresh start to do the things we could not do before and enjoy life the way we have probably never enjoyed it. But our power and wisdom did not make this possible, neither was this made possible by chance. God is the one that has made it possible. And if we want to receive more and more beautiful things from Him in the new year, if we want the new year to be perfect for us in joy, peace, health and prosperity in all ways, we should not consider it a waste of time, energy or resources to wholeheartedly thank Him for making everything possible.
My prayer is that your heart will be strengthened and made wise to settle down to truly thank God for the gift of this new year before you start doing anything with it or in it. Amen.
Happy New Year!
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YOU TOO CAN SUCCEED IN EVERYTHING 04/01/25
“When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace, the LORD appeared to him at night and said…” (2Chronicles 7:11-12NIV)
The part I want you to look at in the text above is where it tells us that Solomon succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his royal palace. That means this man accomplished all that he had in mind to do. Everything he desired to do for the house of the Lord was accomplished. And everything that he desired to do for his own palace was accomplished. Who made these possible? God! He made everything possible.
The first time I read this part of the Scripture consciously I said to myself, “Wow! So, it is actually possible for me to succeed in carrying out everything I desire to do in life, as long as it is in line with the will of God.” And this is not only about kingdom matters but also about our personal lives. At least, we see that it was not only in the building of the temple that Solomon succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do; he also succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the building of his personal palace.
In like manner, you too can succeed in carrying out all you have in mind to do this year, not just for the kingdom of God but also for your life, family, business, education and so forth. It is possible. And it agrees with what David says in one of his psalms. He says that if you delight yourself in God, He will fulfil the desires of your heart, all of them – not one will be left untouched or undone. (Cf. Ps 37:4)
Now remember how Solomon started out as king over Israel. He started by delighting himself in the Lord. Therefore, God made him accomplish all the desires of his heart for His temple and also for his own palace. If you too will delight yourself in the Lord, every good thing you have in mind to do this year about the kingdom of God and about your life will be accomplished. And if Jesus tarries, you will be thanking God for enabling you to accomplish all that you have in mind to do. So, delight yourself in the Lord, as you go this year, and He will fulfil the desires of your heart.
Happy new year.
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EVEN THOUGH THE DAYS ARE EVIL 03/01/25
“Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16NIV)
Paul here says that the days are evil. Why does he not say, “The days are good?” He does not say that the days are good because these days are not inherently good days; instead, they are evil days.
However, Paul also shows us that these evil days are also days of opportunity. There are limitless opportunities for us in these evil days. It is just for us to recognise them. So, even though every day is loaded with enough trouble, even though every day is characterised with different kinds of evil, each day is still a day of opportunity for us, opportunity for us to enjoy the goodness of God and opportunity to do all kinds of good works by the power of the Spirit of God.
In Psalm 68 we are told, “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Saviour, who daily bears our burdens.” (Psalm 68:19NIV) Think about that. Yes, we are living in evil days. Yes, we are living in days that are filled with all kinds of troubles, all kinds of trials and all kinds of challenges. Yet every day is also one in which we can enjoy the support of God. The Psalmist here says that God daily bears our burdens. Another translation of the bible says that God daily loads us with benefits.
Whatever the case is, the point is that every day God bears our burdens, if we will allow Him, just as every day He loads us with benefits, if we will take them from His hands. So, we have this consolation that even though every day we are faced with is loaded with trouble, God is on our side and with us to bear our burdens and to load our lives with His goodness.
I am saying this to show you that when we are naming years or days, we must do so with a consciousness that everyday cannot be said to be good in itself. The bible does not say that. What it says is that every day is inherently bad and evil. And that is because of the fall of man. The same thing applies to every year. Because of the fall of man, every year is inherently bad and evil. But because we have God, we have no reason to lose heart or to be afraid, dismayed, discouraged or frightened.
What I am saying is that this year should not frighten you. No day of the year should frighten you. And that is because you have God, who is ever ready to bear your burden. Do you understand that? You don’t need to bear any burden all by yourself. Whether it is a financial burden, a marital burden, a business burden or an academic burden, you don’t need to bear it all by yourself this year. That is because you have God, who is ready to bear your burdens for you every day. He is ready to bear all of them for you, to carry them for you, to handle them for you. This is so that you can walk in peace, comfort and rest of mind.
But you must allow Him to bear them. Remember that Peter says, “Cast all your burdens on Him, cast all your anxiety on Him, for He cares for you.” (Cf. 1Peter 5:7) Think about that. God cares for you; He cares for us. You have His care this year. You have someone who truly cares about you. You may have a whole lot of people who do not care about you. You may not be sure of the care of those around you. But you have someone who truly cares about you. And that is God.
Now you are admonished to cast your anxieties and burdens on Him. Whatever those things are that burden your heart, as you have come into this new year, you do not need to bear them. Perhaps you have been worried about the things you want to do and accomplish this year. There is one who with you now to daily bear your burdens for you. Just give them over to Him.
Well, the point I am making is that regardless of how bad the days of this year may be, regardless of how evil or what evil this year may be impregnated with, you don’t need to be afraid at all. That is because God is going to be there with you every day of the year, to bear and handle your burdens for you.
Happy new year.
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A NEW YEAR OR A NEW ERA 02/01/25
As a matter of first importance, we ought to give thanks to God for the gift of this new year. I am sure you know, as I also do, that it is not everyone that looked forward to being a part of this new year that is now a part of it. Some people earnestly looked forward and perhaps even planned to be a part of it. But they still did not make it because death took them.
Now why did death take them? Was it because they were the worst and most worthless among men? No! Truly, death can take the worst among men. But it can also take the best among men, so that they are no longer able to realise certain dreams of theirs. Remember Moses. Remember that the bible says there was no prophet like him in all Israel that God related to the way He did to him. Yet, despite this man's earnest desire to enter the Promised Land, he was not allowed by God to do so because of a mistake that he made. God even took him to a mountain to have a good view of the land. But he was not allowed to enter it. Is that, then, to say that those who made it into the Promised Land were better than him or would receive greater reward from God than him? No! (Cf. Deut 34:1-4)
So, God did not keep us alive to be a part of this new year because we are better than anybody, though we may indeed be better than some people. He kept us alive because He wants to give us the privilege of fully realising His good purpose for our lives. As we know, once death takes someone, there is no further opportunity for that person to do or become anything, good or bad, here on earth again. It is only those who are alive that still have the hope of doing things, becoming things and changing things.
Therefore, regardless of the conditions in which you came into this new year, you ought to be giving thanks to God. And you ought to be doing so because you still have the hope of doing the things you could not do in the year that just ended, becoming whatever you could not become in that year and changing whatever you could not change in it. That, of course, is the only advantage those of us who are alive have over those who are dead, the advantage of being able to live out our dreams or rewrite our lives' stories. And is that going to happen this new year? Are we really going to live out our dreams or rewrite our stories this year that is just starting? Will this new year indeed be a new era for us or just another new year?
See, that someone comes into a new year does not mean that anything about his life will be new. At least, you, my reader, have witnessed some 'new years'. That is why you are able to read this piece. But how many of those 'new years' really brought newness and freshness to your life in very remarkable ways? How many of them introduced your life to some new eras or seasons of fruitfulness, promotion, salvation or rest? I am sure you know the answer.
Well, my point is that a new year may after all not be new to us, if we do not immediately begin to experience any significant and positive change in our lives' circumstances in it. And where that is the case, it will not be long at all before the so-called new year becomes old and boring to us.
Now for that not to happen, for this new year not to soon become old and boring to us, God must make it truly new for us. Yes, God must make it more than another calendar year for us by immediately bringing to us in it new eras or seasons of salvation, prosperity, peace and rest. Of course, He can bring us new eras of refreshing any time of the year. But will it not really be a cool thing for Him to begin to introduce new eras of freshness and greatness into our lives right from the start of this new year?
Personally, it will be a cool thing for me for God to do that. And though I would not know about you., I actually believe that it will be cool for all of us to hear Him speak to us at the beginning of this year, as He did to Joshua in those days, saying, “Today, I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all men, so that they may know that I am with you this year and will fulfil my good purpose concerning you.” (Cf. Joshua 3:7)
Happy 2025
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HE IS ABLE TO BRING EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL 01/01/25
“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” (Philippians 3:20-21NIV)
We are already citizens of heaven, as we see in our opening text. That is why we are looking forward to receiving our Lord Jesus back from there. And when He comes, He is going to transform our lowly bodies to be like His own glorious body. How is He going to do this? It is by His power, the power that enables Him to bring everything under his control.
See, Jesus Christ possesses the power to bring everything under His control. Therefore, there is nothing that seems to be out of control in our lives that He does not have power over, to control it, to change it. Remember that during His days here on earth, He was once at a wedding in which things went out of control for the newly wedded couple. Wine got finished, when there were still many guests to be served. So, they began to panic and worry about the situation. It was already out of control for them and they were faced with shame as a result of it. But then, they saw Jesus. And when He told them what to do, the situation was arrested. (Cf. John 2:1-11)
At another time, while He was with His disciples in the boat, the sea grew wide against them and their boat was in danger of being overturned. He was sleeping in the boat at that time, while His disciples were doing all they could to arrest the situation. Then, when they saw that the situation was totally out of control and that they were going to perish, they woke Him up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown? This situation is out of our control and all of us are going to die. What will you do about it?”
Now His disciples did not cry out to Him like that because they expected Him to do anything. They did so because they just wanted Him to know that they all were going to perish. But He got and rebuked the wind and the waves, and everything came to a complete calm. He brought everything under control. Hallelujah! (Cf. Mark 4:35-41)
What about when He stood at the tomb of Lazarus and was staring at death face to face? That was a hopeless situation, as far as man was concerned. Lazarus was very dead at this time, for he had been in his tomb four days. And Martha, the dead man’s sister, was careful to let Jesus know that if they should roll the stone at the mouth of the tomb away, an offensive odour would greet them. Yet the Lord brought that situation under control. Why? He possesses the power to bring everything under His control. (Cf. John 11)
Then when He Himself died and everyone thought all hope was gone, He still brought the situation under control. Before this time, His disciples had put their hope in Him as the Saviour of the Jews and all of humanity. Suddenly, He was taken away, cut off in death, right before their eyes. And they thought their hopes had been dashed. But then, as the bible tells us, God raised Him from the dead. He released the power of resurrection into Him and brought up out of the realm of death. Death could not just hold Him captive – it was impossible for it do so (Acts 2:24). Why? He possesses the power to bring everything under control.
Therefore, instead of looking at the situations of your life that seem to be out of control, look at Jesus. Looking at the world, we may see chaos. Looking at the world, we may see barrenness, poverty and death. But instead of looking at the poverty, death, chaos, insecurity or barrenness around us this new year, we should look at Jesus. That is because He has been placed before us as our Saviour, Lord, High Priest and King. And we should fix our gaze on Him.
As long as we fix our gaze on Him as our Lord and Saviour this new year, there is no situation of our lives that He will not bring under control for us. As long as we fix our gaze on Him, taking advantage of the authority that He has given to us, there is no circumstance of our lives that will not be brought under control. Then we will be able to say, “In all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, of those who have been called according to His purpose.”
Happy new year.
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A HEART OF APPRECIATION 31/12/24
As we come to the last days of this year, we ought to wholeheartedly appreciate God for all that He has been to us in the year and also for all that we have enjoyed from His hands. The road through the year may have been a rough one for us, with all kinds of interruptions working to make us lose heart or prevent us from accomplishing our goals and dreams. But as long as there is breath in us, we must learn to consider the goodness of God to us and to give thanks for it. That is one of the things that will lead us into a greater and fuller experience of His goodness.
So, don't keep your eyes solely on what has not worked this year but also on what has worked. Don't keep your eyes only on your losses but also on your profits. Otherwise, you will never see any reason to appreciate and thank God. And as long as you do not see reasons to appreciate Him for what He has been doing in your life, doors for a greater experience of His goodness may not be opened for you.
Also, regardless of what God has done for us, we must always keep in mind that He can do even much more for us. So, we should thank Him for what He has done for us and the heights He has brought us in life. Paul gives us an insight into how to do this when he says:
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Eph 3:20-21NIV)
Did you see that? Paul is giving glory to God because He is able to do more much than whatever we can ask of Him or imagine. So, regardless of what measure of His goodness that we have experienced or enjoyed this year, we have not yet experienced the best. There is much more than we can ever imagine or ask for that we can still receive from Him. But if we think we have arrived, if we cannot see beyond the heights we are now occupying and be utterly grateful to Him for how far He has brought us, there is every tendency that we will not go any farther than where we are in our experience of His goodness.
In 1Chronicles 17, we are told of how David, in appreciation of all that God has done for him, began to talk about building Him a temple. He looked at where he was coming from, as a shepherd boy, and where he was at the time, settled as a king in his palace, and wondered why the ark of God's covenant, the symbol of his presence in their midst, would be settled in a mere tent. So, he considered putting his resources (and he had become extremely wealthy at the time) into building God a temple.
Now what was this man expecting in return for building God a temple? Nothing! He had come out of poverty into riches. He had come out of obscurity into prominence. And he had come out of his lowly family background into royalty. So, he was occupying the highest position anyone could attain in his country at that time. In addition, he had been blessed with long life and a sound and healthy body. What more, then, could he wish for? Nothing, as far as the human mind can relate to!
Therefore, he was not out to build God a temple because he was expecting anything from Him. Rather, he was out to build Him a temple because he wanted to show appreciation for all that He had done for him. But God would not permit him to build him any temple. And that was because he had been a warrior and had shed much blood on the earth (1Chro 22:8). Instead, He told him that it was his son, the one that would be king after him, that would build him that temple.
Nevertheless, just because he had a heart that was willing to express his appreciation for all that God had done for him, God decided to bless his entire family line because of him. He told him that his dynasty would be forever and that He would never take His love away from his household. And that drove him to sit down before His presence to pray and to also praise Him again and again. (Cf. 1Chro 17)
Now, before that time, David did not think there was anything more than being the ruler of the land. He really could not think of any greater thing God could do for him apart from all that He had done for him. But when God spoke His words of blessings on him, his household and their future, he realised that he had totally underestimated God's power to bless. Yes, he, at that time, realised that there is always more to receive from God than anyone could ever imagine.
What is my point? It is simply that God always has much more to give us than whatever we are now enjoying from His hand. And one major and simple way to unlock more of His goodness upon our lives and even on the lives of others in our lives is to always relate to Him with a heart of thankfulness, a heart that drives us to praise Him with our mouths and to also celebrate Him with our resources. But if we think we already have enough of Him and of whatever He intends to give to us, then, we may not bother to show Him appreciation. That, of course, will guarantee stagnation and deterioration in our lives, something some people are already learning now in very hard ways.
As for me, I will settle down this year end to count His blessings and to thank and appreciate Him for every one of them. And I pray that I don't miss any of them. Now what doors this will open for me I wouldn't know. But since it is the will of God for me to give thanks in all situations, I will do so and stay in His will. That is because staying in His will alone is enough guarantee that none of His blessings and provisions will elude me. Will you also do the same? Well, I admonish you to do so, for that may just be the very thing that is needed to move you or your entire household to that height you have only gotten to in your dreams.
Happy new year in advance.
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SHOW YOURSELF TO BE GRATEFUL 30/12/24
One major way to experience the perfection of God and even more in our lives is to learn to be thankful to Him. And we should be thankful to Him because our being alive to witness the last days of this year is His doing. If it had not been for His presence with us, in us and for us, the devil and his hosts would most probably have made an end of our lives or frustrated us all through the year. Just look at what David says along this line in a psalm of his:
“If the LORD had not been on our side — let Israel say — if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away. Praise be to the LORD, who has not let us be torn by their teeth. We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Ps 124:1-8NIV)
Did you see that? It is because the Lord is with us and for us that we are alive today to witness much more of His goodness in the land of the living. So, even if you are sick in your body, bedridden or faced with some very ugly life's situations, know that things would have been worse, if it had not been for God. In fact, you could have been swallowed up by death already. The one who has not permitted death to swallow you up or those challenges to utterly destroy you is God. That is because He is not yet through with you. And if you will learn to be thankful to Him for keeping you alive, you will soon see His salvation.
Also, it is because God is with us and for us that we have been able to accomplish and enjoy all that we have accomplished and enjoyed in the year. If we had been left to the desires of our enemy, Satan, our lives and activities would most likely have amount to nothing in the year. We would simply have laboured in vain. But if you would look carefully at your life and how much God has sustained and supported you this year, you would know that there are actually reasons for you to join the psalmist that says, “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Ps 118:22-23NIV)
See, there is every possibility that even you yourself, not to talk of others, did not think you would be able to do the things you have done, attain the height you have attained or enjoy life the way you have done this year. Yet, in spite of all the challenges that have come your way, God has made it possible for you to surpass your expectations. And even if others do not think much of what you have been able to do with the year, it does not matter. What matters is that you can see that without God things could not have been as good as they have been for you.
How, then, should you respond to this? You should respond with thanksgiving. Why? It is because there is much more to receive and enjoy from God's hand than whatever you have received and enjoyed from His hand in the year. And it is by showing yourself to be truly grateful to Him and also to the people He has used for you in the year that this will be made possible.
Why did God come to Solomon in a dream to give him a blank cheque, to ask him to request for anything he wanted? It was because he was truly thankful for what He had done for him. God had given this young man the throne of his father, David, and also all the precious promises He had made to him. And that was not because he was the eldest, the wisest or the most handsome among them, for he was not any of these things. It was just favour that he received. And in appreciation of that, he sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings to Him, something that no one in the land had ever done. Why? It was because he knew God could give him more than the throne of his father, if he would be thankful. And he did get much more than the throne of his father from Him. He got from Him wisdom and a breadth of understanding that was as measureless as the sand on the seashore. He also got from Him wealth, honour, longevity, the respect of his enemies and peace of mind to enjoy His reign. (Cf. 1Kings 3:1-15; 1Kings 4:29-34)
Now if you too will be thankful to God for all that He has done for you this year, you will certainly receive much more from His hand. And don't let your thanksgiving end with words of mouth alone. Instead, plan also to minister to Him and to those individuals that you know He has used to bless you this year with something tangible from your substance. How He will respond to this is not what I can say. But He will certainly respond and amaze you in ways beyond your imagination.
Happy new year in advance.
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PROVE THAT YOU CAN BE TRUSTED 29/12/24
“So he left in Joseph's care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!" But he refused. "With me in charge," he told her, "my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.” (Gen 39:6-10NIV)
One of the things hindering growth and development in this country is that it is hard to find reliable men and women that people and resources can be entrusted to. It is also the main reason the rate of unemployment in the land is so high. Unfortunately, instead of paying attention to this in our homes, schools, institutions and even religious assemblies in order to correct it, we keep blaming the government for everything. While there is indeed a lot to hold our government responsible for, as far as these matters are concerned, our own culture of unfaithfulness as a people too cannot be overlooked at all.
Sometimes ago, I happened to be a part of a discussion with some people in a mechanic workshop about the state of the economy of the country. And one of the things that came up during the chat was the inability of our government to build functional refineries for us. “Why do we have to keep sending our crude oil outside the country for others to refine for us, when we could have our own refineries and solve some of the unemployment problems we are now having the country?” one of the people asked.
Now that, of course, looked like a very good point to everybody. Having our own functional refineries will, to a great extent, certainly solve a number of the problems we are having in the country, including unemployment problems. But then, I immediately drew everybody’s attention to the fact that we used to have functional refineries in the country. “What became of them?” I asked. “They were ruined by own people through their culture of unfaithfulness. And there have been several other government owned businesses and institutions like those refineries that were also ruined by our people. So, even we build a new refinery today, what is the guarantee that we will not wreck it again?”
So, really, it is not that we do not have the resources or people to build a great economy as a country; it is that we do not have the right culture to do so, the culture of faithfulness. See, there are several people all around the country with enough money to establish businesses that will take care of many people and their families. But they are unwilling to do so because they cannot just find anyone they could trust with their money, companies or staff.
Also, there are people and foundations who would love to sponsor small businesses or sponsor people in their studies. But it is hard for them to do so because it is hard for them to find faithful and serious-minded people that they could invest their resources, training or time in. Some have been entrusted with money to start their own businesses only to mess up everything after a while. And attempts have been made to sponsor some with their studies, only for them to mess up everything and waste the favour they were shown.
Now perhaps you have been praying and looking up to God for financial support for a business or your education. That is alright. But do you have a culture of faithfulness? Do you have what it takes not to waste whatever form of support you get in your life? Do you have what it takes to profit or excel with whatever form of money support or job support or academic support you get in your life? Do you have what it takes to manage people or resources to achieve excellent results in life, if you are given the privilege or opportunity to do so?
Look, it is unfaithfulness to demand for any form of support that you know you do not have the ability to sustain or manage. It is unfaithfulness to ask people to support you with money for your education, when you know you do not have what it takes to excel in the examination you want to sit for or the course you want to study. And it is unfaithfulness to apply for a job or take up a position that you know you don’t have what it takes to excel in or that you know you are not going to fully give yourself to doing it well.
In our opening bible text, we are made to see that Joseph had a culture of faithfulness. He proved himself to be someone that his master could trust with his wealth, possessions and servants and expect growth and prosperity. He also showed himself to be someone that could be trusted even with his master’s wife. As the story goes, if he had wanted to mess up with the man’s wife, he would have had several opportunities to do so, seeing that the woman was an immoral person. But Joseph would not betray his master in this manner, even though the man may never get to know about it. That was faithfulness, a kind that was born out of the fear of God. And it was because of this culture of faithfulness that he had that he was eventually entrusted with the job of managing all the people and wealth of Egypt for the Pharaoh of his time. (Cf. Gen 39-41)
We too need to develop in our lives a culture of faithfulness, so that we may continually experience God’s favour for our lifting. Faithful people are always favoured by God to experience elevation or expansion, regardless of where they find themselves. Joseph once found himself in the prison. But that did not stop him from experiencing elevation. Why? It was because he showed himself as someone that could be trusted or relied on. And this is not just about telling people that we can be trusted. Rather, it is about proving it.
So, can you prove that you can be trusted? What exactly is the proof that you can be trusted with more money, more resources, more projects or a greater position in life? The job, business, project or position you are currently managing, is it a proof of your faithfulness? What about the jobs, businesses, projects or positions you handled before, are they proofs of your faithfulness? If you have nothing to prove to men that you can be trusted with more of anything, then, you should probably stop asking God to cause them to favour you until you work on yourself. That is because most men, even when God is moving them, don’t want to waste their favour, time or resources on anyone that can’t prove himself to be faithful or reliable. This is why you must get yourself together and start showing everyone all around you that you can be trusted with people and things. And before you know it, even without asking for it, God will start throwing all kinds of doors of favour and promotion open for you.
Happy new year in advance.
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TAKE ADVANTAGE OF HIS POWER 28/12/24
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s scheme. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:10-13NIV)
What is our instruction here? It is to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Then we are instructed to put on the full armour of God. And this is actually the same thing as being strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Both statements mean that we are to take advantage of God’s provisions for us. But why? It is so that we can take our stand against the devil’s schemes.
Can you see why you need to take advantage of God’s power that is for you? Can you see why you need to take advantage of His adequate resources for us? It is so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
God does not want us to live frustrated lives. But we will live frustrated lives, if we do not know how to take advantage of His power or if we are not taking advantage of His power and provisions for us to live the kind of life He wants us to live, be the persons He wants us to be and do the things He wants us to do. If we will not take advantage of His provisions for us, we would live meaningless and frustrated lives; we will be tired.
There are many today who are tired of life. Why are people killing themselves? Why are people running away from home? Why are people surrendering themselves to the situations that want to destroy them? One main reason is that they feel helpless; they feel that they do not have any chance against what has come against them. Maybe you too are already feeling helpless. Maybe you think there is no answer for the things coming against you, harassing you or threatening you or pulling you down.
But you do have a choice, my friend, if you are a child of God. What you need is to take advantage of the power of God. What you need is to take advantage of what He has provided for you to walk in victory in this life. That is what Paul is talking to us about. He says if we would take advantage of God’s power, if we would take advantage of His resources for us in this life, we would be able to take our stand against the schemes of the devil. Yes, we would be able to frustrate whatever Satan is doing to ruin our lives, ruin our homes, ruin our businesses or make life miserable for us, if we would take advantage of God’s power for us.
Will you, then, begin to take advantage of His power that is at work in those of us who believe, especially as we are moving into a new year? As for me, I will begin to do so with utter eagerness. Yes, I will begin to do so by giving myself more and more to prayer and to meditating on His word. So, my life will be what it is meant to be and I will do all that I am meant to do. Amen.
Cheers!
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WATCH WHAT YOU SAY 27/12/24
“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21NIV)
What does that mean? Well, it means that the power of death and life resides in what people say. People can invite death into their lives through what they say. People can also invite life and peace into their lives through what they say.
How do people get born again? It is not by what they say? People get born again by saying exactly what God tells them to say in order to receive salvation. In like manner, people can get destroyed by saying things that are inconsistent with the will of God for their lives.
In 1Peter, chapter 3, Peter quotes a portion of a psalm of David, saying:
“For whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it.” (1Peter 3:10-11NIV)
What is he doing here? He is giving us instructions on how to see good days and enjoy life. He says if you want your days to be filled with goodness, first, you must keep your tongue from evil. That means you must watch what comes out of your mouth.
See, our confession is very important. The things we confess with our mouths about our lives, about the lives of those around us are very important. With our confession we can fill our lives with pains, bitterness and confusion. And with our confession we can fill our lives with peace.
So, you must watch what you say, for Satan can take advantage of what you say about your life or about others’ lives to work. All he needs is for someone to say something that he can use against them or something that gives him an invitation to operate in their life. Of course, we do not need to invite the devil for him to come and work in our lives. But by our words we can invite him to work in our lives or others’ lives. So, again, I am saying watch what you say.
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IF YOU WANT HIM TO EXALT YOU 26/12/24
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11)
It is clear from what we have here that it is through submissiveness that Jesus Christ attained the highest place of authority in all the creation of God. He humbled Himself before God. He submitted Himself to God. In fact, we are told in the Hebrews 5 that He learnt obedience and submission as God’s Son. Yes, He is one with God. He severally said this to people, “My Father and I are one.” So, He is one with the Father in nature, and everything the Father has belongs to Him.
Yet He did not see that as something to be used to His advantage. Instead, when He came into this world, He humbled Himself and obeyed God, even to the point of death. He did not come into the world, doing His own things or following His own plans and purposes. He said the Son can do nothing by Himself but what He sees the Father doing (John 5:19). So, it was what He saw the Father do that He did. He even went on to say that the words He spoke were not His; rather, it was the Father that was living in Him that was doing the works.
So, Jesus yielded Himself fully to God. There was nothing He did that was His own idea. Everything He did was what God wanted Him to do. He was faithful to God. He was submissive to Him, even to the point of death. Think about that. God wanted Him to die for the sins of the whole world. And He did. He bore our sins. He bore our sorrows. He took on Himself all the punishment that should have fallen on us. Why? He was being submissive. That was why He did not defend Himself against those who came to arrest and kill Him. That was why He did not use His rights and divine privileges to rescue Himself from death.
Well, because Jesus humbled Himself in this manner, God exalted Him to the highest position in His whole creation. And if you want Him to exalt you too, you need to humble yourself. Yes, you need to submit yourself. This may just be the reason you have been stagnant. It may just be the reason you are not experiencing promotion. You are rebellious. You will not submit to God and also to those who have authority over you. You are the one limiting yourself in life. And you should repent before it is too late.
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BE DILIGENT 25/12/24
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10NIV)
Here, in our opening text, we are told to do whatever our hand finds to do with all our might. In other words, we are to pour ourselves into whatever our work, whatever it may be. This is important because a lot of people hate hard work today. They do not want to pour themselves into whatever they are doing. But that is not God’s way. You must not hate work. You must not hate your responsibilities.
As we see in creation account, God worked diligently in creating the universe. And when we look at His work, we see beauty, excellence and diligence. There are all kinds of Scriptures that talk about the excellence that God brought to bear on what He created. We too need to bring excellence to bear on whatever we are doing. And one of the ways to bring excellence into what we are doing is to pour ourselves into it. We are not taking half-measures. Instead, we give ourselves completely into what we are doing, giving it what it takes. That is what promotes diligence.
When we are talking about diligence, we are talking about showing concern for what we are doing, so that it may accomplish the results it is meant to accomplish. That is the attitude you must have towards your work. You handle it with a consciousness that it must accomplish the result it is meant to accomplish. This is even beyond pouring yourself into your work and working with all your energy. That you use all your energy to work does not mean that you will get the results you are meant to get. If you are not mindful of the results that are expected, you may just waste your energy and skills doing something unprofitable.
So, you need to know what is expected of you by the one or ones you are working for or responsible for. What sorts of results are your clients or customers expecting from the work you are handling for them? And if we are dealing with fulfilling your responsibilities to your parents, children, the church of God and so forth, what sorts of results ought to be accomplished in their lives? You need to be concerned about the results. Why am I doing what I am doing? What is my work supposed to accomplish? That is what aids diligence.
When you are diligent, when you are concerned about the quality and results of your work, you will not do it anyhow. You are going to do it to accomplish expected results. That means if you need additional understanding or knowledge about what you are doing, you will go for it or get someone who knows better than you to help you. That will be because you are concerned about getting acceptable results.
During the reign of King Joash, this is said about those who handled the repairs of the Temple:
“The men in charge of the work were diligent, and the repairs progressed under them. They rebuilt the temple of God according to its original design and reinforced it.” (2Chronicles 24:13NIV)
Can you see that those people were diligent in handling the work given to them? And because they were diligent in handling it, the work progressed under them. When you bring diligence into what you are doing, the work will progress and excellence will manifest in it. When you bring diligence into what you are doing, the beneficiaries will enjoy the results or experience progress through the results.
So, as we are moving into a new year, make up your mind that you will handle whatever you do in that year with an attitude of diligence. And God, who gives increase to the fruit of people’s labour, will give tremendous increase to the fruit of your labour and cause excellence to manifest in all that you do. Amen.
Have a lovely day.
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WHAT DO YOU GO ABOUT DOING? 24/12/24
“…You know how Jesus went everywhere doing good and healing those who were ruled by the devil, because God was with him.” (Acts 10:38NCV)
Those were the words Apostle Peter used in describing Jesus, as he preached in the house of a Roman Centurion called Cornelius. He said that He went everywhere doing good and healing the oppressed. Evidently, Peter knew this because he was with Him almost every day (if not every day) for about three years or so. And during those years, as they walked and travelled around Judea, Galilee and Samaria, all that he saw Him do to all those they were meeting (and they met countless of men, women and children) were good things. So, each time he remembered Him, he remembered Him as a man who went everywhere doing good to humanity. Yes, he remembered Him as a man who made the world better than He met it.
But can the same things be said about you and me? What do we go about doing? For some people, all they go about doing is stealing. Everywhere they go something must go missing, regardless of how short the time they spend there is. For some others, all they go about doing is hurting and destroying others with their words, stirring up emotions. They have tongues that are sharper than a razor blade, and they used them anyhow. So, wherever they show up, someone must go angry or become sad because of the things they say. And yet for some others, all they go about doing is cheating and oppressing others. So, wherever they appear, someone will surely be left in pains or in sorrow because of their actions.
I can go on and on, talking about all kinds of terrible things that different kinds of people in this world daily give themselves to doing to others and even their environment. Yet they complain every time that the world is a bad place to live in. But who makes it a bad place to live in? People! Who makes this world a dangerous place to dwell in? People! We are the ones polluting this world with our activities. And we are the ones hurting and destroying ourselves with our greed, selfishness, jealousy, hatred and lust.
So, if we want a better world (homes, offices, schools, towns, governments and so forth) then, we need to become better people. That means, first, we need to stop contributing to the pain, the agonies and the destruction of those in our world through our words, actions and inactions. Then, like Jesus, we need to start doing good to those in our world and to whatever environment in which we find ourselves. But are we going to devote ourselves to doing good everywhere we go? Or are we going to continue to choose when and where we do good and when and where we do evil?
God never chooses when to do good and when to do evil. He is always doing good, for He is a good God. Even when He punishes people in judgment, it always for the good of humanity. And if we are truly His children, then, as our Lord Jesus says in one of His teachings, we must be like Him in our devotion to doing good (Matt 5:43-48). We must never discriminate as far as where we must do good, when we must do good or to whom we must do good is concerned. Rather, we too, like Jesus, must go everywhere doing good and healing those who are oppressed of the devil, remembering always that God our Father is forever with us to aid us and to also reward us. That way, we will be making our world better and more pleasant for everyone to live in.
However, if we, like devil, go everywhere doing evil and devouring everyone and everything we come in contact it, not only are we going to be making this world more dangerous for everyone to live in, we are also going to be filling up our eternity with trouble and distress for ourselves. So, let us mind ourselves.
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LOOK INWARDS 23/12/24
“Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it."” (Hag 1:5-6NIV)
Those were the words of the Lord through Prophet Haggai to the people of Judah that had just returned from captivity to their land. And what was the main point of His message to them? It was that they should look inwards in order to be able to solve the national problem they were at the time faced with.
Now what problem were these people faced with as a nation? It was vain labour. As we see in our opening text, though these people were planting much, what they were getting in return for their labour was just too little. Therefore, the quality of life all of them were living was poor. They could not have enough food to eat, enough wine to drink and enough good clothes to put on and stay warm in times of cold. In short, many of them could not tell what was happening to the money they were working for. All they could see was that their earnings were disappearing into thin air.
How long did this go on among these Jews? How long did they put up with this national poverty? We would not know. But we do know that, at some point, God decided to show them mercy by drawing their attention to what was wrong with them. How? He sent a prophet to talk to them. And the first thing the prophet told them was to look inwards. He said, “Give careful thought to your ways.” In other words, the things responsible for the vain labour and poverty they were experiencing were not external factors but internal factors. So, they were the source of their own problems.
In like manner, there are many today that are the source of their own problems. They are the source of the vain labour, poverty or restlessness they are experiencing in their lives. Unfortunately, instead of looking inwards and identifying what they are doing to contribute to their own misery, their focus will solely be on what others around them are doing to make life hard or difficult for them.
I am not saying that those around us – our neighbours, colleagues at work, the government, family members or even church members – cannot at all be responsible for certain degrees of pains, setbacks or poverty we are experiencing in life. They can. And where that is the situation, all we need to do is hand them over to God and He will know how to frustrate their activities against us.
But before we begin to hold others in our lives or around us responsible for any form of failure, pain or vanity of labour we may be experiencing, we should always first look inwards. Yes, we should always first give careful thought to our own ways. This is to be certain that we ourselves are not the reason for the problems we are faced with or a part of the problems we are seeing in our lives. Otherwise, even when God is done dealing with all that others are doing to hurt us, our own errors may not allow the problems He is seeking to solve in our lives to get solved.
Now such was the case with the Jews the Lord is addressing through Haggai in our opening bible text. Even though God had dealt with their enemies for them and caused them to be set free and brought back to their land, He still could not prosper them. Why? They were preventing His blessings from working in their lives. How? Through stinginess! They were stingy to Him.
Look at the allegations He brought against them: “This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored," says the LORD. "You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?" declares the LORD Almighty. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands."” (Hag 1:7-11NIV)
Did you see that? The reason they were experiencing national labour loss and poverty was that they had abandoned the building of God’s temple among them. And as we further see in the account, it was not really that they did not want to give to build this temple; it was just that they were deferring their commitment to building it (Haggai 1:2). Therefore, God shut the door against the flow of His blessings in their country. No wonder they could not prosper until they repented and changed their ways, for it is the blessing of God that brings prosperity and adds no sorrow to it (Prov 10:22).
In the same vein, there are many today, especially God’s children, that are not experiencing a free flow of the blessings of God in their lives because they are stingy. They are stingy to God and even to the people in their lives. And unless they change their ways, their hard work in life may never amount to anything.
Now perhaps you too have been working hard and not seeing much fruit of it. You may want to look inwards to see if you have actually not been stingy to God and to the people He wants you to be generous to. And if you have, don’t lie to yourself about it. Instead, change your ways without delay, and you will be amazed at the way His blessings on your life will rush to establish you in prosperity.
But then, stinginess to God is not the only thing that can be responsible for vain labour or labour loss. Bitterness, unwillingness to forgive, jealousy, dependence in human strength and wisdom and (or) the practice of witchcraft can also be responsible for it. So, look inwards to see if any of these is not in your life. That is because if it is there, it may just be the reason the door has been shut against the flow of God’s blessings of prosperity and peace in your life. And this door may remain shut for life, if you will not rid your life of it. May God open your eyes to see the truth about this matter and also strengthen you to do the right thing about
it, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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TAKE TIME TO CONSIDER THE COST 22/12/24
"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any one of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:28-33NIV)
One major lesson that the above bible text teaches is that being a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ requires thinking and evaluation. It requires that we think carefully about what it might cost us and what demands it might make on us before we sign up for it. Otherwise, at some point, when challenges that are associated with being His disciples begin to come to us, we may just turn our back on Him and lose a glorious eternal future with Him.
In like manner, running a business, handling any project or becoming a part of an organisation in life also requires that we think clearly about it before we start. Everything is not about praying. It is good we pray about whatever we do, for this will open doors for God’s favour and blessings to flow on our behalf and also separate us from unnecessary problems. But prayer is never a substitute for thinking clearly and planning carefully and thoroughly about whatever we want to do. And we need to let this soak in us.
Unfortunately, for many of us, once we just see that someone we know is doing well in a business or job or that they are carrying out a project that seems interesting or delightful, we too want to do a similar thing, especially when think we have prayed or consulted some men of God about it. We will not take out time to research and find out how well they are doing with the business or project or whether they are doing well it at all.
Actually, it is not every business that looks great on the outside that is really great and profitable. There are many businesses today that everything about their success is plastic; there is nothing concrete to it. And there are also many businesses and projects that are being run on loans or grants. If you, then, go into such businesses without making proper findings and evaluations about them, you may end up regretting it.
Also, many are too lazy or impatient to take out time to find out what measure of commitment a business, job or project they want to embark on will require of them. Is it something that will allow them to remain responsible in all their legitimate relationships or something that will paralyse their effectiveness in other areas of their lives in which they are supposed to be responsible? There are many today that have become irresponsible parents or spouses or believers because they started some projects or businesses or because they took some loans or because they became a part of an organisation without thinking carefully about the cost. And now their lives and homes have become miserable because they failed to think, evaluate and plan before they got involved in whatever they got involved in.
Perhaps you too have become a victim along these lines. You are now in a serious financial mess or marital trouble because you failed to carefully evaluate the viability of a business or project you started or the overall profitableness of a job you took on. It is not too late for God to rescue you. So, don’t wait for things to go from bad to worse for you before you call upon God. Instead, do so right away. And He will step into your situation and give you salvation and restoration.
Cheers!
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EXAMINE YOUR LIFE FOR PROFITABLENESS 21/12/24
As we come to the last days of this year, we need to examine our lives for profitableness. How profitable has my life been in the year? How profitable have I been with the spiritual abilities and responsibilities God has given me? How profitable have I been with the natural abilities, talents, gifts and resources that God gave to me? This is one of the things that will determine where I will live or operate from in the coming year. And this is not something prayer can replace. I need to show myself responsible in this matter.
King Belteshazzar, Nebuchadnezzar’s son, was, at some point, removed from his office because he was unprofitable with it. He did not know that God was watching him. He did not know that it was God that put him in that office. His father knew God, but he was godless. And a day came when his cup was full.
As we see in the bible, this man had been doing his things as he pleased, while God was just watching him. But a day came when his cup became full, and there was a finger writing on the wall of his palace. He was shocked, of course, for he did not know what it meant. Thankfully, Daniel was brought in to tell him the meaning of what was on the wall. And one of the things God said to him through Daniel was that he had been weighed and found wanting. (Cf. Daniel 5)
Think about it. God weighed that man’s life and activities and concluded that he was not fit for that throne. And he was removed that very night. He did not know that it would be as immediate as that. This man was warned about what God had decided about his matter. Daniel told him that his kingdom was being taken away from him and being given to his neighbour.
How, then, did he respond to that? First, he was excited that Daniel was able to tell him the meaning of the words on the wall. Then he said that he should be given a gold chain and promoted to become the third highest ruler in the empire. Why did he do that? It was because he believed what Daniel had told him. If he had not believed, he would not have given him the things he gave him.
But what did he do what was he was told? Nothing! I personally believe he felt there was more time for him to do something about the matter. But God’s sentence on him was carried out that very night.
You can see, then, that those who are wasting God’s abilities and resources may not know how imminent God’s judgment that is coming on them is. They may think there is time to change their ways. But they may not have it. So, check your life for profitableness.
As I pointed out before, it is your responsibility to know everything God has endowed you with, so that you may work with it. He has endowed you with all that He has endowed you with in order that you can profit in life and not be making excuses for failure. So, take out time to consider how profitable your life has been in the year. Take out time to look at how profitable you have been in the year with the spiritual abilities, natural abilities, resources and opportunities God has given you. This will help you see where you need to do more or where you need to drop your lazy attitude and get busy.
May God strengthen us all to do what is right about this matter, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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WHAT IS YOUR REPUTATION BEFORE HIM? 20/12/24
“While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill – while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision…” (Daniel 9:20-23NIV)
Daniel, in our opening text, is referred to by angel Gabriel as one that was highly esteemed before God. That means his reputation before men was not different from his reputation before God. Interestingly, on another occasion, another angel was sent to him and he said about the same thing concerning his reputation before God. This is in Daniel, chapter 10, from verse 10, which reads:
“A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.” (Daniel 10:10-11NIV)
Two different angels were sent to Daniel at two different times, and they both said the same thing about him. They both said that the reputation he had before men was the same as what he had before God. As he was highly esteemed among men, he was also highly esteemed before God. And that is something worthy of note.
Also, look at Job and his reputation before God. God saw him as a true worshipper, not as a fraudulent one. And does He see me too as a true believer, as one that is truly living for Him or as a liar, a deceiver or an immoral person?
See, if you are truly God’s child, you are going to labour before Him to have a reputation that matches your position in His family. Otherwise, when all has been said and done, it may just be that you have actually not been born again. If you are truly a child of God, you will labour to live a life that is consistent with your position in His heart.
And isn’t that the way we function as children in our homes? We want to live to attain the positions we have in our homes. We want our parents to see us as their children indeed, that is, through the way we function. We do not want them referring to us as bastards. And there are times that we find parents referring to their children as bastards. Why? They are looking at how those children are behaving and wondering if they are truly their children. If you too, then, are truly a child of God, what is your reputation before Him?
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SPIRITUAL LAZINESS 19/12/24
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8NKJV)
One of the forms of laziness we have is spiritual laziness. This is laziness in relating to God. It is laziness in fellowshipping with Him and taking advantage of His presence in our lives. And it is those who know Him that can exhibit this kind of laziness. Those who do not know Him cannot be accused of being lazy in relating to Him. But those who know Him, who know that there is nothing they can do apart from Him and who still won’t take advantage of His presence in their lives are spiritually lazy.
Now this kind of laziness will manifest in unwillingness to learn the will of God for our lives. And God’s will is revealed to us in His word. If we are, then, too lazy to search His will for us in His word, we will end up doing things that are contrary to it in life. When God was sending Joshua to lead the people of Israel into Egypt, He told him, as we see in our opening text, what he must do to prosper and be successful. And if Joshua had been lazy to do that, he would not have prospered or succeeded.
In like manner, if we too want to prosper and have good success in life, we must give ourselves to studying the word of God, to meditating on it and to practising it. Joshua was a soldier. And he had to apply what God said to him in order to succeed and prosper. If you are not a soldier like him, then, you are most likely not daily faced with death and other life-threatening challenges as he was. So, if you will apply what God said to him to your life, you will most likely have your own success and prosperity easier than he did.
Of course, you may not be prospering or succeeding at the pace you or others will love to. But if you keep meditating on the word of God and acting on it, you will surely arrive where God wants you to be in life before you even know it. But you cannot afford to be lazy in learning and applying the will of God to your life.
Another way that spiritual laziness can manifest is in the area of praying to God about what you need. We have been told to pray to God in all situations, at all times and about everything. Our Lord even goes on to say that we should pray until our joy is full. But are we praying to Him so that our joy will be full? We can tell that our joy is not full concerning many things. But we are just too lazy to pray to God about them. How, then, can our joy be full?
Also, we are told to ask so that we may receive, to seek so that we may find and to knock so that the door may be opened to us. And we are further told that those who are asking are receiving, that those who are seeking are finding and that the door is being opened to those who are knocking. But are we doing enough asking, seeking and knocking? (Cf. Matthew 7:7-8)
God is not going to do these things for us. That is why He asks us to do them. Truly, there are things He will do for us without our asking, seeking or knocking. But there are also things that He will not do for us or make available to us, if we will not ask for them, seek them out or knock the door to access them. These things are there waiting for us to make the effort to access and possess them. But if we are spiritually lazy, we will not ask for these things, seek them out or knock the door to access them. And where that is the case, we will not move forward to be all that we can be, have all that we can have and enjoy all that we can enjoy in this life.
So, we need to deal with all forms of spiritual laziness that is keeping the best God has in store away from us. And I pray that the Spirit of God will strengthen us to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a pleasant day.
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EVEN IF ALL MEN SHOULD DESERT YOU 18/12/24
“You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.” (2Timothy 1:15NIV)
Paul, at some point in his life, needed God’s people around him to pray with him, talk with him and encourage him not to lose heart because of his trials. He was in the prison at the time. And they all knew that he was not in the prison for any sin he had committed but for the gospel. But none of them was available for him, as he points out in our opening bible text.
Why were the brethren not available for Paul when he needed them the most? Maybe they were afraid of his chains and did not want to be arrested and imprisoned as well. We would not know. But we do know that they were not there at all for this man of God, even though God had used him greatly to bless all of them.
In chapter 4 of this same letter, verse 16, he says about the same thing. Look at it:
“At my first defence, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it be not be held against them.” (2Timothy 4:16NIV)
Imagine that. No one was there for him to cheer him up or support him at his first defence before the Roman Emperor. So, he had to rely solely on God for victory and vindication. Yet he did not hold it against them. He did not become bitter because of it. He did not allow that to discourage him. Instead, he kept on encouraging himself in the Lord and also continued to minister from the prison. He continued to send letters to the brethren to establish them in the will of God.
For example, in his letter to the Philippians, he says:
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:4-7NIV)
He actually had experienced these things in his life. So, he could write to those outside the prison to practise what he was practising that they may have the same experiences.
Now if someone in the prison was writing to those outside to function like this, it could only mean that he would not allow his chains to keep him from abounding in the work of the Lord. Why? He knew that God was going to reward him for his labour. So, he always wanted to do more. And that is the right mentality.
So, even if all men should desert you, don’t allow any form of discouragement to keep you from increasing in doing the work of the Lord. Instead, like Paul, always encourage yourself in the Lord. That way, you will not shrink back from doing whatever you are supposed to do for Him and lose your reward
.
Have a lovely day.
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WHO HAVE THEY BEEN WITH? 17/12/24
“Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But King David mourned for his son every day. After Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he stayed there three years.” (2Sam 13:37-38NIV)
One of the things that are abundantly made clear to us in the bible is that the things in it are written down to teach us, to impart wisdom for living to us (Rom 15:4; 1Cor 10:11). It is then up to us to either learn and gain wisdom from what they are teaching us or not to.
Now one of the things we are shown in Scriptures is that it is important we pay attention to the kinds of people the people in our lives are interacting with or keeping as close companions. Why? First, this is so that we will know when we need to move in and separate them from destructive relationships. Second, it is so that we will know when we ourselves need to be careful of them and not foolishly become victims of any ugly change that has occurred in their lives.
For example, we are given in the bible the account Absalom’s rebellion and how it so upset the nation that his father’s men had to engage him in a battle that resulted in his destruction. But how did this young man become a rebel? How come no one, not even Joab, Israel’s cunny general, suspected him? The simple reason was that they all failed to pay attention to where he had been and the people he had been with.
As we are shown in our opening bible verses, after Absalom had murdered his elder brother, Amnon, he fled to Talmai, king of Geshur. And who was Talmai to him? Talmai was his maternal grandfather. In other words, his mother, Maacah, was Talmai’s daughter. So, where he fled to was also home to him. (Cf. 2Sam 3:3)
But Talmai was a heathen king. How come David married the daughter of a heathen king? Was he not aware that God had spoken against such marriage relationships? He was. Or was he not aware that God had said that such marriage relationships would certainly corrupt His people? He was. He married a heathen woman anyway. And the woman gave him a son that was heathen in his soul too. So, when we deliberately ignore the word of God in order to do what is convenient for us, a day is coming when we will reap fully a harvest of the seed we have sowed. (Cf. Deut 7:3-4)
At any rate, after this heathen son of David had assassinated his own brother, he knew there was no hiding place for him in Israel. He knew that he would definitely be found out and killed, in accordance with the laws of the land (Num 35:16-21). So, he ran to his mother’s people. And they welcomed him and took care of him, showing that they did not see anything wrong with what he had done. “His brother raped his sister and he killed him to protect her honour. What could possibly be wrong with that?” they must have reasoned.
Well, having spent three years among these heathens, Absalom came back a worse man that he had been. He came with a hidden plan in his head to become king in place of his father. How did that thought enter his head? Who sowed this evil seed into his heart and made him believe in its possibility? We are not told these things in specific words in the bible. But since he carried out his coup-d’état after he came back from living with King Geshur, his grandfather, we can safely assume that the seed was sowed in his heart while he was living with him and his princes.
What is the point of all this? It is that where people have been and whom they have been with are very important in determining what to expect of them. Though there are times we may have exceptions. There are times that a Samuel can come out of the house of Eli and not be corrupted by Hophni and Phinehas. And there are also times that a Judas can come right out of the house of Jesus.
But in most cases, if people have been with Jesus, they would think, speak and act like Jesus (Acts 4:13). In like manner, if people have been with Hophni and Phinehas, they will most likely be given to corrupt and criminal tendencies. Yes, they may have been good people before, people that you could trust with your very life. But if they are already moving with corrupt people or if they have been away for a while with very corrupt people (thieves, swindlers, rapists, prostitutes or any ungodly person), don’t assume that they are still who they used to be to you.
See, few days of interaction with a wrong person can change a double-minded person forever. Therefore, regardless of how much you love or care for them, take very necessary precautions in your dealing with such people, at least, till you know what they are up to. This will be your wisdom. Otherwise, you may end up being fooled by another Absalom. And who knows whether, like David, you too wi
ll be able to escape?
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EVEN IF YOU FIGHT COURAGEOUSLY 16/12/24
“But a man of God came to him and said, "O king, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the LORD is not with Israel — not with any of the people of Ephraim. Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow."” (2Chron 25:7-8NIV)
One of the things we are consistently shown in the bible is that the people with which we move together or do things together matter a lot in life. They can determine, to one degree or the other, whether we are successful in our endeavours or not successful and whether we are safe or not safe.
For example, in our opening bible text, a man of God was sent by God to King Amaziah of Judah to warn him of the danger of going into battle against the Edomites with the mercenaries he had hired from Israel. As he pointed out to him, the Lord was not with the nation of Israel at that time – they were under His wrath. That being the case, anyone who allied himself with them at that time was bound to partake in the wrath of God that was upon them. That was the point that prophet was communicating to Amaziah. And he went ahead to let him know that even if he and his men went and fought courageously against their enemies, they would still fail, as long as those men of Israel were with them.
Now that, of course, was similar to what God told Joshua after they lost their first battle against the city of Ai. He told him that until they got rid of the man that had stolen items devoted to Him and the things he had stolen, they would not be able to stand against their enemies, even if they were fighting weaklings. So, they had to fish out the man among their ranks that was under God’s wrath and responsible for their loss and get rid of him. And it was after they did this that they went back to winning ways. (Cf. Jos 7-8)
What about the sailors that took Jonah into their ship when he was running away from the Lord? Until they threw him overboard, they had no rest. As the bible tells us, when a violent storm arose against them on the sea and began to threaten to break up their ship, they began to do all they could to keep themselves alive. They even threw in their cargo to lighten the ship. But it was to no avail. And when they realised that Jonah was the source of their predicament, they summoned courage and tried their best as professionals to row back to land. But the sea grew even wilder against them. That was when it became clear to them that it was either they lost their lives or got rid of the man of God with them. And of course, they chose to get rid of him and save their lives. So, they were saved. (Cf. Jonah 1)
Why am I sharing these things with you? First, it is so that you will see the need for you to always pay attention to the kind of people you do things with or make journeys with. Anyone that is clearly walking in obvious disobedience to God is a suspect here, even if he is a man of God like Jonah. So, watch your involvement with them. And do not allow their expertise, your quest for success or your desire to get certain things done early make you overlook the fact that their disobedience to God may expose you to danger. Otherwise, you may end up labouring in vain, if you don’t lose your life as well.
Second, I am sharing these things with you so that you will learn to pray to God to always make known to you associations and interactions, ESPECIALLY WITH STRANGERS, that may end up exposing you to destruction or labour loss. As we see in our opening bible text, if God had not sent a prophet to Amaziah to let him know what was at stake through his alliance with Israel, he would have gone ahead with them to fight his enemies and lost miserably.
But in the cases involving Joshua and the sailors that took Jonah into their ship, the absence of God’s revelations about the spiritual conditions of Achan and Jonah made them suffer some losses before they experienced salvation. If it had earlier been revealed to them the danger of being involved with these men and they had taken appropriate steps in handling them, things would have gone differently for them. So, receiving divine warnings about those who could endanger our lives or affairs through our interactions with them is important, if we don’t want avoidable or unexpected losses in our lives.
Now perhaps you are already suffering some unexpected losses in your life and affairs. Or maybe it is your health, business or marriage that is about to collapse for reasons you cannot place your fingers on. Yes, you are praying hard and working courageously to set things right. But there is nothing to show for all that you are doing to salvage the situation. You need divine revelations to know what is wrong. It may just be that you have gotten yourself involved with some wrong persons. You need God to make the truth about your case known to you and what you must do to experience salvation.
This, of course, is not about being suspicious of everyone around you. Rather, it is about talking to God to fill your heart with revelations about what is causing you to work so hard and reap so little. And where you are praying in this manner, you may even realise that you are your own problem and not someone else. So, I am not asking you to be suspicious of anyone but to talk God to make known to you hidden truths that will help you separate yourself from wrong conducts troubling your life or wrong associations exposing you to trouble.
Then when the truth has been made known to you, be sure to act on it without delay. Truly, it is possible that acting on the truth made known to you by God may cost you some things. It may cost you some resources or relationships. But not acting on it will cost you more. More so, as that prophet of God told Amaziah, God is able to restore to you whatever you lose as a result of acting on the truth He is making known to you. So, if you don’t want to lose more than you have already lost but have what you have lost restored to you, take that bold step of faith and act on the truth God has revealed to you. And you will be glad you did.
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HE CAN REPAY AND RESTORE YOU 15/12/24
“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten — the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm —my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.” (Joel 2:25-26NIV)
Did you see that? The people of God that He was originally addressing in this bible text had actually lost some years of their lives to vain labour. Why? It was because God was judging them. Nevertheless, at some point, He decided to show them mercy. How? It was by repaying them for their wasted years.
But was God going to bring back to these people the years that were gone? No! Any spent time is already spent – it can't be recovered or brought back. However, regardless of how much time, resources or opportunities people have lost, God is still able to bring into their lives circumstances that will make them gain within a short period of time every beautiful thing that they ought to have in life. And when He is done, everything about their lives will look as if they had never lost anything before.
For example, as we see in the bible, the children of Israel spent 430 years in Egypt. And most of those years were years of slavery for them, years of extreme hardship. Yet on the day that God set them free from Egypt, they all left as very wealthy people. And it was as if they had never experienced poverty in life before. Look at how the bible describes the situation:
“And the people of Israel did as Moses had instructed; they asked the Egyptians for clothing and articles of silver and gold. The LORD caused the Egyptians to look favorably on the Israelites, and they gave the Israelites whatever they asked for. So they stripped the Egyptians of their wealth!” (Ex 12:35-36NLT)
Think about that. Egypt was stripped of her wealth on the day the Israelites gained their independence from her. And it was as if they were paid in one day for all their years of hard labour, and with interests too. Only God could have made that happen. Only God could have restored people's lost years in that manner.
So, regardless of how much you have lost this year or in the years before, in terms of resources, opportunities, relationships or positions, you can trust God for miracles of restoration that will make you forget all your years of pains and sorrow. Even if the losses we are talking about came as a result of your disobedience to God or arrogance, as long as there is still breath in you, you can turn to Him for mercy and restoration. And He will not ignore you or reject your prayers, inasmuch as you come to Him in faith and humility.
As I pointed out before, the people that God originally spoke the words of that bible text to lost some of the years of their lives to vain labour because of their sins. Yet God later showed them mercy and told them that He was going to wondrously restore everything they had lost to them. So, their restoration would be miraculous. And God promised that He would do it in such a way that they would have more than enough to eat and spare and then begin to praise Him.
In like manner, regardless of what is responsible for your losses, God is able to perform all kinds of miracles of restoration for you. Yes, He is able to perform miracles of restoration for you that human wisdom, might or power cannot understand or stop. You just need to demonstrate your trust in Him for this by praying earnestly about it. I mean that you should show God that you truly want His restoration in your life by asking for it. And He will see to it that you have it. Then this year will end for you with great testimonies of His love and mercy.
Have a very pleasant day.
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USE YOUR BRAIN TOO 14/12/24
I pray for you today that God will continually fill your heart with adequate wisdom to use whatever challenges you are faced with in life as a stepping stone to greater heights. Amen.
As we see in Scriptures, God never says we are not going to face challenges in this world. On the contrary, He tells us that in this world we will face all kinds of tribulations. However, He also tells us that we should cheer up, even though we cannot totally avoid problems in this world. Why? It is because He will always be with us in every situation to make us victorious. (Cf. John 16:33; Heb 13:5-6)
Now one of the ways God makes us walk in victory over the challenges that come our way is by filling us with the wisdom of His Spirit to tackle them. And how do we receive His wisdom for every challenge we are confronted with? The first thing we need to know is that God has already given us His wisdom in the person of Christ. That is because the bible says God has made Christ Jesus wisdom for us. So, all of us who are children of God already have His wisdom in us. And we should learn to always say to ourselves, “I have the wisdom of God in me.” (Cf. 1Cor 1:30)
Having God’s wisdom in us, however, is not the same thing as using it or demonstrating it. And God’s intention, according to Scriptures, is to demonstrate His wisdom through us to all His creation (Eph 3:10). Therefore, every challenge we are faced with is an opportunity for the wisdom of God to be demonstrated through us.
How, then, do we cause God’s wisdom that is already in us to be manifested or demonstrated in the face of life’s challenges? First, we can do that by studying and meditating on God’s word. Paul tells Timothy that the word of God is able to make us wise to experience salvation through Christ Jesus (2Tim 3:15). So, if you want God’s wisdom to be readily working in your life in dealing with any challenge you may be faced with, give yourself to daily studying and meditating on the Holy Scriptures.
The second way to cause God’s wisdom to manifest in us is through prayer. James tells us that anyone that lacks wisdom should ask God for it without doubting, and God will give it to him. Is that not contrary to Paul’s words that say that we already have God’s wisdom? No, it is not contrary to it at all. It is only complementing it. What James is actually referring to is the manifestation of the wisdom of God in our lives. He is saying that if we find ourselves in a situation in which we are confused and do not know what right decisions to make, we should pray to God to cause the wisdom we need in that situation to manifest in us. And if we will do that, God will surely answer us. So, don’t ever speak of being confused again. Instead, always ask God to cause His wisdom to manifest in you to deal with any situation that wants to confuse you. (Cf. James 1:5-8)
The third way to cause God’s wisdom that is in us to manifest is for us to settle down to think about whatever challenge we are faced with and how to handle it. See, God Himself gave us the ability to think and examine life’s issues. And the more we utilize this ability, the more His wisdom will find expression in us, even if we are not Christians.
Unfortunately, many of us who are God’s children do not want to think or use our heads at all in dealing with our challenges. Yes, we may be praying and even studying Scriptures. But when it comes to looking at the problems we are faced with and carefully considering what righteous steps we can take on our own to handle them, we are nowhere to be found. All we want is for God to do everything for us. But God will not do for us what He has given us the ability to do for ourselves. And unless we do these things ourselves, we may remain stagnant and defeated in life, all in the name of waiting for God.
All around us are people who are not religious at all, people who don’t take God seriously in any way. Yet some of these are moving forward in life. Why? They have learnt to use the ability God has given to them to plan their lives and consider ways to solve whatever problems they are faced with. So, wisdom, God’s wisdom or satanic wisdom is often available for them to utilize. Our Lord, in fact, speaks of one of such people in a parable and of how he used satanic wisdom to rescue himself from unemployment. And the Lord concludes that parable by saying that the children of the world are smarter than God’s children in handling life’s matters. Why? It is because they use their God-give brains more often than we do. (Cf. Luke 16:1-8)
So, if you want God’s wisdom to always be at work in solving your life’s challenges, if you want His wisdom to take you from that place of poverty and shame to great heights of wealth and honour, learn to use your head too. Yes, continually pray and study the word of God with great passion. But don’t forget that God has blessed you with a powerful brain that can solve all kinds of problems too. So, use it. And as you do, the wisdom of God will begin to freely flow through you in ways beyond human reasoning.
Have a great day.
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THE LORD IS WITH YOU 13/12/24
My prayer for you today is that your heart will be strengthened to continually function with the consciousness of God’s abiding presence with you, so that you will never lose heart or be discouraged, regardless of the circumstances of your life. Amen.
You know there are times that the circumstances of our lives may drive us to think that God has abandoned us and that we are all alone to face the things that are seeking to destroy us. But that is not a new thing. There were saints of old that felt likewise at some points in their lives. For example, when the Angel of the Lord first appeared to Gideon and said to him, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior,” his answer was, “If the Lord is with us, why are we in this mess and why is He not performing all kinds of signs and miracles for our liberty, as He did for our forefathers? It is clear that He has abandoned us.” (Cf. Judges 6:11-13)
Think about that. God was personally telling that man face to face that He was with him. Yet he found it hard to believe Him. Why? It was because he was looking at the circumstances of his life and of his country. He could not understand how God could be with them and still allow things to get as messed up for them as they were.
But God was not the one responsible for the mess in their lives. They were the ones responsible for it. They were the ones that abandoned God and began to function according to their wisdom. So, He left them to face the consequences of abandoning Him to walk in their own ways. But when they cried out to Him because of their oppression, He answered them by visiting Gideon and letting him know that He had been with them all along and that it was their sins that was hindering the manifestation of His presence. And with a number of convincing proofs, He inspired and encouraged him to lead his people to experience freedom from the hands of their oppressors. (Cf. Judges 6-8)
In like manner, if we too focus on the circumstances of our lives, we may conclude that God is not with us or that He does not care at all about what becomes of us. But God never leaves or abandons His children. That is because He has already promised to never leave us or forsake us. And since He never fails to keep His word, we can be sure that He is with us, regardless of the circumstances of our lives. (Cf. Heb 13:5-6)
However, even though God is with us, we may not experience the manifestation of His power in changing our circumstances or delivering us from them. And there are two main things that may be responsible for this. The first is sin. If, like those Israelites of Gideon’s day, we allow sin to turn us away from God, we may find ourselves being oppressed by the devil, right in His presence. And He will do nothing about it.
But if we will also humble ourselves before Him, as they later did, and repent of our sins, He will forgive us, show us mercy and make us experience His deliverance. And this, I believe, is what we all urgently need to do in this country, if we want to experience true liberty from all the things and people that are now oppressing us.
The second thing that may keep us from experiencing the power of God in our circumstances is focusing our attention on those circumstances instead of focusing it on God. If our attention is on the problems of our lives, we may ultimately be destroyed by them, even though we are not living in sin. But if our attention is on God, who is with us, for us and in us and who also has power over all the circumstances of our lives, we will certainly experience His power and victory over the things seeking to hurt or destroy us.
Paul says we walk by faith and not by sight (2Cor 5:7). But it is not all of us that can say this, for it is not all of us that are actually walking by faith and not by sight. To walk by faith is to function on the basis of what God has said to us and not on the basis of what we see, hear or feel. And as long as we are functioning on the basis of what He has said to us about Himself, ourselves and life in general, we will never be put to shame, even if all hell is stirred up against us.
My prayer, then, is that your heart will be strengthened to always look beyond your circumstances unto God, your Father, who has power over all things, so that you will never again miss the manifestation of His power in your life. Amen
Peace be unto you.
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BE PROMPT ABOUT SERVING HIM. 12/12/24
As we see in the bible, God does not just want His people to serve Him; He also wants them to be prompt or immediate about serving Him. He does not want it to take them forever to make up their minds to serve Him or to really get involved in serving Him. Why? It is because if we are not prompt to serve Him as He wants, certain people that He wants to bless through our service may end up missing His blessings forever. And if that should happen, apart from the fact that we may be penalized by Him for allowing others to miss His blessings for them, we are also going to lose whatever reward that could have been ours, if we had been prompt to do His will.
Therefore, don’t think you have all the time in the world to get yourself ready to serve God. That is because you don’t. And if you don’t get yourself busy with whatever He is asking you to do for Him or whatever your hands can find to do for Him, a time will come when it will be too late for you to do what you could have done for Him. Remember that Jesus says, “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4NIV) Will you, then, want night to overtake you while you are still dragging your feet about the Lord’s work?
Personally, I would not want that to happen to me. Instead, I want to follow the bible examples of those who were prompt to recognise how God wanted them to serve Him and also prompt to begin to serve Him. I am sure you have, for instance, heard about the mad man of Gadarenes and of how the Lord Jesus delivered him from insanity. As the account goes, immediately this man saw that he had been cured, he began to beg Jesus to allow him to follow Him wherever He was going. But the Lord told him not to follow Him but to instead go and tell his family members how much God has done for him. (Cf. Mark 5:1-19)
Did this man, then, do as the Lord had instructed him or not? He did. In fact, he went beyond what he was told to do. Without wasting time at all, he went round a region called ‘The Decapolis’, which means ‘Ten cities’, and began sharing his testimony with everyone that cared to listen (Mark 5:20). That is what is called promptness in serving the Lord. And that is what we are being called upon to imitate.
Also, the bible tells us about a business woman in Philippi called Lydia and of how she became born again through the ministry of Paul the Apostle (Acts 16:13-15). And as we are further told about her, the very day she became born again was the day she began to serve the Lord with Paul and his companions. She offered them free accommodation in her house that same day and insisted that they should accept it, if they believed that she had indeed become born again. No wonder Paul, when writing to the church in Philippi, would say about them, “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now…” (Phil 1:4-5NIV)
Now that is the kind of promptness in ministry that God wants us to emulate. He wants us to be prompt to share His word, prompt to pray for others, prompt to give for His work and prompt to care for His people. And it is this kind of service that pleases Him and that He rewards, a service that is carried out with promptness. My prayer, then, is that your heart will be taught and strengthened to always be prompt to do whatever God wants you to do to serve Him, so that you will never again miss your service reward, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a splendid day.
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SHARE THE GOOD NEWS 11/12/24
One of the things the Lord expects of everyone that has been a beneficiary of His goodness and salvation is for them to share with others the good news of what He has done for them. That way, those they share this with can be moved to come to Him to experience His goodness in their own lives as well. For example, after setting that mad man that was possessed by a legion of demons free, the Lord said to him, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." (Mark 5:19NIV)
Now did that man do as he was instructed by the Lord or not? He did! In fact, he went beyond what was expected of him. He did not speak only to his family members of what God had done for him. Instead, he also went talking about it to everyone that cared to listen to him in a region called ‘The Decapolis’, which means ‘The Ten Cities’.
Imagine that. That man went all through a region of ten cities, talking about what Jesus had done for him. Why? First, it was because he was really grateful for what the Lord had done for him. Second, it was because he also wanted others, who were under satanic bondage, to know that they too could obtain deliverance by coming to the Lord, however terrible their cases may be.
In like manner, if the Lord has indeed been good to us too, we owe it to Him to let others know about it. If He has indeed been changing our lives for the better and moving us forward through His word, then, we should let our friends, family members, colleagues at work or in school and neighbours know that they too can become partakers of His goodness with us.
As I pointed out before, God Himself is expecting us to do this. That is because one of the reasons He is doing us good is that we may become doors through which He will have access to the lives of others around us and also do them good.
What this means, then, is that if we will not spread the news of His goodness to us to those around us, we are not just being selfish but also hindering His work. And there is no way we will be acting in selfishness and hindering God’s work and will not suffer for doing so, to one degree or another. Perhaps the reason for the stagnation some of us are experiencing in our lives is even this. We will do well, therefore, to repent without delay and begin to passionately lead others around us to experience the goodness of God that are already enjoying.
This, of course, does not mean that we should force or manipulate anybody to become partakers with us in enjoying the goodness of God. Rather, it means we should do all that we can to encourage and inspire as many as we can to come and see for themselves how good and gracious the Lord can be to them. And may the Spirit of God continually teach and strengthen our hearts to take this matter seriously in our lives, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a pleasant day.
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WHEN YOU ARE NOT FIT TO JUDGE EVIL 10/12/24
“When Jacob heard that his daughter Dinah had been defiled, his sons were in the fields with his livestock; so he kept quiet about it until they came home.” (Gen 34:5NIV)
As outrageous as the case of Dinah’s rape must have been to her father, Jacob, he did not do anything about it when he heard of it. Why? It was because he was already an old man at the time and his sons were not around. He must have reasoned, then, that there was no way he could possibly deal with the prince that had raped his daughter and not get himself into a bigger trouble or even killed.
Therefore, as the account goes, he waited for his sons to come back home from tending their livestock. And when he told them what happened to their sister, they handled the case. Yes, how they handled the matter surpassed his expectations and even made him afraid. But the fact remains that they did not allow the wickedness done to their sister to go unjudged.
In like manner, even though Joab, David’s most accomplished army general, did certain horrible things that required that he was judged and punished severely, David had to leave his judgment to Solomon, his successor (1Kings 2:5-6). Why? First, it was because Joab was his nephew, a son of his sister, Zeruiah. Second, it was because he was one of those few faithful men who went through everything with him in order for him to be all that God wanted him to be. Third, it was because this man, being very close to David, also probably had some of his dirty secrets, like the murder of Uriah, which he could use against him any time.
So, judging Joab’s acts of wickedness was something David could not handle objectively and without some sentiments or fear of the consequences that could follow. But he knew that the man must be punished for his sins. Therefore, he passed the matter on to his son, Solomon. And Solomon, unlike his father, had no reason to be sentimental in handling Joab’s case. There was nothing good the man did for him for which he needed to reward him or overlook his wrongdoings. On the contrary, Joab was even one of those who did not want the throne to go to him but to his brother, Adonijah. (Cf. 1Kings 1)
Therefore, having become king, he just needed to wait for an opportunity to use his good office to judge this man for the murder of innocent people and perhaps some other acts of wickedness that were not on record. And when the opportunity came for him to do so, when Joab got himself entangled in another conspiracy move, he did not hesitate at all to judge him. (Cf. 1Kings 2:13-35)
What is all this teaching us, then? It is that there are times we are not in a position to judge wickedness, even though it is our utmost desire to see it judged. This may be because we are not powerful or influential enough to judge it or because we ourselves have gotten involved in certain things that make us morally unfit to judge it. It may even be because judging it may mess up certain important relationships for us and put us in some bad light for endangering innocent souls in our pursuit of justice.
Whatever the case may be, we must know when we are not fit to judge evil or wickedness. And whenever that is the case, we should wait until we are fit to do so or wait until we find someone else that is fit to do so and that we can hand the matter over to. Otherwise, we may end up destroying ourselves or other good people and relationships in the process.
Then the fact that we are not fit to judge evil now does not mean we should totally overlook it or act as if it did not exist or as if it were nothing. Evil is what it is. So, we must always condemn it, even where we are not fit to judge it. That way, we will be sensitising our society against it and also strengthening those who have what it takes to judge it to do so at the right time. Otherwise, God Himself may have to step in and judge the evil we have left unjudged in His own way. Then even those of us who have ignored it may not
be spared at all.
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PROPHETIC ENCOURAGEMENT 09/12/24
“So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty. "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!'" Then the word of the LORD came to me: "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. "Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.” (Zech 4:6-10NIV)
Who were the words of prophecy above spoken to? They were spoken to a prince of Judah called Zerubbabel. Who was this Zerubbabel? He was one of the Jewish exiles that had returned to Jerusalem after their seventy-year captivity in Babylon. And he was the one leading the other returned exiles with him in rebuilding the temple of God and also the land.
Why, then, were those words spoken to him? They were spoken to him because there were all kinds of enemies around him and the Jews with him that were bent on frustrating them and preventing them from rebuilding the temple of God and their country. In fact, we are told in the book of Ezra that government officials were hired to work against them and ruin their plans. It was so bad that they had to stop the work for some years and simply focus on their own survival in the land. (Cf. Ezra 4)
But this was against the will of God for them. I mean that it was not the will of God for them to start the good work of rebuilding His temple and then abandon it because of the opposition of their enemies. Therefore, He began to send prophets to them to encourage and strengthen them. Zechariah, then, happened to be one of the prophets He sent to them. And part of the words of prophecy he brought to them is what we have in our opening bible text.
Now what are the main points of this prophecy that we have above? First, it is that Zerubbabel and those with him should not think that their power or might could get the good work they wanted to do done. Instead, they should know that the one who would get the job done for them was the Spirit of God. And we too must know this: regardless of how good and righteous what we want to do or are doing is, if God does not get it done, our power, might, skills, intelligence or (and) connection cannot get it done. (Cf. Ps 127:1)
So, He is the one we should absolutely depend on for success in whatever we are doing. And as long as we are relying on Him and not on our power, intelligence, wealth or influence, He will make us succeed in building our lives or whatever it is we need to build, regardless of what opposition we are faced with.
The second point of the prophecy is that nothing would be able to stand successfully against the good work Zerubbabel was doing. So, the man had an assurance that however mighty the opposition against him might be, God would crush it before him. And we have the same assurance as well. Therefore, as long as what we are doing or building is in line with the will of God for us, all the mighty mountains before us will be levelled and turned to dust. And we will walk in victory over them to succeed. Amen.
The third point of the prophecy is that Zerubbabel would surely complete the good work he started. And who would make that happen? God! The bible refers to God as the author and finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2). So, when He starts something, He is going to finish it. And when He is standing by you, He will make sure you complete any good work He has started through you.
So, don’t be afraid of failure. Those oppositions you see cannot stop you from finishing well or stop you from succeeding in handling that good thing you have started through faith in God. Just continue to agree with His words concerning you by saying, “My hand that has started this good thing will surely complete it.” And it shall be so. Amen.
The fourth point of the prophecy is aimed at warning Zerubbabel and others with him not to despise what they were doing because it appeared small or insignificant when compared to what others before them had done. Why? God was going to make it great and significant, regardless of what it looked like at the moment in men’s eyes. That being the case, Zerubbabel and his men were expected to cheer up and strengthen their hands in keeping up the good work they were doing.
In like manner, that good thing you are doing now may appear small or insignificant to you or others around you. But as long as it is not contrary to God’s righteousness and you are diligent in handling it, God is able to make it great and significant in your hand or open a door of greatness and significance for you through it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble hands and week knees and take seriously whatever good thing you are doing, for God is able to use it to lift you.
Remember that Joseph started in the house of Potiphar as insignificant, as nobody. Yet, few years later, he became the president of Egypt. And as we see in the bible, it is the same principles that he was living by when he was unknown that God used in elevating him in Egypt and in making him flourish there. So, even if others despise the littleness or smallness of what you are doing or managing right now, don’t join them to despise it. Instead, strengthen yourself with the fact that God is with you and will exalt you from where you are to where you should be in due season. And you have my guarantee that He will not fail you.
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YOUR RESPONSIBILITY 08/12/24
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation – but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it.” (Romans 8:12NIV)
Paul, in our opening text, starts by telling us what our obligation is not. He says it is not to live according to the flesh. Our duty, as believers in Christ Jesus, is not to live doing those things that please the flesh. We are not children of the flesh. We are children of God.
So, we cannot be living to please our flesh. We cannot be living to satisfy our emotions. We all have emotions. We all have thoughts. We all see things. We all hear things. But our lives must not be defined by those things. Your life must not be defined by the things you hear or by the things you see or by the feelings you have. Your feelings must not control you, and that is the point I am making. And you have a duty to make sure that does not happen.
Living a spiritual life, then, is not something that is going to happen accidentally. Rather, it is something that we do consciously. We are talking here about conscious living. Remember that our Lord Jesus says that God the Father is seeking those who are going to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). That means whatever they do for Him or with Him is coming from their heart; it is coming from inside them. It is not something that they are doing accidentally or by mistake or by chance.
What I am saying, in essence, is that a Christian is not someone that does things, especially good things, by chance or by accident. An unbeliever may do good things by chance or by accident. But a Christian has been created to do good things (Eph 2:10). He has been created to please God.
So, he is not going to be pleasing God by accident or by chance. His life is all-out to please God. So, he knows that it is his responsibility to please God. He knows that it is his responsibility to live to bring God pleasure. He knows that it is his responsibility not to live according to the dictates of flesh – it is his responsibility to make sure that the flesh does not control him. And until you, as a believer, know this and begin to walk in the light of it, you are still a carnal believer and can’t please God.
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CONTENTMENT OR COMPLACENCY 07/12/24
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”” (Hebrews 13:5NIV)
This is a direct instruction from God to us, telling us to keep our lives free from the love of money or greed and be content with what we have. Sadly, this can be misrepresented as meaning that God does not want us to desire to have more money or to be in better positions in life. But that is not what being content means.
First, being content means to be thankful to God for where you are and what you have, even though you know that you can be more and have more. Second, it means not being willing or ready to do just anything to have more or to be in a better position in life. There are people are willing to do about anything to have more or to be more in life. They can kill, steal, oppress or employ witchcraft in order to be in certain positions in life or to have more of the things of this life. People like that are not content. They are in love with money or position.
Now the word of God warns us against such things. It tells us that the love money or things is a root of all kinds of evil. And those who allow this love in their hearts, those who are eager for money or material things may end up ruining their lives, if they are not shown mercy.
But then, the point I am making is that we must not misrepresent complacency for contentment. God wants us to be content. But He does not want us to be complacent. Paul, for instance, talks about his life of contentment in his letter to the Philippians. He speaks of how he has learnt to be content in life, regardless of where he finds himself. (Cf. Philippians 3)
That, however, is not to say that he does not want more in life or that he does not want to be in a better position in life. On the contrary, he wants to be more in life. He wants to know Christ better. He wants to be able to reach more people. So, he seeks new opportunities to minister to more people and new places to go and preach the word of God. He is, then, not a complacent person; rather, he is one that always wants more of God and more of living in fruitfulness and usefulness. (Cf. Romans 1)
You too must not be a complacent person. Instead, you must be one who wants more of God and more of living in fruitfulness and usefulness. And while you are at that, thank God for everything He is doing for you, in you and through you. Then you will be amazed at how your life will keep moving forward and upward in the will of God for you and in all good things.
Have a pleasant day.
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WILLINGNESS IS KEY 06/12/24
“Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give.”” (Exodus 25:1-2NIV)
That was God’s instruction to Moses when He wanted him to collect offerings from the Israelites for the work of His tabernacle among them. And who was he to receive offerings from? It was only those who were willing to give, those whose hearts prompted them to give. So, the focus was on receiving from only those who were willing to give to God.
Then, in chapter 35 where the actual giving takes place, we are told this:
“Moses said to the whole Israelite community, “This is what the Lord has commanded: From what you have, take an offering for the Lord. Everyone who is willing is to bring to the Lord an offering of gold, silver and bronze…” (Exodus 35:4-5NIV)
Notice that God is asking them to give from what they have and not from what they do not have. He is not asking them to borrow to give to Him. And He is not asking them to steal to give to give to Him.
See, God is not going to ask you to give what you do not have. He is only going to ask you to give from what you do have. And that is what we see in this text. Moses told the people that the willing ones among them should bring God an offering. And how did they respond to that? Here is it from verse 22:
“Then the whole Israelite community withdrew from Moses’ presence, and everyone who was willing and whose heart moved them came and brought an offering to the Lord for the work on the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the sacred garments. All who were willing, men and women alike, came and brought gold jewellery of all kinds: brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments…” (Exodus 35:20-22NIV)
You can see that those who actually brought offerings to the Lord were those who were willing. So, willingness plays a key role in the acceptability of our offerings before God. If you, then, are not willing to give to Him, you had better keep your offering to yourself. Don’t give it because someone is pressuring you to do so. Don’t give it because someone is trying to manipulate you to do so. Otherwise, it is going to be a waste. In other words, there will be no reward from God for you for it..
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BE REGULAR IN YOUR CHURCH MEETINGS 05/12/24
“So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.” (1Corinthians 5:4NIV)
Can you see that? When we are assembled together in our church meetings, the power of the Lord Jesus is present with us. But how many of us are aware of this? Well, it is because of this that people can get healed even when the word of God is being preached, that is, without anybody laying hands on them or praying for them. It is also because of this that certain problems just get solved in people’s lives without anybody specially offering prayers for them.
See, some people have been longing to receive some things from God for years but have not been able to receive them. But as they fellowship together with other believers in church meetings, pray together, praise God together and learn the word of God together, these things are supplied. And this is one of the reasons you must take your regular presence in church meetings seriously.
In the early days of the church, as we are told in the bible, the brethren were meeting together every day (Acts 2:46-47). We may not meet every day as they did because of the way things now work in our world. But even if we want to do so, there are means through which we can meet every day without being physically present together in our church meetings. So, once we have the meeting schedule of our assembly, we should take it very seriously. That is because you cannot tell exactly when certain things you want to experience from the hand of God will be released to you.
Truly, there are times you may not be able to make it to a church meeting for some legitimate reasons. But you should be present in most of your church meetings because you do not know exactly when you will be able to experience the power of God for your healing, exaltation, cleansing and deliverance from certain things. Again, according to Scriptures, we have been delivered already from the power of darkness through Christ Jesus (Colossians 1:13). And all that we need to live godly and fruitful lives have already been provided for us in Him (Ephesians 1:3; 2Peter 1:3). But we may not fully experience these things unless we present ourselves in church meetings regularly.
To say the fact, there are some spiritual things that we must do consistently for a while before we can experience God’s power or goodness in our lives. For instance, we are told about Naaman in the bible and how he was supposed to wash himself in the River Jordan seven times for his leprosy to go. If he had done that three times, four times or even six times, would his leprosy have gone? No! He had to do so seven times before his leprosy disappeared. (Cf. 2Kings 5)
There was also a man that the Lord Jesus had to touch twice before he was cured of his blindness. When the Lord touched him the first time and asked him if he could see, he said that he saw people walking like trees. The Lord then had to touch him again before he began to clearly see. In like manner, some people need to be touched more than once by the power of God in order for them to experience the goodness of God in certain areas of their lives. For some others, they need to present themselves in church meetings in a space of a year or more before they can experience certain things that God has already provided for them or before they are cleansed totally of certain things that are hurting them. And if such people will not take church meetings seriously, it means that certain things that are available for them in Christ Jesus may never be theirs to experience. (Cf. Mark 8:22-26)
All this, indeed, may be hard to explain or comprehend. But I just want you to know that you need to consistently present yourself in church meetings before you can experience certain measure of God’s goodness in your life.
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IF EDIFICATION IS NOT HAPPENING 04/12/24
“What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.” (1Corinthians 14:26NIV)
Is that clear to you? Church meetings are meant to be organised for people to be built up. In other words, the edification of the brethren must be what all our church meetings are aimed at accomplishing. Everything we do in our meetings, our praying, singing, prophesying, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues and so forth, must be geared towards the edification of the brethren. Where this, then, is not happening, those who are truly hungry and thirsty for righteousness and to be built up in their Christian faith may change their attitude towards their church meetings.
It is a shame to know that a lot of church meetings are not being held for the edification of the brethren. And Paul actually tells us that such things are possible. Look at the way he puts it in 1Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 17:
“In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.” (1Corinthians 11:17NIV)
Imagine that. Well, it is telling us that it is not every time that church meetings are edifying. And there are many places today in which church meetings are not edifying those who attend them. Those meetings are doing those who attend them more harm than good.
For instance, there are church meetings that are held to only raise funds. Every meeting is a fund-raising meeting. In other words, at some point during the meeting, funds must be raised for something. The teachings are geared towards raising funds. Prayers are offered to stir people up to give. And is it wrong for God’s people to be giving for His cause? No! God’s people will give for His cause, if they understand their roles as members of His family. But we should not turn every church meeting into one for raising funds.
Today, when you even attend some funerals organised by the church, you will be amazed at the way funds are raised in them. Somehow, the pastors or organisers of the funerals will find means to raise funds in them. And it is not everyone that will be comfortable with such things. No spiritual person will even be comfortable with them. Instead, they will be irritated by them.
Now when they are irritated in that manner, they may change their attitudes towards such church meetings. They do not want to leave their assemblies. But, at the same time, they are not comfortable with the things going on in the meetings of those assemblies. So, they may begin to skip such meetings or to show up in them when they please. That, then, means it is those assemblies that are actually encouraging them to cultivate the habit of skipping or forsaking church meetings.
Furthermore, there are church meetings that have been turned to meetings for insulting or abusing certain people or groups of people in the church. For instance, there are pastors who often use the time meant to teach God’s word for insulting or abusing some who have offended them. And when those being abused or insulted in that manner can no longer bear such words, they may begin to stay away from their church meetings.
The point I am making is that, sometimes, people cultivate the habit of staying away from church meetings because they do not find them edifying. However, the word of God does not encourage us to stay away from church meetings or take them lightly. Instead, it instructs us to take them very seriously for our edification. And if edification is not happening in your church meetings, pray to God to show you how to make it to start happening in them or to lead you to where you can be experiencing edification. But don’t use that as your excuse for robbing yourself of Christian fellowship. The damage that will do to your soul may be irreparable.
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YOUR ‘YES’ OR ‘NO’ SHOULD BE ENOUGH 03/12/24
“But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.” (Matt 5:34-37NIV)
Did you see that? Your ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ should be enough for anyone. And if it is not enough for them, let them be on their way. But don’t let anyone lead you into swearing whether with your blood, your hair, the bible or anything else that you will marry them. Otherwise, you will be opening the door of your life for the evil one to come in. And you can be sure that he will come in and make a mess of things for you.
Sadly, there are many that true rest has eluded them because of certain love oaths or covenants they made with some fellows. They made those oaths when their brains were clouded and could not reason well. And now that their eyes are clear, now that they can see that they are in love relationships that should never have happened, they are afraid to do the needful because of their oaths and consequences of breaking them.
Don’t make a similar mistake. Don’t let anybody sweet-talk you into going into love covenants or oaths with them. It is not necessary or needed. And don’t drag anyone into doing so with you. Anyone that truly loves you will keep their word with you, regardless of the circumstances they find themselves.
Remember Jacob. Remember that he waited for seven years for Rachel because he loved her very much. But did he swear any oath to her? No! The word he gave to her and her father that he was going to marry her was enough. And even when he was cheated after those seven years and given someone else instead, he still gave himself to seven more years of service to Rachel’s father in order to have her. That is genuine love. And it is the highest motivation for faithfulness, not an oath or a
covenant.
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IF YOU ARE NOT UNITED IN PURPOSE 02/12/24
“I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.” (Phil 4:2-3NIV)
How does Paul describe Euodia and Syntyche in those verses? He describes them as women whose names are in the book of life and who have also fought hard at his side for the cause of the gospel. That means they were both great believers and ministers of the gospel. Yet they could not agree with each other to work together in the assembly. What was the cause of their disagreement? We are not told. But we are told that they could not walk together as one and so needed someone to help them deal with whatever was causing disagreement between them.
So, you can see that great and wonderful believers may not get along well in the same assembly, at work, in school or neighbourhood. Is that to say that they are enemies? Not necessarily so! But for some reasons they may not just be able to cooperate to do anything tangible together. In fact, it may be that God does not want them to function in the same space. And that will be because He has different fields of operation for them.
Remember that there was a time that Abraham and Lot had to part ways. Was there any disagreement between the two men? No! But there were constant frictions between their workers. And that was because the space they were both operating in had become too small for them. So, the only wise thing for them to do at the time was to go their separate ways. Yes, how Lot handled the choice of where they both went was not commendable. But that is not to say that they were wrong to go their separate ways at the time. They were right. (Cf. Gen 13)
Why am I sharing all this with you? It is to let you know that it is not every partnership with a true child of God that will work for you. If you are not united in purpose with someone, your partnership with the person will not work, even if the person is a great child of God.
For instance, marrying a great Christian will not automatically make your home a heaven here on earth. If both of you are not united in purpose, you won’t have a great home. No, you may not divorce yourselves. But your marriage may just be boring, a drag for the rest of your lives.
So, don’t settle in a love relationship for anyone merely because he is a great believer in your sight and others’ sight or because of some visions you have had about them or some prophetic revelations you have received. Instead, study to be certain you are united in purpose. This, of course, is not something that may be accomplished in a day. You may have to have series of conversations for you to ascertain this. But it will be worth the time, effort and patience invested.
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IT MAY NOT HAPPEN AS YOU HOPE IT WILL 01/12/24
“But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.” (Luke 24:21NIV)
Who said these words? And to whom were they spoken? They were said by two of the Lord's disciples. And they were said by them to Him. As the account goes, on the day of the Lord's resurrection, two of His disciples were on their way from Jerusalem to a place called Emmaus, when the Lord Himself came to join them in their discussion. But they did not know He was the one because it was hidden from them. So, even if you are praying for the Lord's visitation, you may not recognise Him, if He does visit you, unless He opens your eyes to recognise Him.
In any case, when the Lord asked these two disciples what they were emotionally discussing, they began to tell Him about Himself, about how He was brutally handed over to be executed by the Romans. And what pained them most was not just His death but what His death did to their hope. What hope? Well, as we see in opening bible text, they had hoped that Jesus was the one that was going to redeem Israel.
Now, of course, death has its own terrible ways of ending people's hopes or expectations. In other words, when someone dies, we are bound to naturally forget whatever we may have been hoping or expecting the person to do for us or be to us. And that can sometimes be very painful, especially when we do not see any other way our hopes or expectations can be met.
That was exactly what those disciples were feeling at that time. They were feeling that all their high hopes about the redemption of Israel had been dashed. And they were feeling that way because they did not understand that in order for their hopes to be realised, their Messiah must first of all die. That means death was one of God's ways of realising not just the redemption of the nation of Israel but also the redemption of the whole world. And that was one thing Jesus took His time to explain to them that day. (Cf. Luke 24:25-27)
But who could ever have thought that death must first happen for man's redemption and salvation from the devil and from eternal death to be accomplished? No one but God! In fact, Paul tells us that even Satan and his demons did not know this. Otherwise, they would not have crucified Jesus. But they killed him. And by killing Him, they made what God had planned for our redemption to happen. (Cf. 1Cor 2:7-8)
What is the point of all this? It is that you do not need to throw your hope or confidence in God away because things are not going for your life the way you expect them to go. That is because He is able to use even those things that are working contrary to your advancement and peace to accomplish His good purpose in your life. He, at least, did that in Jesus' case. He used His death to bring about the salvation of the world and lead many sons into glory.
Also, He did the same thing in Joseph's case. He used his slavery and imprisonment to fulfil His good purpose for His life. And who could have imagined that all the terrible things this man was going through were working towards fulfilling the dreams of greatness he was carrying in his heart. He himself could not have seen that coming. Yet it came. And it came, first, because God was the one at work in His life and on His behalf. Second, it came because he also did not throw away his hope or confidence in God.
So, as long as your hopes and expectations in life are in line with the will and purpose of God as revealed in Scriptures, don't throw them away, regardless of what happens. No, things may not be going the way you want them or may even seem to have totally crashed or collapsed. That, however, cannot render God clueless or impotent in fulfilling His purpose for your life.
Remember that the bible tells us that His ways are too high for us to comprehend, just as His foolishness is far wiser than our wisdom (Is 55:8-9; 1Cor 1:25). So, He will still fulfil those dreams and expectations of yours, even if He has to use the things or people that are opposing you to do so. Just don't throw your confidence in Him away.
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IT'S BEYOND MAKING YOU FEEL GOOD 30/11/24
“And David realized that the LORD had confirmed him as king over Israel and had greatly blessed his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.” (1Chron 14:2NLT)
As we are told in the bible, Jesus has been highly exalted by God to the highest place in His whole creation and given the name that is above all names. And why did God do this for Him? It was because of His humility. And we are told that if we want Him to exalt us too, we must learn to humble ourselves. (Cf. Phil 2:5-11)
But of what use is Jesus' exaltation to anyone? Or did God just exalt Him to make Him feel good and on top of everything? No! The bible further shows us that God exalted Jesus and placed Him at the highest place in all creation for the benefit of His people. Look at how this is put in the bible: “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” (Eph 1:22-23NIV)
Did you see that? It is because of those of us who are now God's children that God exalted Jesus Christ and put everything under His feet. He does not want us to be victims in this life. He does not want us to ever be at the mercy of the devil. So, He exalted our brother and representative to the highest place in His creation and made Him Lord over everyone and everything. That way, we are now able to sit together with Him where He is at the right hand of God and utilise His authority to frustrate the devil and his works here in the world.
Why am I sharing this with you? It is to let you know that God does not exalt people just to make them feel good. Instead, He always exalts them for the benefit of others. That is what we see in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that is also what we see in the case of David.
As we are shown in our opening bible text, David, at some point during his reign, came to the realisation that the reason God confirmed him as king over Israel and made his kingdom great was his people. In other words, God established this man as king and gave him great honour and wealth so that he would use all these to make life better, easier and safer for his people. And he had to see things in this manner in order for him to live accordingly.
We too need to realise the reasons God has exalted us to those positions we are now occupying in life. Until we realise the reasons He has put us where we are, we will most likely abuse or misuse our positions, influence and resources. And once we begin to misuse or abuse what God has given us, we, like King Belshazzar, are preparing ourselves to lose it to someone else. (Cf. Dan 5)
So, it is not enough to be praying to God for exaltation, it also important that we are praying to Him to show and teach us His main reasons for exalting us each time He does so. It took Mordecai to let Esther see one main reason God exalted her to be queen. It may also take some other people to let us see God's main reasons for exalting us. Whatever the case may be, we need to know what these reasons are so that we may handle whatever positions we are now occupying accordingly. Otherwise, we may end up losing what we think is already ours.
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HE WILL BRING YOU THERE IN DUE TIME 29/11/24
Have you ever felt like your progress in life is rather too slow or like you are not moving fast enough in realizing your dreams? I have felt like in the past and so I can understand how discouraging and frustrating it can sometimes be. Here you are, praying as faithfully as you can and working as diligently and smartly as you can. Yet you don’t seem to be getting any nearer to the beautiful things God has shown you about your life. And that, as I pointed out before, can be really frustrating and discouraging. In fact, it can make one begin to grumble against God or to want to turn away from Him altogether.
But we don’t need to grumble against God or turn away from Him because our lives are not moving as fast as we will want them to move on the track of progress. What we need, along with our faith in Him and our diligence in some honest labour, is patience. The bible says:
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with Him.”” Heb 10:35-38NIV)
Did you see that? The word says don’t throw away your confidence in God, even though it appears as though He were slow in bringing you into the place of your dreams. Instead, be patient, even when you have done all that you need to do. That is because He will certainly fulfil every one of His good plans for your life in good time.
See, Scriptures make it abundantly clear to us that God will never delay or act sluggish in attending to matters that concern the welfare of His people (Luke 18:1-8). Therefore, we must never think He is unserious about our matters or that He is too slow to act, just because things are not moving as fast as we will want them to move for us. Instead, we must continually remember that He is God and that He knows all things and has power over all things. So, if He delays something or does not allow certain things to happen for us when we want them to happen, it is certainly for our good.
Now I do not mean that God is always responsible for every delay of good things in our lives. No! There are times that Satan is to be held responsible for such delays. And when he is, all we need to do is to resist him in the name of our Lord Jesus, and he will flee from us and the way we be free for us. (Cf. Dan 10:1-14; James 4:7)
But there are also times we are to be held responsible for the delay of certain good things that ought to have come into our lives. Our unfaithfulness to God sometimes can keep us away from accessing certain provisions of His for us or make it take a longer time for us to be where He wants us to be. Remember how the children of Israel spent forty years in the wilderness for a journey of less than forty days. God was not to blame for that. They were to blame for it because of their unbelief. (Cf. Num 13 & 14)
At any rate, my point is that it is not every time that God is responsible for the delay or slowness that we may observe in our journey of progress. But when He is responsible, we must understand that it is always for our good. For example, we are told in the bible that when God brought out the nation of Israel from Egypt, He did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, even though it was shorter than where He led them through. That was because He was concerned that the people might change their minds and return to Egypt, if the Philistines should engage them in a war. (Cf. Ex 13:17-18)
So, there are times that God, in order to preserve us and keep us in His will, takes us through roads that we naturally will never want to go through. And doing that to us may mean that it will take us a longer time to get to where He wants us to be in life. But does that really matter? No! What matters is that we get to where He wants us to be in one piece, not in ruins.
Unfortunately, we don’t usually think the way God thinks, for we are short-sighted and ignorant of many things. What we want is to see all our dreams fulfilled in no time. We don’t often consider the fact that, if care is not taken, our lives may be ruined even while we are working towards seeing God’s purpose fulfilled in them. But God won’t allow that to happen because He loves us. So, He does what is right and needful for us, even though He knows we may end up complaining and grumbling against Him. And when the fullness of time comes and we see that He has been on our side all along, we will appreciate Him for not allowing things to go our way.
So then, don’t give up on God or be mad at Him because He is not taking you as fast as you will want Him to do on your journey of progress. Instead, be patient with Him and keep on doing His will, knowing that He truly cares for you and will bring about the fulfilment of all His good purposes for you in due time.
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HUMILITY FOR ELEVATION 28/11/24
“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:5-11NIV)
As we see in Scriptures, God is very much interested in people’s attitude towards Him and towards different matters of life. That is because it is one of those things that show whether we take Him seriously in our lives or not. And it is also one of those things that determine how He relates to us.
For example, in our opening bible text, we are instructed to have the same attitude towards God as that of Christ Jesus. That means even our Lord Jesus, who is the Son of God with power, had to demonstrate the right kind of attitude towards Him when He walked the face of this earth. Why? It is because, as I said before, attitude means a lot to God. And regardless of how much He loves and favours us, if we do not exhibit the right attitude towards Him in any matter of life, it can affect His disposition towards us.
Remember Solomon. Remember that God loved him and also favoured him above all his brothers, his father’s sons. That was why He put him on the throne of Israel. But when he would not listen to God’s rebuke about his foreign wives, wives who had led him into the worship of idols, He said this to him: “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.” (1Kings 11:11NIV)
Did you see that? if our attitude towards God’s word of rebuke or correction is wrong, it can make Him take away from us what He has already given to us to enjoy forever. So, we need to give ourselves to God’s word, so that through it the right sets of attitudes may be built into us. Otherwise, our so-called relationship with Him may end up not doing us much good.
In any case, Paul tells in our opening bible text to have the same attitude as that of Jesus Christ. And what kind of attitude is he referring to here? It is an attitude of humility for elevation. According to him, even though our Lord Jesus Christ Himself is fully God and one with the Father, He did not use that as an excuse not to submit to Him or to relate to Him in arrogance, doing as He pleased when He walked the face of this earth. Instead, He humbled and submitted Himself to Him, even to the point of dying on the cross for the redemption of mankind. And that kind of humility, which produces true submission, is what we are told to emulate in Him.
Today, people use all kinds of reasons as their excuses for not walking in humility and submission before those who have authority over them. An employee, for instance, may use the fact that he is better educated than his boss as his excuse for not relating to him in humility and submission. And a citizen of a country or a church member may use the irresponsibility of his leaders as his excuse for not humbling himself before them. Then a wife may use the fact that she is one with her husband according to the word of God as her excuse for not submitting to him.
But none of us has any excuse for whatever form of pride or rebellion we are exhibiting in any of our relationships. That is because, as I already pointed out, even though our Lord Jesus Christ is one with God the Father in all ways, He never disrespected Him once or relate to Him with arrogance. Instead, He obeyed Him fully and always did what pleased Him, even when doing so led to His sacrifice for the sins of humanity (John 8:29). Therefore, as Paul goes on to say, God decided to exalt Him by giving Him the highest place in all His creation and also the name that is above every other name, the name that makes Him Lord of all.
Now think about that. Even our Lord Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, could not exalt Himself. God had to exalt Him. And God did not exalt Him until He proved Himself as humble and obedient to the very end. In like manner, we cannot exalt ourselves in this life without destroying our lives and perhaps the lives of others as well. God must exalt us, if we will be truly exalted at all. But He won’t exalt us, if we do not have an attitude of humility and submission towards Him and towards all the people He has appointed as leaders over us.
So, regardless of what you are, what you know and what you may have accomplished in life, always remember that there is nothing you have that you have not received from God (1Cor 4:7). You, then, have no legitimate reason to boast or to be arrogant in any situation. Instead, always humble yourself before God and before those who have authority over you. And just as He elevated our Lord Jesus to the place meant for Him in creation at the right time, He will elevate you too, taking you at the right time from one height of glory to another until you reached the highest place reserved you in creation.
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IT IS THE LORD’S COMMAND 27/11/24
“Don't you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.” (1Cor 9:13-14NIV)
Did you see that? It is the Lord’s command that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from doing so. Yes, it is His command that those who are fed with the word of God should share all good things with the one teaching them..
Now since this matter is a command from the Lord and not a suggestion, what it means is that our obedience is not complete, if we are not supporting those who are feeding us with the word of God and praying for us, so that the will of God will be fully realised in our lives. If our obedience to God is not complete, how, then, shall we be able to effectively resist the devil in every area of our lives?
See, in any area of our lives in which we refuse to do the will of God, whether consciously or unconsciously, we are opening the door for the devil to come into our lives through that area and work. And what sort of works he will do there is not what we can tell.
Also, by refusing to obey the Lord’s command in any area of our lives, we can hinder the manifestation or flow of certain blessings of His in our lives. It is true that God has already blessed those of us who believe with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And nothing can change that. We already have all of His blessings in our lives. Hallelujah!
However, the degree to which all these blessings will manifest in our lives is premised upon our continual devotion to acting on the word of God in every area of our lives. What that means is that there are blessings that we have received from God that will never find expression in our lives, if we will not take His word seriously.
For instance, we know that we have received the Holy Spirit into our lives to teach us all things and guide us into all the truth we need to know in this life. That is a blessing, or what do you think? However, if we will not study the Scriptures and meditate on them, as we have been commanded by God, are we going to know all the truths we need to know? No, we won’t know much!
This, of course, explains why many of God’s people are terribly ignorant of His will for their lives, even though they have the blessing of the presence of His Spirit in their lives. They are expecting the Holy Spirit to open their heads and stuff them with Scriptures. But that is never going to happen. God never said that He would open anybody’s head and stuff them with Scriptures. Instead, He said that individuals should lay His words upon their hearts and commit themselves to meditating on them day and night, so that they may be careful to act on them. (Cf. Deut 6:6-8; Joshua 1:8)
Also, even though we have received the blessing of prosperity from God, if we are not involved in any legitimate labour, how will this blessing fully manifest in our lives? We will always have to wait for handouts from friends and family members.
What about the blessing of promotion? How will it find expression in our lives, if we do not take our jobs seriously and handle them with all the diligence they require? What made God’s blessing on Joseph’s life find expression in Potiphar’s house? It was his diligence and seriousness in handling whatever task He was given. If he had not been diligent, the blessing of God that resulted in his promotion in that place would have remained dormant in his life forever.
So, if you want to get promoted from where you are to where you should be, you need to give yourself to diligence in handling your work. Otherwise, regardless of how hard you pray, the blessing of promotion will not be fully activated in your life.
In like manner, there are certain blessings of God that we have received that will not find expression in our lives, if we will not give to support those who are feeding us with the word of God, as we have been commanded by God. What are these blessings? Do they have to do with receiving more money from God, as some preachers will have us believe? No!
Honestly, I cannot tell what blessings of God will find expression in your life as a result of your obedience to this command of the Lord. That is because the situation may differ from one person to another. But I do know that if we are not obedient to this command of the Lord, it will affect the expression of certain blessing of His in our lives.
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SHE MISSED HER OPPORTUNITY 26/11/24
“And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.” (2Sam 6:23NIV)
Why did the Spirit of the Lord move the writer or writers of 2Samuel to inform us that Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death? It was because He wanted us to see why she had to live and die without having any child of her own?
And why did Michal live and die without having any child of her own? Was it because she could not get married? No! She got married. She got married to David, the man of God. In fact, she was his first legal wife. What, then, was the problem with her? Why could she not conceive for her husband, not to talk of have her own child? Was it because her husband had health issues? No! Her husband was fine. In fact, her husband had several children from his other wives. (Cf. 1Chro 3:1-9)
So, the problem was with Michal. She was the one that was barren and could not conceive. But we do know from Scriptures that she was not the only barren woman in bible days. There were other barren women that are mentioned in the bible. Sarah, Rebekah, Hannah, Manoah’s wife and Elizabeth are all familiar bible names. These ones were barren for years too. Yet they were all cured of their barrenness. In other words, they did not die without having their own children.
Why, then, was Michal’s case different? Why was she not cured of her barrenness? Was it because there was no cure in the land? No! God was always there with them in the land. And He had already told them that as long as they were serving Him, He would cause His blessings to be on them, so that none of them would miscarry or be barren (Ex 23:25-26). So, though Michal was barren for years, the blessing of God was able to take away her barrenness, especially since the whole nation at that time was being led by David to truly worship God.
However, that did not happen. God’s blessing did not work in favour of Michal to take away her barrenness. Why? It was because she missed her opportunity to receive it. As the story goes, the very day God’s Ark was brought into the city of David and placed where he had prepared for it, he went back home to bless his household. Interestingly, who was the first to come out and meet him? It was Michal. And what should she have done when she came to him? She should have knelt down to receive his blessings. That, of course, would have been the end of her years of barrenness.
Remember that the bible shows us that Rebekah, Isaac’s wife, was cured of her barrenness because her husband prayed for her (Gen 25:21). And a similar thing could have happened to Michal, if she had received her husband and king’s blessings that day. At least, the man actually came home that very day with the inspiration of the Spirit of God to bless his household. But did Michal, his wife, humble herself to receive his blessings? No, she did not! Instead, she took the moment to accuse him of embarrassing himself before the whole nation, all in the name of worshipping God. Therefore, instead for him to bless her, he just walked pass her to go and bless other members of the family. What a shame! (Cf. 2Sam 6:20-23)
Now this remark, which we have as our opening bible text, is added at the end of the story: “And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.” That shows that the reason she did not have any child to the day of her death was that she missed her opportunity to be blessed to be fruitful. Why did she miss it? It was because she despised her husband and king, who was bearing God’s authority to bless her and cure her barrenness.
In like manner, there are people today who, like Michal, have missed or are missing their opportunity to experience God’s blessing to be fruitful in certain areas of their lives because they are despising those sent by Him to them or certain authorities placed by Him in their lives. And unless such people’s eyes are opened to see what they are missing or have missed, so that they may humble themselves before God and obtain His mercy, they may die without ever experiencing His blessings and provisions for them in those areas of their lives.
So, if you are one of those who take delight in despising authorities or spiritual leaders because you feel they are not dignified enough for you, this is a call for you to repent and humble yourself. Otherwise, God’s blessing to experience certain things you seriously desire to have in life may never find expression in your life.
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DON’T TRY TO HELP HIM 25/11/24
“But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir." Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars — if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” (Gen 15:2-6NIV)
As we see in our opening bible text, when God told Abraham that he was going to give him a son of his own, he believed. And God knew that he believed. So, He credited his faith to him as righteousness. What, then, did Abraham need to do to receive the promise of God? Patience! He needed to add patience to his faith. Then what God had promised him would be his. And did he add patience to his faith in God or not, so that he may receive the son that was promised to him? Yes, he did, for the bible says, “And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.” (Heb 6:15NIV)
But then, from what we also see in Scriptures, Abraham wasn’t always patient with God. Yes, he started out by trusting God to give him a son of his own, even though he had become an old man. But at some point, this same man that had believed that God was going to give him a son also agreed with his wife to help God fulfil His promise. Look at how the bible reports that:
“Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.” (Gen 16:1-4NIV)
Why did Abraham agree with his wife to try another woman to see if God’s promise would be fulfilled through her? Impatience was one of the reasons. A desire to make her happy was another reason. But was Sarah there when God was making the promise to Abraham? No! Was she there when God praised Abraham for trusting him? No! Yet he listened to her.
See, we need to be careful how we relate to the people in our lives who do not know what we know about God or understand what we understand about His provisions for us. Otherwise, in our attempt to please them or make them happy, we may become impatient with God and follow counsels from them that are contrary to the will of God in handling certain matters of our lives. And anytime we become impatient with God in this manner and follow the wisdom of men in handling what God is meant to handle for us, there will be consequences, consequences that may not end with our generation.
As we see in Abraham’s case, when he agreed with his wife to help God fulfil His promise, their plan worked. Sarah’s slave, Hagar, that he slept with conceived indeed. So, the fact that someone is operating outside the will of God for him does not mean that his plans will not succeed. That a woman, for instance, decides to sleep with another man other than her husband in order to solve her barrenness problems does not mean she will not conceive. Or that a man decides to do money rituals or join a secret society in order to come out of poverty does not mean he will not succeed. But how long will such successes last before they open the door for all kinds of troubles to come into the lives of those involved?
Again, as we see in Abraham’s case, it was not long at all after Hagar became pregnant for him that trouble began to brew in his home. The young woman, seeing that she had become pregnant, began to misbehave and to seek to displace her mistress. And it took God’s intervention for her to remain in that home to have her son. (Cf. Gen 16:4-9)
Not only that, the prophecy that came concerning Ishmael, the son of Abraham through this woman, was that he would be a problem to everyone in his world. In other words, he would not be anyone’s friend and no one would be his friend. And this prophecy has not stopped finding expression through the descendants of this man ever since it was given. That means the world will continue to suffer the consequences of Abraham’s impatience and attempt to help God till the end of this age. (Cf. Gen 16:11-12)
What is the point of all this? It is that we have no business trying to help God fulfil His promises to us or fulfil His will in our lives. He has enough power to carry out whatever He has promised to do for us. Ours is simply to wait for Him, when we have done everything that is right for us to do. Otherwise, as I said earlier, the problems that will follow our attempts to help God do His job may not go away till the end of this age.
Now perhaps this word has met you in a situation where you are trying to help God or where you and others are suffering greatly for certain past attempts of yours to help Him. God is still able to show you mercy and save you from the consequences of your foolishness. But first, you need to heed His word to you, which is, “Walk with me and be blameless.” That was what He said to Abraham after the mess he made with Hagar. And it was after Abraham set his life right according to this word that he received a fulfilment of God's promise. If you too will set your life right and return to faith in God, He will show you mercy in spite of your errors and fulfil all His good promises concerning
you. (Cf. Gen 17:1-2)
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LEARN TO TALK 24/11/24
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” (Gen 3:6-7NIV)
Did you see that? Adam was right there when Eve was having that conversation that led to the fall of humanity with the devil. He was right there when she reached out her hand to pluck the forbidden fruit to eat. And of course, it was because he was right there that she was able to immediately give him too some of the fruit to eat.
Unfortunately, when God began to judge and to ask Adam why he disobeyed a clear instruction from him? He put the blame on his wife. But did he stop Eve from talking to the devil when the whole thing started? No! Did he say anything to prevent her from being deceived by the devil and from eating the fruit God had told them not to eat? No. He did not say anything. He simply kept quiet and watch his wife mess up and ruin the entire human race.
Why did he not say anything to stop Eve from following that path of destruction? Was it because of his great love for her? Or was it that he just wanted to disobey God? Whatever the reason was, the lesson is very clear, which is that you should learn to talk, if those in your life are doing anything contrary to the will of God or anything that is bound to ruin their lives and perhaps your life too. Otherwise, if they should sink, you too may end up sinking with
them.
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SPEED UP THE LORD’S COMING 23/11/24
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” (2Peter 3:11-12NIV)
How do you speed the Lord’s coming? It is by doing His work and finishing it. Until His works are done here on earth, that day will not come. Until all the things that God wants done are carried out here on earth, that day will not come.
Now are we going to know when His works are finished? Well, none of has what it takes to know or tell. But by doing what God expects of us and living the way He wants us to live, we can speed the coming of His day; we can hasten it.
Yet one may ask, “Can we really hasten the coming of the Lord in the real sense of things?” The answer is ‘No!’ It may look like we are hastening something in our own eyes, but we are not hastening anything in the eyes of God, for He knows everything already. He already knows when His works will be completed and also knows when we are going to be fully ready for Him.
So, when Peter tells us to speed up the coming of the Lord, as we see in our opening text, he is just using a language that we can relate to as humans to communicate a divine reality to us. He does not mean that we can actually make God adjust His schedule or timetable of running things.
In any case, when we all get done with all that God requires us to do here on earth, He is going to show up. Remember what happened in the days of Noah. Remember that the flood did not come until the man was done with the building of the ark. He, of course, acted responsibly in doing so. But that flood did not come until he was done with the building of the ark.
Also, God could not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah until Lot left those cities. In fact, one of the angels that rescued him said to him, “Flee quickly, for I cannot do anything until you get out of this place.” So, they acted on the basis of the quickness of Lot in getting out of that area. Yes, they had to hurry him out of the place, for he was slow to act. Nevertheless, the time of executing judgment on those two cities was determined in a sense by the speed of Lot and his family in getting out of them.
Now all these things are significant. They are showing us the kind of attitude we ought to have towards whatever the Lord is asking us to do. We have to do it with speed. We have to do it hurriedly, knowing that we do not have all the time to do what He wants us to do. So, get on with His work right away. That way, you can join other children of His in speeding up the coming of the Lord.
Have a blessed day.
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DEVOTE YOURSELF TO GOOD WORKS 22/11/24
“This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.” (Titus 3:8NIV)
Here Paul is telling Titus that God’s people must be taught in his meetings the need to devote themselves to doing good works. So, it is not sufficient to teach the brethren about their rights and privileges in Christ. They also have to be taught how to respond to those things.
You know it is interesting to learn of how we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. It is also great to learn of how God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness or how we have been given the fullness of God in Christ or how we now have authority to trample on the devil and his hosts or how we can now resist the devil and watch him flee from our lives. All these things are interesting to know and learn – they bless the heart.
But why has God done all these things for us? It is for us to be responsible. And in what ways are we to be responsible? In doing good works! God has done all these things for us so that we can take advantage of them to do good works. So, there is a need for us to be continually reminded, urged and encouraged to do good works, as we fellowship with one another.
Now that is what Paul is saying to Titus in our opening text. He is saying it is your duty to teach those who have trusted in God to devote themselves to doing good works. And he says about the same thing to him in verse 14 of this same chapter. He says, “Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.” (Titus 3:14NIV)
So, God’s people have to be devoted to good works. I have to be devoted to good works. You also, if you are a child of God, have to be devoted to good works. We all have to be devoted to good works. Otherwise, our lives will be unproductive. If you, then, don’t want to be an unproductive Christian, give yourself to doing g
ood works.
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DEVOTE YOURSELF TO GOOD WORKS 21/11/24
“The natural man cannot accept the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, for they are spiritually discerned.” (1Corinthians 2:14NIV)
There are a lot of beautiful things that God has revealed to us by His Spirit. But a natural man cannot understand these things when you bring them to him. So, he cannot be helped by them, for those are not the things he needs.
Yes, you may talk to the natural man about the Holy Spirit and leave him amazed. You may talk to him about Jesus Christ and His signs and wonders. You can even tell him all kinds of great things about the gifts of the Spirit of God. But he cannot properly relate to these things, for those are not the things that he needs. What he needs is salvation. What he needs is life from God. And you have to keep it as simple as that for him. Otherwise, you will just be wasting your breath.
I often see people who go out to preach to natural people about Jesus Christ and begin by challenging the way are dressed. They will say, “You should not have dressed like this. It does not glorify God to dress in this manner. Look also at the way you have painted your face. This is not good at all.” What are they doing? They are wasting their time on the wrong thing.
Am I saying it is appropriate for people to dress anyhow? No! But until people come to know God, until they receive salvation from Him and their lives are changed from the inside, they will not understand what is wrong with these things—they will keep on seeing them as normal. But once they are changed on the inside or given life by God, there are things you won’t have to explain to them or tell them to stop doing. And until they receive His life, you don’t address them on such things.
Look at the way our Lord Jesus Christ preached. There were things that were wrong in people that He would not even address. And that was because He knew that He would simply be addressing the symptoms, not the problem itself. So, you must know the needs of the natural man. That way, when you are talking to him or sharing with him, you won’t have to bore him with Scriptures that he cannot use. You may not even need to bring out your bible at all, if you know what you are dealing with.
Mind you, most times, natural men are scared when they see the bible. So, they don’t want to have anything to do with it. But once you understand their needs, you can make the mind of God known to them, so that they can receive their salvation. And may God continually open doors for you to lead the natural people around you to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation. Amen.
Have a great day.
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DON'T LET YOUR PAST PARALYSE YOU 20/11/24
My word for you, as you start this new day, is that you must never again waste your time meditating on the successes or the failures of the past, except there are lessons you wish to learn from them. Rather, focus on taking advantage of the grace of God to be all that you can be and to do all that you can do at the moment. Otherwise, you may paralyse your own advancement.
Look at Paul the apostle, for example. He started out as a young man, persecuting the church and doing all kinds of wicked and injurious things to others (Gal 1:13; 1Tim 1:13). But when the Lord appeared to him and saved him, he started working in newness of life. Yes, initially, people, especially believers, still related to him on the basis of his past. They related to him with utmost watchfulness, for they were not sure that his salvation claims were genuine (Acts 9:26). But he would not allow that to deter or discourage him. He simply took his mind off all the bad things he had done, things which God, of course, had already forgiven him for, and began to live the rest of his earthly life in righteousness and in service to the Lord.
Several years later, when this apostle would write to the Philippian-church, he still brought to the fore the same spiritual principle by which he had been living, saying:
“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things…” (Phil 3:12-15NIV)
Look at that. This man not only knew his purpose in life but also how to accomplish it. That was why he said that he was not going to dwell on the past at all, whether good or bad. Of course, at the time he was writing this letter, God had already used him to do a lot of good things. But just as he would not allow the bad things he had done before becoming a Christian to affect his usefulness and effectiveness as a Christian, so also would he not allow the good and beautiful things he had done as a Christian to get into his head or to make him think that he had arrived. And that was because he knew that, as long as there was breath in him, there would always be room for perfection in godly living and room for improvement in quality and quantity of service to God and mankind.
In the same vein, we too must learn to focus on what we need to be and do now and not on what we used to be or used to do. Yes, if there are lessons of the past that we can bring to bear on what we are doing now, we should take them and apply them wisely. But we must never measure our relevance or usefulness now using the failures or the successes of the past.
Yes, people will often want to deal with us on the basis of our past; they will want to accept or reject us on its ground. So, it is really a good thing to have a good past, to have records of great things done in the past. That may make way for you on some occasions. But those who show you any kind of favour on the basis of your past good works will still demand that you justify what they have done for you. So, everything still depends on how focused you are at the moment on being what you can be and on doing what you can do.
In any case, the point I am making is that what is gone is gone. What you did with your life, good or bad, is already in the past. And you cannot in any way make it better or worse. So don’t waste time pondering on it. And don’t waste your time with individuals who may try to make you dwell on it. What counts now is what you do with your life now. So, focus on the present and, of course, on the future God has prepared for you. And may the favour of God continually rest on you.
Have a wonderful day.
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IN PRAISE OF WICKEDNESS 19/11/24
“I have thought deeply about all that goes on here in the world, where people have the power of injuring each other. I have seen wicked men buried, and as their friends returned from the cemetery, having forgotten all the dead man's evil deeds, these men were praised in the very city where they had committed their many crimes! How odd!” (Eccl 8:9-10TLB)
One main way to keep a town, city, country or organisation in stagnation, misery or poverty is to continually praise or reward wickedness. Unfortunately, many people do not understand this. Therefore, because of fear, greed or love for the praise of men, they praise wickedness where they should condemn it or reward wickedness where they should punish it. Then they sit down and wonder why there is not much growth, development, prosperity and safety where they are. Isn’t that odd?
Well, that is exactly the situation Solomon is dealing with in our opening bible text. According to him, he had been to funerals of wicked people and had seen how even victims of their wickedness spoke well of them. But they knew in their hearts that these people deserved no form of praise or commendation. Yet hypocrisy, fear or greed would not allow them to say the truth that they knew about them. And Solomon is asking if that is not odd.
Now perhaps you have once attended a funeral in which those who were asked to speak spoke ill of the dead person. I have never attended one. And I am sure most of those who have attended funerals at different times and of different persons will agree that people hardly speak ill of dead people at their funerals, even if they have been direct victims of their wickedness. Why is this so? Hypocrisy!
Hypocrisy is the major reason we will be singing the praise of a wicked person, whether they are dead or alive, even when we have been victims of his wickedness. Today, we often see those who have hurt their own people terribly and oppressed them in many ways being praised and commended in religious houses by the very same people they have been oppressing, especially when they make some huge donations. What is behind such things? Hypocrisy!
But as Solomon tells us, it is odd and actually foolish of us to function in this manner and still expect a better society. It is foolish of us to continually speak and sing in praise of wickedness and still expect it to go away from our society. That will never happen. It will never happen because what we are doing is counter-productive.
See, we cannot be strengthening evil with our words and songs and expect those doing it to stop. They will not stop. Instead, they will continue to act under the assumption that we are okay with whatever they do. And even when they know that we are not fine with their wickedness, they will still continue to perpetuate it, as long as they can induce us to sing their praises instead of saying what we really think and know about them. You can see why vote buying, vote selling and other similar nonsense are widespread in our land.
In any case, if you and I want to break the wings of evil where we are, we have to begin to call it what it is, instead of singing its praise, maybe out of fear, hypocrisy or greed. But are we going to do that in our homes, schools, offices, neighbourhoods, cities and religious assemblies? May God grant us sufficient willingness and courage to always do so, for our good and for the good of those generations of people that may come after us, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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LED INTO THE BEST 18/11/24
“This is what the LORD says — your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” (Isa 48:17NIV)
Without doubt, these are days of famine for us in Nigeria. These are days in which the hard and diligent work of many is not yielding much fruit of prosperity and enjoyment for them. How, then, are the people of God to survive such times? How can they thrive during these days of adversity and severe lack that we have been plunged into?
The answers to these questions are seen in our opening bible text. There God tells us in very clear terms that He is the only one that knows and can teach us what is best for us in life and also guide us in the way we should go. That being the case, we should turn to Him in prayers, so that He will fill our hearts with the exact knowledge of what is best for our sustenance and thriving during this period and also lead us in the way to experience and enjoy it.
As we see in the bible, there was a time Isaac was confronted with some years of famine. Exactly what was responsible for this famine we are not told. But we are told that he wanted to go and live in Egypt because of it. Why? That was what his father, Abraham, did when he too was confronted with a similar situation. He went down to Egypt to live. And he left there prosperous. (Cf. Gen 12:10-20; Gen 26:1-2)
But what works for a man’s parents may not work for him. The business your friend is doing, which is making him millions in naira or dollars, may fail horribly in your own hands, even if you are operating under the same conditions. And this is one of the reasons we need God to lead us into what is best for us, instead of adopting other people’s template for prosperity.
Thankfully, Isaac had God on his side, committed to leading Him into what is best for him. And He showed up at the right time and stopped him from going down to Egypt. He told him to stay where he was and that He would bless him there. So, he stayed in Gerar and was led by God to engage in farming. And because he was obedient, he became so wealthy through farming that he became the envy of everyone around him. Yet all this happened in a time of famine. (Cf. Gen 26:2-25)
In like manner, if God will show us what to do with our lives, time, energy, resources, skills and education, we will be made so rich that we will abound in good works and generosity everyday. And no number of days or years of famine will be able to limit us or rob us of joy, peace and enjoyment of life.
But as I said before, what will work for you may be different from what will work for me. For example, even though farming was what God led Isaac to engage in when he was confronted with those years of famine, it was not what He led Elijah and the widow of Zarephath and her son to do in order to survive the three and a half years of famine that came upon their land. As He made very clear to them, what they needed at that time was the miraculous and not an engagement in farming or some other enterprise. Otherwise, they would not survive, even if they worked hard and diligently. So, the widow and her son, who still had some food with them, had to support Elijah, who had the anointing for the miraculous, with the little food they had. And that was how the three of them were preserved during those years of famine. (Cf. 1Kings 17)
Now what do you and I need to thrive during this period? Is it a change of business or job? Is it a change of location? It is a miraculous touch of God on certain things that belong to us or that we are doing? Or is it an act of generosity, forgiveness or restitution that will result in open doors of divine provisions? Whatever it is that we need, God knows it and is willing to share its knowledge with us. We just need to call upon Him, and He will answer us and tell it us, even if it is something great and unsearchable (Jer 33:3).
Have a blessed day.
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WHY YOU NEED REST 17/11/24
Why is it important that you experience true rest and comfort in every area of your life? It is so that you can focus on building your life, home, business and whatever else you desire to build or experience progress in handling. We all know that there are things that we cannot build in times of war. That is because we may not have the resources, time or effort to spare on building them. And even if we have the means to build certain things in a time of war, there is every tendency that they may be lost to the war.
For instance, Solomon shares this testimony with King Hiram of Tyre, when he was set to build the temple of God in Jerusalem:
“You know that because of the wars waged against my father David from all sides, he could not build a temple for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD put his enemies under his feet. But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or disaster. I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God, as the LORD told my father David, when he said, 'Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.'” (1Kings 5:3-5NIV)
What, according to Solomon, prevented David from building a temple for the name of the Lord, even though it was his utmost desire to do so? Wars! The man fought wars all through his life in order to give his people rest from all their enemies. And though God was with him in all his campaigns against his enemies, he was already an old man with hands full of blood by the time he had enough rest and peace to build Him a temple. So, God told him to leave the building of the temple for his son, Solomon, who would be king after him, which he did. That, of course, means that though he was the one that fought for rest for his country, it was his son, Solomon, that enjoyed the fruit of that rest fully. (Cf. 1Chro 22:7-10)
What is the point of that? It is that there is a measure of peace we must have in our lives in order for us to be able to accomplish certain dreams of our hearts. That means if we use all our lives fighting wars, dealing with all forms of trials and challenges, there are beautiful things we may not be able to do in our lifetime. Yes, God is able to make us walk in victory over any form of challenge or trial that the enemy may throw at us, as long as our trust is in Him. But there is nothing as good as having total rest from life's trials or challenges that could distract us or engage us in things that will prevent us from realising certain good dreams and visions of ours.
Perhaps, as you are reading this, you are already considering certain things you have always wanted to do for yourself, God, your family or your society, which you have not been able to do because of some challenges you have faced or are facing. It may even be that every time you think of doing these things something always comes up that takes the time, resources, energy or opportunity to do them away from you. And you have been wondering and saying to yourself, “Will I ever be able to do these things?”
Well, what you need is rest, enough measure of rest to focus on doing what you want to do. And the only one that can give it to you is God. Notice that Solomon, in the bible text above, was very clear in telling Hiram that God was the source of his rest. It was God that silenced all the enemies around him, so that none of them could think of waging war against him. And He can do the same thing for you. In fact, if you have already come to Him through faith in Christ Jesus, you have already come into His place of rest, for the bible says those of us who have faith in the Lord Jesus have entered God's land of rest. Remember also that our Lord Jesus says that He will give rest to anyone who comes to Him. (Cf. Matt 11:28; Heb 4:3)
What you need, then, is to begin to take steps to experience the rest that God has already provided for you to fulfil every good purpose of your heart. And one of such steps is to devote yourself to studying the word of God and practising what it teaches on living a life of rest. Another is to always commit everything you desire to do into God's hand in prayer, knowing that you can only accomplish what He enables you to accomplish. Then you must also learn to resist in the name of Jesus whatever Satan is doing to upset your peace or take away your rest. Otherwise, he will always do whatever he can to keep you restless, distracted and troubled, so that you will not be able to focus on doing much good.
Go, then, and give yourself to doing these things. And you will not only experience abundant rest in your life, you will also find yourself making tremendous progress in doing those beautiful things your heart has always yearned to do, which you have not been able to do for years or months. Amen
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DON'T THROW AWAY YOUR CONFIDENCE IN HIM 16/11/24
God, as we are shown all through the Scriptures, loves and cares about us. So, regardless of what we are faced with in life, He is always on our side. It may not look like He is on our side. But He is. In fact, His promise to us is that He will never leave us nor forsake us, regardless of the situation we may be in (Heb 13:5). He has also assured us that He will work for our good in every situation (Rom 8:28). We, then, are the ones that need to build our confidence in Him, so that even when it does not look like He is near or with us, we will know in our hearts that He is with us, working for our good, and function accordingly.
Why did Joseph survive everything he went through in life before he became the Prime Minister of the Egyptian nation of his time? It is was because he always functioned with an abiding consciousness of the presence of God with him and for him. In other words, this man knew that, regardless of what he went through, God was with Him and that He would fulfil all the things He had shown him about his life. That was why, instead of griping or grumbling, he behaved himself responsibly and with a heart of integrity and purity as a slave and as a prisoner. And when the time came, he and others who knew his story could plainly see what God had been doing in his life and with his life, even though it did not look like He had been with him all along. (Cf. Gen 39-41)
Now, often, our thought is that if God is with someone, everything would be smooth and wonderful for him. But that life is smooth and wonderful for someone does not mean that God is with him. And that life is hard and unpleasant for someone does not mean that God is not with him. Who could think God would be with a slave like Joseph in his house of slavery? Or who could think that God would be with a prisoner like him in his prison house? Yet He was with him in all these situations and eventually made everything work for his good, so much so that he became the second-in-command of the king of Egypt.
Furthermore, who would think that God was with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, when they were being bound and being carried into the furnace of fire that King Nebuchadnezzar had prepared for those who would not worship the image of gold he set up? I mean that it did not look like God was with them when the king was scolding them and insisting that he would have them thrown into the furnace of fire, if they would not bow to his image of gold. Yet after they had been thrown into the furnace of fire, God showed this heathen and ruthless king that He had been with these men all along to protect them. So, even though those who carried them to the furnace all died from the flames of its fire, for the command was urgent and the furnace was terribly hot, nothing happened to any of these men. In fact, there was no smell of fire on them when they came out of the furnace. Glory to God! (Cf. Dan 3)
So, even if it does not seem like God is with you in that situation you have found yourself, don't throw away your confidence in Him and start misbehaving. Instead, embrace this admonition to us from the writer of the book of Hebrews: “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay.”” (Heb 10:35-37NIV)
Did you see that? God will certainly reward our confidence in Him in the face of the challenges of our lives, if we will not faint. In other words, He will not disappoint us. No, we may not see what He is doing now to change our situations or to make them favourable for us. But He will not disappoint us or be slow in vindicating us. What we, then, need is to maintain our trust in Him and be patient. And at the right time, all that He has been doing to protect, favour and elevate us will become visible to us and to others around us. Then through us He will be glorified and worshipped.
So, stop complaining or misbehaving because the circumstances of your life right now are not pleasant or as favourable as you would want them to be. No, do not quit the life of faith because it does not look like God cares about you anymore. That is because God, your Father, cares very much about you, is with you and is also working everything out for your good. And my prayer is that you will be where He wants you to be, doing what He wants you to do, when the time comes for all that He is doing on your behalf to show
forth. Amen.
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EXPERIENCING REST 15/11/24
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:28NIV)
Why will the Lord give this kind of bold invitation? It is because He has what it takes to give anyone that comes to Him rest. No religious leader anywhere in the world has ever given anybody this kind of assurance of rest. Only the Lord has.
So, are you tired of life in any way? Jesus is saying to you today, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.” Do you feel the weight of the challenges and trials of your life crushing you? The Lord is saying to you today, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.” Do you feel dissatisfied with your life or home or health in any way? The Lord is saying to you too, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.”
Now you do not need to wait until you are totally crushed or subdued by those things that are upsetting your life and peace before you come to the only one who is able to give you rest and satisfaction. No, you do not have to wait until you come to your wits' end before you come to Him for rest. If you wait any longer, you may just lose your life or those things you are fighting to keep in the process. So, hurry up now and go to Him, and He will give you rest.
But then, coming to the Lord Jesus Christ alone is not sufficient for you to experience the rest He gives. There is another important thing you also need to do, which is seen in what He says next in that passage of the bible where He asks us to come to Him for rest. And what does He say? He says:
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt 11:29-30NIV)
Did you see that? In order to find the rest the Lord gives we need to humble ourselves to learn from Him. That means we need to be educated on how to experience rest in life. There are habits that lead to the experience of rest and habits that lead to the experience of sorrow and pains. And until we humble ourselves to learn from the Lord through His word and begin to cultivate those habits that lead to the experience of true rest, we will never enjoy rest or peace in our lives.
Now one of those habits the Lord will want us to learn from Him is that of casting our cares and burdens on Him through prayers. For instance, the bible says, “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.” (Ps 55:22NIV) Also, it says this: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1Peter 5:7NIV) Did you see that? The Lord cares about us and is able to sustain us and give us rest, even in the most difficult of situations. However, if we want to enjoy His sustenance and rest, then, we must learn to give our worries, anxieties and burdens over to Him.
Unfortunately, many who have come to the Lord Jesus Christ have not learnt to do this. They have not learnt to trust Him with their burdens. They still want to carry them by themselves. That explains why many of them often look depressed, confused, disheartened and discouraged, even though they are with the Lord Jesus. Perhaps the reason depression and confusion have not left your life is that you too will not give your burdens to the Lord. But you need to do so. Otherwise, what is the point of coming to the Lord, when you will still not allow Him to help you or save you?
So, if you have come to Jesus already, then, cast those burdens and weights that are crushing your life and stealing your peace and rest on Him, as you pray to Him about them. Stop trying to carry them by yourself again. And once you have given them to Him, allow Him to handle them in His own way. Don't try to teach Him what to do or how to solve your problems. If you already knew what to do, then, you would not need Him. But since you don't know what to do, allow Him to fully take charge. And I am certain that as you begin to do this, you will find the rest He has promised and g
iven for your soul.
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HOW NOT TO WASTE YOUR LIFE 14/11/24
“Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.” (Eph 5:17NIV)
As Paul shows us in our opening text, it is foolishness not to know the mind of God about life in general and how to conduct ourselves in response to it. If we don’t know what God thinks of life as a whole and how we are to handle it, then, there is no way we will be able to live our lives to please Him. And if our lives are not lived to please Him, then, we have wasted them.
See, God did not create us to live for ourselves. Nobody creates anything for that thing to exist for itself. Rather, we create things (machines, organisations, systems, processes and so forth) to serve our purposes. And if they are not going to serve the purpose for which we create them, we end them.
In the same vein, God created us to live for Him; He created us to live to bring Him pleasure. And that is one point that everyone in this world needs to get. You have not been created to live for yourself. You have not been created to live for your husband or wife. You have not been created to live for your friends, neighbours or colleagues at work or in school. In short, you have not been created to live for any created being or thing. The only person you have been created to live for is the one that created you, and that is God. (Cf. Rom 14:7-8; Rev 4:11)
If you, then, believe that God is your creator, your most important goal in this life must be to live to bring Him pleasure. Yes, in bringing Him pleasure, you are also going to be bringing pleasure to many other people in your life. But essentially, He is the one you have been created to delight. And if you are not living to bring Him pleasure, then, you are not fulfilling His purpose for creating you. Therefore, you are wasting your life and are in danger of being permanently and forever discarded by Him.
Unfortunately, many today are wasting their lives without knowing it. They are wasting their lives because they are not living them for God. They are wasting their lives because they are not living them in the will of God. Yes, they may be good and kind people, individuals who are doing their very best to make the world pleasant for themselves and others to live in. But as long as they are not doing what they are doing on the basis of faith in God and a desire to please Him, they are not living for Him but for themselves.
Such people may not even agree that they are living for themselves and say that it is other people they are living for. But the truth is that in doing whatever they are doing for others, it is still themselves they are trying to please and satisfy. And since they are living to please and satisfy only themselves, they are not fulfilling God’s purpose for creating them. They are merely wasting their lives. And they are never going to get His praise on the day that He rewards all men.
Now I don’t want to want to waste my life in this world. Rather, I want to live it to earn the praise of the one who created me. And I am sure you too won’t want to waste your life but will want it to count for something before God, when all has been said and done. But we are going to waste our lives, if we do not live them in the will of God. And if we do not want to live our lives outside the will of God, then, we need to know His will, which takes us back to what Paul says. He says, “Do not be foolish but understand the will of God.”
How, then, do we know the will of God for us in this life? First, it is by continually asking Him to reveal it to us, that is, in prayer (Col 1:9-12). And since He has said everyone who asks receives, we can be sure that if we ask Him to make His will known to us about life, He will do so and do so according to our needs. Second, we can know His will by giving ourselves to the Holy Scriptures. Paul says every scripture is inspired of God to teach us, correct us, rebuke us and train us in righteousness, to the end that we may be perfect and thoroughly furnished to know and do the will of God in all things (2Tim 3:16-17). So, give yourself to the Scriptures.
Third, we can know God’s will through fellowship with other children of His. We have not been called by God to live alone but to live in His family. And it is only as we truly fellowship with other members of this family that we can attain perfection in our knowledge of God and of His will. So, take your fellowship with other people of God, especially those of your local assembly seriously. And as you devote yourself to these things, may your heart be continually flooded with the absolute knowledge of God’s will for you in all things, so that you may not waste your life.
Do have a great day.
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FIRST CONSIDER YOUR CAPABILITY 13/11/24
My prayer for you today is that God will continually equip you with all that you need to make the most of His blessings in your life. Amen.
In the parable that our Lord Jesus Christ Jesus shares about a man who entrusted some of his properties to a number of his servants, we get to see that our God is a God who considers people’s abilities before entrusting things to them. In other words, God will never entrust to us anything that He has not given us the capability to manage and prosper with. Truly, we may not manage well or profit with what He has given to us, as the Lord equally shows us through that parable. But that will not be because we lack the capability to manage it or prosper with it; rather, it will be because we are lazy, unfaithful or faithless. (Cf. Matt 25:14-30)
Since this, then, is the case with God, we too, who are His children, should learn to imitate Him and function with the same mindset or mentality. In other words, we too must learn to consider our capability to manage things or people and prosper with them before going for them. Otherwise, we may end up ruining whatever we acquire or have entrusted to us, our reputation or even our very lives.
What was the problem with the prodigal son? Why did end up being miserable in life? Was it because he left his father’s house with his inheritance? No! Of course, he should not have left a father who loved him and cared very much about him. But that was not the problem. The problem was that he took something that he had no capability to manage and prosper with. Therefore, he suffered terribly for doing so and almost lost his life in the process. And if his father had not been a loving and forgiving one, he would most likely have died before his time in misery, pains and shame. (Cf. Luke 15:11-32)
So, before you go for anything in life, before you even start asking God for anything in life, first, consider your capacity to handle it. See, God, as our loving Father, will never give us anything that He knows He has not given us the capability to handle. He will not give us a scorpion as food, even if we are asking for it, or a snake instead of a fish. Rather, He will give us only that which He knows we can handle and prosper with, even if we do not ask for it. (Cf. Matt 7:9-11)
However, if we pressure Him long enough to give us what He does not want to give us or decide to use whatever means we see to get for ourselves what we want, He may just allow us to have our way. And then, like the prodigal son, we will sooner or later realise that only pains, sorrow, misery and death await anyone who goes for what God has not given him or provided him with the capability to handle. (Cf. Numbers 11)
Therefore, again, before you go for that job, sign that contract or go for that house, consider your capability to handle it. Yes, before you enroll for that course in school, embark on that project or engage in that love affair, be sure you have what it takes to excel in it. Then before you take that loan, and sometimes people may need to take a loan to get some things done, consider your capability to make good use of it and to also repay at the proper time. Otherwise, you may end up making life miserable for yourself and even others in your life.
My prayer is that my loving God will continually increase your capacity to tremendously prosper with whatever He delivers to you in life, so that your life may daily attract more and more good things, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a lovely day.
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READ THE SIGNS. 12/11/24
“So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. "Man of God," he begged, "please have respect for my life and the lives of these fifty men, your servants! See, fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life!"” (2Kings 1:13-14NIV)
The story of how Elijah called down fire from heaven to consume two companies of soldiers and their two captains is without doubt a very popular one. As the story goes, the king of Israel once sent a captain of his army and his company of fifty men to bring Elijah to him anyhow. Why? It was because the latter had pronounced a judgment of death on him for consulting Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, for healing instead of consulting God. Unfortunately for those soldiers, Elijah was not at all in a mood to condone any form of arrogance at the time. So, he called down fire from heaven to consume them.
Now when the king of Israel heard about that, he got even more upset and sent another captain and his company of fifty men to get Elijah to come to him. In like manner, Elijah called down fire from heaven to consume them as well. And they were consumed.
But did that stop that stubborn king from sending more soldiers to arrest Elijah? No! He still sent yet another captain with his company of fifty soldiers to arrest the man of God. Why? He was a wicked person that cared about no one but only about himself and whatever he wanted. And the world has never been in shortage of people like him, people who don’t care at all about whose lives get ruined or destroyed in their quest to have certain things, get to certain positions or punish certain people that they see as enemies.
If you, then, have your way, avoid any form of dealings with such people. Otherwise, they may end up sacrificing you one day for their selfish desires. And that was what happened to those soldiers of King Ahaziah. They were sacrificed by him for nothing. And the same thing would have happened to the third captain and his fifty men that he sent to arrest Elijah, if that man had ignored the signs of death that were staring him in the face.
As a soldier, that captain had no choice but to obey his master, even if he was being sent to his death. But he also knew that he did not have to die a needless death. All he needed to do to avoid that was to pay attention to the signs left behind by those soldiers before him who died while trying to arrest Elijah and use them to his advantage. And that was exactly what he did, as we see in our opening bible text. He could see that Elijah could not be arrested like any common criminal. You had to beg and persuade him to follow you to wherever you wanted him to go, even if it was a king that you wanted him to meet. Otherwise, you may end up dead in the process. So, he literary begged Elijah to spare his life and those of his men and follow him to the king that had wanted to see him. And that man of God listened to him.
What is the point of all this? It is that, in handling life’s matters, it is important that we learn to read the signs left behind by those who went ahead of us and not foolishly walk into the traps they fell into. Yes, by praying to God and trusting Him, He can protect us from any kind of trouble. But it is not every trouble that praying to God will save us from. There are some troubles that God Himself wants us to make use of the signs pointing to them and avoid them. And if we fail to read such signs that can keep us safe from certain troubles, God may not do anything else to save us from them. This explains why righteous and good people sometimes perish needlessly.
So, learn to pay attention to signs of failure, death, danger or destruction left by others for you. That way, you can receive wisdom from God to utilise them and keep yourself safe. For example, if you come to an office or a place where those before you failed woefully, died mysteriously or got disgraced before leaving, don’t just hurry to start doing this and that in that place. Instead, first find out what was responsible for what those people suffered, instead of assuming that you know it all. Otherwise, when signs of danger start showing up, you may not even know at all, not to talk of get yourself ready to deal with what is coming. And by the time you fall the way others fell, you will not even believe it, if you are still alive to tell the story.
Furthermore, learn to pay attention to signs of success left by others for you. That way, you can make your journey to greatness smoother and quicker. But if you are just walking on in life and ignoring all the warning and direction signs left by others, you may end up missing your opportunity for promotion or enlargement before it even shows up. So, be wise and give heed to the signs on
your life paths.
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WHAT WILL YOU SAY? 11/11/24
"If I have denied justice to my menservants and maidservants when they had a grievance against me, what will I do when God confronts me? What will I answer when called to account? Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?” (Job 31:13-15NIV)
Those were some of Job’s words, when he was labouring to show his friends that he had been leading a blameless life all his life and did not deserve to experience the terrible things that came upon him and his family. And was he right to think and speak like that? No! Was he right to think that his good works were enough to keep evil away from his life and family? No!
Nevertheless, the things he said about his consciousness of God, which we have in our opening bible text, are worthy of note. According to him, he was conscious of the fact that God was watching his every action and move and would someday hold him accountable for it. What, then, would he say to Him on the day He begins to question him about the way he had dealt with his workers, both male and female? What would he say to God, if he had treated them maliciously and denied them justice or their rights? What would be his excuse for using them despitefully and without consideration?
As he further points out, the same God who formed him in his mother’s womb also formed these workers of his in their mothers’ wombs. Therefore, even though he was occupying a place in life that was better than theirs, he was not better than any of them before God. If he, then, ignored this fact and began to abuse and maltreat them, he would someday have to answer to God for all his crimes. And since he knew that he would have no answer to give Him on that day, he would not treat anybody unfairly, whether highborn or lowborn. Instead, he related to everyone in his life with fairness and justice. No wonder God Himself testified that he was blameless in all his ways and that there was none like him on the face of the earth (Job 1:8).
In like manner, we too need to function in life with the consciousness that God is watching us and will someday hold us responsible for how we use our positions and how we treat others. What, then, are we going to say to Him, when He confronts us about how we are treating the people in our lives? What are we going to say to Him, when He begins to call us to account for all the cheating, abuses and wickedness that perhaps characterise our ways of dealing with others?
Sometimes ago, the internet was awash with news about a man that so beat his own two-month-old baby that one of the baby’s arms had to be amputated. And why did he treat the baby like that? It was reported that it was because he disturbed his sleep with his crying? But would he be able to say that to God when He eventually confronts him about the matter?
Now I am not in a position to judge that man for what he did. By the way, God is able to forgive even him for what he did. But I am saying this to let us know that we need to always be conscious that God is someday going to hold us accountable for whatever we say and do to ourselves and also to others, even if men will not hold us accountable. That way, we will think carefully and well before we say or do anything that we will not be proud of before Him.
Mind you, this goes beyond what will happen on the day that God will judge all men and the secrets of our hearts. It also involves what can happen while we are still here in the world. As we see in the bible, there was a day when God confronted King Belshazzar, son of Nebuchadnezzar, with the truth about his life and reign. God made this man know on that day that He had been watching him all along and examining his actions and motives, so that He may judge him accordingly and at the right time.
But did he know that he was being watched and examined by God? No! Or did he know that he was daily moving closer to taking the one step that would make the cup of his sins full? No. And why did he not know these things? It was because he was not conscious of God. But when he took that step, God gave His verdict against him, with a writing on the wall of his palace, which says:
“Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians." (Dan 5:26-28NIV)
Unfortunately, similar things are still happening to people everywhere in the world today because they are not conscious of God. Everyday God is judging the wickedness and stubbornness of men, just as He is rewarding their goodness and acts of righteousness. And that He has not come to you or me does not mean that He is not coming at all. He will surely come to us someday to either reward or punish us for what we are doing to ourselves and to others in our lives. What, then, shall we say to Him when He comes? Are we even going to be able to speak at all?
Well, these words are coming to you now so that you will be reminded again that we have a God who is watching us and who will not be passive in judging and rewarding our actions and motives, whether they are good or evil. And we will do well to take note of this and begin to handle all our affairs accordingly. May we not be found wanting by Him in any way, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Enjoy your day.
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WEED YOUR HEART. 10/11/24
“The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.” (Luke 8:14-15NIV)
In our opening bible text, the Lord is speaking to us of a group of people that the word of God is of no value to. These are individuals whose hearts are unguarded, whose hearts are not weeded. According to the Lord, the word of God that falls into such hearts falls right among thorns. Yes, it grows up as to be expected. But it could not produce fruit because it is choked by the thorns all around it. The thorns should have been cleared and removed from that soil, so that they will not hinder the fruitfulness of the seed planted on it. And because they were not removed, they chocked the plants that grew on it and prevented it from producing fruit that would mature.
Now that is how the hearts of some people are. Their hearts are unguarded, unprotected against those things that will not allow them to bear fruit with the word of God. The weeds on the soil of their hearts are not taken care of. So, the word of God they are receiving cannot work in them or be of value to them.
But what are the weeds keeping the word of God from being of any value to these people? Our Lord Jesus refers to them as the cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches and an unclean appetite for pleasure. And it is because of these things that they cannot concentrate on working with the word they are receiving. Their hearts are loaded with all kinds of cares and worries. The things they want to do, their ambitions and the pleasure they want to derive from life will not allow them to work with the word of God they are receiving. So, they cannot be fruitful with it. It is of no value to them. It is useless to them.
Now are you also like that? Is the word of God of no value to you? Is the word of God useless to you? Could it be that you will not allow the word of God to work in you because of your desire for pleasure and your ambitions and anxieties about various things? Then you need to weed your heart. You need to guard your heart. You need to get rid of all these wrong things that are preventing the word of God from working in you. You need to get rid of the wrong ideas, philosophies or traditions you are holding on to. Otherwise, the word of God will be of no value to you. Your life will not be changed by it. Your life will not improve because of it. Christ will not be seen in you.
What, then, will be the point of reading, studying or hearing His word? Everything will just be a waste. I pray that His word will not go to waste in your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a
blessed day.
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IS YOUR HEART RIGHT BEFORE HIM? 09/11/24
Today, my prayer for you is that God will keep your heart right before Him all the time, so that your Christian race in this life will not be in vain. Amen.
In the book of Acts we have the account of a man called Simon the Sorcerer. This man, as the account goes, used to live in a Samaritan city where Philip first proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ. And when he saw the miracles and wonders that that evangelist performed, he was so thrilled that he too got baptized in the name of the Lord like other Samaritans in the city. (Cf. Acts 8:5-24)
But this man was a sorcerer, one that had amazed the people before that time with his magical powers and sorcery. So, by becoming baptised in the name of Jesus, he was acknowledging that Philip was operating by a greater and higher power. And that is something every child of God ought to keep in mind. We are operating by the greatest power and the highest authority in all the creation of God. Therefore, we should lose all our fears of witchcraft, sorcery and divination. Yes, we should lose our fear of the devil and his demons. That is because we have authority and power over them in Christ Jesus – all of them are under our feet. (Cf. Luke 10:19; Rom 16:20; 1 John 2:14; 1John 4:4)
In any case, having being baptised in the name of Jesus, Simon began to follow Philip everywhere, for he was astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. That means he too began to pose like a child of God, like a true Christian. But when Apostles Peter and John came to that same city and began to lay hands on the believers there to receive the Holy Spirit, the evil in Simon’s heart was revealed.
What did he do? He offered them money to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit. Why? He too wanted to be doing what Philip and these apostles were doing. And he was so desperate about doing so that he was willing to pay money for the ability to do so. So, it is not a new thing to have people who will go to any extent, including joining secret cults or using charms and sorcery, to be able to amaze people and present themselves as important in the kingdom of God.
Now how did Peter respond to what Simon did? He responded by saying these words:
”May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin." (Acts 8:20-23NIV)
Can you see that? What was the problem with Simon? It was that his heart was never right with God. He was never truly born again. He never had any part in Christ. But he was moving around with Philip and the apostles. He was very close to them and enjoying their company. He might even have eaten with them on a number of occasions or carry out some errands for them. Yet his heart was not right.
So, that you are coming for church meetings regularly or moving around with preachers and other believers does not mean that your heart is right. Truly, people may not know what is going on in your heart, if it is not revealed to them, as in the case of Simon. They may not know that you are filled with envy, greed, impurity or bitterness. But God knows. You too know. And if you do not repent on time, a day may come when certain occurrences will expose the falsehood and wickedness in your heart.
Besides, as long as your heart is not right before God, even if you are indeed born again, your experience of the goodness of God will always be affected. This explains why the promotion, healing, fruitfulness, peace of mind or prosperity that some believers are looking forward to may never be theirs. Their hearts are not right. And until they repent, things can only get worse for them. So, always guard your heart with all seriousness and keep all forms of greed, bitterness, envy and wickedness out of it. And may the God of grace enable you to always do so for your own good, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a lovely day.
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STOP ACTING IN DESPERATION 08/11/24
My prayer for you today is that God will strengthen your heart to continually trust Him, regardless of the circumstances of your life or of our country, so that He may fulfil all His good intentions concerning you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
As many of us can see today, more and more of our young men and women are daily turning to swindling, banditry, money rituals, prostitution and several other vices in order to survive. And despite all the news of the terrible things that are happening to those involved in these evils, most of them are not deterred at all. Instead, they keep overlooking the consequences of what they are doing for the temporary enjoyment they are getting from them. And to make things worse, we now have many parents approving of what these young ones are doing. How sad!
But what is responsible for this kind of attitude? Why will people daily see in the lives of others around them the consequences of choosing to go in certain directions in life and still choose to go in the same directions? One main reason for this is desperation. When people are desperate to survive and to also enjoy their lives, at least, to some degree, they will be willing to do just anything and ignore the consequences.
So, if you find yourself willing to do about anything to survive in this world, regardless of what doing so might do to your soul, to your life and to the people close to you, you must understand that you are desperate. And what is responsible for desperation? It is ignorance of God.
When people are ignorant of God, they will also be ignorant of His love for them and of His power to take care of them. And when people are ignorant of God’s love for them and power to take care of them, they will not trust Him to take care of them. Therefore, if they find themselves in any situation that threatens their existence or enjoyment of life, they will become desperate in saving themselves from it.
But no man can save himself from any problem or difficulty. It is only the one that God saves that will be safe. That is why our Lord Jesus says, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” (Matt 16:25NIV) Did you see that? It does not matter how desperate you are to save yourself from poverty, sickness or death, you will not succeed, if that desperation does not drive you to God. And we can see all around us how many, in their desperation to save themselves from poverty, disgrace, sickness, barrenness or death, are ruining their own lives, destroying their homes and making our world a more dangerous place to live in.
So, stop acting in desperation and doing just about anything that comes to your mind in order to enjoy life, get healed, get married or have children. King Saul once acted against the will of God in desperation in order to save his kingdom. Yet he lost what he was trying to save. And if you too allow desperation to make you go contrary to the will of God for your life, you will also end up being a terrible loser, regardless of how hard you try to win. (Cf. 1Sam 13)
But if you hand over your life to God, He will surely preserve it for you and see to it that you have everything you need to live a meaningful life and to also enjoy your eternity with Him. What, then, are you going to do? Are you going to continue to live in desperation and frustrate yourself out of this life? Or are you going to give yourself and your burdens to God and patiently watch Him take adequate care of you? My prayer is that the Spirit of God will cause you to do the right thing about this matter, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a great day.
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WATCH YOUR DOCTRINE 07/11/24
“Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1Tim 4:16NIV)
In our opening text, Paul tells Timothy to watch his doctrine closely, that is, apart from watching his life. Now that goes beyond what he is teaching people. It is, of course, important that he should watch what he is teaching people. But whatever he is going to teach is going to be a function of what he believes. So, he is essentially talking about what he believes. And he is telling him that he needs to watch it closely. Otherwise, what he teaches will be wrong.
We too must watch what we believe closely. We need to be certain that what we believe is what God wants us to believe. What we believe about God, about ourselves, about life, about how to relate to people and so forth – we need to be certain that it is consistent with the will of God. And that takes us straight to what Paul says to the Ephesians. He says do not be foolish but understand the Lord’s will. We too need to be certain of the will of God for us. We need to be certain that what we call light is actually light and not darkness. (Cf. Eph 5:17)
Jesus once said to the Jews, “See to it that the light within you is not darkness.” That means a lot to me. It means I am to see to it that what I accept as right is actually right and not wrong. That is because ultimately there won’t be any excuse for believing the wrong thing. There is not going to be any excuse for accepting darkness as light, error as truth. So, we need to be sure of what we believe. (Cf. Luke 11:35)
I wouldn’t know if you have been working on this in your life. But it is what God wants us to be devoted to be doing. This is our responsibility. It is not what anyone is going to do for us. It is what we are going to do for ourselves. We are going to watch our lives. We are going to watch our doctrines. We are going to see to it that these things are in agreement with the will of God. Otherwise, someday, we may just be shocked that what we have been calling light is nothing but darkness.
Have a great day.
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HAVE THE RIGHT ATTITUDE 06/11/24
“Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favour in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.” (Genesis 39:19-23NIV)
Did you follow carefully that account? God gave Joseph, a prisoner, success in whatever he did. But you perhaps are not a prisoner. Will this same God, then, not give you success too in whatever you are doing? He will, if you have the right attitude.
See, if you have the right attitude, there is no situation God cannot turn around for your good. It does not matter what people are doing to pull you down or how they are molesting or harassing you, God knows how to turn everything around for your good. He turned everything around for Joseph’s good, when he was a slave. He also turned everything around for his good, when he became a prisoner. God was working with him in that prison, causing all things to work for his good.
Therefore, wherever you are now, know that God is working for your good, if you are one of His children. You only need to have the right attitude and the right approach to everything. And before you know it, His good purpose will manifest in your life – all His good intentions will eventually be fulfilled in your life, as they were fulfilled in Joseph’s case.
God eventually brought him out of the prison and made him the administrator of the entire nation of Egypt. Later, after his father’s death, his brethren came to beg him to forgive them for all that they had done to him. And look at what is reported in the bible about that:
“But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of man lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.” (Genesis 5:19-21NIV)
This man did not hold any grudge against his brethren. Yes, they hurt him. Yes, they offended him. They sold him into slavery and made him experience all kinds of terrible things. But he looked beyond all that they did to him to what God brought about through it. You too must learn to look beyond what people are doing against you. You must learn to look beyond all that they are saying against you to what God is doing with it. He is able to turn the evil that people intend for you to good. Just have the right attitude and always remind yourself that He is for you. And because He is for you, no one can be against you. Also, always remind yourself that He is at work in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.
I pray that your heart will be strengthened with all power to daily walk in patience with God, so that you may receive a fulfilment of all that He has in store for you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a great day.
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FALSE CLAIMS 05/11/24
“Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."” (2Tim 2:19NIV)
What are the main points of these words of admonition? The first is that the truth of God never changes. It will always be the same, regardless of the time or location. So, what God says about righteousness will never change. And what He says about sin will never change. It is now up to us to choose whether we want to stand by His word about these things or follow our own opinions.
The second point Paul wants us to pick is that God knows very well those who belong to Him and those who do not. He can always separate His own people from the crowds. Remember that He it was not difficult at all for Him to separate Noah and his family from the world of his days. And it was not difficult for Him to separate Lot and his family from the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Also, it was not difficult for Him separate seven thousand people for Himself during the reign of that wicked King Ahab, even though the whole land was overloaded with idolatry at the time. (Cf. Gen 6; Gen 19; 1Kings 19)
Therefore, He has no trouble knowing those who belong to Him in this country of ours, even though our population is now above 200 million people. And if He has no trouble knowing that, you should know that He has no trouble knowing those who belong to Him in your town and in your family.
The question, then, is this: Does God consider you as one of His own people? Or do you know yourself to be one of His people? And you cannot be guessing here. It is either you know or you don’t know.
In any case, God knows that it is not everyone that calls himself a Christian, that attends church meetings, that speaks in tongues, that prophesies or that works miracles that belongs to Him. Jesus once said to the people that came to hear His sermon: “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” (Matt 7:21-23NIV)
Did you see that? Many who attend church meetings, who bear bible names or who do all kinds of things in the name of Jesus will be sorry for themselves when the Lord comes. That is because He does not know them as His people. And why is that? It is because they are not devoted to doing His will. As Paul shows us in that word of admonition to Timothy, those who are calling on the name of Jesus must turn away from wickedness and give themselves to righteousness. It is a must for them to do so. Otherwise, their claims that they belong to Him are false.
Could it be, then, that our claims of belonging to Jesus are false too? Could it be that each time God looks at us, He simply sees us as self-deluded people, people who are deceiving themselves about their devotion to Him? And that is exactly how He sees us, if, even though we are calling on the name of Jesus, we have refused to turn away from sexual immorality, greed, pride, hypocrisy, lying, sorcery or any other wicked act of men.
Well, the word of God is coming to us now and telling us to stop deceiving ourselves and face the reality about our situation, so that God can truly save us from those things that are destroying us. And I pray that your heart will be rid of all forms of self-deception, if you are self-deceived, so that you can yield yourself truly to the Lord Jesus Christ and experience His saving power. Amen.
Have a lovely day.
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RECOGNISE THEIR AUTHORITY 04/11/24
“For even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than pulling you down, I will not be ashamed of it.” (2Cor 10:8NIV)
What kind of authority is Paul speaking of here? It is spiritual authority. He is speaking of the authority to supernaturally affect or transform people’s lives. And who gave him this authority? It was the Lord Jesus Christ. And why did He give it to him? As he himself points out in our opening text, He gave it to him to build people’s lives and not to destroy them. Therefore, whatever he said or did with this authority must be geared towards building lives up and not destroying them. And all church leaders must take note of this.
But then, even though Paul had the spiritual authority to build lives up, if those he was dealing with did not recognise this and relate to him accordingly, his authority to build them up will not be a blessing to them. For example, our Lord Jesus, once after using Peter’s boat to preach, told him to launch out into deep water and let down his nets for a catch. Now Peter had every reason not to be obey His word. He was the professional fisherman and not Jesus. Also, he and his men had laboured all through the night and had caught nothing. So, asking them to go back and waste more time trying to catch nothing was somehow insane.
However, instead for Peter to be arguing with the Lord and telling Him why it was insane for him to do as He had instructed, he said that he would obey. Why? It was because he recognised Jesus as one who had supernatural authority to bless him and his labour. He did not know exactly how things would turn out by obeying Him. But he was ready to obey. And when he did, he and his men received the shock of their lives. They received a miracle of provision that was just too much for them to handle. (Cf. Luke 5:1-11)
Similarly, there was a centurion that once sent men to beg Jesus to come and heal his servant that was sick and dying. And while Jesus was still on the way to his house, he sent some friends again to ask him not to bother to come to the house of an unworthy person like him. Why? As far as he was concerned, Jesus was a man of supernatural authority. And since authority could be communicated and, in fact, is often communicated through words, he reasoned that all Jesus needed to do was to simply give a word of healing for his servant and he would become well. That, of course, was exactly what happened. Jesus, excited because of the man’s faith, spoke a word of healing for his servant, and he was immediately healed. (Cf. Luke 7:1-10)
What is the point I am making? It is that there are people who have received supernatural authority from God to make us experience His goodness, mercy, salvation and protection in various ways. And we must recognise them and relate to them accordingly. We must recognise them and always take their words of authority seriously, regardless how quietly or simply they put such words. Otherwise, certain experiences of transformation, exaltation or salvation we desire to witness in our lives may never happen.
Our Lord Jesus once called His disciples to Him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and illness. All they needed to do, then, was to go out and speak healing and deliverance words to people, and they would be healed and set free. However, He also told them before they left that the working of the authority He had given them was not based on what they said or did alone but equally on how what they said and did were received. In other words, if they blessed someone and the person received their words and acted on them, the blessings of those words would rest upon him and work wonders in his life. But if the person did not receive their words, their blessing would return to them. (Cf. Matt 10:1-10)
So, words of blessing, healing, deliverance and exaltation can actually return to those who give them instead of settling to work in the lives of those being blessed. That is a shocking revelation. And only God knows the number of those who, through ignorance or pride, are daily sending back the words of blessing, healing or transformation that are coming to them from those authorised by God to bless them.
Perhaps you too are like that. Because of your failure to take seriously those authorised by God to supernaturally build you up and set you where you should be in life, their authority is not working for you. Yes, they pray for you and teach you God’s word to build up your life. But you are repelling their blessings because you are ignorant, proud, bitter or unteachable. You need to humble yourself and change your attitude towards these spiritual authorities in your life. Otherwise, as I pointed out before, there are great experiences of God’s goodness and mercy that you may never have in life.
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WHAT IS GOING ON WITH YOU? 03/11/24
“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.” (Heb 3:12-13NIV)
One of the things the writer of the book of Hebrews emphasizes all through the pages of the book is the need for every assembly of God’s people to keep an eye on their members. Why? It is so that they will not stray away from the will of God for their lives and be ruined or harm the health of the church. So, if you have any member of your assembly watching out for you and asking you questions relevant to your life and faith, don’t take offence or insult them. They are just fulfilling the law of Christ concerning you (Gal 6:2).
Now I am not saying that it is everyone in your church that is mature enough to know some things about you or to handle certain information about your life. And I am not saying that it is everyone that professes to be a Christian that you can open your life to. Anyone, according to the Scriptures, whose faith-life is not plain for you to see, so that you can tell that they will not injure, pollute or cheat you, is definitely someone you have to be careful in relating to. If, in your judgment, then, there is no one in your assembly that is worthy of knowing what is going on in your life or worthy of keeping an eye on you, you should get out of there and find another assembly where you can freely relate. Otherwise, you will soon enough endanger your faith or life. (Cf. 2Cor 7:2)
So, for your own good, stay in an assembly where you can freely let the brethren know what is going on in your life and also keep an eye on you. Then, for the health of the church, it is important that you keep your life open to the brethren and allow them to be a vital part of it, so that they can continually support you to stay focused in doing the will of God.
Why do we have many weak and unstable Christians in many of our Christian assemblies today? And why do we have many assemblies in which brethren are bitter towards one another or are constantly quarrelling over one thing or the other? One main reason is that many of us don’t want our lives to be watched or set right by the brethren. What we want is to be able to live as we like without anybody’s interference or contribution. And that is not good for us or for the health of the church at all.
For example, apart from what he says in our opening text, the writer of the book of Hebrews also says this to us: “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.” (Heb 12:15-16NIV) How do we see to it that none of us misses the grace of God, if we do not know what is going on in the lives of all of us? How do we see to it that bitterness or division does not happen in our midst, if we do not know what is going on among us? Or how do we prevent our brethren from falling into the trap of sexual immorality or any other sin that could ruin their lives or marriages, if we do not know what is going on in their lives? It is not possible.
See, we can only appropriately help one another stand firm in the faith when we have adequate information about what is going on in our lives. And we can only truly preserve the health of the church of God when there is sufficient knowledge of what is going on among the brethren. For instance, when the church began to increase in number in those early days, some groups of the brethren began to feel that their widows were not being properly treated by those representing the church in food distribution. What, then, did they do about that? They talked to the apostles about it, and the problem was fixed and the church was strengthened. But what if they had kept quiet about it? It would not have been long before bitterness, anger, hatred and envy filled the whole church and ruined it. (Cf. Acts 6:1-7)
So, for your own spiritual health and for the health of the church of God, keep your life and affairs open to the people of God in your life. And don’t carry around the air of ‘My life is nobody’s business’ or function with the notion that no one would understand you or be able to help you, if you should open up to them. Your life is the business of every one of us. Then your business is to make us know and understand what you are up to in life. And my prayer is that the Spirit of God will enable you to understand and function in this light always, so that you don’t end up falling into Satan’s trap or end up becoming his tool in afflicting the church of God.
Cheers!
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DISOBEDIENCE CAN EXPOSE YOUR NAKEDNESS 02/11/24
“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” (Gen 3:7NIV)
What opened the eyes of Adam and Eve to see that they were naked? It was the departure of the glory of God that had been the clothes they were wearing. And what made the covering of the glory of God lift from their lives? It was their disobedience to God's command.
What is this teaching us? It is teaching us that disobedience to God in any area of our lives that can expose our nakedness and bring shame to us. Then, in our attempt to cover our nakedness and shame, like Adam and Eve, we may find ourselves making garments of leaves for ourselves. But there is no garment that we make for ourselves that can cover the nakedness of our lives. So, unless God Himself covers our nakedness, as He later did for Adam and Eve, shame will not disappear from our lives or from our minds.
This explains why when people expose their lives to shame through disobedience to God and try to cover it up with some garment of their own, they end up exposing themselves to greater shame. Remember David. When he went against the will of God and committed adultery with Bathsheba, the woman became pregnant and both of them were confronted with disgrace. And in his attempt to cover up their shame, he, first of all, became a fraudster. He tried to trick Uriah, Bathsheba's husband, into sleeping with her and taking responsibility for his bastard. But he failed. (Cf. 2Sam 11)
Now when he realised that he had failed, he proceeded to murder the man and to then marry his wife. But did he still succeed in covering his shame? No! Instead, he only made things worse for himself. And if God had not shown him mercy, he would have died because of his sin and all that he did to cover it up. So, however insignificant God's instruction to us may be, we will do well not to disobey it. That is because we may not know where our disobedience to Him will expose our nakedness and make us vulnerable to satanic attacks and the ridicule of men. (Cf. 2Sam 12)
But then, even if we have disobeyed God and, as such, are now confronted with shame or disgrace, attempting to sew our own garments to cover it up and prevent God or men from seeing it can only make a bad situation worse for us. The right thing for us to do is to admit to God that we have missed it and allow Him, in His mercy, to deal with the situation and cover our nakedness for us. This will be our wisdom. And my prayer is that God will step into every situation of your life in which your nakedness is exposed and cause His glory to cover you there and also make you free to soar again. Amen.
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THE FATHER OF ALL COMFORT 01/11/24
“When Job's three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads. Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.” (Job 2:11-13NIV)
Why did Job's friends leave their homes to come to him? It was to sympathise with him and also comfort him. And when they came to him and saw his condition, were they able to offer him any comfort? No! As the account shows, when they saw him, instead of comforting him, they all lost their courage. They tore their robes, sprinkled dust on their heads and began to weep aloud. These were old men and not children. Yet they could not keep themselves from weeping when they saw the condition their friend was in. They were, in fact, so grieved for him that they simply sat down with him, for seven days and seven nights, without saying a word.
That, of course, is typical of the kind of suffering some people are experiencing. It is unspeakable. So, there is nothing anyone who knows them or who cares about them can humanly do for them. They can only weep, cry and be sorry for them. If God, therefore, does not comfort such people, there is no way their pains will not eventually swallow up their lives.
Besides, there are times that man's attempt to comfort you may end up adding to your sorrow. And Job's situation also illustrates that for us. When his friends eventually got a handle on themselves and began to speak to him, their words offered him no comfort at all but more pains. Look at some of his comments about their words: “You, however, smear me with lies; you are worthless physicians, all of you! If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom.” (Job 13:4-5NIV)
What did Job call those friends of his that had come to comfort him? Worthless physicians! That means whatever they were saying was not helping matters at all but only making them worse. So, Job told them that it would be better if they would just keep quiet. And perhaps you too are right now feeling the same way about some people in your life that are trying to help you. Perhaps you are feeling or wishing that they would just stop whatever they are trying to do to help you. Why? You can see that what they are doing is not working for you but making things worse.
Well, whether those with you can't comfort you at all or are simply making your pains greater, I want you to know that God can comfort you and also take away all your pains. Here is what Paul says about Him: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (2Cor 1:3-4NIV) Did you see that? God is the Father of compassion. That means He can relate to whatever you are going through. So, instead of hurting you or adding to your pains, whatever steps He takes will be towards showing you mercy.
Also, He is the God of all comfort. So, not only is He able to comfort you in all your troubles, He is also able to make you a comforter to those in any kind of trouble. All you need to do, then, is to ask for His comfort. Just say to Him, “God, my dear Father of all comfort, please have mercy on me and comfort me in every area of my life where I am now in pains.” And He will answer and comfort you. How He will do so is not what I can say. But I can guarantee that just as He comforted Job in all his troubles and restored him, so that his latter years were better and greater than the former, He will comfort you too and restore you in every area of your life.
Peace!
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YOU HAVE AUTHORITY OVER THEM 31/10/24
“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” (Luke 10:19NIV)
Did you see that? All those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ have authority over the devil and all his power. Yes, they have authority to destroy or frustrate the works of the devil wherever they are – and nothing will harm them.
But is this really true? Is it really true that I have authority over the devil and his demons, authority to limit and frustrate their works? Yes, it is true. Even Satan and His demons know this. They know that I am their master because of the authority that the Lord Jesus Christ has given me. What, then, is the problem? Why am I not using this authority to frustrate and restrain them? One of the problems is ignorance. As long as I am ignorant of the fact that, in Christ Jesus, I am a master of Satan and his demons, I will make no effort to frustrate or hinder their works.
Unfortunately, many of God's people are ignorant of this reality. And that is largely because their teachers themselves are ignorant of it. So they could not teach it to them. Instead, they keep exalting the devil before them. They keep telling them how powerful and dangerous he is and how only God can handle him. And it is true that Satan is powerful and dangerous and that only God can handle him. But then, God has through Jesus Christ given us His own authority to handle him. This authority is in the name of Jesus. And any time we come against them and their works in this name, they have no choice, regardless of their number or where they have come from, but to bow their knees in obedience (Phil 2:9-11).
It is now on us to either use this authority or not use it. But know that authority that we won't use is useless. And Satan knows this. He knows that even though we have authority over him, we may not be willing to use it or know how to use it. So, he will keep on doing his own thing in the world, hoping that we won't challenge or stop him. That explains why many things are out of place for many people and in many places. Things are not like that for them because God has permitted them to be so but because they have permitted them to be so by not using Christ's authority to frustrate the devil.
Another problem is unbelief. As long as my heart will not embrace the fact that the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ as the master of Satan and his demons is now mine to use, I will not use it. And there are many of us who have heard again and again that we are no longer subjects but masters of the devil. Yet we are not doing anything about this reality. Why? It is because we really do not believe it to be true. Our hearts still find it hard to agree that we are actually what God says we are in this matter. So, when we are confronted with situations in which we are supposed to stop the devil from working, we start looking for those who are going to help us resist him.
But the bible does not say that we should look for anybody to resist the devil for us or that it is only certain rare believers that can resist him. Rather, it tells us all to resist him and that he will flee from us when we do so (James 4:7). It is, then, up to us to either resist, frustrate and stop him from working in our lives or in the lives of some loved ones or not to do so.
Another problem is lack of intelligence to use the name of Jesus. It is true that Christ has given us His own authority over the devil to use in frustrating him and stopping his works. It is also true that He says whatever we permit on earth will be permitted in heaven and whatever we forbid on earth will be forbidden heaven. But we must never forget that our authority to use the name of Jesus is delegated authority. That being the case, it has to be used in line with the will of the one who has given it to us.
What that means, of course, is that we need to continually acquaint ourselves with the will of the Lord Jesus Christ in order for us to be effective in using His authority in this world. If we know His will, then, we will know what we can use His authority to do and what we cannot use His authority to do. And the more we know His will, the more we increase in spiritual intelligence to use His authority.
But because many of us believers are ignorant of His will in many ways, we often miss it in the way we use His authority. And once we fail, we conclude that it does not work or that it is not everybody that it will work for. But His authority will work for all of us and any of us. It all depends on how seriously we take it and the degree of our intelligence in using it.
Therefore, my prayer for you today that is God will perfect all that is lacking in your ability to intelligently, boldly and faithfully use the authority that He has given to you in Christ Jesus to frustrate the devil and his works and to establish His will in your life and in your world. Amen.
Have a lovely day.
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MAY THEY BE KEPT FROM MAKING DECISIONS THAT CAN RUIN YOUR LIFE 30/10/24
“Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel.” (1Chron 21:1NIV)
As we see in the bible, one of the schemes that Satan often uses to afflict people is to use those who have authority over them or authority to make certain decisions on their behalf to do things that will expose them to God's judgment. For example, in our opening bible text, we are told of a time in which Satan was bent on afflicting the people of Israel. And what did he do to accomplish his purpose? He incited their king, David, to take a census of them, against the will of God. That, of course, resulted in the death of seventy thousand people among them, individuals that did not send David on that reckless trip that he took. And the number would have been more, if God had not shown the land mercy. (Cf. 1Chro 21)
Also, we are told in the bible of how Achan's decision to steal for himself some of the items devoted to God resulted in the death of his wife and children. As the account goes, before the children of Israel took over the city of Jericho, they had been warned not to take any of the items devoted to God there. Otherwise, their camp would be liable to destruction. Yet Achan coveted some of these items, stole them and hid them away from everybody's eyes. And that, as God had warned, brought defeat upon the nation during their next war campaign. Sadly, when the man would be judged, he was not the only one that suffered for what he did. His wife and children also partook in it, even though the account does not tell us that they were a party to what he did. Thus, they died before their time not because of any wrong thing they did but because the head of their family made a foolish decision that negatively affected them all. (Cf. Joshua 6-7)
Furthermore, we have in the bible a brief account of a man name Hiel, who took it upon himself to rebuild the cursed city of Jericho. Evidently, he was a very wealthy man, wealthy enough to take on the task of rebuilding a whole city. And though nothing in itself was wrong with what he wanted to do, there was at the time a lingering curse of death on the city. As we see in the bible, Joshua, the man of God that captured that city several years before that time had placed a curse on it, which was that anyone who rebuilt it would lay its foundation at the cost of his firstborn son and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son. And Hiel just walked right into the curse by rebuilding the city and lost his firstborn son Abiram and his youngest son Segub in the process. So, those children did not die because of any particular sin they committed against God. Rather, they died because their father, who had authority over them and whom they did not choose to be their father, made a foolish decision that placed them right under a curse of death. (Cf. Joshua 6:26; 1Kings 16:34)
Similarly, several parents in Bethlehem lost their kids on the day that the Herod that was on the throne when Jesus was born gave an order to have all the boys who were two years old and under in the town killed. Why? Was it because those fathers and mothers were terrible sinners in the sight of God? No! Rather, it was because Satan used the weapon of jealousy to move their king to do something that would throw them into mourning, in his attempt to get rid of the boy Jesus. (Cf. Matthew 2)
What is the point I am making with all these examples I just gave you? It is that it is not every time that people die or suffer terribly in life because they have sinned against God or made some wrong decisions about their own lives. There are times that people suffer or die in life because certain individuals who have authority over them or who are in a position to make some decisions on their behalf mess up. This is why our prayer must not just be that we will not take a step that will put us in trouble or ruin our lives; it must also be that nobody that is a position to make decisions that will affect us will be allowed by God to make any decision that will ruin or destroy our lives. Then, if we truly love the people in our lives and that we constantly make decisions that affect them, then, we must also learn to pray that we will be kept by God from doing anything that will ruin their lives or make them die before their time.
Now how often are we to offer this kind of prayers? That is not something that I can tell. But I think every day will be a good place to start.
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I KNOW WHOM I BELIEVE 29/10/24
“And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.” (2Tim 1:11-12NIV)
Did you see that? Paul did not hide the fact that he was going through a very difficult time at the time he wrote this letter. He was suffering. But why was he suffering? Was it because he was a criminal? No! Was it because he was lazy and irresponsible and so could not take care of his basic needs? No! Or was it because Satan succeeded in afflicting him with an illness that made life miserable for him? No!
Why, then, was Paul suffering, if it was not for any of the reasons I just mentioned? As he clearly points out in that text, it was because of the gospel of Jesus Christ that he was preaching that he was suffering. It was because he was proclaiming the truth about Jesus Christ that he was arrested and jailed like a common criminal.
Nevertheless, this man of God said, “Yet I am not ashamed.” In other words, he was not ashamed of suffering for the Lord. He was not ashamed of being imprisoned for the Lord. He was not ashamed of being insulted and assaulted for the Lord. But can you and I say the same thing? We cannot say the same thing, if we are in any way ashamed of suffering for the Lord. If we are ashamed of being insulted or assaulted because of Him, we cannot say the same thing. And if we are ashamed of our current financial or social status, a status we are in because we would not cheat, steal, lie, falsify figures or get involved in any form of rituals, we cannot speak like Paul.
But we really need to operate from that realm in life in which we are not ashamed of ourselves or our circumstances, regardless of how bad or lowly they may seem. Yes, as children of God, we need to be functioning from that ground where we don't have to hide from any family member, old friend, neighbour, colleague at work or even church member because we are ashamed of our situation in life. And what will make that happen is for us to know in our hearts what Paul knew in his heart and to also have in our hearts the same persuasion he had in his heart.
What, then, did this man know in his heart and what was he persuaded about? It was the fact that the God he believed in was able to preserve everything he had committed into His hand. And exactly what did he commit into God's hand? He does not mention it in his letter. Actually, I am of the opinion that it was his soul that he entrusted to Him, so that He would keep it strong and blameless to the very end. But even if it was something else that he entrusted to Him, one thing is clear about him, which is that he was fully persuaded that God was able to preserve what he entrusted to Him. That was why he was not ashamed at all. He knew that he would end up as a victor and not a loser in life and in God's eternal kingdom.
Now, as I already said, we too need to know whom we have believed in and what He is capable of doing for us. Otherwise, our so-called faith in Him is useless and cannot be productive. To say the fact, one main reason the faith of many in God is not working is that it is not based on sure knowledge. They don't really know Him and what He is capable of doing for them. Once we know Him as we ought to know Him, then, we will never again have any reason to be ashamed in this life. We will just entrust everything about our lives, home, business, education, health, future and so forth into His hands, knowing that He cares about us and will sustain us through life and also preserve everything we have entrusted to Him.
So, as you continue your life's journey this month, be determined to so give yourself to God's word that your heart becomes fully persuaded about who He is to you and what He is able to do for you. Then you will never be ashamed of yourself or your circumstances in life again, for you will know that He is able to keep all that you entrust to Him and also make all things cooperate for your good.
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CHANGE THE SEED 28/10/24
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” (Gal 6:7NIV)
Without doubt, our opening bible text is one of the most often quoted bible verses. That is because it communicates a principle that people can easily relate to. And what is that principle? It is the principle of sowing and reaping.
Now what does the principle of sowing and reaping say? It says that it is what you sow that you reap. And this is not applicable to farming alone; it is equally applicable to other areas of life. What you plant in any area of your life is what you are going to reap there. That is how God has designed life. And there is nothing anybody can do to change it.
So, if you do not like the results you are getting in life, first of all check the seed you are planting. And I am not only referring to the seed you are planting into the lives of others; I am also referring to the seed you are planting into your own life. What kind of seed are you planting into your life? That is what is going to determine how your life will turn out.
I know that when we are talking about the principle of sowing and reaping, it is either people begin to think about not doing bad things to others, so that you do not reap bad things, or they (especially those who are Christians) begin to think about giving something to God or to a man of God, so that they will reap divine prosperity. And it is true that the principle of sowing and reaping is applicable in these areas as well. But it goes beyond them. It goes beyond how you treat others or whether you give for God’s cause or not. It also involves how you treat yourself.
How do you treat your own life? What are you treating yourself to? What sort of seed are you planting into your own life, into your family or into your business? You may be mindful of the seed you plant into the lives of others because you want your relationships with them to be great. And you may be mindful of the seed you plant into God’s kingdom because you want His favour. But if you are not mindful of the seed you plant into your own life, the favour of God you are getting and the great relationships you have may not be able to stop it from being ruined.
Jesus says, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.” (Matt 12:35NIV) How does a man become good, according to the Lord? It is by planting goodness in his life. And how does a man become evil, according to Him? It is by planting evil in his life.
So, it is all about what we plant in our lives. If we are planting seeds of jealousy, hatred, bitterness, deceit or immorality in our hearts, whether through what we say, hear, think or see, that is what our lives will naturally bring out. And it does not matter how hard we struggle against it, nothing will change unless we too change the seed we are planting in our lives.
Unfortunately, many don’t know this. They want to be good, pure, kind and upright people. And they are praying and trying to be these things. But their effort is not working. And the reason it is not working is that they are not planting the seeds of goodness, purity, kindness and uprightness in their lives. Instead, they are continually loading themselves with impure, unkind and ungodly thoughts and desires through the things they hear and see from wrong friends and the media world. How, then, are they going to become good people? It is not going to happen.
What such people need to do is to change what they are planting into their lives. God told Joshua to cultivate the culture of planting His word in heart morning, night and noon, if he wanted to make his way prosperous and have good success. And I have seen that this is exactly what I also need to do, if I want to prosper, live in health, live in peace and have good success. I must use God’s word to daily plant seeds of peace, prosperity, health and righteousness into my heart. And as long as I am committed to doing this, it is only a matter of time before I begin to harvest peace, prosperity, health and righteousness in every area of my life. (Cf. Joshua 1:8)
Now if you too want what I want in your life, if you want to begin to see goodness, peace, health, prosperity and wholeness in your life, you have got to change the seeds you are planting there. “But what about the bad seeds I planted in my life before and which have become large trees that are now producing all kinds of evil fruit?” you ask. Well, God is able to take care of them. The bible says God is going to cut down and thrown into the fire every tree that is not producing good fruit (Matt 3:10). You just stop planting evil seeds but good seeds in your life. And it is only a matter of time before you start seeing your life bear the fruit of the good seeds you have been planting in it.
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GOD’S MAN OR ANOTHER PILATE 27/10/24
“Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him." But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.” (Luke 23:20-25NIV)
From the passage of the Scripture above, it is clear that Pilate knew quite well that Jesus did not deserve to be punished at all, not to talk of being given a death sentence. Yet he gave him a death sentence. Of course, he did this reluctantly. That is because, as we are shown in a parallel passage, right before the people, he washed his hand with water and said, “I am innocent of the blood of this man.” (Cf. Matt 27:24)
But the fact remains that he gave Jesus a death sentence. He gave him a death sentence, even though it was in his place to release Him and let Him go in peace. He gave Him a death sentence, even though he had examined him and found him guiltless. Yes, he gave Him a death sentence, even though his wife had earlier sent a message to him not to have anything to do with the condemnation or death of an innocent and righteous man.
Now why did Mr Pilate do that? Why did he use his office, which was the highest office in the land at the time, to promote injustice, when the right way to judge was very clear to him? It was because he wanted to please the people; he wanted to go with the crowds (Mark 15:15). Of course, he did not see it that way. That was why he used water to publicly wash his hands off the case. But what was that? That was nonsense. He was in a position to use his authority to save an innocent man from a jealous and ruthless mob. But he would not. How, then, could he think a bowl of water was all he needed to free himself from the sin and guilt of murder?
In any case, similar things still regularly happen in the world today. Here and there, we see people who are in a position to promote justice or what is upright act contrary what to what they know and even believe to be the truth. Why? Fear is always the reason.
When we are afraid of being different, afraid of becoming unpopular with the majority, we may find ourselves throwing away our sense of justice or our duty to give justice in order to please men. And then we will start looking for ways to justify ourselves by saying things like, “If you can’t beat them, you join them,” or “God sees my heart and knows that I am not in support of this.”
But the word of God says ‘No’ to such things. His word commands us never to follow a multitude to do evil (Ex 23:2). And that is not because our refusal to go with the multitude will be easy in every situation. Rather, it is because the will of God is for us to separate ourselves from every kind of evil, even if doing so will set us against the whole world.
To say the fact, there may surely be times in our lives in which our stand for justice or morality will set us against the crowd or the majority. Yes, there may be times in which our refusal to go with the majority in promoting wickedness, injustice or immorality will be the only chance for righteousness to win where we are. And it will be good of us not to be like Mr Pilate but like God the true judge on such occasions. Otherwise, whatever we do afterwards may not have any power to change the history we have already made.
Pilate made history as the head of a supreme court that sentenced the only sinless man that ever walked the face of the earth to death. Yes, God wanted things to end that way. But Pilate did not have to be the one to make it happen. And you also don’t have to be the one to once again illustrate to the world that the natural man will always choose evil over good, if the circumstances are right, when you can be one of those that will be showing the world that God still has righteous people here on earth that will always do His will, even if they have to go against everyone else.
Which will it be, then? Will you be God’s man or another Pilate? Or shall I say, “Will I be God’s man or another Pilate?” I guess we all will find out someday in eternity.
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A WAR AGAINST ABSALOM 26/10/2024.
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Rom 12:18NIV)
Those are Paul's words of admonition to us about handling our relationships. According to him, our focus must always be on living at peace with everyone, regardless of our relationship with them. And that is because, as we are further shown in Scriptures, doing so is one main way to see and enjoy many good days (Psalm 34:11-14; 1Peter 3:10-11).
However, there are times that it is just practically impossible to be at peace with some people. That is because they don't want peace and are not ready to let us be at peace. So, we just have to go to war against them in order for us to have peace.
But then, it is easy to go to war against one that is not close or dear to us in any way. What is not easy is to have to go to war against one that is close to us or dear to us or one that we are even supposed to be protecting. And that is what we see in the case of David and Absalom.
Absalom was one of David's sons, his third son. And he was very much loved by his father, perhaps because he was the most handsome man in Israel at the time, a young man that had no blemish in his physical appearance (2Sam 14:25). But at some point, pride and treachery filled Absalom's heart and he began to covet the throne of Israel for himself, even while his father was still very much alive.
To cut a long story short, Absalom staged a successful coup, which caused his father David, his household and all his men to run for their lives. So, even though it brought him much distress, David had to go to war against his own son and kill him. Otherwise, he would not be able to keep himself, his wives, his other sons and daughters and all the people who had served him all their lives alive and well. Not only that, he would not be able to restore peace and order to the nation of Israel, as a godly king. (Cf. 2Sam 15-19)
Nevertheless, even though David and his men successfully squashed Absalom's rebellion and killed him and the rebels with him, did he have any cause to rejoice over their victory? No! Instead, the bible says that he was shaken when he learnt of his son's death and mourned greatly for him, wishing that he had died in his place (2Sam 18:33).
Now that is exactly what we too may experience if we have to go against some individuals in our lives. Yes, the war against them may be necessary and unavoidable. But whether we win or lose against them, the outcome will always be a loss. And that will be because of the relationship we have with them and the love we have for them.
For example, there have been people who have had to go to war against their parents, siblings, spouses or children because of their direct acts of wickedness or hostility against them. Would such people be able to celebrate their victory over these loved ones, even if they won? It would take a godless, irresponsible and cruel person to celebrate such wins or victories. That is because that kind of war is usually one that any person in his right mind will want to avoid at all cost, for it is a war against oneself.
What is my point in sharing all this with you? It is simply that there is a need for us to constantly pray that no one in our lives or who is dear to us will become an Absalom that we will someday have to fight and destroy. That is because if that should happen, it may for the rest of our lives affect our experience of the joy of the Spirit of God in our lives.
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EVEN IF YOU FIGHT COURAGEOUSLY 25/10/2024.
“But a man of God came to him and said, "O king, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the LORD is not with Israel — not with any of the people of Ephraim. Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow.”"
(2Chron 25:7-8NIV)
Those were the words spoken by a man of God to King Amaziah of Judah when he was going to fight the Edomites. And why were they spoken to him? They were spoken to him because he had hired with a lot of money a hundred thousand mercenaries from Israel to fight for him. Why did he hire them? It must have been because he accessed the situation and concluded that his army was not strong enough to defeat the Edomites.
However, just before they set out, God sent a prophet to warn him not to allow the Israelites he had hired to march with him. According to the man of God, God was not with the northern nation of Israel at that time. And that was because of their idolatry and wickedness. So, for the nation of Judah to team up with them to do anything was to team up with God's enemies. And that would not result in success for them, regardless of how courageously they fought.
Hearing that, of course, was a hard thing for King Amaziah to take in. And that was because of the heavy sum of money he had paid to hire those men. But the man of God told him not to worry about the money, for God was able to restore it to him in multiple folds. All he needed to be concerned about, then, was not losing more than the money he had paid them, not losing his life and the lives of his men as well. (Cf. 2Chro 25:9)
Thankfully, he obeyed the voice of the Lord and dismissed the Israelite mercenaries. And to show him that God was right about them, on their way home, they raided some Judean towns, killed many people and took away their things. Imagine, then, how they would have behaved, if they had gone with him. They may just have turned their back on him in the middle of the fight and helped his enemies to defeat him.
In any case, because Amaziah obeyed the voice of the Lord, He gave him a resounding victory over the Edomites. So, he had his opportunity to learn first-hand that victory comes from the Lord and not from human strength, skill or courage. Unfortunately, he did not learn at all. Instead, he turned away from the Lord to some dead idols and made a quick end of himself and of his reign. (Cf. 2Chro 25:11-28)
Well, the first point of the story is that the only one that gives true victory to people in the face of any challenge or battle of life is God. So, He is the one we are to depend on totally for victory in every situation of our lives. And if, instead of putting our trust in Him, we choose to put our trust in humans or in some worthless idols, we can be sure that defeat is what we are going to ultimately experience, regardless of how courageous we are in facing our lives' battles or trials.
Then another point of the story is that the presence of certain things or people in our lives can hinder our experience of the victory that God has already given to us. And unless we separate ourselves from such things or people, it does not matter how courageously and diligently we face our lives' matters, we won't be able to attain the height God wants us to attain. But what if the people we are talking about are our families? Are we just going to get rid of them like that, simply because we want to experience God's favour or blessings? No!
See, we cannot just separate ourselves from our legitimate relationships as we please. But we can choose not to partake in the sins of others, even if they are our blood. And if we distant ourselves from their errors in that sense, God will know what to do to prevent them from hindering our progress or limiting our experience of His victory in the face of life's challenges.
But there are people that we have the power to choose whether we are going to be with them or not. That is because we owe them no allegiance and are not under any family, job or social obligation to do things with them. And if such people are living contrary to the will of God, we should do our best not to team up with them in doing anything that concerns our progress or peace of mind. Otherwise, they may be the door through which Satan will attack us, steal from us or destroy us. And regardless of how hard we pray or how courageous and diligent we are in such situations, we may not experience victory or breakthrough.
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IF YOU WANT TO KNOW GOD BETTER 24/10/2024.
“Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.” (Philippians 3:1NIV)
What is Paul saying here? He is saying that he does not consider it burdensome to write the same things all over again to the Philippians. Why is he not sorry to write these brethren the same things all over again? It is because it will help them not to forget any truth they need to imbibe.
Now that is what God does to us too every day. He brings to us the very same things he said to us before. He may say them in different words. But he is continually bringing to us the same message. And until we begin to act on what he is telling us, we have no right to expect him to tell us new things.
Do you want to grow your faith? Then start acting on what God is saying to you. Don’t just increase your bible knowledge. You actually can do that—you can go Sunday after Sunday to church meetings and increase your Bible knowledge. So, you get to know all the scriptures. You know all the teachings of Paul and all the teachings of John. You may have even memorised all the words of Jesus. But you are merely increasing in Bible knowledge. You are not increasing in character, faith, love and patience. Your life is not changing. Yes, your knowledge is increasing. But it is actually not your knowledge of God that is increasing; it is your knowledge of the Bible that is increasing.
You must recognise the difference between these two kinds of knowledge -- the knowledge of the bible and the knowledge of God. A lot of people have the knowledge of the bible. In fact, there is increase today in the knowledge of the bible. The bible is now everywhere and not just in its book form; it is also now on cell phones, laptops, androids and so forth. You find it everywhere you go. Also, there are a lot of Bible Schools today. There are a lot of schools of Theology, and people are now getting different kinds of degree, the kinds that none of the Apostles of old had—PhD this and PhD that.
Now do I have a problem with all that? No! But God does not just want us to increase our knowledge of the scriptures; he also expects us to act on what he is sharing with us. And as I said before, until you start acting on what he is sharing with you, he is not about to tell you any more things. In other words, He will not give you greater revelations of Himself.
So, if you want to know God better and become better acquainted with His will, begin to take very seriously all that He has been saying to you in His word. And I pray that you will daily find strength to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a pleasant day.
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IF YOU CONTINUE IN MY TEACHING 23/10/2024.
“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” (John 8:31-32NIV)
A lot of times we isolate verse 32 of this text and quote it—preachers do that a lot. We would say, “You will know the truth and the truth will set or make you free.” That is true. But how do you get to know the truth? And that is the question many of us are not asking
Now the first thing Jesus says in the text is, “If you hold to my teaching…” The Greek word used here for ‘hold’ is ‘Meno.’ And it means ‘to continue,’ ‘to abide’ or ‘to remain.’ It suggests the idea of continuity and perpetuity
So, Jesus is simply saying, “If you continue in my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” The key point is that you must continue to study His word. Yes, you must continue to learn from Him. It is not a one-off thing. It is something you do once in a while. It is not something you do for some weeks or months. It is something you must continue to do to the very end of your time here on earth
Well, Jesus says, “If you continue in my teaching, then, you are going to discover the truth for yourself.” How will that happen? I don’t know. What I know is that He says if you just continue in His teaching, you are going to locate the truth. Yes, you will find out all the truth God wants you to know in this life. And this truth will be so clear to you. Then, as a result of the truth you now know, you will find yourself walking in liberty
Do you want to walk in liberty, then? Do you want to walk in freedom in every area of your life? Just continue in the teaching of our Lord Jesus. And you will know the truth that will make you fre
Cheer
s!e.. . . . .
Cheers!
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GIVE THEM WHAT IS RIGHT AND FAIR 22/10/2024.
“Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.” (Col 4:1NIV)
It is a fact that everyone who invests his money or resources in acquiring something or enjoying some services wants real value for it. This is why we often go into endless bargaining with those selling their goods or services to us. We don’t ever like to find out that we have paid more than we have been offered in terms of goods or services. And nothing really is wrong with functioning like that.
Nonetheless, as those who believe in God and in the fact that He is the Great Judge over all, we need to watch out for greed or the love of money in all our business dealings. Otherwise, in our quest to acquire things or get things done at a good price, we may end up cheating others. And cheating is stealing.
So then, in our opening text, Paul admonishes us, as he admonishes all employers of labour, to provide those who work for us or those who provide us with goods or services with what is right and fair. That means we need to consciously see to it that, in paying people for whatever they sell to us or do for us, we do not pay them less than they are offering us and cheat them of their profit.
Of course, it is not always easy to tell the real monetary value of all the goods we are buying or services we are getting. So, there will be times in which we will ignorantly pay more or less than the real value of the goods or services we are getting for others. And God can understand our limitations along this line. But when we know exactly the worth of what we are getting from people and yet decide to unduly take advantage of their ignorance and pay them less for it or when we manipulate or threaten them into taking from us something less than what they are offering, we have become cheaters and thieves. We are like the individuals described in Solomon’s proverbs, when he says, “"It's no good, it's no good!" says the buyer; then off he goes and boasts about his purchase.” (Prov 20:14NIV)
Can you relate to that? You should be able to relate to it. I mean that you probably can remember situations in which you discredited some items you wanted to buy just so you could pay less for them or situations in which you minimized the worth of someone’s services just so you could pay them less than they were offering. Then when you eventually got what you wanted, you began to boast to others about the great worth of what you got. All such things are not righteous. And God, who is the Great Judge over all and who is forever watching us, knows what we are up to and will reward us accordingly here on earth and not just in heaven.
Now how God will reward us here for consciously cheating others is not something I or anybody can speak of. Sometimes it may be by denying us the enjoyment of what we have gotten or by allowing us to lose more than we have gained. Exactly how He will judge in matters like this is beyond what anyone can really tell. But He will certainly judge them and make sure everyone involved in cheating others gets what is appropriate for them.
So, make up your mind that you will always be careful to give those who make goods or services available to you what is right and fair before God and before man. In fact, it is always better to pay people more than they offering us than to pay them less. That way, we can keep our lives free from the troubles that come with being found by God as a thief of the fruit of other people’s labour. Therefore, when next you want to trick, manipulate or threaten others to take from you something less than what they are offering you, remember that God is watching you and will reward you too accordingly.
Have a pleasant day.
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AVOID SEXUAL IMMORALITY 21/10/2024.
“It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you.” (1Thess 4:3-6NIV)
That is Paul’s admonition to us. And why am I sharing it with you today? It is because, just as it was in the days of Paul, there is so much sexual immorality in the world now and so many children of God are getting involved in it (1Cor 7:2).
What I am saying is that sexual immorality is no longer a big deal for many children of God as well. They no longer see sex before marriage or sex outside marriage as anything serious. And that is because that is the picture those of the world are daily painting about it. I mean that everyday they do and say things that make adultery or fornication or orgy look great. And they give those who will not join them in this nonsense the impression that they are not normal or that they are greatly missing out on the sweetness of sex.
But what is the will of God for us? As Paul tells us in that text, the will of God is for us to avoid sexual immorality and to learn to control our bodies in a way that is holy and honourable. And notice that it is not sex we are instructed by God to avoid. What we are instructed by Him to avoid is sexual immorality, that is, immoral and improper ways of handling sex.
Now these immoral ways, of course, include sex before marriage, sex outside marriage, rape, prostitution, sex with animals, sex among people of the same sex, group sex and any other form of impure thing people who are not married may do together with their bodies. It is these that we are warned by God to avoid. In fact, as Paul makes clear in another letter of his, what God wants really is for us to run away from these things (1Cor 6:18-20).
And why does God want us to run away from sexual immorality? First, it is because it defiles our bodies, which are His temple, and make them unfit for Him to use for His glory. Second, it is because it unites us with people in unholy ways, opening the door for all kinds of problems that should never have been a part of our lives to come into them. Third, it exposes us to both God’s periodic and eternal judgment. Actually, all the sexually transmitted diseases that we know of today are expressions of God’s judgment on sexual immorality and perversion among men.
So, nothing is wrong with you, if you abstain from any form of sexual immorality. Nothing is wrong with you, if you are not married and are still a virgin. Nothing is wrong with you, if you are not co-habiting with someone you are not married to. And nothing is wrong with you, if you will not give yourself to pornography or any of these sexually explicit materials that are defiling and ruining many lives today.
Yes, as I said before, those of the world around you may try to make you feel that you are not alright or that you are missing greatly by not joining them in their sexual sins. Don’t listen to them or feel bad because of their senseless talks. You are on the right track. And apart from the fact that your life will be kept safe from strange and destructive diseases, someday, the Lord, whom you are honouring with your body, will vindicate you and reward you for staying true to Him.
Do have a great day.
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AVOID SEXUAL IMMORALITY 21/10/2024.
“It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you.” (1Thess 4:3-6NIV)
That is Paul’s admonition to us. And why am I sharing it with you today? It is because, just as it was in the days of Paul, there is so much sexual immorality in the world now and so many children of God are getting involved in it (1Cor 7:2).
What I am saying is that sexual immorality is no longer a big deal for many children of God as well. They no longer see sex before marriage or sex outside marriage as anything serious. And that is because that is the picture those of the world are daily painting about it. I mean that everyday they do and say things that make adultery or fornication or orgy look great. And they give those who will not join them in this nonsense the impression that they are not normal or that they are greatly missing out on the sweetness of sex.
But what is the will of God for us? As Paul tells us in that text, the will of God is for us to avoid sexual immorality and to learn to control our bodies in a way that is holy and honourable. And notice that it is not sex we are instructed by God to avoid. What we are instructed by Him to avoid is sexual immorality, that is, immoral and improper ways of handling sex.
Now these immoral ways, of course, include sex before marriage, sex outside marriage, rape, prostitution, sex with animals, sex among people of the same sex, group sex and any other form of impure thing people who are not married may do together with their bodies. It is these that we are warned by God to avoid. In fact, as Paul makes clear in another letter of his, what God wants really is for us to run away from these things (1Cor 6:18-20).
And why does God want us to run away from sexual immorality? First, it is because it defiles our bodies, which are His temple, and make them unfit for Him to use for His glory. Second, it is because it unites us with people in unholy ways, opening the door for all kinds of problems that should never have been a part of our lives to come into them. Third, it exposes us to both God’s periodic and eternal judgment. Actually, all the sexually transmitted diseases that we know of today are expressions of God’s judgment on sexual immorality and perversion among men.
So, nothing is wrong with you, if you abstain from any form of sexual immorality. Nothing is wrong with you, if you are not married and are still a virgin. Nothing is wrong with you, if you are not co-habiting with someone you are not married to. And nothing is wrong with you, if you will not give yourself to pornography or any of these sexually explicit materials that are defiling and ruining many lives today.
Yes, as I said before, those of the world around you may try to make you feel that you are not alright or that you are missing greatly by not joining them in their sexual sins. Don’t listen to them or feel bad because of their senseless talks. You are on the right track. And apart from the fact that your life will be kept safe from strange and destructive diseases, someday, the Lord, whom you are honouring with your body, will vindicate you and reward you for staying true to Him.
Do have a great day.
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HE WILL FREE YOU FROM THEIR TRAPS 20/10/2024.
“Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge.” (Ps 31:4NIV)
One of the things God wants all His children to keep in mind is that those of this world do not love righteousness but hate it. In fact, our Lord Jesus specifically says, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19NIV) What this means is that none of us should assume that those of this world will love us because we are good to them or because we are doing and promoting righteousness. On the contrary, we can safely assume that they can hate and despise us, even though we are good to them and are devoted to promoting righteousness.
Our Lord Jesus was good to the men of His days. Not only that, everything He did was geared towards promoting righteousness and justice in the land. Yet He was hated and killed for it. And He has told us to expect to be given the same treatment by those in our world. In other words, we can expect hostility in this world. We can expect those of this world to seek our downfall or destruction, even though we are good and kind to them. (Cf. John 15:18-19)
Does this, then, mean that we are at the mercy of those of the world? No, we are not at their mercy. We are not at their mercy because God is able to protect us from all their schemes and plots to harm or injure us. And one of the ways to receive His protection from them is to ask for it.
For instance, in our opening text, David asks that God will keep him free from the traps set for him. Why? According to him, it is because God is his refuge. Is God your refuge too? Is He your safehouse? If He is your refuge and safehouse, you too should always feel free to ask Him to keep you from whatever traps set for you by the wicked around you.
Now when we are talking about a trap, we are talking about a hidden plan to catch and disgrace or destroy someone. For instance, Luke tells us in Acts of the Apostles of a time in which more than forty Jews came up with a plot to kill Paul. These men actually swore that they would not eat or drink until they got rid of him. And what did he do to deserve death from their hands? Nothing! His only crime was that of preaching the good news about Jesus Christ and promoting His righteousness. (Cf. Acts 23:12-13)
In any case, these men set a trap of death for Paul and used their religious leaders to cover it up. But God exposed their plot to a nephew of Paul. So, he went to tell Paul who was still being held in the barracks at the time. And when Paul told the commander there, he lost no time at all to give order to some of his men to take him to safety. That was how God freed this apostle from the trap of death set for him by his enemies and made him live longer to preach the gospel and promote righteousness here on earth. (Cf. Acts 23:16-32)
In like manner, God is able to free you from every trap of the enemies around you and even of those who relate to you like friends but who are actually enemies on the inside. Mind you, He does not need to reveal to you what they are planning against you in order to keep you safe. That is because it is not your knowledge of the traps set for you that will keep you safe; rather, it is God Himself that will keep you safe.
So, you should not just be praying to God to expose the plots of the wicked to you; you should also and more importantly be praying that He will keep you safe from them. And if you take praying like this seriously, you can be sure that God will keep His promise of protection to you and see to it that every step you take does not lead you into any trap of the wicked. But then, be sure that you, like Paul, are also fully devoted to living for God's righteousness and praise. Otherwise, He may just not see any reason to keep you safe just for you to continue to promote wickedness in the land.
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IF YOU SHOULD FALL INTO ANY TRAP 19/10/2024.
“Praise be to the LORD, who has not let us be torn by their teeth. We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Ps 124:6-8NIV)
Among the things we are taught in Scriptures is the need to add vigilance to our devotion to prayer. Why? It is because we have an enemy that is always going around looking for opportunities to devour us. And this enemy is not a human being but the devil himself. So, it is not enough for us to be praying to God to keep us safe from his schemes and traps. It is also important that we watch the way we live our lives and conduct our affairs, so that we will not give him any room to work in our lives and destroy us. (Cf. Matt 26:41; Eph 4:27; 1Pet 5:8)
But then, regardless of how prayerful and careful we are with our lives, we may still fall into certain traps of the devil. For instance, as prayerful, diligent, Godfearing and careful as Joseph was in the house of Potiphar, he still someday fell into the trap of the man's wife. And even though he ran for his life and made sure he had nothing to do with that woman, he still ended up in the prison for a crime he did not commit. (Cf. Gen 39)
However, since it was because this man was honouring God that he became a victim of the lies of that wicked woman, God, at the right time, broke the snare that caught him. So, instead of wasting away in that Egyptian prison, he escaped to live and fulfil his destiny in life. And just like the psalmist in our opening text, he too was eventually in a position to sing and bless God, saying, “The snare has been broken, and I have escaped.”
What about Daniel? When his enemies in the royal court of King Darius realised that they would never be able to pin any crime on him, not because he was smart in covering his crimes but because there was really no crime to cover, they decided to set a religious trap for him. They seduced the king to issue an irrevocable edict against anyone that prayed to any other god or man but the king himself. Why did they do this? They wanted to weaken Daniel spiritually. (Cf. Dan 6:1-9)
See, the people Daniel was dealing with at that time were not just some street thugs or overly ambitious people but educated, rich and influential sorcerers. And for them to come up with a kind of plot that would hinder Daniel from praying to God for a whole month, they must have learnt through experience that his relationship with the living God was the source of his spiritual power. I mean that these people must have tried severally to hurt or get rid of him through their diabolical powers, when they could not pin any crime on him or physically assault him, seeing that he would always have a heavy presence of guards with him as one of the three presidents of the entire empire. But they could not.
So, very clearly, it was when they saw that he was not someone they could defeat in competence, in spirituality or through physical attacks that they resorted to setting for him a trap that would either weaken him spiritually or make him disobey the king. And as far as they were concerned, there was no escape for Daniel this time around. That was because any of the two options would ultimately make it possible for them to get rid of him.
Unfortunately for these people, Daniel once more proved himself to be smarter than them. He chose the spiritual above the natural. Why? He knew that the spiritual rules the natural. So, he chose to disobey the king's edict and maintain his relationship with the living God instead of obeying his edict and dying spiritually, losing touch with the source of his life and everything he had. And though acting like this landed him in a den of lions, giving his enemies a momentary feeling of victory over him, God showed up on the scene and broke the snare. So, the man eventually escaped to live and see the ruins of his enemies. (Cf. Dan 6)
Why am I sharing these things with you? I am sharing them with you to let you know that even if, for some reasons, you have been caught in a trap of the devil, God is able to break it and set you free. So, don't lose heart or give up on God or on righteous living. Instead, continue to reach out for Him through prayers. And He will surely show up at the right time, break the trap holding you down and set you free to live and declare His good works.
Then even if it is your own sin, foolishness, carelessness, negligence or recklessness that got you caught in the trap of the devil that you are now in, still don't turn away from God. That, of course, is what Satan will want you to do. He will want you to feel that God will not save you or want to have anything to do with you, seeing that you have failed him. But that is another lie of his that is meant to keep you ensnared till you are destroyed. So, don't believe it or act on it.
Instead, act on these words of Samuel to the people of Israel after they realised their sin of rejecting God as their King and demanding for a human king: "You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.” (1Sam 12:20NIV) Did you see that? Samuel told his people not to run away from God because of their sin but to turn to Him and serve Him with all their heart. Why? That is the way to be set free from the trap of sin and become healed. And if you will take this way, you will surely be set free by God from that satanic trap that has held you down in shame and also be completely healed.
Have a great day.
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YOU CANNOT PUSH THEM TO GOD 18/10/2024
“The LORD said to Joshua, "Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.”” (Josh 7:10-12NIV)
God Himself specifically told Joshua on this occasion that his praying would not accomplish the results he was expecting. So, he needed to stop praying, get up and learn what needed to be done. But why?
Well, something had gone wrong in the camp of the Israelites. One of them had taken something that did not belong to them, and the presence of that thing in their camp was working against them. In like manner, the presence of certain things or people in some individuals' lives may just be what is working against their prosperity and peace. And unless they deal with whatever evil such people or things have brought into their lives, they may never again know peace or experience prosperity.
Now it was for this same reason that God said to Joshua, “Until you destroy that thing that is meant to be destroyed that you are preserving, I will not be with you to give you success.” Think about that. God, on this occasion, wants Joshua to know that prayer is not the solution to the problem they are facing. Therefore, even if he spends several days, praying and fasting and weeping, nothing would change, as long as they do not deal with the sin problem in their midst.
Since that, then, is the case, Joshua gets up and takes the necessary step of judging the wickedness in their camp. And having done this, they did not need to offer any special prayer again in order to conquer the nation of Ai. All they needed to do was follow God's instructions, and the victory they wanted became theirs. (Cf. Joshua 7-8)
I shared the above bible accounts with you to just let you know that it is not every time that prayer is the solution to the problems we are facing. I know that through prayers God is able to speak to us and enlighten us about what is wrong with us or around us and what steps we need to take to fix them. But in such situations, prayer will not take us any farther than making what we need to do known to us. We will still need to do whatever we need to do in order to get the problems solved.
Observe that in Joshua's case, God did not tell him that He was going to deal with Achan's sin for him. Why? It was because Joshua had what it would take to deal with it. In the same vein, there are things that are within our abilities to do in order to deal with certain challenges we are faced with in life. And God expects us to do those things, as long as they are legitimate and righteous, instead of waiting on Him to do them for us.
Yes, there are things that God must do for us. And if He does not do them, they can never be done by anyone. But since He is a responsible God and Father, we can always expect Him to fulfil His duties to us by doing those things that He alone can do for us. However, the things we need to do for ourselves must be done by us. We cannot push them to God and expect Him to pick them up. We may succeed in pushing our responsibilities to certain people in our lives. But we can never succeed in pushing our responsibilities to God, for He will never take them up.
So, where your responsibilities are very clear to you, get busy with them and don’t think you can push them to God through prayers. That is because even if you use a whole year to pray about them, God will not do for you what He has already given you the ability to do for yourself. Be like Joshua, then. Get up from your prayer ground and go and do the needful.
Have a pleasant day.
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HE WILL START AMONG US 17/10/2024
“For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God…” (1Pet 4:17)
When He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, who did His angels first go looking for? The righteous in those cities! Abraham had pleaded with God to spare them, if there were at least ten righteous people there. And God agreed to do so. So, when the angels sent got to Sodom, the first person they interacted with was Lot.
Now was it by accident or chance that they met with him first? No, not at all! They deliberately showed themselves to him first because he and his family members were the only ones truly distressed about the evil things going on in those two cities. Then they showed themselves to him to see how he would treat them. Thankfully, he did not fail that test, the test of showing hospitality to strangers. And that was what got him and his family saved. (Cf. Gen 18-19; 2Pet 3:7-9).
Now if there had been other righteous people in those cities, those angels would have patiently sought them out as well to find out what sort of righteous people they were, fake or genuine. At least, that was why they were there, to find out how bad things really were in those cities, looking at them with the eyes of men. Unfortunately, only Lot and his family stood out there as righteous people. So, they were the only ones that were sent out safely.
But then, not all of them made it out to safety. Lot's wife did not make it out to safety. Why? It was because there was a part of her that did not want to leave Sodom. It was that part of her that made her turn back to look at the city when she was supposed to be on the run. So, she perished along with the ungodly there.
In like manner, righteous people can suffer along with wicked men, if God decides to judge or cleanse the place they are. And that may likely happen, if they refuse to set their lives right and separate themselves from the evil going on where they are. Therefore, all of us who are crying out to God for judgment and restoration in our country need to take note of this. We don't know how He will judge when He is set to judge. But we can be sure that when He is ready to judge and set things right, He will start among us. And if we too are found guilty of the very things we want Him to judge, then, we are likely to be the first to drink from the cup of His judgment.
I would not know whether Lot was praying for God's judgment to come on Sodom and Gomorrah because of the things happening there, distressing things that he saw and heard about every day. But even if he had been praying to Him about these things, he could not have thought that His judgment would involve setting the two cities on fire and destroying them and everything going on in them completely. He also could not have thought that he would lose his wealth and, more importantly, his wife in the process. But he lost them.
So, while it is important for us as God's people to always pray to Him to cause justice to reign in our land, it is equally important for us to put our lives, homes and affairs in order. Otherwise, we may end up becoming victims of our own prayers for justice.
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WHEN YOU NEED MORE THAN A MIRACLE 16/10/2024
“But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.” (Ex 3:19-20NIV)
Did you see that? God had already announced to Moses before he left for Egypt that He would need to perform all kinds of wonders before the Israelites would experience permanent freedom from Egypt. So, each time Pharaoh offered him partial liberty, having witnessed a destructive sign from God, Moses knew that there must be yet another miracle.
In like manner, each time we sense that our joy is not full over a matter or that our experience of the liberty that is ours in Christ Jesus in a situation is not absolute, we should know that there may yet be a need for another miracle or move of God in that situation. So, we should not give up or accept anything less than fullness of joy in it. Instead, we should continue to pray to God, to declare His word and to take all the steps of faith that are within our power to take about the situation. And as we continue to patiently trust God and to do His will about the matter, those miracles or divine moves that need to happen will happen and our joy will be made full.
What is the point I have been making all along? It is that there are times we need more than a miracle or an experience of victory to enjoy the full liberty and joy that are already ours in Christ Jesus. And for us to know such times and respond to them accordingly, we need our hearts and minds to be overwhelmed with divine revelations of the nature of the challenges we are faced with it. That way, we will not underestimate them, get content with little experiences of victory over them or underestimate the power of God to make us experience total victory over them.
Cheers!
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IT MUST START WITH YOU 15/10/2024
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed – a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” (Romans 1:16-17NIV)
Paul was not ashamed to proclaim the good news about the Lord Jesus Christ, as we see here in our opening text. And can you say the same thing of yourself? Are you too not ashamed to preach Jesus? You can ask yourself, “Am I not ashamed to preach the good news? Am I not ashamed to talk to people about the Lord Jesus Christ and what He has done for the salvation of mankind?”
If you are ashamed, it must mean that you lack that understanding of what the gospel is capable of doing to people’s lives. Paul tells us his own reason for not being ashamed. He says, “There is nothing to be ashamed of, for what I am proclaiming carries God’s power to transform people’s lives. So why do I have to be ashamed of it? I know that this thing works. I know that it is able to save anyone who believes it; it is able to save anyone who accepts it. Yes, it is able to save them from any kind of problem, from all kinds of problems. So why should I be ashamed to proclaim it?”
Have you also realised that the gospel carries God’s power for the salvation of men? The gospel carries God’s power to save your neighbours from their distresses. It carries God’s power to save your colleagues at work from those problems that are trying to destroy them or that have almost destroyed them. The gospel carries the power of God to renew our homes. It carries the power of God to change whole societies. Why then should we be ashamed to proclaim it? A lack of understanding of what the gospel is able to do to people’s lives may make us ashamed of it.
By the way, you can ask yourself, “Has this good news changed my life positively? Has it affected me in any positive manner? Has it done anything for me? Has it released any power into my life to do things I couldn’t do before?” Actually, it must start with you. If you cannot relate the working of the gospel to your own life, then, you will most likely be ashamed of giving it to others. You have to be able to think and relate the working of the gospel to your own life. Has this thing been of any effect in my life? Where was I before I believed and where am I now? What was my life like before I believed and what is it like now? Has this gospel changed me? Has it solved any problem in my life? Has it transformed my life in any way? If it has, then, you will not be ashamed of giving it to others.
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ZEALOUS BUT NOT SAVED 14/10/2024
“It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always, not just when I am with you.” (Galatians 4:18NIV)
Those are Paul’s words to the Galatian brethren. And from what he tells these brethren here, we can see that it is alright for us to be zealous. In fact, God expects us as believers to be zealous. However, our purpose for being zealous must be good.
Look, zeal on its own cannot accomplish much good. Zeal on its own cannot produce salvation. That is why you find many believers today who are zealous but who really do not understand what God has called them to. They don’t understand the life that God has called them to. So, instead of truly moving forward in the things of God with their zeal, they are not, for their zeal is not based on true knowledge.
We equally have people that are not believers in Christ Jesus who are zealous for God. But they lack salvation. Yes, as far as these ones are concerned, their zeal is for God. But because they lack true knowledge of God, their zeal is not accomplishing any good thing. On the contrary, with their zeal they are causing chaos and confusion in every place.
In Romans, chapter 10, from verse 1, Paul says, “Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.” (Romans 10:1NIV) Now why would Paul talk like this about his brethren? These people were not totally ignorant of God. Don’t forget that they had the laws of Moses. They had several injunctions from God on how to live. They had the Scriptures. Yet Paul says, “My heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.” And he goes on in verse 2 to say, “I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge.” (Romans 10:2NIV)
Think about that. These people are zealous for God. They are passionate about God. Paul himself here says, “I can testify about them that they are zealous for God.” That means, in a sense, their hearts are after God. They want to please Him; they want to serve Him; they want to live for Him. Unfortunately, their zeal is not based on knowledge. And because their zeal is not based on knowledge, they cannot be saved. Their zeal is unable to save them.
So it is possible for one to be zealous and not be saved. I am saying you can be zealous or passionate for God and not be saved. You can be attending church meetings every day and not be saved. You can be giving tithes and offerings in every meeting and not be saved. You can even be involved in Evangelism and not be saved. There are so many religious activities you can be involved and still remain unsaved.
But then, it will be really sad for you to find out when you eventually stand before God that your zeal for Him has accomplished nothing for you. So, don’t assume that you are saved simply because you have some measure of zeal for God. If you have not embraced and confessed Jesus as your Lord, you are not yet saved. Yes, you may be close to salvation. But you are not saved until you are saved. So, tell yourself the truth about your salvation today. Tomorrow may be too late.
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ONLY WHAT WILL BENEFIT THEM 13/10/2024
ONLY WHAT WILL BENEFIT THEM
“With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand.” (Mark 4:33NIV)
What do we see here? Well, we see that even though our Lord Jesus was using parables to teach the people, He only spoke to the word of God to them, as much as they could understand. He did not try to confuse them. He did not try to mislead them. He did not try to impress them with His much knowledge. Instead, He considered their level of understanding and shared with them only on that basis.
Now why did the Lord act in that manner? It was because He knew that once a man did not understand something, he could not profit with it. In fact, when you read His parable of the sower, one of the things He points out there is that when a man hears the word of God and does not understand it, satan will come and steal that word from Him. So that man will not be fruitful with what he has heard. (Cf. Matthew 13:18-19)
So, in making the mind of God known to people – your neighbours, friends, colleagues at work, family members, anybody – you must consider what they will be able to take or understand. And of course, as you interact with people, as you talk to them and ask them questions about various matters of life, you will be able to tell whether they can understand certain truths you want to share with them or not. If they don’t understand what you are sharing with them, then, they cannot profit with it – it cannot bless them.
As we see in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ, He was very conscious of this, conscious of sharing with the people only what would benefit them. You too should be conscious of the same thing, as you relate to those in your world. Yes, be eager to share the truth with them. But only share with them what will benefit them. Then God will take it and use it to change their lives.
Stay motivated.
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THE MIND OF CHRIST 12/10/2024
“The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments…” (1Corinthians 2:14-15NIV)
What is Paul talking about here? He is saying the one who has the Spirit of God in him makes judgments about all things. How is he able to do that? He is able to do so because he is in touch with the Spirit of God. He is learning from the Spirit. He is receiving from the Spirit. And because He is receiving from the Spirit he is able to analyse issues of life and pass judgments over them. He can give you God’s verdicts over matters of life. That means he can make the mind of God about various issues of life known to you. He judges all things.
Now that does not mean that the man with the Spirit of God possesses unlimited knowledge about life. That is not what Paul is talking about. He is not saying such a person can teach mathematics, teach biology, teach geography, work as a carpenter, fix electrical problems in people’s houses and handle anything in any field of life. That is not what he is talking about. Instead, he is talking about judging real issues and determining how matters of life should be handled.
That means the man with the Spirit of God can show you the mind of God about every issue of life. He can show you how to handle money, for example, even if he is not an accountant. Also, he can show you how to handle your marriage or how to function in your work place, even though he is not educated.
Think about this: how were people like Peter, James and John able to teach people from various walks of life? They taught those who were rich and also taught those who were poor. They taught the educated and also taught the uneducated. They taught different kinds of people. They were able to pass judgments over different issues of life. They were able to reveal the mind of God to people about various issues of life.
All of this is why Paul goes in to say in verse 16 of the same chapter of our opening text, “For, ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.” (1Corinthians 2:16NIV) How did the apostles of old gain the mind of God? Through their fellowship with the Spirit of God!
Now is it everybody that can say, “I have the mind of Christ?” Is it even every Christian that can say, “I have the mind of Christ?” I know there are people who confess these words that they have the mind of Christ. Yes, it is good to make such confessions. I mean that your saying ‘I have the mind of Christ’ is not going to spoil anything.
But what does it mean to have the mind of Christ? What it means is that you can judge issues of life the way Christ will judge them. It means you can confidently and rightly tell people what God thinks about what they are saying and doing. And that is only gained through a life of consistent fellowship with God. Do you, then, have the mind of Christ? Well, until you gain His mind, you cannot live a life well-pleasing to God and are not qualified to help anyone in any serious way
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DO NOT BE AFRAID 11/10/2024
“…Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.” (1Pet 3:14NIV)
There will always be things that will make people afraid, just as there will always be things that will frighten them. But the Lord’s command to us, as we see in our opening bible text, is ‘Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.’ So, to allow fear in your heart because of any situation or any individual is to disobey God, and that will never be to your advantage. In fact, that will let fear loose in your life (Jer 1:17).
Another reason we must refuse to be afraid is that God is always with us, in us and for us. Therefore, He will never fold His arms and allow us to be destroyed by anybody or anything. This is why the writer of the book of Hebrews says, “…God has said, "I will never abandon you or leave you." So we can confidently say, "The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. What can mortals do to me?"” (Heb 13:5-6GW)
Can you see that? God will never leave us or abandon us. Even if we miss it and foolishly walk into the valley of the shadow of death, He will not abandon us. Instead, He will stand by us and help us out, so that we are not destroyed by our errors. (Cf. Ps 23:4)
You can now see why we are told to always respond to God’s abiding presence in our lives by saying, “The Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid. There is nothing any man can do to me.” And can you say that to yourself? I am sure you can and you should continually say it to yourself until every iota of fear of things and of persons disappears from your heart.
In addition to that, we must refuse to be afraid because God has not given us a spirit of fear. According to Paul in a letter to Timothy, “God did not give us a spirit that makes us afraid but a spirit of power and love and self-control.” (2Tim 1:7NCV) And God has done this so that we will not be confronting the situations of our lives or the people in our world with a fearful heart but with a heart that is full of power that is being handled by love and self-control.
Look at the way people who carry charms around or who possess some power of witchcraft used to confront life’s situations. They confront them with boldness, even though those powers they are counting on can fail them anytime. But we are carriers of God’s unlimited power. And that means we should be bolder and more confident in confronting life, knowing fully well that God’s power will never fail us. And we see this illustrated in the way Moses confronted Pharaoh and all the gods of Egypt when God sent him to bring the nation of Israel out of that land of bondage. He confronted them with a heart of boldness. And that was because he knew that he had access to God’s unlimited and unfailing power.
In like manner, we too should confront all the situations of our lives without fear, especially as we are nearing the end of this year, but with a heart that knows that God’s power is ever available for him. And even if we, like Ezekiel of bible days, are living among thorns, briers and scorpions, we must not be afraid of them or terrified by them in any way (Ezek 2:6). That is because the One living in us is greater than the one living in them and His power that we carry cannot be withstood by any other power in the whole universe (1John 4:4).
So, cheer up, beloved! Victory is ours all the way!
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LIFE IS NOT ONLY ABOUT YOU 10/10/2024
“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Phil 2:4NIV)
Notice here that Paul does not say that it is wrong to look to your own interests; rather, he says you must not only look to your own interests but also to the interests of others. I quickly pointed that out because of those who will have us believe that it is wrong for any of us to think of himself first or to put himself before others. Their common slogan is ‘Always think of others first’. But as good and nice as that sounds, there is nowhere in the Scriptures we are told to do so. I mean that there is nowhere we are taught in the Scriptures to think of others first or to put others before us.
In actuality, what the Scripture says to us is to first love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls and minds, and then to love our neighbours as ourselves. (Cf. Matt 22:37-40) So, the only person we must always put first and before ourselves in all things is God. Then, when it comes to how we relate to our fellow men, we are to love them as we love ourselves. That means we cannot properly and adequately love and care for others, if we do not know how to properly and adequately love and care for ourselves. It also means that if we don’t how to think of what is good and right for ourselves, we won’t be able to think of what is good and right for others. This is why it is foolish to try to set others right when your own life is out of tune with reality.
In any case, Apostle Paul’s message to us is that we must not only look to our own interests but to other people’s interests as well. That means we must not only be concerned about what is good and appropriate for us; we must also be concerned about what is good and appropriate for others.
See, life is not only about us; there are several others that we are involved in it together. So, our decisions and actions, good or bad, always affect others directly or indirectly. And that is exactly why God wants us to always think of others as well in all of our calculations about life. He wants us to always think of what impact our actions, inactions and reactions are having on others that we are living in this world together. Are they blessing and lifting them, or are they hurting and destroying them?
So, friend, how important are other people’s interests to you? Do you want them to succeed just as much as you want to succeed? Do you want for them the kind of good life you want for yourself? Think of the way you use your position and resources—does it show that you are concerned about others as well? Think also of the way you use your space and time – does it show that you care about others as well? Just look at the way you use your power, wealth, shelter, time and even prayer privileges. Does it show that you don’t only care about yourself but about others too? Do you know that something like lateness or a messing up with other people’s schedules, which we usually don’t see as serious, often is a reflection of selfishness or a lack of care about other people’s interests?
Well, Scriptures are very clear about how God wants us to function in our dealings with other people. He wants to function the way our Lord Jesus Christ did when He walked here on earth. He did not just seek what was good and alright for Himself; He also sought what was good and alright for humanity. He humbled Himself so that He could save and bring us up to where He is, that is, the very place Father God has always wanted us to be. (Cf. Mark 10:45; John 10:11; Rom 15:1-3; 1Cor 8:9-13; Phil 2:5-11)
Now the moment you and I begin to function like Him, there are things we will never do or say again, not because they are bad in themselves but because of how they will negatively affect others. Living in this manner, of course, calls for a very high degree of thoughtfulness and carefulness. I mean that it is not something that is going to happen by accident; neither is it something that will always make those we are trying to help happy. But once each of us begins to live that way, our world will soon enough become a much better place to live in. Are we then going to begin to live this way, or are we going to remain selfish and self-conscious? May the Spirit of God enable each of us to begin to do what is right.
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EXPECT TO BE PERSECUTED. 09/10/2024
“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2Tim 3:12NIV)
Did you see that? Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. And observe Paul does not say, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life will be persecuted.” That is because a lot of people today are trying to live godly lives. But they are not seeking to live godly lives in Christ Jesus. That someone decides to live a godly life does not mean he is going to be persecuted. There are a lot of people all around us who are trying to do good things. But that is not because they are related to Jesus Christ. So such individuals may not expect any kind of persecution.
But here Paul is saying that everyone who has determined in his heart to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. He can expect to be persecuted. And we can see how this played out in the lives of the Apostles in the book of Acts. For example, in chapter 3 of the book, Peter and John were used by the Lord to heal a man that was impotent in his feet for a little about forty years. And while everyone who witnessed the incident was praising God and thanking Him for healing that man, some other people had a different and negative response.
Why did they have a different and negative response? Was it because the man was healed? No! Rather, it was because of the person in whose name the man was healed. Look at how Luke reports this from Acts 4, beginning with verse 1:
“The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.” (Acts 4:1-2NIV)
Now what disturbed those religious leaders of the Jews? It was the fact the apostles were teaching the people in the name of Jesus. So, it was not the healing of the man per se that disturbed them. The healing was a good work. However, what troubled them was the name that was used in doing the healing. In essence, they were troubled because of the apostles’ relationship with Jesus Christ.
But then, when someone does what is good, what should naturally happen? People should praise him. But these people were not doing that. At least, if you would not praise the one that has done something good, you should praise the one in whose name he has done it. But we are told that these people were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.
In any case, from verse 3, Luke goes on to say, “They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day.” (Acts 4:3NIV) Why were these people put in jail? Was it because they healed the man that was impotent in his feet? No! It was because of their relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that clarifies what Paul tells us in our opening text that anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Everyone who will commit himself to doing something good because of Jesus Christ will be persecuted.
Peter and John were jailed not, as I pointed out before, because they healed someone, but because they healed someone in the name of Jesus Christ. So, if you are being persecuted for doing anything good in the name of Jesus, don’t be surprised. It is something you are to expect. And instead of allowing that to surprise you or fill you with discouragement, learn to commit yourself into God’s hand for strength, encouragement and protection.
Have a very lovely day.
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KNOWING THE FATHER'S CARE 08/10/2024
“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.” (Ps 55:22NIV)
Look at that. If only we will cast our cares upon the Lord, He will surely sustain us and keep us from falling into the pit of shame, disgrace and humiliation. And that is because He cares about us. (Cf. 1Pet 5:7)
It is quite unfortunate, however, that many people, including Christians, know nothing of the care of God for their lives. They don’t know that He cares so much for them that He is committed to sustaining them through life every blessed day. And because they don’t know these things, they miss His daily benefits for them and struggle through life in a spirit of despair. (Cf. Ps 68:19).
Look at the animals of the field and the birds of the air, for example. God is daily committed to taking care of them. Just a while ago, my wife and I were watching a wildlife documentary on the Television, and we saw a great horde of animals, fat, strong and agile, migrating from some place to another. Then we started talking about them and about the beauties, wonders and care of God, as revealed in the Scriptures.
Now consider this: those animals have no human shepherd to feed them, care for them, fold them in a pen or take responsibility for them. Also, they are not working or toiling or handling any kind of investment that will yield dividends for them in the future. In short, they have no worries about today or tomorrow or the future or an imminent recession or famine. Yet they are numerous, big, fat, tough, strong, agile and beautiful to behold. And why is that? It is because God is taking care of them.
The bible says:
“Lord, you have made many things; with your wisdom you made them all. The earth is full of your riches. Look at the sea, so big and wide, with creatures large and small that cannot be counted. Ships travel over the ocean, and there is the sea monster Leviathan, which you made to play there. All these things depend on you to give them their food at the right time. When you give it to them, they gather it up. When you open your hand, they are filled with good food.” (Ps 104:24-28NCV)
Think about that. God is committed to taking care of all the animals, birds, insects and the several other living things He has created, both great and small. He is committed to giving them good food at the right time. He is committed to sustaining them, so that they do not disappear from the face of the earth, even in a period of famine. And even though these creatures are unable to pray to God articulately or intelligently, as man is able to, God never shuts His ears to their cry for food or sustenance. And that is because He cares about them.
Now if that is how God cares about all these creatures, which have not been created in His likeness or made to fellowship with Him, will He not much more care for and sustain His man, whom He has created in His image and after His likeness? He surely will! And what we need is to learn to relate to Him every day on the basis of this knowledge that He cares about us. Then we will begin to swim in the rivers of His goodness, mercy and kindness and also begin to sing like one of our Psalmists, who says:
I have known the Father’s care for me,
He’s been good, He’s been good,
Through it all He’s always there for me
God’s been good to me.
Have a most refreshing day
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HOW TO STAY PURE 07/10/2024
Sometimes, when I consider the degree of corruption or decay in our world, I wonder if it is possible at all for anyone to live in absolute purity in it. But God, according to the bible, demands absolute purity from all men. And He also shows us through the bible that it is possible for us to live in absolute purity in this world. For example, despite the fact that the corruption in the world of the days of Noah was so great that God was willing to destroy all humanity from the face of the earth because of it, Noah and his family still stood out at that time as an example of purity in a lost world (Gen 6).
Also, in the days that God sought to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for their unspeakable immorality, Lot and his family still stood out at that time as an example of purity amidst a lost race. In fact, according to the bible, the man had two daughters who were still virgin when destruction came upon those two cities. (Cf. Gen 19:1-8) In addition, when Prophet Elijah began to petition God against the corruption in the nation of Israel, telling Him how he was the only one that stood for righteousness, God made him realize that, apart from him, He still had seven thousand people in the land who had not defiled themselves. (Cf. 1Kings 19:1-18)
But how did these people succeed in staying pure, despite the high degree of corruption in the world of their days? Was it by having very high moral standards? No! Yes, it is good to have high moral standards. But if it is not God that sets those standards for us, they will not accomplish in us the standard of purity He wants in our lives. That is because God does not just want an outward display of purity; He also wants an inward testimony of it. That means He wants our purity to flow from the heart. And the only thing that can do that for us is the word of God.
One of the Psalmists says to us, “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to the word of God.” (Ps 119:9NIV) Can you see that? The only way we can keep ourselves pure in this world of corruption is to allow our lives to be run or controlled by the word of God. Unfortunately, even though many today, both old and young, get to hear God’s word through various means week after week, they don’t see it as something to be taken seriously or to be lived by. The word of their parents, friends, family members, colleagues at work, movie stars, song artistes and so forth mean more to them than God’s word. Yet they wonder why their lives are so messed up.
See, as long as we won’t give the word of God its rightful place in our lives, it does not matter how hard we try to keep our lives right and normal in this twisted world, we will continue to fail, and our lives will remain messed up. That is because the only true light for us to walk here on earth and not stumble and fall is the word of God. Yes, the word of God is the only thing that can purify our lives and keep them pure in this utterly polluted world. (Cf. Ps 19:7-11) So, go for His word and embrace it wholeheartedly, and your life will be kept without blemish till the Day of the Lord.
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HE WILL FULFIL HIS PURPOSE CONCERNING YOU 06/10/2024
“The LORD will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.” (Ps 138:8NKJV)
I know these are very trying times for many people in this nation. These are times in which many are losing their jobs, shutting down their businesses, cutting down their expenses and giving up on their dreams. Nevertheless, God is able to perfect everything that concerns those who trust in Him. He is able to fulfil all His good purposes concerning them, as we see in our opening bible text.
Now remember the many trials and oppositions the children of Israel faced when God brought them out of Egypt. Nevertheless, God made good all His promises to them. He brought them fully into the land He had promised to their forefathers on oath. That was why Joshua, in his last words to the people, said, “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.” (Josh 23:14NIV)
Look at that. The trials, temptations and challenges those people faced did not have enough power to prevent God from fulfilling any of His promises to them. And that is because He is greater, stronger and mightier than all.
Now He is able to do even much more than He did for those people for us. He is able to fulfil every one of His good desires for us, regardless of the current situation of our country. So, we don’t need to lose heart or throw away our confidence. We don’t need to give up on our dreams or aspirations because of the so-called economic and political realities we are being daily confronted with. What we need is to hold fast our confidence in God, and He will perfect all that concerns us and fulfil all His good purposes for our lives.
So, as you face this new day, don’t function with a spirit of despair, regardless of what you see or hear. Rather, always remind yourself that God’s eyes are upon you, and He will show Himself mighty on your behalf, if you will fully commit your heart to Him (2Chro 16:9).
Do have a most lovely day.
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A LIFE OF SHARING 05/10/2024
“We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority. Instead, we were like young children among you. Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” (1Thessalonians 2:6-8NIV)
Can you see that? Paul says we were delighted not only to share the gospel with you but our lives as well. In other words, the man was living a life of sharing.
Now do you know what it means to share your life with someone? This is what anyone who is working with the Lord must do—you share your life with others. You deliberately allow people to come into your life. You tell them things about yourself that you naturally would not but for the work’s sake. You share your time with them. There are times ministers sit down for hours to counsel some brethren. And that is not always convenient.
Sometimes ago, for instance, one of our brothers had to travel to Okuku (a town in Osun State, Nigeria,) to counsel another brother. Was that convenient? No! There are times you want to do some things but, because of the Lord’s people, you have to shelve them. You are sharing your time with them. You have come to understand that your time is not yours exclusively anymore; God’s people also have a share in it.
Furthermore, you share your resources with God’s people. That was the life Paul lived—he was sharing his resources with his companions and with God’s people. Some of us have sometimes had to give up certain things we wanted to do, so that we would be able to give or contribute to the Lord’s work. Did we do that out of convenience? No!
At any rate, because Paul was sharing his life with God’s people, there were things he could not do; there was a quality of life he could not live. You can now see why he says we are poorly clothed in a letter to the Corinthians (1Corinthians 4:11). It is not because he could not have used his money to get jewelleries and expensive robes for himself. But he knew what that would do to the work. He knew some things would suffer, if he did that. Yes, he was working hard. But he was not working hard for himself; he was working hard to take of God’s people. And, as he said to the Ephesian-Church, they were doing all such things to teach God’s people that through that kind of hard work they must help the weak.
We also must open our lives for others to come in, so that they can share in our resources, time and every other thing that concerns us. What would you be doing with ten pairs of shoes, when you have brothers who don’t have any? Think about that! What would you be doing with four or five cars, when there are members of the household of God who don’t have any?
So I want you to understand that Paul was not saying that they were homeless, hungry, thirsty and poorly clothed because they could not have lived a flamboyant life. They chose that kind of life so that they could adequately share their lives with God’s people. What, then, are you willing to do in order to adequately share your life with the people of God in your life? Or what must you do in order to freely share your life with them? Think about that, as you face this new day. And may God grant you the strength to see right and to also act right, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a blessed day.
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PREPARE TO BE EDIFIED? 04/10/2024
“Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” (Ephesians 6:19-20NIV)
What is Paul asking for here? He is asking that the church in Ephesus will pray for him so that he will become more effective in the exercise of his gift, as a teacher of God’s people. Why is this important? Well, you need to realise that there are Christian assemblies where people complain about the quality of sermons they hear from their pastors. You hear things like, “Our pastor did not preach well today. I would not know what was wrong with him. Could it be that he didn’t eat well before he came or was he having some sort of challenges? Or how do you explain his several wrong quotations of the scriptures?” And you know they may complain like that for years and not experience any change.
But I want you to know that such people are making a mistake. How? See, even though your pastor has been called to edify you, he will not automatically do so. That is because there are a number of things that must be in place for him to do so and to do so consistently. And this is one of them: you should be praying for him that each time he opens his mouth to speak the word of God to you, he will proclaim it as effectively as he should.
Sadly, a lot of God’s people don’t know this. Yes, they come around for their church meetings, expecting their pastors to share God’s word with them. But are they concerned about getting blessed through whatever he shares with them? No! If they are truly concerned about getting edified through what he shares with them, they will pray about it. They will ask God to make every word they will be hearing from him a blessing to them.
Now that is what Paul is saying in our opening text. He is telling the Ephesians to prepare to be edified through him. And how are they to prepare? It is through prayers. And if you too want to continually be edified by your pastor or other people that are feeding you with the word of God, you had better be given to praying for them that God will be with their mouths so that their sermons will always be a blessing to you and not a waste of your precious time.
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WHAT WILL BE THE DIFFERENCE? 03/10/2024
“How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us?...” (Exodus 33:16NIV)
Those were Moses’ words to God when he was leading the children of Israel into the Promised Land. He wanted His presence and participation with them. He wanted something that would distinguish them from other peoples. And he knew that the only thing that would do that was God’s active participation with them.
Perhaps you too have been saying that you are a child of God. But how will those who are not believers know that you are related to God? What will be the difference between you and those who are not believers where you work, live and among your friends? How will they be able to tell that there is a difference between your life and theirs? Will they ever become jealous of you, simply because they can see that God is doing something for you that they are not experiencing or enjoying?
Furthermore, Moses said, “…What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:15NIV) God’s presence in a man’s life is what makes the difference. God’s involvement in a man’s life is what makes all the difference in the world. And that is the kind of difference you as a child of God should desire.
Your colour shouldn’t be the difference. Your height should not be the difference. When they are saying the difference between Brother X and Mr Y is what? They should not be talking about colour, height, size, natural skills, intelligence quotient and other stuffs like that; rather, they should be talking about God. They should be saying the difference between these two fellows is God. They should be saying, “God is involved in this man’s life. Otherwise, how do you explain the things that are happening in his life?”
To say the fact, you need to get to that place in life where people begin to say that about you. They should be saying, “How do you explain this kind of progress, if God were not involved?” or, “How do you explain this kind of advancement? It can only mean that God has been involved.”
See, there are people that men look at the way they handle their businesses and other things and say, “Look, this kind of success is not ordinary. He must have done something fetish or diabolical.” Why would they say that? It is because they are making comparisons. They may say something like, “Aren’t we in the same business? Are we not using the same equipment? Are we not in the same market? How come he is getting this kind of result? It is not natural; something is fishing.”
People say that a lot of times about unbelievers. But do you know they are supposed to be saying the same things about Christians? Men should be saying, “Only God could be the explanation for this kind of success, progress, advancement, calmness and peace.” Therefore, we cannot overemphasise the need for God’s participation in our lives.
Now it is not that God is not willing to participate in our lives; it is not that He is not willing to get involved in our affairs; it is that God will never impose Himself on us—we will have to let Him; we will have to allow Him. In Isaiah chapter 1, verse 19, God says, “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best of the land.” If you read that from the Living Bible it says, “If you will only let me help you, if you will only obey, then, I will make you rich!”
So it is up to you. It is all depends on how much you allow Him, on how much room you give to Him in your life. And may your eyes be daily opened to this, so that you will allow God to freely participate in your life and affairs and make your life what it is meant to be. Amen.
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WHAT WILL BE THE DIFFERENCE? 03/10/2024
“How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us?...” (Exodus 33:16NIV)
Those were Moses’ words to God when he was leading the children of Israel into the Promised Land. He wanted His presence and participation with them. He wanted something that would distinguish them from other peoples. And he knew that the only thing that would do that was God’s active participation with them.
Perhaps you too have been saying that you are a child of God. But how will those who are not believers know that you are related to God? What will be the difference between you and those who are not believers where you work, live and among your friends? How will they be able to tell that there is a difference between your life and theirs? Will they ever become jealous of you, simply because they can see that God is doing something for you that they are not experiencing or enjoying?
Furthermore, Moses said, “…What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:15NIV) God’s presence in a man’s life is what makes the difference. God’s involvement in a man’s life is what makes all the difference in the world. And that is the kind of difference you as a child of God should desire.
Your colour shouldn’t be the difference. Your height should not be the difference. When they are saying the difference between Brother X and Mr Y is what? They should not be talking about colour, height, size, natural skills, intelligence quotient and other stuffs like that; rather, they should be talking about God. They should be saying the difference between these two fellows is God. They should be saying, “God is involved in this man’s life. Otherwise, how do you explain the things that are happening in his life?”
To say the fact, you need to get to that place in life where people begin to say that about you. They should be saying, “How do you explain this kind of progress, if God were not involved?” or, “How do you explain this kind of advancement? It can only mean that God has been involved.”
See, there are people that men look at the way they handle their businesses and other things and say, “Look, this kind of success is not ordinary. He must have done something fetish or diabolical.” Why would they say that? It is because they are making comparisons. They may say something like, “Aren’t we in the same business? Are we not using the same equipment? Are we not in the same market? How come he is getting this kind of result? It is not natural; something is fishing.”
People say that a lot of times about unbelievers. But do you know they are supposed to be saying the same things about Christians? Men should be saying, “Only God could be the explanation for this kind of success, progress, advancement, calmness and peace.” Therefore, we cannot overemphasise the need for God’s participation in our lives.
Now it is not that God is not willing to participate in our lives; it is not that He is not willing to get involved in our affairs; it is that God will never impose Himself on us—we will have to let Him; we will have to allow Him. In Isaiah chapter 1, verse 19, God says, “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best of the land.” If you read that from the Living Bible it says, “If you will only let me help you, if you will only obey, then, I will make you rich!”
So it is up to you. It is all depends on how much you allow Him, on how much room you give to Him in your life. And may your eyes be daily opened to this, so that you will allow God to freely participate in your life and affairs and make your life what it is meant to be. Amen.
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A CALL TO FELLOWSHIP 02/10/2024
“God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1Corinthians 1:9NIV)
Who is Paul referring to here? If you would read from verse one of the chapter, you would understand that Paul is talking to all the members of the church of God in Corinth. He is not referring to some selected few among them; rather, he is referring to everybody.
Now what is he saying to them? He is saying, “God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” So, God’s call to us is a call to fellowship. We say all the time that God is calling people everywhere, with the exception of none. But what is God calling them to?
Well, some may say that He is calling them to salvation. That is true. But you must understand that salvation is simply a means to an end—everything does not end with the salvation of our souls. Everything does not end with our being born again.
Of course, it is important that you be born again. Nevertheless, you need to understand that, even before the opportunity to be born again became open, God had been calling men. Before Jesus came God had been calling men. I don’t need to remind you that people could not be born again until Jesus perfected His work of redemption. So what are we going to say about those people God called before Jesus came? What did He call them to? Did He call them to become born again? No! That is because people could not be born again at that time.
Here, however, Paul is showing us what God calls people to? He calls them into fellowship with Himself. So, our call, call it a general call if you like, is a call to fellowship. Now, personally, I do not like the phrase ‘General Call.’ Our call is not a general call; it is a basic call; it is God’s fundamental call, a call to fellowship.
Therefore, you need to keep in mind that God has called you to fellowship with Him. In this portion of the scripture Paul says God has called us into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ. And if you read the last verse of the last chapter of what we now call Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he talks about the fellowship of the Holy Spirit—we all recite that at the close of our meetings. So this call is not just a call to fellowship with Jesus Christ, it is also a call to fellowship with the Holy Spirit. (Cf. 2Corinthians 13:14)
We all, then, who have answered this call should take our fellowship with God very seriously. That is all that He wants us from us. He wants us to fellowship with Him in all ways. He wants us to live with Him, as He wants to live with us. And I pray that your heart will be strengthened to embrace this reality and daily walk in the light of it.
Have a blessed day.
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EXCELLENCE -- THE WAY TO GO INTERNATIONAL 01/10/2024
I once heard an African preacher talk of how distressed he was about the quality of print the publishers of his books were giving him. And so distressed and dissatisfied was he that, when visited one of these developed countries, he decided to go to some printing presses to see what sorts of machines or equipment they were using. But to his surprise, the machines those presses were using to publish excellent quality of books were not different from the ones his local printing presses were using. What, then, was the problem? People! Those handling his books either did not have the right kind of training to use the machines they had or did not have a culture of excellence.
Today, as I also move around and interact with people from different walks of life in our country, I see very similar things. I see that many of our workmen (both those with formal education and those without it) don’t have the right kind of training and discipline that result in excellent services. That explains why there is very little demand for our products in the international market. And this needs to change.
Look, you don’t have to be a local person when you can be an international person. And being an international person has nothing to do with running from one country of the world to another, doing all kinds of odd jobs or wasting tax payers’ money. Rather, it has to do with a possession of abilities and qualities that are wanted on the international plane of things. In other words, being an international person means that what you are and what you do are things that people in different parts of the world want and are willing to pay or beg for.
How, then, do you become that sort of person? Is it by praying and fasting or by endearing some mighty prophets? No! Truly, prayers, fasting and prophetic blessings have their own roles in building a significant life before God and men. But they are not enough. In fact, some people have become renown in the world without them. So, if you, as a child of God, want to become relevant anywhere you find yourself in this life, you must do more than praying, fasting and courting men of God; you must also get the right kind of training and develop yourself to be excellent at whatever you do.
The bible says, “Observe people who are good at their work — skilled workers are always in demand and admired; they don't take a back seat to anyone.” (Prov 22:29MSG) Can you see that? If you bring diligence and excellence to bear on whatever you do, though it may take a while, you will someday be dealing with people that matter in your world and not with some nonentities.
For example, something is said in the bible about a man called Kenaniah (1Chro 15:22&27). And it is that he was highly skillful at singing. So, even though he did not seem to have a great background, he was eventually entrusted with the responsibility of leading the national choir of Israel, and nobody questioned his ability to do well. Excellence cannot be permanently ignored or rejected!
Therefore, if you too will become skilful and excellent at whatever you do, serious minded people won’t be able to ignore you or question your ability to deliver. And it might not be long before you become a national or international figure, depending on God’s purpose for your life.
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BE OPEN TO COUNSEL 30/09/2024
As you journey through this life, it is important you learn to take advantage of good and upright counsel. That is because it will often prove to be the difference between failure and success in your life.
You know that none of us has a monopoly on wisdom or knowledge. The only one with that characteristic is the Lord Jesus. He is the only who possesses all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:2-3). And even though He has been made wisdom unto us, one of the ways He manifests this wisdom to us is through the counsel and admonitions of other people.
Look at all the Scriptures we have, for instance. They were not personally written by the Lord Himself – they were written by certain individuals that He Himself selected and inspired. Yet all of these Scriptures belong to Him and have been given to us for our teaching, correction, rebuking and training in righteous in living (2Tim 3:16-17). So, as we relate to the Scriptures, we don’t relate to them as the word of men but as the living word of God, which has been given for our transformation and lifting up.
In the same manner, God often seeks to counsel and instruct us through other men, especially believers. So we must humble ourselves to relate to other believers in such as a way as to continually gain Christ’s wisdom from them, regardless of their social, family, academic or political status.
And I am saying this because one of the reasons many of us fail in many of our endeavours is that we don’t often get sufficient counsel from others. Some of us, in fact, think because we have the Spirit of God in us, who has been given to lead and guide us into all the truth we need to know about life, we don’t need the support, assistance or counsel of other people anymore.
But that is a very wrong and immature way to think. Of course, it is not every counsel, even from believers, that is godly or that can do us good. And we can detect ungodly and destructive counsel through the Scriptures and by the help of the Holy Spirit. However, that is not to say that we must not give any place for the counsel of other people, especially godly and wise men, in our lives.
The bible says, “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” (Prov 11:14NKJV) Can you see that? Where there is no counsel, sound counsel, we can get into trouble and fall or lose. But in the multitude of counsellors, we can learn how to stay safe.
Now, having a multitude of counsellors does not mean that one will automatically be safe. But by exposing ourselves to the sound counsel of others, we can gain tremendous insight into the issues of life. And that way, we can be saved from disgrace, embarrassment, failure and even death.
So, if, having prayed and studied the Scriptures, you still seem confused about an issue of your life, you will not be wrong to turn to godly and upright people, who have a reputation for loving the progress of others, for some counsel. And you don’t necessarily have to see such people face to face; you can read their books or listen to their messages on whatever matter you are dealing with for further clarifications. Then you can subject everything to the test of the word of God. (Cf. 2Cor 10:5; 1Thess 5:20-21)
In addition to that, there are times that those who don’t know God also can give you fine counsel. And I am not talking about counsel on spiritual matters here, though, sometimes, as in the case of Jethro and Moses, those who don’t know God or Jesus Christ may give a counsel that will prove to be very helpful in handling spiritual matters (Ex 18). Rather, I am talking about counsel that can prove helpful in our different fields of endeavour like Engineering, Economics, Management, Medicine, Metrology, Agriculture and so forth.
So, don’t use Psalm 1:1 as a reason for saying, “I cannot listen to what this person is saying to me about how to handle my business, finances, farm, body or academics because he is not a Christian.” That is not wisdom, for wisdom is always humble enough to learn from others, even when they are not Christians. And I pray that the Spirit of God will fill you with the fullness of His wisdom in all your ways and also keep you from yielding to strange and destructive counsels, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Do have a prosperous day!
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THE GREATER ONE IS IN YOU 29/09/2024
“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1John 4:4NIV)
First, John speaks of our origin in our opening text. He says we are from God. That means our origin is in God; our life is in Him; our roots are in Him. Then he goes on to say that we have overcome some individuals. And who are these individuals? In the context of the passage of this text, the individuals we have overcome are men and women with the spirit of the antichrist. These are people whose activities and teachings are set against the teachings and works of Christ.
In any case, John says we have already overcome them. That means we are not going to overcome them or try to overcome them; we have overcome them already; we have been set above their lies, errors and evil schemes. And how did we do that? John says it was by God. According to him, not only do we have our life and origin in God, we also do have His very person and presence in us. So, we are not facing life alone; we are facing it with God. (Cf. 1John 3:24)
Now think of what it means to be facing life with God. To face life with God is to face it with all of His power, wisdom, knowledge and resources; it is to face it with everything that He represents and has. And who is a match for God’s power, wisdom, knowledge and resources? Nobody! Or do we really have any situation or circumstance that can successfully challenge or beat God’s omnipotence, omnipresence and omniscience? No!
All this is why John says, “Greater is the one who is in you that the one who is in the world.” The one who is in us and at work in us is God. And the one who is the world and at work in it is the devil. Now it is obvious that the being that men are most afraid of in this world is the devil. But he himself knows that he is not a match for God in any sense. And that is because he too is a created being, a being created by God, with very limited powers and resources. (Cf. Job 1:6-12, 2:1-6, Ezk 28:11-19)
Not only that, satan is not even as powerful and formidable as we have been made to believe. According to the Scriptures, a time is coming when God will send just one angel to arrest and bind him up for a thousand years. If satan, then, can be arrested and bound by just one angel, does that not suggest that he is very limited in abilities? That is exactly what it suggests. (Cf. Rev 20:1-3)
So, with God in us, there is no scheme of the devil and his cohorts that is a match for us; there is no challenge, trial, temptation, situation or circumstance that is a match for us. However, we need to walk in the consciousness of His awesome presence in us so that we will not forget to take advantage of it in our time of need.
I pray that the Spirit of God in you will daily strengthen your heart and emboldened it to walk in the victory and liberty that the Lord has already purchased for you, as you go through the remaining part of the year. Just keep walking with God, and you will keep walking without fear.
Have a very pleasant day.
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OUR ONENESS WITH HIM 28/09/2024
“Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Luke 10:16NIV)
Who is speaking here? It is our Lord Jesus Christ. And who is He referring to? He is referring to believers in Him; He is referring to all of us who have become members of His body through our faith in Him. And why does He speak like that? Why does He say, “Whoever listens to you listens to me and whoever rejects you rejects me?” He says this because of our oneness with Him.
See, He is the one we are representing in this world. We are sharing His life. We are sharing His holiness. We have become His ambassadors here on earth. (Cf. 2Cor 5:20)
Therefore, anyone that listens to us here one earth listens to Him as well. That is because we do not have a message of our own. It is the words that He has put in our mouths that we are declaring. If you, then, won’t listen to us, He is the one you are refusing to listen to.
That being the case, on the day of reckoning, when some will stand before Him and He will say to them, “I told you how to live to please me, but you would not listen”, they will ask Him, “When did you ever say anything like that to us, seeing that we never saw you?” And then He will say to them, “But members of my body spoke to you. And since they spoke to you, you have to take it for granted that I was the one that spoke to you. But since you rejected them you have rejected me also.”
Now why will the Lord speak in this manner? It is because we are one with Him. So, anyone who listens to us listens to Him and anyone who rejects us rejects Him. In like manner, anyone who rejects Him also rejects the one who sent Him, that is, God. You can see, then, that the Lord takes our oneness with Him as members of His body seriously. And you too should take it seriously.
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BE AVAILABLE TO GOD 27/09/2024
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty." Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"” (Isa 6:1-8NIV)
The first thing to note in this passage is that Isaiah was with the Lord. Of course, the things he describes here are from a vision he had seen. But the point is that he was with the Lord when he heard the things he heard. And because he was with the Lord he became aware of his own unrighteousness or wickedness, something that the Lord immediately took care of.
But then, even though Isaiah was there before the Lord, He still said, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” Isaiah was there. He was standing before the Lord. And so the Lord could have said, “Will you go for us, Isaiah?” But He did not say that. He did not assume that Isaiah was there for Him, even though he was right there.
So, even though he was standing there before the Lord, He still said, “Who will go for us? Whom shall I send?” And Isaiah had to say, “Here am I. Send me!” before the Lord said to him, “Go and tell this people…” Therefore, standing before the Lord or being with the Lord’s people all the time does not mean that you are available to lead or serve them.
Moses, as we are told in Exodus, chapter 3, was standing before the Lord on that holy ground. Yet he was frank about the fact that he was not available for what God was sending him to do. God said, “I am sending you to Pharaoh.” And Moses said, “No, I am not available for that. Send someone else.” God even gave him some signs to show him that He would be with him and ensure that he succeeded in the task. Still Moses said, “Send someone else.” In fact God got angry with him at some point, for he was just giving all kinds of reasons he was not available for the job. He even said that he stammered and so was unsuitable for the task. And God was like, “What do you mean by that? Who created the tongue with which you speak? Are you saying that I cannot fix it for you, so that it becomes suitable for whatever I want you to use it for?”
The point is that Moses wanted God to know that he was not available. That is why I am saying that the one that God will use in leading or serving His people must be available and available not just by words of mouth. The Lord shared a parable of two sons who were told by the father to go and work in his farmland. When he said to the first son, “Go and work today in the vineyard,” his reply was, “No, I will not go. I am not available.” But later, according to our Lord, he thought about it and went. Then the father said to the other son, “Go and work in the vineyard today.” And he said, “Okay, I will go.” But he never went. (Cf. Matthew 21:28-31)
So, being available to lead or serve God’s people goes beyond just saying it with your mouth or being present with the Lord’s people or in their meetings all the time. It is a thing of the heart. You have to be truly available, available to God and available to His people. You must be willing to do whatever you are told to do at the time He wants you to do it. You must be willing to care for His people when due. When they need you, you must be there. Whatever it is that they need you for, you have to be there for them.
It is unfortunate today that many so-called leaders of God’s people are not available to the people they are leading. You need to visit some of our assemblies and see the way leaders are treated there. You will see that they are not available. Someone will want to see the pastor, and he will have to first deal with several layers of secretaries and personal assistants before he is able to get to him. Some pastors are more difficult to access than the president of this country. Why? They are not available.
Now are you too available for God to use in blessing His people? You know the answer. And whatever it is, remember that God will not reward you for what you do not make yourself available for Him to do.
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OUR COMPETENCE COMES FROM GOD 25/09/2024
“Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant – not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2Corinthians 3:4-6NIV)
The first thing Paul tells us in our opening bible text is that our competence comes from God. Then he goes on to say that we are ministers of the Spirit. In fact, he actually says God has made us able ministers of the Spirit.
So, if you are a child of God, you are also an able minister of His Spirit, just as I am an able minister of the Spirit. And our competence (our ability to minister for God) does not come from our education. It does not come from our wealth. It does not come from our age. It comes from God Himself.
In fact, our ability to serve God or minister for Him effectively does not even come from the fact that we know a lot of Scriptures or from the fact that we pray all the time. Rather, it comes from God.
Now am I saying it is not good to pray? No! It is good to pray. I pray and, as we are instructed in the Scriptures, I also urge you to pray. Also, I study the Scriptures. And I urge you too to do your own studying of the Scriptures. But I do not derive my confidence or competence from the studying of Scriptures or from praying; I derive it from God.
You can be studying the Scriptures and also praying and still not be competent in serving God and in blessing people. And that will be because you are relying on the effort you are making in praying or in studying Scriptures. But the word of God says our competence comes from God. Our ability to minister effectively, which is what Paul is talking about, our ability to reach out to people and deliver them from the power of the devil comes from God Himself. And as long as we are functioning with this mind-set, we are equal to any task given to us by God. Yes, we can do whatever He wants us to do. We can bless all the people He wants us to bless, regardless of the circumstances. Hallelujah!
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CAN YOU PUBLICLY EXPRESS YOUR FAITH? 25/09/2024
“Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.” (Acts 19:18-19NIV)
When did these things happen? It was when Paul was in Ephesus, preaching the good news of the kingdom of God. And as a result of his preaching, people’s lives were being radically changed. So, they were coming out publicly to testify that their lives were being changed. Those who had charms were bringing out their charms to destroy them. Those who had magic books were bringing out their magic books and burning them. And they were doing these things publicly.
Unfortunately, today, often when we want to lead people to the Lord, we will say, “All eyes closed. If you don’t want any problem in your life, close your eyes.” Why do we do that? Generally, it is because there are people who will not raise their hands and confess Jesus, if others are watching them. And that is because they don’t want anybody to know they are getting born again.
But when you secretly get born again like that, it becomes easy for you to still go out there and act as you had not been born again. At least, nobody saw you when you gave your life to Jesus. So, nobody is going to be expecting that you live up to a particular standard, since they don’t even know that you are a Christian.
However, it was not like that in bible days. At that time, you would openly make your confession of Jesus Christ as Lord. You would come out and everyone would see you. And that was an indication of the change that had taken place on your inside.
That, of course, is what we see in our opening bible text. These people were coming out and renouncing their wickedness publicly. That shows that they were excited about the word of God that they had received. It shows that what they received was real.
Now can you too say that what you received was real? Are you bold to tell the world that you are now a child of God, a new creation in Christ Jesus? Are you bold to publicly express your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? If you are not bold to reveal your identity as a child of God to the world around you, then, something may be wrong with what you received. And you need to check it before it is too late. Otherwise, God forbid, when you eventually stand before the judgment throne of God, you may just realise that what you have been calling light has been nothing but darkness all along.
So, check yourself.
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DON’T OVERSTEP YOUR BOUNDARIES 24/09/2024
“But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the LORD followed him in. They confronted him and said, "It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the LORD God." Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the LORD's temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the LORD had afflicted him.” (2Chron 26:16-20NIV
What led Uzziah to enter the temple of the Lord to burn incense? It was pride. Here was a king that began reigning at the age of sixteen and then went on to reign for fifty-two long years. Even the great King David reigned for only forty years (2Sam 5:4-5). But this man enjoyed many fruitful years of reign as a king over the land of Judah. Why? It was because the Lord gave him rest, good health and success in all his ways. In fact, the Scripture says that this man was marvellously helped by God to become famous, powerful and great (2Chro 26:15
But then, after many years of enjoying the goodness of God, he began to think of himself as some special breed. At least, he had succeeded as a king, as a military leader, as a farmer and as a land developer (2Chro 26:6-10). So, as he thought, if he should go into the priestly ministry as well, nothing should stop him from succeeding. That was why he entered the temple of the Lord with incense in his hands to bur
However, as the priests in the land boldly told him, it was not in his place to burn incense to the Lord. In other words, he had already overstepped his boundaries. He had taken upon himself to do something that he was neither anointed nor trained to do. As the bible shows us, even those who were anointed as priests at that time could not just show up before the Lord anyhow or offer any kind of incense to him and not suffer for it
Why did Nadab and Abihu die before the Lord, even though they were his anointed priests? Was it not because they offered a strange fire before him? (Cf. Lev 10:1-3) Then why did God, through Samuel, tell King Saul that his kingdom would not endure? Was it not because he took up the priestly duty of Samuel in offering some sacrifices to the Lord on an occasion? Yes, he did what he did because he was frustrated and under great pressure from those around him. Nevertheless, he did it at the cost of his kingdom. (Cf. 1Sam 1
Now these two accounts were well documented in the Scriptures for someone like Uzziah to learn from. But apparently, he learnt nothing from them. So, the very day he overstepped his boundaries to assume priestly functions in the land was the day God struck him with leprosy on his forehead. God struck him with something he could not hide from anybody. So, he had to step down from the throne for his son, Jotham, to reign in his stead. And even when he died, public sentiments would not allow the palace to bury him with his ancestors. Instead, he was buried in a field near them. (Cf. 2Chronicles 26:21-2
What is the point of this? It is that while it is good to diversify in life, especially when God is increasing us in good things, we must know our boundaries in life and not overstep them. That you are successful in a certain line of business or vocation does not mean that you have what it takes to succeed in any other kind of business or vocation
So, if it is not something you are absolutely sure you have abilities or training for, don’t allow pride, greed or the smooth talk of men drive you into doing it. Otherwise, you may meet with utter disgrace by getting involved in it. And only God knows how many successful people that have met with certain death, disgrace, illness or destruction by getting involved in politics or some sort of businesses that they did not have the ability, training, influence or experience to succeed i
Then, regardless of how successful you may be in life, don’t ever disregard spiritual authority or carelessly interfere in spiritual functions that God has not given you abilities for. Yes, every child of God is anointed and not one of us is more anointed than others. However, each of us has their own place in the kingdom. And it is only by staying in that place where God has anointed you to be that you can prosper. If you should, then, begin to address yourself by a name or title that God has not given you and to take up tasks that He has not gifted you to do, at some point, disgrace or destruction may break out on your forehead. And you won’t be able to hide it. So, mind yoursel
f.n.. 3)3). n.).), mind yourself.
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DON’T BE A USELESS HELPER 23/09/2024
As we see in the bible, at various times in life God plants us in different people’s lives to be helpers or comforters to them. This, of course, is never to make slaves of us, even though we may sometimes find ourselves doing things that slaves do. Rather, it is often to prepare us for greater heights God wants to take us or for greater assignments He wants to give to us.
For instance, before Joseph became second-in-command to Pharaoh, he had served as a servant and helper to Potiphar and also to the warden of the prison he was taken to after the blackmail of Potiphar’s wife. And the experiences and training he had while serving these people must have helped him greatly while leading the nation of Egypt. Also, before Elisha became the leading prophet of the nation of Israel, he had first served and helped Elijah in many ways. And the time he spent with that man of God must have greatly helped him in cultivating the right culture in handling the word of God even in difficult situations. (Cf. Gen 39-41; 1Kings 19 - 2Kings 2)
But then, we must understand that the reason both Joseph and Elisha eventually got to the great heights God wanted them to get to and also succeeded there was that they made themselves quite useful to those that they were meant to serve at the time they were meant to serve them. If Joseph, for instance, had been useless to Potiphar, he would not have put all his possessions in his care. Or if he had been useless to the warden of the prison he was taken to, he would most likely not have had the opportunity to meet the man that secured his release.
So, wherever you are, identify the people God wants you to serve, help or comfort and prove yourself highly useful or invaluable to them instead of becoming an unnecessary burden. Don’t be like Job’s three friends who came to comfort him in his time of trial but ended up hurting him more. Look at his words concerning them: “You, however, smear me with lies; you are worthless physicians, all of you! If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom.” (Job 13:4-5NIV)
Then don’t be like John Mark who, in his early days as a minister, abandoned Paul and Barnabas during their first missionary trip. According to Luke, this man had followed these apostles to help them in whatever way they might need him. That means he may have been required to help them with their house chores, travel arrangements, letter writing or delivery, tax payments and so forth. But for no good reason, he left them when the work was just starting. So, he was a useless minister to them at that time, even though he was Barnabas’s cousin. No wonder Paul did not want them to take him when they were going on their second missionary trip. (Cf. Acts 13:5&13; Acts 15:36-41)
Now all thanks to God that Mark later woke up and began to make himself responsible in serving the leaders He wanted him to serve. So, Paul would later ask Timothy to bring him to him because he had become useful to him in his ministry (2Tim 4:11). And that is how God wants all of us to be. He wants us to grow up to be tremendously useful to the people in our lives, especially our leaders, whether at home, in the church or at work.
See, leaders, including our parents, don’t want liabilities around them but helpers. They already have enough work to do and don’t want followers that will make things harder but easier for them. So, if you can’t make things easier for your leaders, wherever you may be, you are useless to them. And as long as you are like that, your leaders won’t see any reason to lift you up. Even God can’t open greater doors of usefulness for you, if you are useless to those He wants you to serve or help. So, wake up, as Mark eventually did and start making yourself useful to all the people He wants you to serve. And before you know it, doors of opportunity for greater heights will start opening here and there for you.
Have a fabulous day.
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DON’T OVERLOOK ANY OF THEM 22/09/2024
“Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul; and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” (Psalm 103:1-5NIV)
What is this psalmist telling us here? It is the need for us to acknowledge and praise God for all that He is doing in our lives. He says do not overlook any of His benefits. That means we must continually show gratitude to God. Our show of gratitude to Him must be constant and always. We must be ever thankful to Him for all that we are receiving from Him, not forgetting to thank Him for anything.
Being grateful to God in this manner, of course, will include being grateful to Him also for those things we cannot feel, see or touch that we have received or are receiving from Him. In other words, we are not to be grateful to God only for the material things or the things associated with living in this world that we receive from Him – we are also to be grateful to Him for the spiritual things we have received from Him.
Yes, we must be thankful for the material things and other things that are associated with living in this world that we have received from God. But there are things are even more important than the things of this world that we have received from Him and that we need to acknowledge and be thankful for.
For example, the Lord once sent a number of his disciples out to preach the gospel and heal all kinds of sicknesses and diseases. And they went and came back with glad tidings. That was because many were healed and delivered from all kinds of problems. What shocked them even more was the fact that demons obeyed them. So, they began to rejoice over that. But the Lord told them not to rejoice because demons submitted to them but to rejoice because their names were written in the book of life. (Cf. Luke 10:17-20)
So, there is a higher level of praise, thanksgiving or appreciation that we can give to God. When we are thankful to Him for those spiritual blessings that we have received from Him, we are giving Him a higher level of praise.
In any case, the point of it all is that we must not overlook any of the beautiful things we are receiving from God, so that we may thank Him for it. And I pray that your heart will be daily strengthened to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a great day.
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THEY CAN ONLY LOSE THEIR SOULS 21/09/2024
I pray for you today that God will continue to keep you safe from the corruption of these last days and make you stand before our Lord Jesus pure and blameless when He returns. Amen.
Sometimes ago, I saw some very disturbing videos on the internet of some of our young men and women in the country stripping themselves naked, even in some big markets, all in the name of playing a game. They call it flip-game challenge. And many were getting involved in this madness boldly. Why? They just wanted to make themselves happy and forget their pains and sorrows. Then some saw this as a means to make easy money on the internet. Unfortunately, they didn’t care what they had to do to make that happen.
Now all this brings to my mind one of the things our Lord Jesus says about the last days. He says, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matt 24:12-13NIV) What will increase in the last days? Wickedness! Immorality! Deceit! And how will the increase in these things affect God’s children? It will make the love of many of them for the Lord become cold. In other words, they will no longer be passionate or fervent in living for the Lord or in serving Him. That, of course, will be because they too want to keep in step with their friends, lovers, family members, neighbours and so forth that do not know the Lord.
But the Lord is also very clear to us about the fact that it is only who remain firm in their love for Him and devotion to Him to the very end that will make their salvation complete. Those who give up on Him or on righteous living because of the wickedness, immorality, deceit, bitterness or jealousy around them can only lose their souls. So, don’t let any of the terrible things the people around you are doing to take care of themselves, protect themselves or make themselves happy make the fire of your love for God die. Instead, condemn their acts, turn away from them and cling to the Lord. That will be your wisdom.
Remember that the Lord Jesus says, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” (Matt 16:25NIV) What this means is that all your friends, family members, colleagues at work or in school, neighbours or even church members that think they are going to save themselves or make themselves happy by stealing, getting drunk or getting involved in prostitution or money rituals will someday realise that they have not saved or made themselves happy at all but have only destroyed themselves. And if you allow them to entice you to be involved in their sins, you too will someday realise that you have destroyed yourself and perhaps the people you love in your attempt to save your life.
Which is it going to be, then? Will you remain true in your devotion to the Lord, regardless of the challenges life may throw at you, and depend on Him for victory, peace and joy in every situation? Or will you join all the people around you that are daily destroying themselves while they are trying to save themselves? Well, the ball is in your court. My prayer, however, is that the Spirit of God will strengthen your heart not to foolishly join the world in running a race that is bound to end in destruction. Amen.
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RECOGNISE AND UTILISE THE OPPORTUNITIES 20/09/2024
Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me, I still had no peace of mind, because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I said goodbye to them and went on to Macedonia.” (2Corinthians 2:12-13NIV)
Clearly, an opportunity was given to Paul to present the Good News to the people in Troas, as he mentions in our opening bible text. But he says that because he had no peace of mind – he was troubled and afraid – he did not take advantage of the opportunity. So he went on to Macedonia.
In like manner, there are times we are given opportunities and we recognise them as opportunities to preach the Good News but still will not take advantage of them. Why? Like Paul, it may be because we lack the courage to do so.
But the Spirit of God is always there to supply us with all the things that are necessary to take advantage of the opportunities that He is bringing to us. And if we will recognise that and count on Him for whatever we need when these opportunities come, we won’t waste them.
Now the Lord is going to give you opportunities to publish the Good News today. He is going to give you opportunities to tell people about Him. But these opportunities may not come when you are holding a bible in your hand or when you are praying. Instead, they may come at a time that you are not expecting them. Perhaps they will come when you are having a chat with someone or when you are on a bike or when you are sitting with someone in a car. It may even be when you want to buy something from someone.
Wherever it may be, it is important that you recognise whatever opportunities the Lord brings you to share His Good News. Of course, it is also important that you are able to take advantage of the strength, the wisdom and the resources that are available in Him to utilise these opportunities. And my prayer is that you will be strengthened to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a great day.
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SETTLE ACCOUNTS WITH THE DEVIL 19/09/2024
“Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you paid the last penny.” (Luke 12:57-59NIV)
Who is speaking here? It is our Lord Jesus. And what is he talking about? Well, He is not talking beyond something mundane here. Instead, he is also talking about something spiritual; he is speaking about how to deal with your adversary.
Now who is your adversary? Satan! And if you are not born again, he is dragging you off to destruction, according to the Lord Jesus. What, then, are you going to do about that? You have to pay him off. For if he drags you off like that, you are done for.
See, Satan is in control of your life now because you have not been saved by faith in Christ Jesus. And if you allow the situation to remain like that, he will drag you off until he completely ruins you. Then you will appear before God and you will not be able to escape—you will be thrown into prison and you will not be able to get out until you pay the last penny.
Naturally, you may be able to pay the price for your freedom, if we are talking about an earthly prison. But spiritually, which is what we are talking about, you will not be able to pay. Once a man is dragged into hell or into the lake of fire, he cannot pay; he will not be able to rescue himself. That is why Jesus says, “Right now that you can rescue yourself, right now that you can settle with your adversary, do so.”
But how will the natural man do so? How will he free himself from the control of the devil? How will he free his family from the control of the devil? How will he free his business from the rule of the devil? What will he do to free his marriage from the control of the devil? He does not know.
Well, that is where the Good News begins. And the Good News is that, even though the natural man is unable to rescue himself from the control of the devil, God has done something about it. Even though the natural man on his own is unable to settle accounts with the devil, God has done something about that.
The reason he is under the control of the devil in the first place is that he is owes and has to pay. But he does not have what it takes to pay. Thank God, however, that He has done something about the payment. In Christ Jesus, God has done something about the payment, so that man is able to settle accounts with the devil. And once he settles accounts with him, he becomes free. But as long as he does not do that, Satan will continue to drag him around; he will continue to make nonsense of his life.
If you, then, want to be free from the control of the devil, if you don’t want him to drag you off into destruction, embrace Jesus as your Lord today. And He will save and deliver you permanently from the hold of the devil.
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HE IS CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR MOTIVES TOO 18/09/2024
“Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.” (1Corinthians 4:5NIV)
I want you to pay attention to that. Paul says that when the Lord comes, He is going to bring to light what is hidden in darkness and expose the motives of the heart. That means the Lord is going to expose the intentions of our hearts, the things that motivate us to do what we do, when He comes.
Whatever it is that you are doing, even though it is a good work, when the Lord comes, He is going to expose your motive for doing it. Now that is easy for the Lord to do, for in Hebrews 4 we are told that nothing in all creation is hidden from God; everything is laid bare before the eyes of Him with whom we must reckon. So, he sees everything and knows everything.
Well, the point I am making is that God is not just concerned about what we do; He is also concerned about our motives and intentions. These are what will determine whether what we are doing will be acceptable in His sight or not.
So, I ask you, “What is your reason for doing what you are doing?” Truly, God created us to do good works. But these works can be polluted either by sin or carnality. Christians don’t have sin in their nature because they have been recreated. But carnality also can pollute good works. It can render them useless. Don’t give room for carnality in your life, then. Don’t give room for envy, pride, greed or bitterness in your life. Otherwise, all your good works may end up becoming nothing in the sight of God.
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HE DELIGHTS IN YOUR PROSPERITY 17/09/2024
My prayer for you today is that God will establish the works of your hands and cause you to prosper in all your ways now and always, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Now, if you said ‘amen’ to that prayer, it must mean that you believe in prosperity. Actually, I am yet to come across anyone who does not believe in prosperity or who does not want to prosper. Even those who criticise and complain about the so-called prosperity preachers and their messages also want to prosper. They want to succeed in their businesses. They want to be promoted at work. They want to build their own houses and wear good dresses. They want to stay healthy. And they want their children to do well in their studies and get employed by great companies or institutions. So, they are not really against prosperity, as their language suggests. What they are probably against is undue emphasis on acquisition of material wealth.
To say the fact, there are many preachers today who think of prosperity only in terms of material wealth. And while it is true that God wants His people to be rich in material things and also empowers them to do so, it is also true that He does not measure the quality of people’s life on the basis of their material possessions (Luke 12:15). So, being prosperous in life goes beyond having a lot of material things; rather, it involves possessing the ability to enjoy life in all its richness, regardless of the circumstances one may find himself in. And the ability to enjoy life in that manner does not come from having a lot of money, great education or a mighty influence on men; it comes from God.
Solomon, in his great book on life, Ecclesiastes, says to us, “Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work — this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.” (Eccl 5:19-20NIV) Can you see that? If you are enjoying your body, your family, your job, your education, your house, your resources and the fruit of the labour of your hands, regardless of how unattractive these things may be to men, then, you must understand that you are blessed of God.
Now I said that because Solomon further tells us in this same book that it is possible for a man to legitimately acquire great riches, properties, honour, children and even longevity and still not enjoy his life (Ecc 6:1-3). So, even though, naturally, we will consider anyone who has all such things prosperous, he is really not prosperous, if he is unable to enjoy them. And there are many like that today, who appear to be prosperous in the eyes of men but who are not enjoying their so-called prosperity. But, if you are a child of God, you need to know that He not only wants you to prosper but also wants you to enjoy your prosperity.
David, in one of his Psalms, says, “Let them shout for joy and be glad, Who favor my righteous cause; And let them say continually, "Let the LORD be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant."” (Ps 35:27NKJV) Look at that. The Lord delights in the prosperity of His people. And since He delights in our prosperity, we can expect Him to continually furnish us with the ability we need to enjoy it.
We, however, must stay away from anything that could tamper with the enjoyment of the things God has freely provided for us. Yes, we must stay away from things like greed, immorality, carelessness, over-confidence, confidence in the flesh, bitterness, envy and a host of other things that give Satan opportunities to steal people’s joy from them. And as we do so, we will continually see God at work in us, empowering us to enjoy our lives, regardless of the circumstances we may find ourselves in.
Do have a lovely day.
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NO REST FOR CHEATS 16/09/2024
Have you ever cheated before in life? Well, I have many times. In fact, all of us have cheated many times. But we must know that it is not good to cheat. And in case you don’t know who a cheat is, I will tell you. A cheat is someone that cleverly takes from others things that do not belong to him. Also, a cheat is someone that uses dirty tricks to win for himself prizes or rewards that he does not deserve. So, a cheat is a clever thief, a clever thief that brings sorrows and pains to the heart of others. That means a cheat is a wicked person.
Now there is no rest for wicked people. So, there is no rest for the cheat. And how do I know that? It is because the bible says so. Isaiah tells us this in chapter 57 of his book: “But evil people are like the angry sea, which cannot rest, whose waves toss up waste and mud. "There is no peace for evil people," says my God.” (Isa 57:20-21NCV) Look at that. Those who are wicked cannot enjoy rest or peace in this life. Their hearts and minds will never be calm. And that is because their wickedness will continue to hunt them.
Look, for example, at the fraudsters that are popularly called ‘419’ in our country today. Do they have peace or rest in their lives? No! They have to keep changing residences because they are afraid that those they have hurt or law enforcement agents may suddenly catch up with them. Also, look at another group of fraudsters that are popularly known as ‘Yahoo boys’. Do they have rest in their lives? No! Yes, they may appear to be living large to those around them. But is their peace in their lives? Can they freely move around the way other people do? Can people, even their family members, freely come to their houses and enter any room they like? No! They have to carefully keep most of the things they do away from others for fear of being caught in their wickedness.
In addition, if you have ever cheated as a student, you should have no problem agreeing with me that there is no peace for the cheat. You get suspicious whenever somebody is coming towards you. Even if somebody just says, “You, over there…” you will think you are the one being addressed, and you will start sweating or fidgeting or shivering. Why? You have been cheating. You have brought into the examination hall materials that don’t belong there. So, you cannot be at peace, for you know that you can be caught and disgraced.
Now what is the point of making money or acquiring things that you cannot peacefully spend or enjoy? What is the point of cheating to attain a position that you will always be afraid to occupy? Or what is the point of cheating to obtain certificates or credentials that you cannot defend with confidence? It is all useless! All of this is why I don’t envy cheats or fraudsters or thieves – I love to maintain the peace of God in my life. You too should not envy them, so that God’s peace can abide in your life forever. But supposing you have lost that peace because of you have been a cheat all along, you can have it back by turning to God through Jesus Christ now. And He will not throw you away. Instead, He will restore you and bring back peace and rest into your life. So, don’t delay. Do the right thing now.
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YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN 15/09/2024
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.” (1Corinthians 6:19-20NIV)
From what Paul says to us in our opening text, it is clear that the Christian does not belong to himself. I don’t belong to myself. You don’t belong to yourself. So you cannot do with your life as you like. You cannot say, “Well, this is my life, and I will do with it as I like. I don’t want anybody to interfere.” That is wrong. The one who is of the world may talk like that. He may live like that. But a Christian cannot live his life like that. His body does not belong to him. His hands do not belong to him. So he cannot do with his hands anything that he likes. His eyes do not belong to him. He cannot look at anything that he likes, because his eyes don’t belong to him. His legs do not belong to him. So he cannot take his legs to wherever he likes. That is because he belongs to someone else.
Again, Paul says, “You are not your own.” So don’t think you have the final say on your life; for you do not. God bought you. He paid a price for your soul. When we say that we have been set free or delivered from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of God, we must understand that it is not a cheap affair. It is easy to say, “O, I have been made free. I am free!” But how did you become free? Do you think God just said to the devil, “Let him go; he now belongs to me?” No, that’s not what happened. God did not just command satan, saying, “Let my people go,” as he did in the case of Pharaoh. God had actually said to Pharaoh, “Let my people go!” Pharaoh struggled and struggled with that, until he saw things that were bigger than him. Eventually he let God’s people off. (Cf. Ex 7:10-11, Ex 12:31)
Now what happened in Pharaoh’s case was a type. But that’s not what happened in our case. God did not just command the devil to leave us. God, actually, could not have commanded the devil to leave us. That is because, naturally, we belonged to the devil. Are you following? Every natural man that is born into this world is a child of the devil. Every child that is coming to this world is a child of the devil. That is the position of the scripture. But why? It is because of our relationship with Adam. When Adam sinned, he became a child of the devil. So everyone that proceeds from Adam is a child of the devil, naturally. That was why God could not have commanded the devil to let us go.
It follows, then, that in order for God to take us away from the devil, he had to pay. He had to buy us back. He had to pay the price for our souls. That was the reason he gave Jesus—he was the payment, the ransom, for our souls. And because God paid for our souls, satan had to let us go. It was a legal transaction. The price had been paid. So satan had no choice, but to let us go. Now he has no claims on our lives. For we now belong to God, naturally. All this is to let us know that it was a transaction that took place—we were bought back from the devil. Now we are no longer slaves of the devil. God bought us.
But God, having bought us, could have made us slaves again; for he paid the price for our souls. People buy slaves and sometimes lead into worse slavery conditions. But when God bought us, he did not turn us into slaves; he turned us into Children. That is because, originally, that was what we were. And that God is now treating us as children does not mean that we should begin to think that we belong to ourselves. We don’t belong to ourselves; we now belong to God.
Therefore, as the apostle goes on to tell us, we should honour God with our lives, our bodies and everything else we have. Otherwise, we will be wasting His grace, which will come with serious consequences. My prayer for you, then, is that you will not waste God’s grace but make the most of it to daily live to honour him, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Cheers!
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BE EXCITED ABOUT YOUR FAITH 14/09/2024
“After this, Jesus went out and saw a collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.” (Luke 5:27-28NIV)
Would you not think Levi was bewitched for him to have done that? That was a grown up man, a responsible man with a job. Yet Jesus went to meet him at his work place and said to him, “Follow me,” and the man left everything and followed him.
Well, in verse 29, it says, “Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them.” (Luke 5:29NIV) Interesting! Not only did Levi leave his job and follow Jesus, he also left cheerfully; he was happy to leave.
How did I know that? It is clear from what we have here: he held a banquet; he had a party for Jesus, immediately after leaving his job. He did not come back home, crying and saying, “O, what am I going to eat now?” It is possible that you are in that position and are saying, “God is asking me to quit my job, please sympathise with me.” If you are expecting anyone to sympathise with you because God has called you away from your job to do something else for him, then, you don’t know what you have been called to do.
Levi was so happy that he had a banquet for Jesus and invited people who were like him to come around. He brought in other tax collectors and sinners like himself to Jesus. Why? He was excited about his newly found relationship with the Lord.
See, one of the reasons we don’t talk to the unsaved people around us is that we are not excited about our faith. The reason you don’t talk to your friends, neighbours, colleagues at work, family members or course mates is that you are not excited about your faith. Perhaps you are even feeling sorry for yourself because you are a Christian. And there are many that are sorry for being Christians today. But you don’t have to be sorry for being a child of God. Why? That is the best thing that can happen to any man or woman here on earth.
So, as you go this new day, be excited about your faith. Be excited about your relationship with Jesus Christ. I am excited that I am related to Jesus. And no one will ever make me feel sorry about that.
Have a lovely day.
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I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL 13/09/2024
“Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, “Here I am – it is written about me in the scroll – I have come to do your will, my God.”’” (Hebrews 10:5-7NIV) .
What did Jesus say, when He came into the world? He said I have come to do your will my God. Jesus came to do the will of God. He came to please God. He knew that was the reason he came. So there was no other assignment. Nothing was greater than this to him. “I have come to do your will,” he says. “This is my vision. This is my aim. This is my objective. This is my focus. The will of God is what I have come to do.”
Now that has nothing to do with preaching. Of course, Jesus preached. But that was just a part of the will of God for his life. Sadly, when we talk about Jesus’ pleasing God, people often think only in the line of His ministry—His preaching, healing of the sick and casting out of devils. He did these for only three and a half years. What about the first thirty years of his life? What did He do with them? Did He please God with them?
Well, God had said to Jesus, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well-pleased,” even before He started His ministry. So if He had not preached a single message here in the world, He would still have pleased God. That is why pleasing God has nothing to do with becoming a pastor, an evangelist or a prophet. You can be all these things and still not be pleasing God.
There are a lot of pastors, prophets, evangelists and apostles out there who are not pleasing God. Those are just carrying around titles. And all these titles are nothing before God, if our lives are not consistent with His will. The things that are highly esteemed among men are nothing before God. (Cf. Luke 16:15)
So, living for Jesus wasn’t about being a prophet or a preacher or a healer; it was more than that. His focus was to please God. He made it His business to please God. And is that your focus too? Until it becomes your focus and vision, it cannot be realised. Until pleasing God becomes your motive, your objective in life, it cannot be realised. But that is what you were made for. And I pray that your heart will be strengthened to live accordingly every day, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Stay refreshed.
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CONSIDER HIM
12/09/2024
“Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.” (Hebrews 3:1NIV)
Who are we to fix our thoughts on, according to the writer of the book of Hebrews and as we see in our opening text? We are to fix our thoughts on Jesus. In other words, we are to consider Jesus in our thoughts.
Now what are we to consider about Him? Well, he tells us in the verse that follows the one above, which reads: “He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.” (Hebrews 3:2NIV) Here he is telling us to learn from Jesus, to learn from His life of faithfulness.
He says consider him; fix your thoughts on Him. You may have a lot of people around you who are terrible examples of faithfulness—you don’t have to consider them. There is one, however, that you can consider. This one was faithful to the one who appointed him. His name is Jesus Christ. And you should consider Him, so that you may emulate His example of faithfulness.
Your parents may not be faithful or they may not serve as good examples of faithfulness for you. Your friends, your colleagues at work, your course mates, your class mates, your fellow traders or even your brothers and sisters and pastor in church may not be true examples of faithfulness to you. Don’t waste your time considering them. And don’t let them be the reason you are living an unfaithful life.
In short, don’t make anybody your excuse for not living a life of faithfulness. You already have a perfect example set before you, and that is Jesus Christ. Therefore, you are told to consider Him because He was faithful to the one who appointed Him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. And as you fix your thoughts on Him, you will have all the encouragement you need to daily live a life of faithfulness to God, faithfulness to yourself and faithfulness to others.
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CONSIDER HIM
12/09/2024
“Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.” (Hebrews 3:1NIV)
Who are we to fix our thoughts on, according to the writer of the book of Hebrews and as we see in our opening text? We are to fix our thoughts on Jesus. In other words, we are to consider Jesus in our thoughts.
Now what are we to consider about Him? Well, he tells us in the verse that follows the one above, which reads: “He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.” (Hebrews 3:2NIV) Here he is telling us to learn from Jesus, to learn from His life of faithfulness.
He says consider him; fix your thoughts on Him. You may have a lot of people around you who are terrible examples of faithfulness—you don’t have to consider them. There is one, however, that you can consider. This one was faithful to the one who appointed him. His name is Jesus Christ. And you should consider Him, so that you may emulate His example of faithfulness.
Your parents may not be faithful or they may not serve as good examples of faithfulness for you. Your friends, your colleagues at work, your course mates, your class mates, your fellow traders or even your brothers and sisters and pastor in church may not be true examples of faithfulness to you. Don’t waste your time considering them. And don’t let them be the reason you are living an unfaithful life.
In short, don’t make anybody your excuse for not living a life of faithfulness. You already have a perfect example set before you, and that is Jesus Christ. Therefore, you are told to consider Him because He was faithful to the one who appointed Him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. And as you fix your thoughts on Him, you will have all the encouragement you need to daily live a life of faithfulness to God, faithfulness to yourself and faithfulness to others.
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HOLY BROTHERS AND SISTERS 11/09/2024
“Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling…” (Hebrews 3:1NIV)
Who is the writer of the book of Hebrews referring to here? He is referring to Christians. He calls them holy brothers and sisters. That is our identity. There are, of course, many Christians that still struggle with this. You tell them, “You are holy,” and they say, “No, I am not.”
But look at what this man tells us. He says, “Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling…” He refers to us as holy brothers and sisters. Why? It is because that is actually what we are. We are holy before God. We may not feel like we are. But what we feel or do not feel cannot change the truth. And the truth is that all of us who are in Christ Jesus are holy brothers and sisters.
Then this man of God goes on to say that we are also partakers of the heavenly calling of God. I am a partaker of the heavenly calling of God. Are you getting some facts about your identity now? You are a holy brother or sister. You are also a partaker of God’s heavenly calling.
Sometimes when I say to people, “If you are ever going to make it to heaven, you must know right here on earth,” there are those who find it weird. They have contrary views. They say, “When we all die, then, we are going to know whether we have made it to heaven or not.” But that is a wrong position to be. It is a very precarious situation to put oneself. It is precarious not to be certain of where you will be when you leave this plane of life.
At any rate, we are told by the Spirit of God in our opening text that we are holy brothers and sisters and also partakers of God’s heavenly calling. That means we have been called to inherit the kingdom of heaven. We are inheritors of the kingdom of heaven. That is the gospel truth. And that is what you should live your daily life to uphold.
Have a great day.
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GET ADEQUATE INSTRUCTIONS 10/09/2024
“When David was told, "Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are looting the threshing floors,” he inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I go and attack these Philistines?" The LORD answered him, "Go, attack the Philistines and save Keilah." But David's men said to him, "Here in Judah we are afraid. How much more, then, if we go to Keilah against the Philistine forces!" Once again David inquired of the LORD, and the LORD answered him, "Go down to Keilah, for I am going to give the Philistines into your hand." So David and his men went to Keilah, fought the Philistines and carried off their livestock. He inflicted heavy losses on the Philistines and saved the people of Keilah. (Now Abiathar son of Ahimelech had brought the ephod down with him when he fled to David at Keilah.)” (1Sam 23:1-6NIV)
From our opening bible text, it is clear that it is not enough to find out from God if it is alright for us to do something; it is equally important we find out from Him whether success is sure for us in what He says that we can do or not. David, as we see in the text, was not just satisfied with the fact that God had told him that it was okay for him to support the people of Keilah in fighting the Philistines. He also wanted to be sure that doing so would not result in defeat but victory for him. And he got his answers.
But why did David act like that? He must have known that the fact that God tells someone to go ahead and do something does not mean that the person will succeed in doing so. If the person does not ask God questions on how to go about what they want to do or ask Him if they are going to succeed in doing it, they may not succeed. They may, in fact, get killed or injured while acting on the word of God.
For example, we are told in the bible that when God told Samuel to go and anoint David in place of King Saul, he immediately protested. Why? He knew that Saul had become wicked and ruthless, for the Spirit of God had already left him at the time. And if he should carelessly ordain someone else in his place, Saul would most likely kill him. So, he had to express his concern to God about the matter. And God taught him what he would do in order to succeed in the assignment and not put himself in arms’ way. If that had not been the case, if he had simply hurried down to the house of Jesse to anoint David as king in place of Saul, he would most likely have lost his life in the process, even though it was the will of God he was carrying out. (Cf. 1Sam 16:1-14)
Also, we are told in the book of Judges of how the eleven tribes of Israel failed twice to defeat the tribe of Benjamin, even though God was in support of their cause. As the story goes, certain wicked men from the tribe of Benjamin had raped a woman to death. And because their tribesmen would not punish them or hand them over to be punished by the people of God, all the men from the remaining eleven tribes decided to move against them in battle to purge the land of wickedness. (Cf. Judges 19-20)
But they did not just move against these Benjaminites without first consulting God. They consulted Him first, and He asked them to go. He even told them the first tribe to go. But when they went, they met with utter defeat. Summoning courage, they came to God again to ask whether it was alright for them to go to battle against the men of Benjamin. And He said that it was alright for them to go. But when they did, they lost again. In fact, their loss was so terrible that they all came back, weeping and crying before the Lord. (Cf. Judges 20:17-26)
Nevertheless, they inquired of the Lord again the third time to know if they should still go and fight the men of Benjamin. This time, however, God did not just tell them to go but also told them that He would give them victory. And when they went and fought against those evil men, they succeeded. Why? It was because the Lord had said that He would make them succeed. (Cf. Judges 20:27-28)
But why did they fail the first two times they went to battle against the Benjaminites, even though God approved of their going? Though we are not expressly told this in the bible, we can infer from other things said in it that they failed in that manner because they did not get enough instructions from God about the matter. Yes, they asked God if they could go to battle against those people and who should go up first among them. But they did not ask Him about the right time to strike or if they would succeed at all in doing so. So, they failed. And it was just the mercy of God that made them succeed in the final battle; it was not that they learnt their lessons and asked sufficient and right questions.
However, David, who must have read their account in the Scriptures, would not act like them at all in fighting any battle. He would not just ask God if it was okay for Him to engage in any battle; he would also ask Him if he would succeed in doing so. And God always answered him. No wonder he never lost any battle. (Cf. 1Sam 30:7-8; 2Sam 5:18-19)
In like manner, if we too do not want to find ourselves failing while acting on God’s word or instructions, we should always be patient to be adequately instructed by Him. Yes, God has spoken to you about what to do about a matter. But also make sure you find out how to go about it, where to handle it and when to handle it. Don’t run ahead with insufficient instructions about the will of God concerning any matter of your life, even if it is a prophet, an angel or God Himself that has spoken to you. Instead, like Samuel and David, always ask relevant and enough questions from God about any matter you are dealing with. Otherwise, you may often find yourself failing or getting injured while doing His will.
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WHEN WHAT YOU NEED IS JUST SOME GOOD COUNSEL 09/09/2024
“Moses' father-in-law replied, "What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to him. Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. But select capable men from all the people — men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain — and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied." Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said.” (Ex 18:17-24NIV)
There are certain events that are recorded in the bible that would probably not have been recorded in it, if it had not been the Spirit of God that moved the writers of its books to write down the things they wrote. One of them is the visit of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, to him. What was so special about this man’s visit to Moses that it had to be recorded? A man, with his daughter and grandchildren, misses his son-in-law, goes to visit him and then he throws a party for him. How does that bless anybody? (Cf. Ex 18:1-12)
Well, of course, that is a blessing to me, for it shows me that if we all are going to throw away our prejudices and relate to people in love, we can build good relationships with our fathers-in-law, mothers-in-law, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law and so forth. Moses and Jethro were from two different nationalities and religions. Yet because Moses was his son-in-law, Jethro treated him kindly all the forty years that he spent with him as a fugitive (Ex 2:15-22). And even after he had left him to do the Lord’s work, the man was still concerned about his welfare and so paid him a visit. That is how it should be. But in most cases, it is not like that.
At any rate, this account is not put in the bible to merely show us the kind of affection Moses and his father-in-law had for each other. Rather, it is put there to show us how God used Jethro’s visit to set Moses right and make him more effective and efficient in the work He had given him. As it further shows us, the very second day that Jethro came was the day he noticed that something was wrong with Moses’ leadership. Yes, he was a prophet of God and also a good and righteous man, who loved his people and wanted the best for them. But his leadership style was wrong. It could not effectively and efficiently care for all the people. In short, it was bound to wear him and the people out at some point.
So, as we are shown in our opening text, Jethro lost no time in showing this man of God what was wrong with what he was doing and what he needed to do, if God would permit him, to serve God and the people better. And as we are also shown, Moses listened to him and do as he had been counselled. This, of course, made the work lighter for him and also made it possible for everybody that needed leadership help among the people to be helped. (Cf. Ex 18:24-26)
Now what if Jethro had not visited Moses at that time and pointed out to him what was wrong with what he was doing and the way out? He probably would have carried on in his error and made a mess of his ministry or die before his time. And what if Moses had not listened to that man? What if he had dismissed his counsel as that of a pagan priest that knew nothing about the living God? His pride would most likely have accelerated his destruction and the destruction of his ministry.
What, then, is the point of all this? It is that there may be times that God needs to send certain people into our lives to show us what we are missing or what we need to do to increase in fruitfulness, usefulness or profitableness in life. It may be in our job, business, marriage or ministry that we need the good counsel or instruction of such people. Whatever the case is, it will be wise of us at such times to look beyond our relationship with such people or their status or handicaps to whatever truth God is using them to draw our attention to.
But if we allow pride or sentiments to make us turn down a good counsel, which probably would have been the difference between failure and success for us, it is only a matter of time before we have ourselves to blame. To say the fact, what some of us need at this time to get to higher grounds in our businesses, jobs, ministries or homes may not even be more prayers, more miracles or a greater diligence. It may just be one word of counsel that will open our eyes to certain simple things we can do that will bring everything home to us. And perhaps God is already using someone to speak to us and show us what needs to be done. But our pride or sentiments won’t just let us take them seriously. We need to humble ourselves right away and act on the good counsel that is freely coming to us. Otherwise, we may never experience the lifting we so desire.
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YOUR DUTY 08/09/2024
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13NIV)
Think about that. The sole responsibility of all mankind is to fear God and keep his commandments. Our sole responsibility, as humans, is to live a life of faith in God, a life that takes Him very seriously. So, if you are not living a life of faith in God, you are just wasting your humanity – you are wasting away and not fulfilling your humanity.
Of course, people may sing your praise for the things you have accomplished. And you too may praise yourself for the beautiful things happening in your life, for which you are happy and perhaps for which others adore you. But if your life is not all about taking God seriously, pleasing Him and doing His will, you are failing in your duty as a human being. Let us just say that you are living less than human. That is because your whole duty is to take God seriously, to live a life of faith in Him and a life of reverence for Him.
Paul once said to the religious leaders of the Jews that he was convinced that he had fulfilled his duty to God in all good conscience (Acts 23:1). That means he was clear about the fact that his life had been about pleasing God.
Also, speaking along this same line to the Roman brethren in his letter to them, he says from verse 9 of chapter 1, “God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.” (Romans 1:9-10NIV) Look at that. He says, “God, whom I serve in my spirit…” This man is testifying here that he is serving God in his spirit. He knows that his life is about serving God.
Do you also know the same thing? Is your conscience clear about this? Now, of course, what God thinks about us may be different. What He thinks about our commitment to Him may be different. But it is important that we ourselves are also clear about where we stand in our relationship with Him. It is important that we examine ourselves to know whether our lives have actually been about taking God seriously and pleasing Him or not. This is because if our lives are not about taking Him seriously and pleasing Him, then, we are wasting them. That is the point.
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HE WANTS OUR LIVES TO BE ORDERLY. 06/09/2024
As you face this new day, I will like to remind you of your role as a Christian in the world. The Christian is an ambassador of Christ in the world. He is not here for himself; rather, he is here for the one who saved him; he is here to represent his interests. (Cf. 2Cor 5:15-20).
Now the very first thing Christ is interested in is that men everywhere would return to God. That is the reason He came into the world in the first place. The bible says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God…” (1 Peter 3:18NKJV) Thank God we have been brought back to Him. We were lost in our sins and iniquities. But God found us and reconciled us to Himself through Christ Jesus. So, as it is now, we are no longer enemies of God but friends. We are no longer children of the devil but children of God.
Having been reconciled to God, then, He seeks to reconcile others to Himself through us. And for that to happen, we must be interested in what He is interested in—the reconciliation of man to his creator. So, let me ask you, “Are you interested in what God is interested in?” Or shall I say, “How interested are you in what interests God?”
Apostle Paul, writing to the Philippian-Church about some of the believers who were with him, said, “I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. FOR EVERYONE LOOKS OUT FOR HIS OWN INTERESTS, NOT THOSE OF JESUS CHRIST.” (Phil 2:19-22NIV – emphasis added)
Now how many people like Timothy can we find in our midst today? How many of us are sincerely concerned about the things that concern Christ Jesus? These are the questions the Spirit of God wants us to answer as we move on this year. God loves all men, and He is very much interested in what eventually becomes of them. But how will they know these things? It is through those of us who have already experienced His love, mercy and kindness. We are the only ones that can prove God’s love to them. We are the only ones that can show them how much God is interested their well-being.
So, as you go today, I want you to take up this challenge: Become interested in people the way God is. Show them how concerned you are about their salvation, fruitfulness and well-being. The Lord has promised that He would neither leave nor forsake us. So we can rest upon Him for strength, wisdom, grace and whatever we may need to bring those who are lost back to Him. Remember that He is the one at work in us and through us. And if we will allow Him, He will accomplish great and mighty things by our hands.
I trust that you will take no other view apart from the one the Spirit is bringing to us here. So, go ahead and walk with God, and you will walk without fear.
Stay blessed.
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HE WANTS OUR LIVES TO BE ORDERLY. 06/09/2024
As we celebrate the goodness of God towards us every new day, it is his desire that we begin to experience order and coherence wherever our lives have become disjointed. “Oh,” you say, “is it possible for a Christian’s life to become disjointed?” The answer is yes. The bible shows us that it is possible for a child of God to live a disjointed life and not even know it. (Cf. Colossians 2:18-19)
Now to be disjointed not only means to be thrown out of orderly function, it also means to be disconnected from one’s source of life. Anyone who does not recognise and acknowledge his source of life can easily be disconnected from it. If you do not recognise and acknowledge your source of wisdom you can easily be thrown into confusion. And if you do not recognise and acknowledge the true source of your peace, your life can easily become a home of chaos.
How many of us are living in confusion today because we have refused to acknowledge Christ as our wisdom? How many of us are experiencing untold pains all because we are not going to acknowledge Christ as our peace?
Christ is the source of our life and fruitfulness. Therefore, to be disconnected from him is to be disconnected from life and fruitfulness. He himself says, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. A branch cannot produce fruit alone but must remain in the vine. In the same way, you cannot produce fruit alone but must remain in me.” (John 15:4NCV)
What that means is that you cannot live a meaningful life all by yourself. You cannot live a life of peace, joy and stability, if you are disconnected from Jesus, for he is the source of every good and perfect thing. (Cf. James 1:17)
Well, the point I am making is that the Lord wants to restore us wherever we have become disconnected from him. He wants to bring us back in step with his Spirit wherever we are out of line. He wants to get rid of everything that is blocking the flow of his grace, love, peace and mercy into our lives. He does not want us to continue to live in confusion; he wants us to live well-ordered and organised lives.
Now God wants all these things for us because he himself is a God of peace and not of disorder. (Cf. 1 Cor 14:33) We, however, must be willing to allow him to set us right in every area of our lives by acknowledging him as the source of our peace and stability. My prayer is that none of us will prevent him from putting our lives in order in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a very fruitful and productive day.
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HOW AVAILABLE AM I? 05/09/2024
As you continue your journey through this life, it is good that you answer this question for yourself: How available am I for God? It always interests one to know that no Christian will ever say, “I don’t want to be used by God.” In fact, it does not matter the number of Christians that you find in a congregation or an assembly, if you ask, “How many of you will like to be used by God?” they will all raise their hands and say, “I will like to be used by God.”
Well, I believe the time has come for us to rephrase that question. So what we ought to be asking ourselves now is, “How many of us are actually being used by God?” or “How many of us have actually made ourselves available to be used by God?” The reason our world is not changing is that we who have tasted the goodness of God are refusing to be used by him. God can’t just seem to take hold of us when he needs us—we are simply unavailable.
Our problem, as I earlier highlighted, is that of insincerity. If we simply tell God not to bother us, if we tell him not to disturb us with his business, he will most likely let us be. But we are not saying that at all. Rather, we are like that young man that Jesus describes in a parable, saying, “Tell me what you think of this story: A man had two sons. He went up to the first and said, 'Son, go out for the day and work in the vineyard.' "The son answered, 'I don't want to.' Later on he thought better of it and went. "The father gave the same command to the second son. He answered, 'Sure, glad to.' But he never went. "Which of the two sons did what the father asked?" They said, "The first…"” (Matt 21:28-31MSG)
Now, as Jesus asked, what do you think of that story? Which of the two sons do you represent? There is no need for you to start making excuses. There is no need for you to start giving reasons you have failed to make yourself available for your father’s work. That is because the father will never ask you to do any work that he has not given you the ability to do or that he himself is unwilling to commit to. Our Lord Jesus perfectly illustrates this when he says, “… My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." (John 5:17-18NIV)
Look at that text again: he says, “My father is always at HIS WORK TO THIS VERY DAY…” That means God never abandons his own work. He is not remiss; neither does he grow tired or weary. Instead, he is ever committed to saving souls and transforming lives. And as Jesus puts it, it is on this basis that he also works. And it is also on the same basis that we are to do anything for God. The father is not asking us to present ourselves to be used and dumped as most of our organisations do. The reason he ever asks us to do anything at all is that he wants us to partner with him; he wants us to share in his glory and splendour. Didn’t our Lord Jesus share in his glory, having laboured with him? Sure, he did! (Cf. John 17:4&22, Phil 2:6-11)
Now are you willing to share in the glory of what God is doing in the world today? Are you willing to be his partner in his quest to bless and lift men? Note this: God can do without us, but he is unwilling to do so. Therefore, we should not make light of this rare privilege. Instead, every new day, we should whole-heartedly ask him, “What will you have me do today? Where will you have me go today? Who will you have me reach out to today?” As we daily do so, God’s mighty power will gush out through us like torrents of flood, and men will behold his glory and beauty in us.
So let’s get to work!
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THE BEAUTY OF HOLINESS 04/09/2024
“Give unto the LORD the glory due to His name; Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” (Ps 29:2NKJV)
The psalmist speaks of the beauty of holiness in our opening text. That means Holiness is meant to beautify our lives. Unfortunately, many do not hold this view. They think holiness has to do with dullness. For them, you cannot be holy and at the same time be lively. But that is not the position of the scriptures. Holiness is not synonymous to dullness at all. So when you see a Christian who is dull, then, you can almost be certain that his holiness is questionable.
Holiness is God’s gift to us; it is not a product of works. Another word that is usually used synonymously with it is sanctification. And to be sanctified is to be separated for a specific or an intended purpose. For instance, a chair, by nature, is sanctified for sitting. Of course, somebody may decide to stand on it or carry it on his head. But a chair is not made to be stood upon or to be carried on our heads; it is made essentially for us to sit upon.
In the of light this, when a man’s life is sanctified unto God, it means that his life is being lived as God intends him to live it—his life is serving the purpose for which God has made it. That is what it means to be holy. And that is what brings beauty and satisfaction into a man’s life.
Today, many of God’s people don’t even know how God wants them to live their lives. That is the reason they are not walking in the holiness of God. And that is also the reason there is no beauty about their lives. Paul says to the Thessalonian Christians, “Finally, brethren, we beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you learned from us how you ought to live and please God, just as you are doing, you do so more and more.”(1Thes 4:1RSV)
From the above scripture, you can see that we can actually learn how to live and please God. Every Christian ought to be doing that—we ought to be learning how to live our lives to please God. If that is our concern, then our lives will never be boring or uninviting. But how can we learn how to live to please God if we do not know him personally? The key to our living a holy life or a life that is pleasing to God is possessing a true knowledge of him. When we know God personally, we will definitely know how we ought to live our lives to please him.
Therefore, as you face this new day, face it with a desire to know God better in your life. The better you know God, the better you will know yourself. And the better you know yourself, the better you will live your life the way you are meant to live it.
Remember this: God himself desires that every one of us would know him progressively. That is why he says through Jeremiah, “...I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbour and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest...”(Jer 31:33-34RSV)
Stay refreshed!
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A PICTURE OF GOD 03/09/2024
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matt 7:7-12NIV)
What picture of God does this paint for you? A God who delights in making you happy! Here is a God who delights in giving good gifts to those who ask Him. Notice that our Lord says that when you ask Him for bread, He is not going to give you a stone instead. That means He will fulfil the desires of your heart. And if you ask Him for a fish, He is not going to give you a snake or a scorpion instead. That is God for you.
The problem, however, is that the things we often ask of God are things that will hurt us or others. We don’t ask for bread. We don’t ask for fish. Instead, we ask for stones. We ask for snakes. We ask for scorpions. We ask for those things that can hurt or harm us or others. And when we ask Him for such things, as a responsible father, He will not deliver them to us.
So, to just generally assume that God is not interested in what you desire or want is to miss it, for that is not the picture of Him that the bible paints for us. The picture of God that the bible paints for us is that of a God that is interested in fulfilling the desires of your heart. But He will only do so when your desires are in agreement with His will.
All of this is why the Psalmist says, “Take delight in the Lord, and He will fulfil the desires of your heart.” (Cf. Ps 37:4) So, if you want God fulfilling your every desire, delight yourself in Him. Yes, align your desires with His will. Then you will never again ask Him for anything that He will not gladly give to you.
Have a blessed day.
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UNDERSTANDING UNITY 02/09/2024
“Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel — because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.” (Gen 11:1-9NIV)
The story of the tower of Babel given to us in the bible teaches us two major things. The first is the power of unity. As the account goes, there was a time in the world during which all men spoke only one language. But it was not the fact that they spoke one language that they were able to accomplish what they accomplished in building the tower of Babel; rather, it was because they were united in purpose and in mind.
Speaking the same language is a good thing, for it makes it possible for us to communicate our thoughts, desires, visions and even concerns to others in ways that they can understand us and work with us. However, it still does not guarantee that people will work or labour with us to accomplish our dreams or visions. This explains why we have groups, organisations and institutions in which, though the members speak the same language, they are not accomplishing their visions or experiencing any real development. There is no unity of mind and of purpose among them.
In the case of the people who worked on the tower of Babel, even God recognised their unity and said if they continued in that same spirit, there was nothing they planned to do that would be impossible for them to accomplish. That, of course, does not mean that they, like God, would be able to do anything they wanted, just because they were united. Rather, it means that they would be able to do anything that is within the capability of the human mind and potential.
So, if you want that organisation or institution or group or family you belong in to go from conquest to conquest in accomplishing its visions and set goals and maximise the potential of everyone in it, then, strive to promote unity of mind and of purpose there. Also, if you want that business, company, group or family you are leading to keep accomplishing every good thing it sets out to do and enjoying the very best of the people in it, then, labour to promote unity of mind and of purpose among your people. Emphasise the relevance of unity to them all the time. Reward those who excel in maintaining and promoting unity of mind and of purpose among them. In short, make unity your watchword.
Now do not be among those who stir up fights or divisions or rebellion where you are or among those who deliberately set up those under them in opposition against one another, as a way of preventing rebellion among them. That is diabolical. And even though it may work for you for a while, ultimately, any form of disunity that is promoted in your business, workplace, group or family, whether it is your creation or another person’s creation, can only limit and ruin everybody there, creating a platform for other forms of evil to spread among all of you. Remember that any kingdom or house that is divided against itself cannot stand (Matt 12:25).
The second thing the story of the tower of Babel teaches us is that unity against the counsel of God is disastrous. Indeed, God recognised the unity of the people building this tower, but He also disdained their reason for building it. Unlike what many have proposed, they were not building the tower because they wanted it to be a link connecting the earth to the throne of God in heaven. No, that was not their idea or plan. And that was even beyond human capability. What they wanted, however, was to erect an imposing and magnificent tower that would be a point of attachment for all men, keeping them from spreading over the face of the earth to replenish it. They wanted a building project in which everyone would be a stakeholder and would never want to move away from because of their sentiments and love for it.
But what was God’s purpose for humanity? No! His purpose for us when He made us was for us to fill the whole earth and replenish it (Gen 1:26-28). So, when men began to work on this tower, they were setting themselves directly against God’s purpose, even though they were united. In other words, their unity was not to promote God’s cause but their own desires and pride. And in order to show them that His purpose could never be thwarted, God’s stepped into the situation and confused their language, so that they could no longer be united. That was how that project was abandoned and the people spread out from Babel over the face of the earth.
Therefore, though unity is important and is a powerful force for making people fully express their potential, it will only have the blessing of God, when it is used to promote His cause and righteousness. But the moment we begin to unite ourselves with others to do evil or to work contrary to the purpose of God, we can only expect Him to judge our so-called unity and throw us into confusion. So, don’t team up in unity with anyone or any group of people to do any kind of evil, for confusion will certainly be the payment you will get for doing so. And no one can tell what such ‘confusion’ will take away from your life and affairs.
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LET HIM SERVE YOU 01/09/2024
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45NLT)
Think about those words. Even though Jesus is lord over all of God’s creation, He still chose to serve us in order that we might have life and have it more abundantly.
But then, it is easier for many of us to accept His service in bringing us salvation from our sins and the dominion of darkness than it is for us to accept His service in every matter of our lives. What I mean is that many of us usually think the Lord’s desire is to serve us only in those issues of our lives that we consider to be big or grand. So, we don’t expect Him to move in those seemingly little matters of our lives, for we believe those are for us to handle. But the Lord is interested in serving us in every area of our lives, big or small, great or little.
Now He illustrated this in the way He treated His apostles just before He went to the cross. As John reports in his gospel, one evening, just before the Lord was crucified, He did something shocking and amazing – He washed the feet of His apostles. And what He did, as historians would have us know, was a job that was usually done by house servants and maids. But the Lord, knowing fully well that God had put all things under His dominion, still went ahead to serve His men in the manner that He did. (Cf. John 13:1-5)
Yes, of course, one of them, Peter, protested and said, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet? No, this is not happening. You are my Lord, and I won’t allow you to stoop so low that you will wash my feet.” And what was the Lord’s response to his protest? It was this: “Unless I wash you, you have no part in me.” Then Peter, not understanding what the Lord meant by this at all, quickly said, “If that is the case, then, wash my hands and my head as well.” But the Lord said to him, “No, Peter. A person that has already taken his bath does not need to wash his whole body again; he only needs to wash his feet.” (Cf. John 13:6-10)
What exactly was the Lord getting at by all that? It was that, as one who truly loved His men, His desire was not just to help them with the big matters of their lives but also to help them with the so-called little matters of their lives. And He was not doing this because He had forgotten that He was their Lord; rather, He was doing it because He loved them.
In like manner, the Lord wants to serve us too in every area of our lives and not just in those ones that we consider big or great. Naturally, there is a tendency in every one of us to want to handle some matters of life all by ourselves. And that is usually because we believe that we have enough intelligence, resources, influence and power to get them done on our own. But the Lord has already made it very clear to us that there is nothing, big or small, great or little, that we can accomplish apart from Him. He has shown us through His word that we have no competence of our own to get anything done in this life. So, whatever we get done apart from Him, if we get anything done at all, will someday stare us in the face as nothing. (Cf. John 15:5; 2Cor 3:5)
All of this is why we need to allow Him to serve us. We should not think there are some issues of our lives that are just too small or insignificant to commit to Him or bother Him with. In fact, we should never ever think we are bothering Him by casting every matter of our lives upon Him. That is why He came to us in the first place. He came to bear all of our life’s burdens and worries for us, that is, on a daily basis (Ps 68:19). And He came to do this because He loves and cares about us as His own possessions (1Pet 5:7).
To reject His service in any way, then, is to say that we don’t belong to Him. So, let us allow this Lord of glory to serve us in whatever way He wants to. Let Him wash our lives, our hands, our legs, our feet and every part of our lives.
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LET HIM SERVE YOU 01/09/2024
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45NLT)
Think about those words. Even though Jesus is lord over all of God’s creation, He still chose to serve us in order that we might have life and have it more abundantly.
But then, it is easier for many of us to accept His service in bringing us salvation from our sins and the dominion of darkness than it is for us to accept His service in every matter of our lives. What I mean is that many of us usually think the Lord’s desire is to serve us only in those issues of our lives that we consider to be big or grand. So, we don’t expect Him to move in those seemingly little matters of our lives, for we believe those are for us to handle. But the Lord is interested in serving us in every area of our lives, big or small, great or little.
Now He illustrated this in the way He treated His apostles just before He went to the cross. As John reports in his gospel, one evening, just before the Lord was crucified, He did something shocking and amazing – He washed the feet of His apostles. And what He did, as historians would have us know, was a job that was usually done by house servants and maids. But the Lord, knowing fully well that God had put all things under His dominion, still went ahead to serve His men in the manner that He did. (Cf. John 13:1-5)
Yes, of course, one of them, Peter, protested and said, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet? No, this is not happening. You are my Lord, and I won’t allow you to stoop so low that you will wash my feet.” And what was the Lord’s response to his protest? It was this: “Unless I wash you, you have no part in me.” Then Peter, not understanding what the Lord meant by this at all, quickly said, “If that is the case, then, wash my hands and my head as well.” But the Lord said to him, “No, Peter. A person that has already taken his bath does not need to wash his whole body again; he only needs to wash his feet.” (Cf. John 13:6-10)
What exactly was the Lord getting at by all that? It was that, as one who truly loved His men, His desire was not just to help them with the big matters of their lives but also to help them with the so-called little matters of their lives. And He was not doing this because He had forgotten that He was their Lord; rather, He was doing it because He loved them.
In like manner, the Lord wants to serve us too in every area of our lives and not just in those ones that we consider big or great. Naturally, there is a tendency in every one of us to want to handle some matters of life all by ourselves. And that is usually because we believe that we have enough intelligence, resources, influence and power to get them done on our own. But the Lord has already made it very clear to us that there is nothing, big or small, great or little, that we can accomplish apart from Him. He has shown us through His word that we have no competence of our own to get anything done in this life. So, whatever we get done apart from Him, if we get anything done at all, will someday stare us in the face as nothing. (Cf. John 15:5; 2Cor 3:5)
All of this is why we need to allow Him to serve us. We should not think there are some issues of our lives that are just too small or insignificant to commit to Him or bother Him with. In fact, we should never ever think we are bothering Him by casting every matter of our lives upon Him. That is why He came to us in the first place. He came to bear all of our life’s burdens and worries for us, that is, on a daily basis (Ps 68:19). And He came to do this because He loves and cares about us as His own possessions (1Pet 5:7).
To reject His service in any way, then, is to say that we don’t belong to Him. So, let us allow this Lord of glory to serve us in whatever way He wants to. Let Him wash our lives, our hands, our legs, our feet and every part of our lives. Then and only then can our lives be meaningful, pure, unsullied and overflowing with God’s goodness in this dark and decaying wo
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I AM NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL. 31/08/2024
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” (Romans 1:16NIV)
Why is Paul not ashamed of the gospel? It is because he is convinced and persuaded that it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes it. Now Paul is saying this to the Romans, men and women who have been brought up to believe in force and to trust in their military strength. They were the world power at that time. And with their military strength they had conquered several people, people of different languages, colours and tribes. They had taken the lands of these people and imposed their civilization upon them.
But their military strength could not change the hearts of their captives or conquests, neither could it change their own hearts. Their military strength could not put an end to sexual immorality that pervaded the entire Roman Empire at that time. It could not deliver them from debauchery and the different kinds of evils that were troubling the land. So, Paul tells them, “I know what can deliver you from all these ills. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ. So I am not ashamed of preaching it, for I know it is capable of changing anybody’s life.”
Now do we have the same persuasion? Do you have the same persuasion in your heart that the word of God is capable of changing people’s lives? Do you have the same persuasion that the word of God is capable of transforming people’s lives? All these people that are misbehaving and messing up around you, your friends who are living immoral lives, your colleagues who are living immoral lives, your neighbours who are messing up, are you persuaded that the word of God is capable of changing their lives? Or have you totally written them off?
You know sometimes we are found saying of some people, “No, he cannot change. That is how he is going to end his life.” But have we given them the word of God yet? Paul says I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. If you too have the same conviction, you will not be ashamed of giving the gospel to anyone around you that cares to listen.
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EXERCISE YOUR BODY 30/08/2024
“For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” (1Timothy 4:8NIV)
Here Paul says physical training is of some value. Yes, godliness is better, for if you train yourself to be godly, the benefits are eternal. Nevertheless, physical training still has its own value. Paul says it is of some value. And you should get that value, though it is small.
So, exercise your body. It is important. Of course, you won’t find in the Scriptures what sort of exercise you should do. But there are professionals in this area as well as people who have some experience in it. Consult them, and they will tell you what is good for you.
But it is important that you exercise your body. Do not allow your body to become unnecessarily fat or so fat that you can no longer carry it. Exercise it. Also, if the nature of your job requires that you sit down for long, you should know that you will need to give your legs or back some sort of exercise, so that they will not begin to give you problems at some point.
Some of us use computers all the time. There is what is called office ergonomics, which speaks of the proper way to sit in the office, the proper way to set your desk and chair and so forth. Such things are important in keeping your body healthy. And if you don’t pay attention to them, you may start having issues with some parts of your body at some point.
Also, look at pregnant women. There are exercises that they subject them to when they go for antenatal. Why? They want to keep their bodies fit for what is coming. So, you cannot say, “It is not in the bible that pregnant women should exercise their bodies?” Exercise has its own value. And you should get it, even though it is not much, for it is one of the things that will keep your body fit and healthy.
Have a great day.
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YOU WON’T BE EXONERATED 29/08/2024
“Jesus said to his disciple: ‘Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied round their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. So watch yourselves.’” (Luke 17:1-3NIV)
The Lord is showing us here that it is possible for us to be responsible for other people’s fall. You can be an accessory in other people’s fall. We can make ourselves available to be used by the devil in making others to sin.
Now while it is true that when we make somebody sin, we are going to be punished, it does not mean that the one who has sinned will not be punished at all. What I am saying is that even if someone is responsible for making another person sin against God and fall, it does not mean that the one who has sinned will not be punished or made to face the consequences of the wrong things he has done.
Truly, the one who causes another one to sin will get the punishment due to him for doing so. That, however, does not mean that the one who was misled or made to sin will be exonerated. In the case of Adam’s sin, for example, we can see that even though God agreed that Eve played a role in his sin, He did not because of that exonerate him. And even though He agreed that it was Satan that deceived Eve and caused her to do the wrong thing, He did not because of that vindicate her. Judgment was passed on the devil for what he did, but Eve also was punished for the role she played in the whole thing. Likewise, Adam was not left alone – he too received his own punishment for what he did.
So, we must not think that by holding other people responsible for our sins, we will be exonerated. That is not going to happen. God, in dealing with matters of sin, looks at everyone that is responsible for them and makes sure he receives what is due to him. We humans don’t usually act like that. We just look at things narrowly and judge people on the basis of what they have done. We are not going to consider all the other factors that are responsible in making people do whatever they have done. But God does that.
In the case of Eli’s sons, as another instance, even though their father was not in any way involved in their wrongdoings, he also was punished. Why? God said that he was in a position to set his children right, but he did not. So, God considered him to be a partaker of their sins. And that is why you need to keep in mind the fact that there is no way you are going to get away with your sins by blaming others for them.
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WATCH HOW YOU LIVE 28/08/2024
“Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” (Ephesians 5:15-17NIV)
Did you see that? We are to be careful how we live, not as unwise but as wise people. That means we need to watch how we live. We need to watch what is happening in our lives and what we are doing with them. We are not to live anyhow, recklessly or carelessly but thoughtfully.
Now what will make it possible for me to do that? It is my understanding of the will of God. That is why Paul says do not be foolish but understand what the Lord’s will is. If I do not understand what the will of God is for my life, there is no way I can live my life to agree with it. So, I need to first understand what God wants of me. I need to constantly make effort to know what He requires of me, how He expects me to live and function. Then I can begin to watch the consistency of my life with what He wants.
So, if you have been living your life anyhow, you are not doing the right thing as a child of God. If you have not been watching what you are doing with your life to see that it agrees with the will of God, you are not living right as a child of God. You need to pay attention to what you are doing with your life as a child of God. I also need to do so. And my desire is to get to that point where I am able to say, as Jesus did, that I always do what pleases God. That means if I am not at the moment doing all that pleases Him, I should know. If my life is not in agreement with His will, I should know. And if I know that my life is not in agreement with His will, what am I doing about it?
God wants my life to conform to His will. Paul says in his letter to the Romans that God predestined us to conform to the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). So, we have a standard that our lives are meant to conform to. That is why we cannot live our lives carelessly or recklessly but in conformity with the will of God. And may you be strengthened to live accordingly every remaining day of your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a splendid day.
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INDEPENDENT OF GOD 27/08/2024
“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.” (Luke 15:13-16NIV)
As the story of the prodigal son shows us, he left his father, taking along with him everything he had. But before long, he lost everything and was left with nothing. And that is to illustrate to us what will become of everyone seeking to be independent of God. He is going to ultimately lose everything.
But then, those who choose to live independent of God may not lose money. The prodigal son lost his money because he was not financially intelligent. He had not learnt enough from his father about handling money before he left the house. So, he lost all his wealth. But you may live independent of God and not lose your money. You can choose to live independent of Him and be wealthy. You can choose to live independent of Him and still be influential. In fact, your fame may arise out of the fact that you have chosen to be independent of God. There are people that have become famous or influential by living very crazy lives. They do crazy things that get people’s attention and even lead some to fall in love with them.
So, your choice to be independent of God may not result in poverty for you. It may not keep you from being famous, powerful or highly educated. This is one thing that Christian preachers often miss. They often erroneously give their hearers the impression that when someone chooses to be independent of God, he will surely not amount to anything in life or be able to get to certain heights in life. But that is not true.
See, the story of the prodigal son is simply an illustration of what can happen to those who seek to be independent of God. A whole lot of other things can happen to those who choose to be independent of God, that is, apart from losing their wealth. They can lose their health. They can lose their positions. They can lose their family. Or they can lose their happiness.
But then, they may, in fact, not lose any of the things I just mentioned. They may have what seems to be a perfect life, the kind anyone would wish to have. However, there is something else more important than all these things that those who seek to be independent of God will surely lose, if they do not repent. That is their soul. And losing your soul is worse than losing anything else in this world. That is because the things of these world can be recovered, if we lose them. But our souls cannot be recovered, if they are lost. So, if you lose your soul, you have lost everything.
Do you, then, want to lose your soul? What will you give to redeem your soul, if you should lose it? Nothing in heaven and on earth can redeem your soul apart from the sacrifice God made through His Son Jesus Christ. And you cannot make that sacrifice yours, if you want to live independent of God. So, if you do not want to lose your soul, don’t run away from God. Instead, yield yourself to Him and begin to live with Him. And He will see to it that your life is full and rich.
Have a blessed day.
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DON’T BE MANIPULATED 26/08/2024
“Then Samson's wife threw herself on him, sobbing, "You hate me! You don't really love me. You've given my people a riddle, but you haven't told me the answer." "I haven't even explained it to my father or mother," he replied, "so why should I explain it to you?" She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people.” (Judg 14:16-17NIV)
What was Samson’s weakness? Women! Yes, that is what almost every bible student or teacher would say. But Samson was not the first or only person in the bible to love women or to be involved with multiple women. Abraham, as we are told in the bible, had more than Sarah in his life. He also had an unspecified number of concubines in his life. Yet he was not led astray or into destruction by any of them. What about David? He also had many wives and concubines in his life. Yet not one of them led him astray or opened the door for Satan to come into his life and afflict him. (Cf. Gen 25:1-6; 2Sam 5:13)
Am I saying it is alright to be a lover of women or to be involved in polygamy or adultery? No! The word of God is very clear about God’s stand on such things. And though He did not punish these saints of old for their involvement with multiple women, He has now made it abundantly clear to us through His Son and through His holy apostles that people who give themselves to sexual immorality have no place in His kingdom.
However, I brought up these things just to show you that Samson did not fail God and fall simply because he was involved with all kinds of women. Rather, he failed Him and fell because he was weak in handling love manipulations and pressure.
As we see in our opening text, even in handling the very first love of his life, the only woman that he actually went after to marry, he was weak. He was weak in handling her manipulations and the pressure she mounted on him to do something that would put him in financial trouble. And though he gave in to her, he still ended up losing her to another man.
Similarly, in handling Delilah’s case, he was weak in handling her manipulations and pressure. Yes, he loved her. But when it became clear to him that the woman was up to no good, what should he have done? He should have walked away. Even if he was not going to walk away like that, he could have told her that he had no intention of discussing the secret of his power with anyone. But he did not do any of these. Instead, he kept on telling the woman lies and trying to play games with her. And when he could no longer handle her nagging, he told her the whole truth and exposed himself to destruction. (Cf. 1Sam 16)
Now there are many today that may end up being destroyed like Samson because they too are weak in handling the pressure or manipulations of certain individuals in their lives. These individuals may be their husbands, wives, parents, children, friends, neighbours or even religious leaders. But they are constantly on their necks, manipulating and pressuring them to do something that will put them in trouble.
They may be pressuring them to borrow money for them or for certain things they can do without, money that they have no capability to pay back on time. Or they may be pressuring them to acquire facilities they cannot manage or to go for a job that will take them away from the faith or to get involved in a love relationship that is bound to be deadly. But the truth is that when trouble eventually happens, as it will most likely happen, these people may not be there at all to save them.
So, if you have people in your life at the moment that are constantly manipulating, threatening, enticing or pressuring you to do something that you know is not good for your life, home or future, you must not yield to them. Will that be easy? No! Taking our stand against threats, manipulations and pressure, especially if they are coming from those that we love, respect or adore, is usually not easy. But we must always remember the word of the Lord that says, “My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.” (Prov 1:10NIV) We must also always remember His word that says, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked.” (Ps 1:1NIV)
Now, of course, it is not every time that these words apply only to sinners and ungodly people. There are times that it is godly people, who ought to know better, that yield themselves to be used by the devil to harass, threaten, manipulate, entice or pressure us to go overboard and destroy ourselves. And where this is the case, we must take our stand against the devil using them, while still maintaining our love for them.
Truly, doing this may sometimes require that we end certain relationships altogether or that we endure the rejection and hostility of those that we love dearly. But we have to do so, as long as it is what will keep us in the will of God. All we need is to keep our Lord Jesus who, as an example for us to follow, endured the opposition of sinners all His earthly days always before us (Psalm 16:8; Heb 12:3). And we will never grow weary or be moved but always be vindicated by Him as being right and just in our ways.
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A PICTURE OF GOD. 25/08/2024
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matt 7:7-12NIV)
What picture of God does this paint for you? A God who delights in making you happy! Here is a God who delights in giving good gifts to those who ask Him. Notice that our Lord says that when you ask Him for bread, He is not going to give you a stone instead. That means He will fulfil the desires of your heart. And if you ask Him for a fish, He is not going to give you a snake or a scorpion instead. That is God for you.
The problem, however, is that the things we often ask of God are things that will hurt us or others. We don’t ask for bread. We don’t ask for fish. Instead, we ask for stones. We ask for snakes. We ask for scorpions. We ask for those things that can hurt or harm us or others. And when we ask Him for such things, as a responsible father, He will not deliver them to us.
So, to just generally assume that God is not interested in what you desire or want is to miss it, for that is not the picture of Him that the bible paints for us. The picture of God that the bible paints for us is that of a God that is interested in fulfilling the desires of your heart. But He will only do so when your desires are in agreement with His will.
All of this is why the Psalmist says, “Take delight in the Lord, and He will fulfil the desires of your heart.” (Cf. Ps 37:4) So, if you want God fulfilling your every desire, delight yourself in Him. Yes, align your desires with His will. Then you will never again ask Him for anything that He will not gladly give to you.
Have a blessed day.
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ON WHAT BASIS? 23/08/2024
“"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.” (Mark 11:22-24NIV)
When Jesus says, “Have faith in God and speak to your mountain,” we need to understand that our speaking must be done in agreement with His will. If what you are saying is contrary to His will, He will not back you up.
So, if you are asking a mountain to move for your selfish reasons, don’t expect God to back you up. You don’t just start going around and asking any mountain you see to change its position. On what basis? Is that on the basis of the word of God to you? Is that on the basis of the will of God for your life or your world? Or is it that you just want to prove that you are related to God and have access to His authority and power?
Jesus did not do that. He never had to prove anything to anybody. When Satan told Him to prove that He was the Son of God, He did not answer him. Then when the religious leaders of the Jews asked Him to give them signs that He was truly of God many times, He did not answer them. Why? The reason was that His miracles were not done to prove to people that He had the power of God. Rather, they were done because it was the will of God for Him to do them.
In other words, Jesus delivered people from satanic bondage not because He wanted to prove that He had authority but because God wants people to be delivered from every bondage of the devil. All He was doing with His authority and power, then, were God’s works.
So, if you want your situation to move, you need to know the will of God about it. Then you will not be telling that situation to move just because you feel that it should move; rather, you will be telling it to move because it is the will of God for it move.
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EXAMINE YOUR LIFE FOR FRUIT 24/08/2024
‘A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard; and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he told the man who took care of the vineyard, “For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?” “Sir,” the man replied, “leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig round it and fertilise it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, the cut it down.”’” (Luke 13:6-9NIV)
The Lord told this parable to show us something about God’s activity. He wants us to know that God is actively examining our lives. For what? For fruit! He wants our lives to be bringing forth the fruit of righteousness, holiness and so forth. We, in fact, have the fruit of the Spirit listed for us in different passages of the bible. And we are meant to be bringing forth this fruit in increasing measure.
Since God, then, is examining our lives for fruit, we also ought to be examining them for fruit. So, I need to check my life to see whether it has been bringing forth the kind of fruit God wants it to bring forth or not. Has it been bringing forth the fruit of love, of peace, of contentment, of humility, of gentleness, of self-control, of brotherly affection and so forth? Has my life been bringing forth this fruit in increasing measure? I need to settle down and look at my life to see whether it has brought forth fruit to God this year or not.
If I have been taking God seriously all the year, then, my life will definitely be bringing forth fruit unto Him. But if I have not taken Him seriously, there is no way my life would have brought forth fruit unto Him, the kind of fruit that would honour Him and cause men to praise Him. In short, it is the degree to which I take Him seriously that my life would bring forth fruit.
God Himself, as we see in Scriptures, is committed to this cause. He has not left us to ourselves in the matter. That is why the fruit He wants us to bring forth is referred to in the bible as the fruit of the Spirit. He is the one working in us to bring forth this fruit. But He will only be able to bring forth this fruit, if we permit Him to work in us. He will only be able to bring forth this fruit to the degree that we permit Him to work in us. The bible is clear about the fact that God is at work in us to will and to act according to His good purpose. But His work will not be evident in us, if we will not allow Him to do what only He could do in our lives. (Cf. Philippians 2:13)
In Saint John’s gospel, chapter 15, we are told that God is committed to pruning the lives of His people so that they may bring forth much fruit. But it is only those who allow Him to cleanse their lives of those things hindering their fruitfulness that will bring forth much fruit, as He wants.
In any case, what I am saying is that I need to examine my life for fruit, since God is examining it for fruit. I need to be checking my life in this manner, so that I will know whether it is being lived in consistency with the will of God or not. Otherwise, a time may come when God, as we see in our opening bible text, may have to judge me for being fruitless. My prayer is that each time God looks into your life and my life, He will find sufficient fruit of His righteousness in them, so that He will not be compelled to judge us. Amen.
Have a great day.
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ON WHAT BASIS? 23/08/2024
“"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.” (Mark 11:22-24NIV)
When Jesus says, “Have faith in God and speak to your mountain,” we need to understand that our speaking must be done in agreement with His will. If what you are saying is contrary to His will, He will not back you up.
So, if you are asking a mountain to move for your selfish reasons, don’t expect God to back you up. You don’t just start going around and asking any mountain you see to change its position. On what basis? Is that on the basis of the word of God to you? Is that on the basis of the will of God for your life or your world? Or is it that you just want to prove that you are related to God and have access to His authority and power?
Jesus did not do that. He never had to prove anything to anybody. When Satan told Him to prove that He was the Son of God, He did not answer him. Then when the religious leaders of the Jews asked Him to give them signs that He was truly of God many times, He did not answer them. Why? The reason was that His miracles were not done to prove to people that He had the power of God. Rather, they were done because it was the will of God for Him to do them.
In other words, Jesus delivered people from satanic bondage not because He wanted to prove that He had authority but because God wants people to be delivered from every bondage of the devil. All He was doing with His authority and power, then, were God’s works.
So, if you want your situation to move, you need to know the will of God about it. Then you will not be telling that situation to move just because you feel that it should move; rather, you will be telling it to move because it is the will of God for it move.
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IT DEPENDS ON OUR READINESS
22/08/2024
“I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.” (Exodus 23:27-30NIV)
God was going to give the land of Canaan to the children of Israel. He had made a promise to do this and was, at that time, already leading them there. But before they would go into the land, He wanted them to know that He was not going to hand over all the inhabitants of the land to them at once or in a single year. Why? According to Him, the land would become desolate, if He did that, and wild animals would multiply against them.
That means God was concerned about their readiness to handle the land. He wanted to give it to them. But He also knew that they were not numerous enough to occupy it. So, if He drove out all the people in the land at once, what would happen was that most part of the land would become desolate. That is because they would only be able to occupy the land on the basis of their numerical strength and resources. They would not be able to develop or cultivate whatever was left of the place. And that would cause whatever was left to become a jungle in which wild animals would multiply in an unchecked manner. Reclaiming it, then, would become a very difficult thing for them to do.
So, you can see why God said that He would not drive out the inhabitants of the land of Canaan all at once but little by little. This would give the Israelites time to become numerous enough to occupy and develop all of the land. What we are saying, then, is that the volume of the land of Canaan that the Israelites occupied and received was a function of their readiness to develop it.
In like manner, the volume of what we will receive from God often depends on our readiness to handle it. So, it is important that we be devoted to developing ourselves to be able to handle what is coming to us from God. We need to make ourselves ready for that position we desire to occupy or that God has shown us in a dream that He wants to take us. This is so that the position will not destroy us but become a platform through which we can increase in usefulness in God’s hand and through which He can elevate us even higher.
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POUR YOURSELF INTO IT 21/08/2024
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10NIV)
What is Solomon saying to us here? It is that we are to pour yourself into whatever work our hands find to do. This is important because a lot of people hate hard work today. They do not want to pour themselves into whatever they are doing. But that is not God’s way. You must not hate work. You must not hate your responsibilities.
As we see in creation account, God worked diligently in creating the universe. And when we look at His work, we see beauty, excellence and diligence. There are all kinds of Scriptures that talk about the excellence that God brought to bear on what He created. We too need to bring excellence to bear on whatever we are doing. And one of the ways to bring excellence into what we are doing is to pour ourselves into it. We are not taking half-measures. Instead, we give ourselves completely into what we are doing, giving it what it takes. That is what promotes diligence.
When we are talking about diligence, we are talking about showing concern for what we are doing, so that it may accomplish the results it is meant to accomplish. That is the attitude you must have towards your work. You handle it with a consciousness that it must accomplish the result it is meant to accomplish. This is even beyond pouring yourself into your work and working with all your energy. That you use all your energy to work does not mean that you will get the results you are meant to get. If you are not mindful of the results that are expected, you may just waste your energy and skills doing something unprofitable.
So, you need to know what is expected of you by the one or ones you are working for or responsible for. What sorts of results are your clients or customers expecting from the work you are handling for them? And if we are dealing with fulfilling your responsibilities to your parents, children, the church of God and so forth, what sorts of results ought to be accomplished in their lives? You need to be concerned about the results. Why am I doing what I am doing? What is my work supposed to accomplish? That is another thing that aids diligence.
When you are diligent, when you are concerned about the quality and results of your work, you will not do it anyhow. You are going to do it to accomplish expected results. That means if you need additional understanding or knowledge about what you are doing, you will go for it or get someone who knows better than you to help you. That will be because you are concerned about getting acceptable results.
During the reign of King Joash, this is said about those who handled the repairs of the Temple: “The men in charge of the work were diligent, and the repairs progressed under them. They rebuilt the temple of God according to its original design and reinforced it.” (2Chronicles 24:13NIV) Can you see that those people were diligent in handling the work given to them? And because they were diligent in handling it, the work progressed under them. When you bring diligence into what you are doing, the work will progress and excellence will manifest in it. When you bring diligence into what you are doing, the beneficiaries will enjoy the results or experience progress through the results.
Therefore, in handling whatever you are doing, you need to be concerned about the results that you are accomplishing. Is it something that will serve those you are working with or something they will cast away as useless?
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OUR LIFE GOAL. 20/08/2024
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” (Romans 8:29NIV)
Can you see that? The people that God foreknew, He also predestined. That means before they came to be on the scene of life, God had determined what their lives would be like. Paul says God had predestined them to be conformed to the image or likeness of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
Now that is the goal, their life goal. They are to be rendered in the image of God’s son. They are to be conformed—it is a conformation—to the image of the Son of God. Originally, when God made man, the bible says He made him in His image and after His likeness (Genesis 1:27). But when you see man today, does he look like the image of God to you? When you see man today, does he bear the likeness of God in your eyes?
But when God made him, he was made, as close as possible, to be like God. God made him in His image and in His likeness—in form, in appearance and in disposition. But because of the fall of man, he lost all that. And even though he still bears a physical appearance that looks like God, he does not bear that spiritual appearance. He does not bear the appearance of God in his character—he already lost it. He no longer talks like God. He no longer thinks like God. He no longer acts like God. He was reborn after the image of the devil. Satan became his father. And he began to talk the way satan talks. He began to think the way satan thinks. He began to act the way satan acts.
Thank God, however, for His work of redemption for mankind. That work of redemption is to restore us to God’s original purpose for our lives. Therefore, now, our being born again is the beginning of that process. And having being born again, having being recreated, God wants us to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.
Remember when Jesus came, His life was a revelation of the perfection of God. The bible says He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus was man as God would have man to be. He was man as God intended man to be. He was the perfection of manhood. And that is why He addressed himself as the Son of Man (Mark 2:28).
Well, the point being made is that in Christ Jesus the true revelation of what God wants us to be is seen. And now we who have given our lives to Him are being admonished to be changed, to be transformed, until we become like Him. This is to be our life goal. And I pray that your heart will be daily strengthened to walk in the light of this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a splendid day.
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YOU CAN TAKE YOUR STAND AGAINST HIM 19/08/2024
“Put on the whole armor of God so that you can take your stand against the schemes of the devil.” (Eph 6:10NIV)
What is Paul’s message to us here? It is that we can actually take our stand against the devil’s schemes. You, as a Christian, can take your stand against the wiles of the devil, against his lies, against his stratagems. You can say ‘No’ to the devil. You can say ‘No’ to satan’s schemes. You can say ‘No’ to his works. You can say ‘No’ to disease. You can say ‘No’ to division in your family. You can say ‘No’ to confusion in your life..
See, you don’t have to live a confused life. You don’t have to live as a slave to sin. You don’t have to live as a slave to sickness. You don’t have to live as a slave to disease. You don’t have to be a slave to failure. You can say ‘No’ to all these things.
So, when you see that satan is at work around you or in your life, don’t keep quiet. That is one of the reasons we are learning this. The moment you observe that this fellow (satan) is already taking certain steps against you, don’t keep quiet. Why? The word of God says that you can take your stand against him. And I love that. I love the fact that I can take my stand against the schemes of the devil. I can take my stand against the lies of the devil in my family, in my business, in my job or in any other area of my life. But I am not doing that in my own strength; I am doing it in the strength of God. That is the reason I am told to put on the full armor of God.
Unfortunately, when we talk like this, some people think we are boasting. They’ll say, “His mouth is so smooth and sweet. Is it that easy to take your stand against the devil?” Well, if that is the way you are thinking or living, then, satan will continue to mess you up. That is the point. He is messing up a lot of God’s people today. But it is not meant to be so. The reason he is messing us up is that we are not taking our stand against him. If you allow him, do you think he will not cause your failure? He will! Left for the devil, you should be on the sick bed, wondering whether you are going to die or not. That is what he is after.
But the word of God says that we can take our stand against his schemes. It is now up to us to either take our stand against him and keep enjoying the victory Jesus has won for us or to allow him to continue to mess us up. My prayer for you is that your heart will be strengthened to do the will of God in this matter and put the devil to flight anytime he shows up in your life. Amen.
Have a great day.
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YOU CAN TAKE YOUR STAND AGAINST HIM 19/08/2024
“Put on the whole armor of God so that you can take your stand against the schemes of the devil.” (Eph 6:10NIV)
What is Paul’s message to us here? It is that we can actually take our stand against the devil’s schemes. You, as a Christian, can take your stand against the wiles of the devil, against his lies, against his stratagems. You can say ‘No’ to the devil. You can say ‘No’ to satan’s schemes. You can say ‘No’ to his works. You can say ‘No’ to disease. You can say ‘No’ to division in your family. You can say ‘No’ to confusion in your life..
See, you don’t have to live a confused life. You don’t have to live as a slave to sin. You don’t have to live as a slave to sickness. You don’t have to live as a slave to disease. You don’t have to be a slave to failure. You can say ‘No’ to all these things.
So, when you see that satan is at work around you or in your life, don’t keep quiet. That is one of the reasons we are learning this. The moment you observe that this fellow (satan) is already taking certain steps against you, don’t keep quiet. Why? The word of God says that you can take your stand against him. And I love that. I love the fact that I can take my stand against the schemes of the devil. I can take my stand against the lies of the devil in my family, in my business, in my job or in any other area of my life. But I am not doing that in my own strength; I am doing it in the strength of God. That is the reason I am told to put on the full armor of God.
Unfortunately, when we talk like this, some people think we are boasting. They’ll say, “His mouth is so smooth and sweet. Is it that easy to take your stand against the devil?” Well, if that is the way you are thinking or living, then, satan will continue to mess you up. That is the point. He is messing up a lot of God’s people today. But it is not meant to be so. The reason he is messing us up is that we are not taking our stand against him. If you allow him, do you think he will not cause your failure? He will! Left for the devil, you should be on the sick bed, wondering whether you are going to die or not. That is what he is after.
But the word of God says that we can take our stand against his schemes. It is now up to us to either take our stand against him and keep enjoying the victory Jesus has won for us or to allow him to continue to mess us up. My prayer for you is that your heart will be strengthened to do the will of God in this matter and put the devil to flight anytime he shows up in your life. Amen.
Have a great day.
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FAITH, FAVOUR, DILIGENCE AND PURITY 18/08/2024
It is hard for anybody to read the story of Joseph of bible days and not be inspired. That is because his story tells us something of the power of God to fulfil His purpose for us, regardless of the obstacles or challenges we may be faced with. As we see from the bible, Joseph was a man that was given the privilege to see the greatness of his future, even as a boy in his father’s house. And he indeed went on to be very great – he became the prime minister of one of the most powerful nations of his time, Egypt. (Cf. Gen 37&39-47)
But what made it possible for Joseph to be all that God wanted him to be, despite the hostility of his own brethren, the blackmail of the wife of his master (Potiphar) and his being forgotten by Pharaoh’s official that he had helped in the prison? The first thing was faith in God. Joseph had faith in God and in His ability to bring to pass His purpose for his life, regardless of the odds. And that was kept him strong in the face of all the challenges he faced in his father’s house, in his master’s house in Egypt and even in the prison.
The second thing that was responsible for the fulfilment of God’s purpose in Joseph’s life was God’s favour. As we see in the bible, this young man met with God’s favour everywhere he went. That means he was loved and embraced by people that mattered and that were able to help him. For instance, he had the love of his father, as a young man in his house. Also, he had the love of his master, Potiphar, as a slave in Egypt. In addition, when he was unjustly imprisoned, he had the love of the prison warden. And when he eventually stood before Pharaoh and spoke with him with confidence, clarity and brilliance, he won the heart of this king and was elevated above every other person in the land. That is what we call unusual favour.
But, as we also see from the scriptures, Joseph was not just loved and embraced by people because God’s favour was at work in him but also because he was hardworking, smart and diligent. See, it is one thing for God’s favour to open doors for a man; it is another thing entirely for the man to possess enough character to keep such doors open for himself. Joseph had character, the kind that many young people of today do not possess. Read what is written about him in the bible, and you will see that there was nothing that was committed to his care that he handled carelessly, foolishly or unfaithfully. No wonder every important person that he met loved and wanted him.
Another thing that made it possible for Joseph to fully come into the place of honour God had prepared for him was purity. Joseph loved and cherished purity. In fact he was willing to give up his entire public life and a great future for it. So, he was a man that could not be bribed or corrupted with anything, not even with free sex. And that is the kind of man God is able to trust with the care of kingdoms and nations.
Now you, unlike Joseph, may not have a clear picture of God’s purpose for your life. But that is not to say that He does not have a great purpose for you. He does have a great purpose for every one of us. And that purpose is for us to prosper and be a blessing to our immediate world (Jer 29:11). Fine, we may not be another Joseph or be known all over the world. But whatever God’s purpose for us is, the same ingredients are needed for it to be fully accomplished in our lives, which are faith, favour, diligence and purity. And if our lives are full of them, there is no telling what height God will cause us to attain in life.
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OUR LIFE GOAL 17/08/2024
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” (Romans 8:29NIV)
Can you see that? The people that God foreknew, He also predestined. That means before they came to be on the scene of life, God had determined what their lives would be like. Paul says God had predestined them to be conformed to the image or likeness of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
Now that is the goal, their life goal. They are to be rendered in the image of God’s son. They are to be conformed—it is a conformation—to the image of the Son of God. Originally, when God made man, the bible says He made him in His image and after His likeness (Genesis 1:27). But when you see man today, does he look like the image of God to you? When you see man today, does he bear the likeness of God in your eyes?
But when God made him, he was made, as close as possible, to be like God. God made him in His image and in His likeness—in form, in appearance and in disposition. But because of the fall of man, he lost all that. And even though he still bears a physical appearance that looks like God, he does not bear that spiritual appearance. He does not bear the appearance of God in his character—he already lost it. He no longer talks like God. He no longer thinks like God. He no longer acts like God. He was reborn after the image of the devil. Satan became his father. And he began to talk the way satan talks. He began to think the way satan thinks. He began to act the way satan acts.
Thank God, however, for His work of redemption for mankind. That work of redemption is to restore us to God’s original purpose for our lives. Therefore, now, our being born again is the beginning of that process. And having being born again, having being recreated, God wants us to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.
Remember when Jesus came, His life was a revelation of the perfection of God. The bible says He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus was man as God would have man to be. He was man as God intended man to be. He was the perfection of manhood. And that is why He addressed himself as the Son of Man (Mark 2:28).
Well, the point being made is that in Christ Jesus the true revelation of what God wants us to be is seen. And now we who have given our lives to Him are being admonished to be changed, to be transformed, until we become like Him. This is to be our life goal. And I pray that your heart will be daily strengthened to walk in the light of this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a splendid day.
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OUR LIFE GOAL 17/08/2024
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” (Romans 8:29NIV)
Can you see that? The people that God foreknew, He also predestined. That means before they came to be on the scene of life, God had determined what their lives would be like. Paul says God had predestined them to be conformed to the image or likeness of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
Now that is the goal, their life goal. They are to be rendered in the image of God’s son. They are to be conformed—it is a conformation—to the image of the Son of God. Originally, when God made man, the bible says He made him in His image and after His likeness (Genesis 1:27). But when you see man today, does he look like the image of God to you? When you see man today, does he bear the likeness of God in your eyes?
But when God made him, he was made, as close as possible, to be like God. God made him in His image and in His likeness—in form, in appearance and in disposition. But because of the fall of man, he lost all that. And even though he still bears a physical appearance that looks like God, he does not bear that spiritual appearance. He does not bear the appearance of God in his character—he already lost it. He no longer talks like God. He no longer thinks like God. He no longer acts like God. He was reborn after the image of the devil. Satan became his father. And he began to talk the way satan talks. He began to think the way satan thinks. He began to act the way satan acts.
Thank God, however, for His work of redemption for mankind. That work of redemption is to restore us to God’s original purpose for our lives. Therefore, now, our being born again is the beginning of that process. And having being born again, having being recreated, God wants us to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.
Remember when Jesus came, His life was a revelation of the perfection of God. The bible says He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus was man as God would have man to be. He was man as God intended man to be. He was the perfection of manhood. And that is why He addressed himself as the Son of Man (Mark 2:28).
Well, the point being made is that in Christ Jesus the true revelation of what God wants us to be is seen. And now we who have given our lives to Him are being admonished to be changed, to be transformed, until we become like Him. This is to be our life goal. And I pray that your heart will be daily strengthened to walk in the light of this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a splendid day.
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OUR LIFE GOAL 17/08/2024
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” (Romans 8:29NIV)
Can you see that? The people that God foreknew, He also predestined. That means before they came to be on the scene of life, God had determined what their lives would be like. Paul says God had predestined them to be conformed to the image or likeness of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
Now that is the goal, their life goal. They are to be rendered in the image of God’s son. They are to be conformed—it is a conformation—to the image of the Son of God. Originally, when God made man, the bible says He made him in His image and after His likeness (Genesis 1:27). But when you see man today, does he look like the image of God to you? When you see man today, does he bear the likeness of God in your eyes?
But when God made him, he was made, as close as possible, to be like God. God made him in His image and in His likeness—in form, in appearance and in disposition. But because of the fall of man, he lost all that. And even though he still bears a physical appearance that looks like God, he does not bear that spiritual appearance. He does not bear the appearance of God in his character—he already lost it. He no longer talks like God. He no longer thinks like God. He no longer acts like God. He was reborn after the image of the devil. Satan became his father. And he began to talk the way satan talks. He began to think the way satan thinks. He began to act the way satan acts.
Thank God, however, for His work of redemption for mankind. That work of redemption is to restore us to God’s original purpose for our lives. Therefore, now, our being born again is the beginning of that process. And having being born again, having being recreated, God wants us to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.
Remember when Jesus came, His life was a revelation of the perfection of God. The bible says He is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being (Hebrews 1:3). Jesus was man as God would have man to be. He was man as God intended man to be. He was the perfection of manhood. And that is why He addressed himself as the Son of Man (Mark 2:28).
Well, the point being made is that in Christ Jesus the true revelation of what God wants us to be is seen. And now we who have given our lives to Him are being admonished to be changed, to be transformed, until we become like Him. This is to be our life goal. And I pray that your heart will be daily strengthened to walk in the light of this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a splendid day.
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NO PLACE FOR WORRYING 16/08/2024
“Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks.” (Phil 4:6-7GW)
Can you see that? Paul says there is no place for worrying in a true walk with God. Is there any challenge you are facing that He is unable to handle? Or is there any project you want to handle that He is incapable of taking care of?
So, don’t paint God bad. Don’t give the world the impression that He doesn’t care about you. Instead, talk to Him about the problem. Tell Him, in your own words, exactly what you need from Him.
Now Paul says when you do that, you should do so with a heart of gratitude, thanking God in anticipation of what He will do. And that should not be a problem, should it? Isn’t that what you naturally do whenever you write a letter of request to people? You thank them in anticipation of what they will do. So, you should be willing to do the same with God and, in fact, with the highest sense of respect.
In any case, as we turn over the burdens of our hearts to God like this in prayer, Paul tells us that He will act on our behalf. And the first thing He will do is to take care of our inner situation. He will guard our hearts and minds with His indescribable peace, so that, even though we cannot see anything on the outside, we will know deep inside us that our problems are over (Rom 8:28; Phil 4:7).
Then, in ways that are beyond our explanation, God will fix the problems themselves on the outside, so that we our hearts can overflow again with much thanksgiving. So, you don’t need to give up on your dreams that are yet to be accomplished in the year. There is still time to talk to God about them. Remember that nothing can ever be too late with Him. You just begin to do the praying, and you will be amazed at how He will fulfil His good word to you.
Have a great day.
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PEACE IS SPIRITUAL 15/08/2024
It is no news that we live in a world that is distressed and agitated. The boldest, the strongest, the wisest and even the richest of men live everyday with a growing sense of insecurity. It is becoming clearer to them that their wealth, influence, strength and wisdom cannot secure peace of mind for them, and they find that strange, very strange.
But, according to the bible, nothing should be strange about the fact that money, position, affluence, wisdom, great education or strength cannot guarantee peace for anybody. Peace is spiritual. So it is not something that can be worked out through any earthly means or qualifications.
Not only that, peace originates from God. Therefore, it is not something just any spiritual being can give. God’s angels, for instance, as powerful, holy and spiritual they are, cannot give anybody peace, unless they bear words of peace to him from God Himself. It should not surprise you then that satan and his demons cannot give peace. They don’t have peace; so they cannot give it.
Satan and his demons are restless wanderers, as the scripture makes clear. So, anyone who is in league with them will ultimately wander through life in a restless manner. Don’t you see how men and women who are without God wander from one engagement to another, in search of rest and satisfaction? What they have failed to grasp is that there is nothing in this life or from the devil’s hands that can give man rest or satisfaction or peace of mind. Man’s rest and peace of mind are solely in God. (Cf. Job 1&2; Matt 12:43; 1Pet 5:8)
Now that is exactly what God is saying to all of humanity, and that is exactly the message He has brought to us, His children. The scripture says, “I will create the right words: ‘Shalom shalom to those far off and to those nearby!’ says Adonai; ‘I will heal them!’But the wicked are like the restless sea — unable to be still, its waters toss up mud and dirt. There is no shalom, says my God, for the wicked.” (Isa 57:20-21CJB)
Look at that! God is saying to us, “It does not matter where you are in life – spiritually, geographically, financially, socially and so forth – if you will turn to me and walk with me, you will have perfect peace (Shalom shalom).” However, to those who ignore Him, He says, “There is no peace for you, irrespective of what you do or have. Go to the ends of the earth and live alone, if you like. You will still not have peace, as long as you do not take me seriously.”
I thank God that you and I are among those who are able to experience and enjoy God’s peace today. And we will do well to confront our world with His message of peace, as we journey through the remaining weeks of the year. We need to let our world know what we know about God’s peace. We need to let them know through our own lives that PEACE is beyond a programme; it is a quality of life, which a man may receive only through a virile relationship and fellowship with God.
Do have a peaceful day!
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THESE ARE THE LAST DAYS 14/08/2024
As we face this new day, I will like to remind you of the times in which we live so that you will not be carried away by the winds of anxieties and entertainments that are blowing here and there. We have come to a time in which people are striving to be all kinds of things except what God wants them to be. And if we, for any reason at all, choose to walk in ignorance of the characteristics of these times, we will eventually find out that we have become what God never intended for us to be and are doing what He never desired for us to do.
Now I want you to know that this is already happening. I mean many of God’s people are already being affected by these times. And that is because they are naļve; they are ignorant of the characteristics of the days in which we live.
Paul, in order to prevent his son in the faith, Timothy, from getting caught up in the mess of his days, said to him, “You must understand this: In the last days there will be violent periods of time. People will be selfish and love money. They will brag, be arrogant, and use abusive language. They will curse their parents, show no gratitude, have no respect for what is holy, and lack normal affection for their families. They will refuse to make peace with anyone. They will be slanderous, lack self-control, be brutal, and have no love for what is good. They will be traitors. They will be reckless and conceited. They will love pleasure rather than God. They will appear to have a godly life, but they will not let its power change them. Stay away from such people.” (2Tim 3:1-5GW)
Now you too must understand what Paul wanted Timothy to understand. You must understand that these are the last days. You must also understand that these last days are filled with violent periods that are capable of changing people’s attitude towards God and towards life. And when Paul says people will change, who do you think he is referring to? You say, “The unbelievers, of course!”
But you are wrong. To be candid, Paul could not be referring to the unsaved ones here. That is because the unsaved ones don’t have to be any of these things that are stated in Paul’s list—selfish, arrogant, abusive, ungrateful and so forth; they are already. Therefore, it is the Christian that Paul is referring to here. It is the Christian that can stop being christianly and start being something else because of the pressure of the hour. It is the Christian that can cover up his terrible intentions with an appearance of godliness.
So watch out for those desires that are capable of driving you crazy. Watch out for those ambitions that can make a beast of you while you still go around with a bible in your hand. And be careful of those relationships that can secretly plant the yeast of hypocrisy in your life and make you live a life that is foreign to the truth. Remember this: “Just a little while longer, and he who is coming will come; he will not delay.” (Heb 10:37GNT)
Stay blessed.
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PAYDAY IS COMING 13/08/2024
“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2Peter 3:8-9NIV)
What is Peter telling us here? It is that one main reason God’s judgment is often delayed is that He is patient. Sometimes we expect that when people sin or do something wrong, God should step in immediately and whip or flog them. But God does not often act like that. He is a patient God. And He is patient because He does not want the destruction of anybody. He says, “I take no pleasure in the death of the sinner.” (Cf. Ezekiel 18:23 & 32) .
Unfortunately, some people now take that as meaning that they might ultimately escape God’s judgment. They are now of the opinion that they might ultimately get away with wrong doings. They have heard all kinds of things about God’s judgment. They have heard that He was a just judge, who would pay everybody back according to his deeds. But then, they have also been asking themselves, “If all these things are true about God, why has He not judged me for my misconducts? Why hasn’t He punished me?”
Some will even say to you, “You say that judgment is coming. How come God has not judged me for all my sins? Look at me. I am still prosperous, even though I am stealing and embezzling public funds. But look at you. You say that you are living for God, but you can’t even pay your children’s school fees. Look at you. You can’t even dress well. I am the one that is supposed to be suffering here. But I am not suffering. You call me a sinner. And I am fine with that, for I am not suffering.”
Now people like such think that they will ultimately escape the consequences of their sins. But they will not. It is unfortunate, however, that that wrong thought has made scoffers of them. Because of this wrong philosophy that they will ultimately escape the consequences of their errors, they now scoff at the things of God.
But if you are doing the wrong thing and have not yet faced the consequences of doing so, you are just enjoying the patience of God. That is what you are enjoying. And it is important that you turn away from your wrongdoings before it is too late. I tell you payday is coming. A day will come when you will pay for all your wrongdoings. And what you believe about this does not matter. It is the reality that you will have to deal with when the time is ripe.
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TRUST IN THE LORD 12/08/2024
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes…” (Proverbs 3:5-6NIV)
Here is a call to absolute in trust in God, if we don’t want to be disgraced in life, in spite of everything we may have going for us. See, you may have skills along certain lines in life; exercise your skills without relying on them. People may call you intelligent. They may say you are brilliant. But don’t let that get into your head. If you rely on your own brilliance or intelligence, what you will produce is barrenness—barrenness upon barrenness, emptiness upon emptiness.
We have professors that are rotten today—you know that. We have Doctors who have no place in life. We have people with wonderful certificates who have no place in life. I was sharing with a brother the other time and he was telling me how he tried to finish from the Polytechnic with Distinction but ended up with the Upper Credit--though it was very close to Distinction, it was still Upper Credit. And when he told me that, I asked him not to worry about it. Then I said, “Do you know there are people who would never get a good job because they finished with ‘Distinction’ or ‘First class’ in school.”
And you know that is the truth. There are people who finished with Distinction from school who still do not have a place in life now. Yet some who finished with Pass from the same class have already become big fellows in some companies now. So if you are depending on your own natural abilities or skills, a day is coming when they will fail you. Don’t depend on these things, then. Instead, trust in the Lord. Draw your provisions from Him. Draw whatever it is you need in life from Him. And you will never be disappointed or disgraced in life.
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NOT OF THE WORLD 11/08/2024
“If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” (John 15:19NIV)
The world does not love the Christian, according to our Lord Jesus Christ in our opening text. So, do not expect the world to love you. Don’t expect the world to praise you. If the world loves you, then, you are a fake. If, as a Christian, unbelievers love you, then, you may want to check if nothing is wrong with your Christianity. That is because they are not supposed to love you. I know this is hard, but it is the reality.
Now I am not saying they are not supposed to relate to you--that is not what I am saying. I am not saying they are not supposed to smile at you—they will actually smile at you. But if you are actually practising Christianity, they will hate you. That is because your life will be contrary to the life they are living. Your life will condemn them. Your life will expose them. And you will not be able to agree in principle.
Again, that is not to say that you will not be able to work together or play together. But when we are talking about the principle of living, you won’t agree. For the ideas of the world are foreign to the ideas of the kingdom of God.
Then, in order to solidify what He says in our opening text, Jesus goes on in verse 20 to say, “Remember what I told you: “A servant is not greater than his master.” If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.” (John 15:20NIV) Did you see that? If Jesus was hated and persecuted by the world, then we, as His disciples, must not anything less. We cannot be smarter than our master.
With the kind of ministry that Jesus had here on earth, you would expect that the world would love him. But the world did not love him. Instead, the world killed him. When they were shouting, “Crucify him, crucify him,” where were the people that He healed? When they were slapping Him, where were the individuals that He raised from the dead and the multitudes that He fed? Where were they when they wanted to kill Him?
Now what wrong did He do that made them kill Him? What harm did Jesus do that made them kill Him? Obviously, they killed Him for telling them the truth. They killed Him for challenging their way of living. So do not think that because you are kind and nice, the world would appreciate you. You will be making a mistake. Do not think because you are good to everybody, they will treat you well or when they see things that belong to you wasting away, they will protect them. You will be missing it, if you reason like that.
You know, most of the time, we get carried away in the world, because of the applause of men. Because of all these people that are constantly smiling at us and praising us, we think we are loved by the world. The truth is that we are not loved by the world. This is why, Jesus, while teaching His disciples made it very clear to them that they were not greater than their master—if the world hated their master, it would indeed hate them as well.
Well, the point our Lord is making to us here is that we are not of the world. And we must not forget that.
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FROM ONE MAN 10/08/2024
“From one man he (God) made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth…” (Acts 17:26NIV)
From how many people did God make all the nations of the earth? Well, Paul tells in our opening text that God made all the nations of the earth from one man. That means all of us came from one man. And here he is referring to Adam. That is interesting. We all belong to the same family—that is what he is telling us. It does not matter what your colour is, it does not matter what your language is, we all belong to the same family.
See, this is Christian thinking. It is foreign to the world. The world thinks we are of different families. But God does not think like that. God made all of us from one man; we all came from the same stock. So, though we have different colours, different heights and different languages, we still belong to the same family.
Unfortunately, Satan has succeeded in confusing and misguiding us. And that is why we fight one another. We fight those who don’t look like us. We fight those who don’t live with us. We fight anyone who is different from us; for we see him as entirely different—he does not belong among us.
But here, Paul tells us that we all came from one man; we all belong to the same family. This, of course, means that there is no special race before God. No race is superior to the other. The white are not superior to the black. And the Jews are not superior to the Gentiles. You know the Jews used to pride themselves in the fact that they are a special race before God. They say, “Well, God chose us above all the nations of the earth. That means he prefers us to all of them.” But that is not true. God only chose them to illustrate something to the world. And that has already been done.
At any rate, we have to keep it in mind that we all belong to the same family. So don’t hate people who don’t look like you. Don’t resent those who don’t speak your language or share your colour. Don’t do it; for you belong to the same family. And God, of course, will someday judge every evil act that men have committed on the basis of racism. So, mind yourself.
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THE NEW CREATION. 09/08/2024
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!” (2Corinthians 5:17NIV)
The first thing Paul declares to us in our opening text is that the Christian is a New Creation. He is not who he used to be. Christianity is not a continuation of a man’s old life. When a man becomes a Christian, he is a New Creation. Paul says the old man has gone. That means the person you used to know has gone. We now have a new person. So whatever you knew or identified with that old person has already gone—it is in the past. And that is how you are to regard yourself--you are now a New Creation. Even though you are in the same world, you are a New Person in the same Old World. That is how you must view or regard yourself. And that is the way you must regard every child of God-- He is a New Creation: the old has gone, the new is now here!
Then Paul goes on to say, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ…” (2Corinthians 5:18NIV) Did you see that? The New Creation is of God. Everything about the New Creation has its existence in God. Everything about you has its existence in God. Everything about me has its existence in God. There is nothing of the New Creation that is of the world. There is nothing of the New Creation that is of the devil. That is why you must not associate the devil with the New Creation. You must not associate anything that is of the devil with the New Creation.
Sin is of the devil, for example. So you must not associate it with the Christian. It is amazing when you find Christians who say there is still Sin in their lives. That is wrong. It is a wrong position to take. You cannot say that you are a Christian and, at the same time, say that there is unrighteousness in your life. You cannot say that you are a Christian and, at the same time, say that you do not have the holiness of God in your life or that you do not have the righteousness of God in your life.
In any case, here, Paul tells us that everything about the New Creation is of God. Not only that, he also tells us the kind of relationship we now have with God. He says, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself in Christ…” So we have been reconciled to God—He is no longer angry with us. And we are no longer far away from Him—we have been brought to Him.
In his first epistle, the second chapter, the twenty-fifth verse, Peter tells us that all of us went astray—we all wandered away from God. That statement is set in past tense. And that means every natural man has wandered away from God. But now, having become Christians, we have returned to the overseer and shepherd of our souls. So we have now returned to God. I have returned to God. I am with God now. I am no longer away from God. I have returned to the shepherd and overseer of my life.
So then, Paul says God reconciled us to himself. Again, who did the reconciliation? It was God. Now, to be reconciled means ‘to be brought back.’ I am not talking about the being brought back of someone who travelled. I am talking about the resolving of an issue between two people who are fighting or quarrelling. Do you understand? Once we were fighting, but now the matter has been resolved. We are no longer fighting. We are no longer quarrelling. The enmity between us has already be cancelled or erased. What this means now is that we are God’s friends. We are his people. We are on the side of God and God is on our side. And that is now our relationship with God, the relationship of the New Creation with Him
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OPPORTUNITIES IN EVIL DAYS 08/08/2024
“Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16NIV)
The first thing Paul tells us here is to be careful how we live. He says, “Be very careful, then, how you live your lives—not as unwise but as wise, taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” There is, therefore, a recognition of the fact that these are evil days in the scripture. The scripture does not deny the fact that these are evil days.
You know, in most of the programmes being aired on our Television stations, there is often an attempt to impress upon our hearts that these are evil days and that everybody around us is evil or wicked. And sometimes you see people gathering to watch or listen to the so-called strange and mysterious things that are happening around the world. Personally, I am not interested in things like such because I already know from the scriptures that these are evil days.
But even at that, the bible tells us that there are opportunities in these evil days. So, Paul says, “Take advantage of these opportunities. Don’t let your focus be only on the fact that these are evil days; rather, let it also be on the fact that there are opportunities in these evil days.” Why is that important? It is so that you can make the most of the opportunities of these evil days to rise and shine.
So, don’t just keep looking at all the bad things happening in your world and around you. Instead, start looking also at the good things happening and what you can do with these good things in making life better, easier and more enjoyable for you and others. And may the Spirit of God daily open your eyes to see every opportunity for growth, development and promotion that you can utilise for your prosperity and peace of mind, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a great day.
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WITHOUT EXCUSE 07/08/2024
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against the all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness.” (Romans 1:18NIV)
The wrath of God means the anger of God, the disapproval of God. And Paul shows us in our opening bible text that this wrath of God is already being revealed. There are people who are waiting and saying, “At the end of the ages the wrath of God will be revealed.” Yes, at the end of all the ages the wrath of God will be revealed. But we need to know that right now His wrath is already being revealed.
What we are saying is that God’s disapproval against the rejection of the truth is already being revealed. Those who are ignoring God, those who are ignoring His injunctions are already experiencing a revelation of His wrath—it is breaking out against them. Unfortunately, many of them don’t even know that what they are experiencing now is a revelation of God’s wrath. They don’t know because of the nature of this revelation.
Again, Paul says, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:18020NIV)
This is a very powerful statement. What needs to be known about God has already been made known; it has been made plain to men. So nobody has any excuse for not doing what is right. It does not matter where you are in the world, what needs to be known about God has already been made known. Just look around you. Look at the whole creation—the sun, the moon, the stars, the trees, the animals and so forth. You can tell that all these things did not just erupt or appear on their own; there is a creator behind them.
Look at the process of giving birth; look at the reality of death. You can only conclude that there is a wise being behind all of these things; they are not just happening by themselves. So even if you have not heard the gospel, what needs to be known about God has already been made known.
For instance—even if we set aside the gospel—there is no place you get to in the world that certain things are not considered as immoral. Before the gospel came to us in Nigeria, for example, fornication has always been wrong; lying has always been wrong; adultery has always been wrong; stealing has always been wrong. Am I not correct?
So it is not just because of the introduction of the gospel that we began to see these things as wrong. We have always known that they are wrong. And this means that even without the revelation of the gospel to man, he can still know that certain things are wrong and that certain things are right. Therefore, no man will have any excuse before God for not embracing what is right and rejecting what is wrong.
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MAN BELONGS TO GOD 06/08/2024
“For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” (Romans 14:7-8NIV)
This is a very interesting fact. And you know, frankly speaking, this does not just apply to Christians alone; it applies to everybody. Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord; we are His property. And because we are His property, it becomes important for us to do His will.
When you create something, you create for your will. Isn’t that so? When you make anything, you make it for your purpose. So it will be cheer foolishness for your creation to challenge you and say, “I know you created me, but I will love to do with myself as I please.” That will be sheer foolishness, or what do you think?
God said a pot made by a potter does not have any right to challenge the potter that made it. (Cf. Isaiah 45:9) Look at the vehicles and all the things that we use: they don’t challenge us, or do they? They stay where we put them to perform whatever function we have made them to perform. In like manner, because we belong to God, it becomes imperative for us to do his will.
Now I need to say this to you: until a man recognises and acknowledges this as a fact or a reality, God has nothing to say to him. Again, I say until a man recognises and acknowledges the fact that he belongs to God, it will be a waste of time to tell him to do the will of God.
You know, out of our zeal for God, a lot of times, we try to counsel, charge, and even compel people to live their lives for God. We say, “Don’t live your life like this. You need to live it for God.” But who are we talking to? We are talking to someone that does not think he belongs to God. If he does not think he belongs to God, then, do you think it will make sense to tell him to live his life for God? No!
So the right place to begin is that of drawing man’s attention to the fact that he belongs to God. Until we get a man to agree that he belongs to God, any other thing we tell him about God will not make sense to him. Also, whatever instruction we bring to him from God will n
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SOONER OR LATER 05/08/2024
“Lot looked up and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, toward Zoar. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the LORD.” (Gen 13:10-13NIV)
Whose choice was it to go and live in Sodom? It was Lot’s choice. He was the one that made the decision for himself and his family. And did it look like a bad decision at the time? No! On the contrary, it looked like a very perfect one, a perfect decision that would catapult him and his family into a great enjoyment of prosperity for generations to come.
But as bible accounts show us, Lot’s choice to go and live in Sodom was a carnal one. It was a choice that was based only on what he saw. The portion of land he saw was indeed good and desirable. But his choice of it was only based on how well it would serve him and how greatly it would contribute to his wealth and prestige. He was not looking at the fact that staying in that land would put him right among wicked and unreasonable people, right among scorpions and vipers.
Well, some years later, the implications of the choice he had made began to dawn on him. First, he, his family members and all their wealth were suddenly taken as captives along with all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. And it took the intervention of his uncle, Abraham, for them to be rescued and restored. (Cf. Gen 14)
Now he should have taken that as a warning from God to him. But he was too possessed and occupied with his business of making money that he could not even see things in that light. And not long afterwards, he started receiving the torture of his life while living among those wicked and unreasonable people. According to the bible, everyday this man saw and heard things that tortured his righteous soul, things that wanted to drive him crazy (2Pet 2:8).
But what led him into that situation? It was a carnal choice he made years before. And that choice eventually led him to lose his wife and all the things he had gathered through years of hard labour. In fact, by the time he was leaving Sodom, we have no record in the bible of his herdsmen and workers again. They all must have been lost by him to the immorality of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Cf. Gen 19)
What is the point of all this? It is simply that the choices we make now will sooner or later justify us or condemn us. God, through His word, has given us perfect and clear guidelines on how to make choices and decisions that will result in earthly and eternal prosperity, safety and peace of mind for us. And if we learn these guidelines and apply them to our lives, sooner or later, God’s wisdom will prove Him right in our lives and affairs. But if we ignore them and choose to follow our own schemes, sooner or later, we will see for ourselves how foolish we are to ignore God.
Now perhaps this is already true in your life. Perhaps certain carnal choices you made in the past are already haunting you and torturing you with undesirable circumstances. Don’t let things go from bad to worse before you cry out to God for restoration. See, whatever you are witnessing now as a result of your past bad choices, however terrible they may seem, may just be a warning to you from God that worse experiences are coming. So, take the warning and hurry to do the right thing. And God, who is rich and kind in mercy, will show you mercy, spare you and also restore you.
Cheers!
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A COMMAND FOR COMFORT 04/08/2024
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.” (Isa 40:1-2NIV)
That was God’s command concerning the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Judah. He wanted them to be comforted and restored after their years of hard labour in slavery. So, He gave the announcement that their sins had been fully paid for, that their years of bondage were over and that they should be comforted and restored. And when God gives a command like that, everything in all creation starts working and cooperating towards its fulfilment.
For example, when God gave the command in heaven that King Nebuchadnezzar be driven from his throne and given the mind of an animal for a certain period of time, all the angels of God began to pass it along to one another and to work with it. And here is how Nebuchadnezzar himself describes what he saw in a vision about the matter: “The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of men.” (Dan 4:17NIV)
Did you see that? When God gave that command the hosts of heaven responded to it and began to run and work with it. Now, as Daniel pointed out to Nebuchadnezzar, the only thing that could make God show mercy and annul the command was for him to renounce his sins and turn away from them (Dan 4:27). But did he do that? No, he did not. So, exactly twelve months later, the command that God had given concerning him was fulfilled. He ran mad and was driven away from his throne. And he went on to live and eat grass like cattle for the amount of time set for him. (Cf. Dan 4:28-23)
You can see, then, that even though God gave a command that Nebuchadnezzar should be brought down and humbled for a certain period of time, the command was not fulfilled immediately here on earth. It took all the spirit beings working on the matter one full year to accomplish it. And if this king had repented during that period, what happened to him would have been prevented.
In any case, I said all that to just let you know that when God gives a command that something be done, everything in all his creation, living and non-living, seen and unseen, will begin to work towards its fulfilment. How long it will, however, take them to get it done is something we cannot say. But they will surely get it done, unless God annuls the command because of the repentance or wickedness of the person or persons involved.
Therefore, when, as we see in our opening bible text, God gave a command for the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Judah to be comforted and restored, all the hosts of heaven went to work to make it happen. And it happened during the reign of Cyrus king of Persia, even though it was several years later. (Cf. Ezra 1)
Now we too, as a country, need God’s comfort. We need Him to give a word of command for times of refreshing to be brought to us and for us to be comforted from all our troubles and trials. And how do we get Him to do this for us? It is by approaching Him in prayers for mercy.
Remember that Centurion that once came to Jesus for help, healing and comfort for his sick servant. This man, when he came to the Lord, did not talk about his righteousness or merits. Why? He knew that he had nothing to make him deserve anything from the Lord. So, he simply said, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” (Matt 8:8NIV) And when the Lord gave the word for the man’s servant to be healed, he was healed that very hour.
In like manner, though we too, as a nation, have no righteousness or worthiness that makes us deserve to receive anything from God, His mercy can make us receive from Him. All we need to do is to ask Him, as that Centurion did, to give the command for us to be comforted, healed and restored. And it shall be so, for everything in all creation will immediately begin to work towards making it so. But are we going to do that? Am I going to do that? Are you going to do that? The earlier we begin to talk to Him about this the better it will be for all of us.
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TAKE YOUR PERSONAL PRAYERS SERIOUSLY 03/08/2024
“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray…” (James 5:13NIV)
Observe that James does not say, “Is any one of you in trouble? Let him seek help outside God.” Instead, he says, “Is any one of you in trouble? Let him pray.” That is because seeking help outside God (whether through witchcraft, sorcery, manipulation, theft, adultery or other ungodly means) is not an option for the believer at all. And to do so is to shut whatever door of God's grace and favour you might have hoped to find against yourself (2Sam 28:4-25; 2Kings 1; Jer 17:5-6).
So, whether it is a health problem, marital problem, financial problem or even religious problem, don't ever seek help outside God. It is not only dangerous for you to do so; it will ultimately destroy you and whatever it is you are trying to protect.
Furthermore, James does not say, “Is any one of you in trouble? Let him hire prayer warriors to do his praying for him.” What he says is for the one in trouble to pray for himself and by himself. And is that to say that the prayers of other believers for us is not important or significant at all? No! On the contrary, we see that James, in this same letter, admonishes brethren who are sick and whose sicknesses, evidently, have refused to go away, even though they have been praying for themselves, to call for the elders of the church to pray for them. And he says prayers offered in faith for such people will make them well and even obtain forgiveness from God for them, if they have sinned. So, James, in keeping with the Lord's instructions to the church about prayers and the practice of the Saints of old, enjoins us all to learn to pray for one another. (Cf. Matt 18:19-20; Acts 4:23-31&12:5; James 5:14-16)
Nevertheless, James is also careful to let us see that we must never underestimate the prayer of even one person. He says the prayer of one righteous person is powerful and effective (James 5:16). And he goes on to illustrate his point with the story of Elijah the man of God and how he, as one man, offered prayers that affected an entire nation in very remarkable ways (James 5:17-18). So, nobody should use congregational prayers as a substitute for his personal prayers. That is because there is a degree to which other people's prayers can work for you, if you yourself are not a praying person.
Did Jesus, for example, not pray for His apostles not to fall into those temptations that were associated with His arrest and murder? He did. Yet He made it very clear to them that they also needed to do their own praying, if they would not fall. But did they? No, they did not. They were just too tired and overwhelmed with grief to pray. So, His prayer could only restore them but couldn't keep them from falling away for a while. (Cf. Luke 22:31-62)
Now I have showed you all this to let you know that you must take your personal prayers to God seriously. Yes, you must take the expression of your dependence on Him very seriously, regardless of the circumstances of your life, good or bad. And as you do so, it does not matter what trouble you may find yourself in, you will never be alone but with God, who will ensure that you walk in victory over it.
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A CALL TO ORDELINESS 01/08/2024
“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.” (Proverbs 6:6-8NIV)
This is a call for us to learn orderliness from ants. As Solomon tells us, ants have no commander or overseer or ruler. Yet they are orderly. They are orderly in the way they do things. They know when to gather their food. They are wise enough to know when to store up food for the future. And they have nobody to supervise them or to direct them. Yet they are doing these things. If ants can be orderly like this, then, we have no excuse for not being orderly in our lives.
Well, this is a call to orderliness. This a call for us to know how to put first things first. This is a call for us to know how to organise our lives for greater fruitfulness or effectiveness. When we organise our lives, we will see that we are able to eliminate frustration and depression and are also able to free ourselves from unnecessary burdens.
So, learn from the ants. You don’t need anyone to organise you or direct you. It is your job to organise yourself and to direct your affairs well. You have the Spirit of God in you. And you can do this.
Stop making excuses, then, for disorderliness in your life. Stop making excuses for late coming. Stop making excuses for not doing the things you are supposed to do when you are supposed to do them. Don’t waste your time on irrelevances. Don’t waste time on non-essentials. You need to know those things that are important for you to do and when you are to do them and then act accordingly. Know when you need to work and when you need to rest. Know how to put yourself on a schedule. And as you function like this, you will see that you have shut the devil out of certain areas of your life, that is, without even praying.
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HATE WICKEDNESS 31/07/2024
“Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” (NIV)
That is our instruction. We are to turn away from wickedness. We must turn away from sexual immorality. We must turn away from greed. We must turn away murder. We must turn away from hypocrisy, rage, anger, deceit and anything else that destroys humanity. Anything that destroys humanity is wickedness. And we must turn away from it.
Also, anything that sets itself up against God or does not embrace God is wickedness. Wickedness does not end with doing what is evil or what is unrighteous. Wickedness also includes a rejection of God or a refusal to acknowledge Him. And we must turn away from it.
We will, however, not turn away from wickedness, if we do not hate it. So, we must hate wickedness. The reason wickedness is thriving in most of our communities and workplaces is that we do not hate it. Even many of us who refer to ourselves as Christians still have secret love for adultery, greed and other wrong things. So, we hardly, obviously and fully take our stand against wickedness where we are. It takes someone that hates wickedness to take his stand against it publicly and privately.
Well, the word of God is telling us that our attitude towards wickedness must first be that of hate for it. That is where to start from. Until we hate wickedness there is nothing else God has to say to us about it. Until we hate it, we will not stand against it. Until we hate it, we will not turn away from it. It is the one that hates wickedness that will turn away from it. It is the one who hates wickedness that is going to stand against it.
We have all kinds of instructions given to us in Scriptures on how to relate to sin or wickedness. But until we hate it, we will not act on those instructions. As long as we have secret love in our hearts for wickedness, as long as we have secret love for any form of sin in our hearts, we will not stand against it. And if we won’t stand against it, it will not stop ruining our world for us.
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BE HUNGRY AND THIRSTY 30/07/2024
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (NIV)
Who is the giver of righteousness? God! So, in order to be righteous, God must give you righteousness as a gift. It is not something that your hard work can obtain for you. And to possess His righteousness, you must be hungry and thirsty for Him in your life. Then for His righteousness to manifest in you, you must also be hungry and thirsty for Him to work in you.
Well, the point is that God wants us to be hungry and thirsty for Him, for more and more of Him. And He says that those of us who are hungry and thirsty for Him, who want to see His righteousness manifest in our lives and in our world, will be satisfied by Him. He will satisfy us with everything we need. Why will He want to satisfy us with everything we need, if He does not want us to have more? The truth is that He wants us to keep having more and more until we are satisfied. And all we need for that to happen is to be hungry and thirsty for more of Him and more of what He wants us to have.
This, of course, is showing us that He does not want us to be complacent in life. Instead, He wants us to always desire to know Him better, to have His fullness dwell in us, to be all that He wants us to be and to have all that He wants us to have in this world. And what will lead us to experience these things is our hunger and thirst for them.
Look also at what Jesus says in John, chapter 10, verse 10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (NIV) Can you see that? Our Lord Jesus came so that we may experience fullness of life. And if you are complacent, you cannot experience life to the full. If you are complacent, you cannot be all that God wants you to be in life or accomplish all that He wants you to accomplish. The moment you are complacent, the moment you think that your life is okay as it is and that you do not need to be a better man, woman, husband, wife, child, Christian or citizen, you are already on your way out of relevance and out of this world. You are already dead, even though you are alive, and your life has begun to decompose and decay.
You need to understand that as long as you are alive in this world, you cannot have any false sense of self-satisfaction. It will keep you from looking ahead to becoming the person God wants you to be and to having what He wants you to have. It will make you crest. And once you crest in that sense, you can only depreciate in character and usefulness.
God, however, does not want us to crest in life. What He wants is for us to continually hunger and thirst for fullness of Him and of the life that He purchased for us in Christ. So, we must always look forward to what can be instead of fixing our gaze on what is. Of course, we must be thankful for what we are and what we have. And we must not get ourselves involved in anything that is contrary to the will of God in order to be where we want to be or have what we want to have. But we must always be hungry and thirsty for more of God and more of life. Otherwise, our lives will stagnate.
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IN YOUR MOMENT OF NEED 29/07/2024
“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Heb 4:16NIV)
That is a very clear instruction to us from the Spirit of God. And what is it about? It is about receiving God’s already given mercy and grace in our time of need. When is our time of need? Every moment is a time of need for us all. That is because there is no moment that we do not need God’s sustenance.
However, it is not every moment that we have this feeling that we need God to urgently attend to a matter of our lives. If we, then, find ourselves in that moment, a moment in which it is clear to us that God must urgently attend to a matter we are dealing with, the Scripture above is one of those Scriptures that we must immediately act on.
Now, again, what does this Scripture tell us to do, if we should find ourselves in a moment of need, a moment in which we are desperate to experience salvation or breakthrough? First, it tells us to approach the throne of grace. So, there is a throne of grace. Yes, there is a throne where grace and mercy to deal with any kind of need or life’s trial can be adequately received. And it is the throne of God our Father. So, anytime you have a need, whatever the need may be, approach this throne.
But then, observe that we are not just told to approach the throne of mercy; we are also told how to approach it. We are told to approach it with confidence. In other words, regardless of what our needs may be, regardless of what we will want God to handle for us, we must be bold to approach His throne and express ourselves. Why? First, it is because our Lord Jesus Christ has taken care of everything that in the past made us unworthy of approaching God with freedom and confidence. He has reconciled us to God, so that we are now at peace with Him. (Cf. Rom 5:1; Eph 3:12)
Second, Jesus Christ is now our High Priest and is very much present at the throne of God’s grace to intercede for us. That means He is always there to speak along with us to God. And that is because, as we are told in the verses before our opening bible text, He has been through whatever any of us may be going through right now. He understands how we feel. He understands our fears, our worries and our weaknesses. So, He will always be on our side, giving us support, as we seek to draw from God’s grace and mercy in our moment of need. (Cf. Heb 4:14-15)
All of this is why we are told to approach that throne of grace with freedom and confidence in our time of need. And when we do so, we will surely find sufficient grace and mercy to walk in victory over whatever challenge we are faced with. If you, then, are faced with any challenge that is seeking to rubbish your life, steal your joy or cheat you of what is yours, you don’t need to hesitate any longer in approaching God’s throne of grace about it. Just approach it where you are and as you are, petitioning Him about the matter at hand. And He will not reject your prayers or ignore you. Instead, He will answer right away and make sure you receive all the grace and mercy you need to experience His victory.
Now we see an example of this in the case of King Hezekiah, when Sennacherib attacked the land of Judah and sought to possess it for himself. Before this time, Hezekiah had tried to appease him by giving him all the silver and gold that could be found in the royal treasuries and also in the temple of God. Imagine that. That man so much oppressed them that they had to start taking from God to satisfy him. (Cf. 2Kings 18:13-16)
Well, the point is that Hezekiah did his best to avoid any trouble from Sennacherib and to make sure peace reigned in his land. Yet Sennacherib was not satisfied at all. Instead, he sent his supreme commander and a very large army to threaten Hezekiah and his people and to tell them to surrender peacefully to him. In fact, he went on to tell them that that no god could save them from his hand. In other words, they should not wait for any supernatural deliverance. (Cf. 2Kings 18:16-27)
It was at that point, of course, that Hezekiah felt greatly pressured to petition God about the matter. And in doing so, he carefully presented to God everything that was happening, including Sennacherib’s arrogant words against Him, and appealed to Him to urgently intervene and prove Himself as the Sovereign God. Did God, then, answer him or not? He did. As the account shows us, that same night, an angel of the Lord entered the camp of Sennacherib and killed one hundred and eighty-five thousand of his soldiers. And when he himself shamefully returned home, two of his sons cut him down with the sword. That is how he ended up losing his life without being able to carry out any of his threats against the people of God. (Cf. 2Kings 19)
Now maybe you too are faced with a problem that is exactly like Sennacherib in your life. You have been trying all you can to avoid any confrontation with it. Yet it is annoying you all the time, seeking to devour your life, home, peace, rest and resources and even preventing you from faithfully serving God. Well, it is time for you to act like Hezekiah and appeal to God about the problem. And don’t forget that He has said that we could freely approach His throne of grace about anything. So, lose no more time in doing so. Instead, draw close to Him and tell Him everything in your heart about the problem. And while He may not have to end anyone’s life, as He did in Sennacherib’s case, He will surely do what will give you permanent and absolute experience of liberty in the situation. Amen.
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NOT ENTIRELY EVIL 28/07/2024
“Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (Eph 5:15-16NIV)
What is Paul’s instruction to us in our opening bible text? It is for us to be very careful how we live. Why do we need to exercise caution or carefulness in the way we live? According to Paul, the reason is that the days we are living in are evil.
Is Paul now saying that every day is an evil day? Yes, that is exactly what he is saying. And is that in line with the mind of God? Yes, it is in line with the mind of God. That is because our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, when addressing us about the need not worry about tomorrow, says this to us: “Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matt 6:34NIV)
That means every day is loaded with enough trouble, enough evil to ruin anybody. However, the evil of any day does not have to ruin us or destroy us. And it will not ruin us or destroy us, if we know how to live. But if we do not know how to live, even the good of any day we witness may not do us any good at all.
As Paul equally shows us in that text, though the days we live in are evil days, something we all can attest to, they are also days of opportunities. In other words, the days we live in are not entirely evil but also good. What is important, therefore, is for us to recognise the good in every day and make the most of it to defeat the evil in it.
Now that is what Paul refers to as living wisely, living carefully, living thoughtfully. Yes, each new day will bring its own kinds of evil to our world. But we must not just focus our attention on the evil happening in it but also on the opportunities God is making available to turn the evil happening in it around for our good.
The bible says this to us about God: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28NIV) Did you see that? Just as our enemy, the devil, is working hard to fill every day with evil for us, God, our Father, is also working to turn every ugly situation around for our good. And whose work do you think will naturally prevail? God’s work!
So, instead for you to allow all the bad things happening around you or to you to make you lose your mind and start misbehaving, focus your attention on the good things God is doing on your behalf and how you can make the most of them to frustrate the devil and defeat every evil thing he is doing to bring you down. That was how Joseph functioned when he was sold into slavery by his brothers. He did not focus on his slavery but on the opportunities that it afforded him to rise and shine. And did he rise and shine or not? He did. (Cf. Gen 39)
Also, when he was in the prison, he did not focus his attention on the bad things happening in the prison and what they could do to him. Rather, he focussed his attention on the good things happening there, on the opportunities available for him there to rise and shine. And did he rise and shine or not? He did. In, fact, he went on from there to become the prime minister of the land of Egypt. (Cf. Gen 39-41)
In like manner, what will spell wisdom for us, especially those of us living in Nigeria now and who are faced with unnumbered problems, is to stop looking only at all the bad things that are happening in our land and to also start looking out for the opportunities God is providing through them to turn things around for our good. And as we recognise these opportunities and begin to utilise them, we will soon see that the evil days are not entirely evil after all – they are also loaded with all kinds of good things for us to enjoy and flourish.
My prayer is that God will open your eyes to see the good He has in store for you every remaining day of your life and also lead and strengthen you to make the most of it, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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NOT ENTIRELY EVIL 28/07/2024
“Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (Eph 5:15-16NIV)
What is Paul’s instruction to us in our opening bible text? It is for us to be very careful how we live. Why do we need to exercise caution or carefulness in the way we live? According to Paul, the reason is that the days we are living in are evil.
Is Paul now saying that every day is an evil day? Yes, that is exactly what he is saying. And is that in line with the mind of God? Yes, it is in line with the mind of God. That is because our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, when addressing us about the need not worry about tomorrow, says this to us: “Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matt 6:34NIV)
That means every day is loaded with enough trouble, enough evil to ruin anybody. However, the evil of any day does not have to ruin us or destroy us. And it will not ruin us or destroy us, if we know how to live. But if we do not know how to live, even the good of any day we witness may not do us any good at all.
As Paul equally shows us in that text, though the days we live in are evil days, something we all can attest to, they are also days of opportunities. In other words, the days we live in are not entirely evil but also good. What is important, therefore, is for us to recognise the good in every day and make the most of it to defeat the evil in it.
Now that is what Paul refers to as living wisely, living carefully, living thoughtfully. Yes, each new day will bring its own kinds of evil to our world. But we must not just focus our attention on the evil happening in it but also on the opportunities God is making available to turn the evil happening in it around for our good.
The bible says this to us about God: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28NIV) Did you see that? Just as our enemy, the devil, is working hard to fill every day with evil for us, God, our Father, is also working to turn every ugly situation around for our good. And whose work do you think will naturally prevail? God’s work!
So, instead for you to allow all the bad things happening around you or to you to make you lose your mind and start misbehaving, focus your attention on the good things God is doing on your behalf and how you can make the most of them to frustrate the devil and defeat every evil thing he is doing to bring you down. That was how Joseph functioned when he was sold into slavery by his brothers. He did not focus on his slavery but on the opportunities that it afforded him to rise and shine. And did he rise and shine or not? He did. (Cf. Gen 39)
Also, when he was in the prison, he did not focus his attention on the bad things happening in the prison and what they could do to him. Rather, he focussed his attention on the good things happening there, on the opportunities available for him there to rise and shine. And did he rise and shine or not? He did. In, fact, he went on from there to become the prime minister of the land of Egypt. (Cf. Gen 39-41)
In like manner, what will spell wisdom for us, especially those of us living in Nigeria now and who are faced with unnumbered problems, is to stop looking only at all the bad things that are happening in our land and to also start looking out for the opportunities God is providing through them to turn things around for our good. And as we recognise these opportunities and begin to utilise them, we will soon see that the evil days are not entirely evil after all – they are also loaded with all kinds of good things for us to enjoy and flourish.
My prayer is that God will open your eyes to see the good He has in store for you every remaining day of your life and also lead and strengthen you to make the most of it, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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BE PATIENT WITH HIM 27/07/2024
My prayer for you today is that you will keep experiencing God’s exaltation until you are fully established in His good purpose for your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Now one major way not to miss the full realization of God’s good purpose for our lives is to walk with Him with patience. As we see in Scriptures, the fact that God has a good purpose for someone does not mean that everything will be realized overnight. God, for instance, ordained David as king in place of Saul. But He did not put this young man on the throne the same day He ordained him. In fact, He did not put him on the throne until about thirteen years later.
Why, then, did God not put David on the throne the moment He ordained him as king? It was because he was not yet ripe for the position. Being a king comes with a lot of responsibilities and not just privileges. And if one is not wise and strong enough to handle those responsibilities, he would fail woefully. Also, if one does not have enough faithful, wise, competent and strong subjects that would help him establish and strengthen his kingdom, he would most likely be devoured by the wolves in that kingdom.
So, though God wanted David on the throne of Israel because he was a man after His heart, He still had to give him time to learn, prepare and strengthen himself for the position before putting him there. Otherwise, his reign would have ended even before it had any chance to start. And the accounts of the persecutions he suffered from the hands of Saul were enough proof for this.
In like manner, even though God has great plans for our lives and is committed to fulfilling all of them, He will not do anything that would end up destroying us or give us anything that we would not be able to manage or keep. Therefore, He may have to keep certain things from getting into our hands until we are adequately equipped to handle them, keep them and also not destroy ourselves with them. But if we are not patient, we may get angry with Him for not fulfilling His promises to us as we expect and throw away our confidence in Him. And doing that, of course, can only make us totally miss the fulfilment of His purpose for our lives.
Look at what He said to the children of Israel through Moses before He took them into the promised land: “The LORD your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you.” (Deut 7:22NIV) Did you see that? Even though God was going to drive out all the enemy nations before His people, so that they may occupy the land flowing with milk and honey that He had promised to give them, He did not intend to do so all at once. Why? Was it because He was not powerful enough to do so? No! Rather, it was because doing so would not be advantageous to them.
As His words clearly indicate, these Israelites were not numerous enough to occupy and manage the whole land at that time. So, even if everything was given to them all at once, it would not be long before wild animals multiplied against them and began to kill them off. And that would not be good at all. Therefore, in His wisdom, God decided that He would only eliminate their enemies little by little until they were numerous and strong enough to take over the whole land. And He still operates by the same principle. He still fulfils His purpose for His children little by little, based on their immediate ability to manage His provisions and exaltation. All they need is to be patient with Him and continue to do His will, knowing that He is utterly dependable and powerful enough to fulfil His purpose concerning them (1Thess 5:24; Heb 10:35-39).
So, if you are already feeling that God is not fulfilling His purpose in your life or is acting too slow, His Spirit is speaking to you now, saying, “Be patient and continue to do the will of God.” That is because He may just be waiting for you to become strong or wise enough to manage what He is bringing. And my prayer is that whatever is lacking in your faith, wisdom or strength to manage God’s provisions for you will be immediately and abundantly supplied, so that your experience of His exaltation and salvation will no longer be delayed. Amen.
Have yourself a wonderful day
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TEACHING YOU ALL OVER AGAIN 26/07/2024
I once heard a preacher speak of how the board of elders of an assembly once wrote to their headquarters to have their pastor transferred. Their reason was that he had been preaching on just one subject since he got to their church, which was repent and be saved. And when the pastor was asked to explain himself, he said that the problem was not that he did not have any other subject to preach to these brethren but that they had not acted at all on the one he had been preaching to them. “Why, then,” as he further pointed out, “should I teach them new things, when they will not act on the one thing that I have been teaching them?”
What is the point of this? It is that until God’s people begin to intelligently act on what they are being taught, preachers who know what they are doing will not stop going over it. This is one of the reasons Paul says to the Philippian brethren, “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.” (Phil 3:1NIV)
Did you see that? Paul did not see it as a problem at all to go over again the same things he had taught these brethren before. Why? It was because doing so would help them in staying in the will of God.
Now I know that many of us often get offended when we are being reminded or taught again by our pastors something that we already know. But we must also understand that if we are acting well on what we know to be the truth of God to us, we won’t need anybody to remind or teach us to do so. It is when we are acting as if we did not understand what we have been taught or like a forgetful hearer or like a stubborn student that this becomes necessary.
For example, I have personally observed that even though the subject of appreciating our pastors and other church leaders, who regularly feed us with the word of God and watch over us by the power of God, has been severally taught to many of God’s people, only few still take it seriously. I am saying that in most of our assemblies only very few people often personally and deliberately appreciate their leaders, not just with words of mouth but also with their material things. What about others? Do they not know this? In most cases, they know. But they won’t just act accordingly. (Cf. Luke 10:1-8; 1Cor 9:14; Gal 6:6)
It will, in fact, shock you to know that many children of God have never in their lives deliberately approached their pastors to simply say, “Thank you sir for the good work you are doing,” or to just do something for them that will make them happy. But if these same brethren hear that their church leaders are involved in some sexual scandal or financial mess, they will most likely not hesitate to spread the bad news or to use whatever means they have to totally destroy them. It is no big wonder, then, that the prayers and words of blessings of many preachers don’t settle on their brethren to work for them.
Or do you really think that it is every word of prayer or blessing that is said on behalf of people that may rest on them or work for their good? No! Jesus once said this to His apostles: “When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.” (Luke 10:5-7NIV)
Can you see that? A word of blessing can return to the one who offers it, if the person he is offering it for does not respond appropriately. So, even if your pastor is praying for you to prosper and do well in life all the time but you are not relating to him as God wants you to, his prayers of blessing may not settle on your life and work for you as they ought to.
Unfortunately, many of God’s people don’t understand that the reason they are not prospering under their pastors in most cases is not that something is wrong with those pastors spiritually. Rather, it is that they are not relating to them as God wants them to. And if they will repent of their disobedience and stop taking the things they ought to have used to support their pastors to some prayer mountains, they will begin to see that they can prosper even more under the daily ministration of those pastors than under the once in a while ministration of the so-called anointed prophets they are dying to see. But will they repent? (Cf. Matt 10:40-42)
In any case, my point all along is that if your pastor has to go over certain bible topics again and again with you, it may not be because he does not have something else to teach you; rather, it may be because you are not yet working with what you have been taught as you are supposed to. And if you are not working well with what you have been well taught, it may be that you do not yet understand it as you should or that you are being a forgetful hearer or that you are just being stubborn. None of this, of course, is acceptable.
So, stop being slow to learn, forgetful or stubborn and begin to take the things you are being taught seriously. That way, you can leave the elementary teachings of the Christian faith and move on to maturity (Heb 5:11-6:3).
Have a lovely day.
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RESET YOUR LIFE FOCUS. 25/07/2024
Our Lord Jesus once said this to His disciples: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.” (Cf. John 4:34) On another occasion He also said to them: “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” (John 9:4NIV)
Why did our Lord speak like this? First, it was because He knew that God had given Him a ministry to carry out here on earth. Second, it was because He had a sense of responsibility. And this was driving Him to take the ministry God had given to Him seriously. Third, it was because He knew that He did not have forever to do the job God had given Him. So, if He did not give His ministry the attention it deserved, He would not complete it by the time His time here on earth was up.
In like manner, each of us too has received a ministry from the Lord. Each of us has a job or a set of jobs that God has assigned him to do for Him and His kingdom here on earth. That is what the bible tells us. It is on us, then, to know what the ministry we have received from Him is and to begin to carry it out diligently and with the intent of finishing it on time. And Paul, speaking along this line to the Ephesian-elders, says this about himself: “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me — the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.” (Acts 20:24NIV)
Can you see that Paul’s focus in life was not at all different from our Lord Jesus’ focus in life? His focus too was to do the will of God with his life and to finish His work. And would that be convenient for him? He did not expect it to be convenient. In fact, he said that the Holy Spirit had already warned him not to expect this to be convenient for him (Acts 20:22-23). However, whether it was convenient or not, he was determined to please God with his life in all ways and to diligently complete the task He had given to him. Why? It was because he knew that the one who called him and set him apart for Himself would always be with him and ensure that he succeeded.
Now if we too would function with the mindset that both our Lord Jesus and Paul had about living for God and doing His work, then, we will never fail God, regardless of how hard or inconvenient things may be for us. But is this the mindset with which we are operating in life? Are we functioning with an abiding consciousness that our lives must be lived to please God and to do the work He has given us, whatever this work may be and whatever the circumstances of our lives may be?
If we are not functioning with this consciousness, then, we are simply wasting our lives. No, it may not look like we are wasting our lives, especially if we are being praised by men for our accomplishments in different areas of life. But a time is coming when, as Jonah eventually did, we will realise that all our race outside the will of God can only end in the belly of a big fish, in a place of utter darkness, where there is no gain, where there is no reward. And that is when we will know that all that we have done has been for nothing.
My prayer is that your race and toil here on earth will not eventually amount to nothing, in Jesus’ name. But you too must reset your focus, if it has not been on doing the will of God and finishing the task He has given you.
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HIDDEN DEATH. 24/07/2024
My prayer for you today is that God, in His mercy, will continually keep you and all that is yours safe from every hidden trap of the devil. Amen.
As bible accounts go, twice the king of Israel, Saul, talked to David about marrying his daughter. The first time it was Merab, his older daughter, that he presented to him. But the young man declined. He told him that his people were not rich and influential enough to become the king’s in-laws. So, Saul dropped the idea and gave his daughter to someone else. (Cf. 1Sam 18:17-19)
Then, sometimes later, Saul was told that his younger daughter, Michal, was in love with David. So, he immediately told his men to talk to David again that he had another opportunity to be his in-law and that all he needed was to bring him a hundred foreskins of the Philistines. That means David would have to first kill a hundred Philistines before he could get their foreskins. (Cf. 1Sam 18:20-25)
But why was Saul bent on giving his daughters in marriage to David? Was he the only man around that was qualified to marry his daughters? No! Or was it because he was really pleased with David and wanted him to be a member of his family by all means? No! The bible is clear about the fact that he was jealous of David’s military success and popularity among the people. So, it was not because he was really delighted to have him as his in-law that he wanted him to marry one of his daughters; rather it was because he wanted was to use the marriage thing as a trap to get him killed. And if God had not been with him, he would have been dead while trying to become the king’s son-in-law. (Cf. 1Sam 18:29-27)
What is the point of this? It is that there are times that certain people’s so-called favour to us or request from us may just be death, destruction or disgrace pills coated with sugar. And if God does not open our eyes to see what they are up to and also show us the way of escape, we can end up becoming victims of their evil schemes. So, we must never think we will be safe because we are always good to those around us, because our ways are pure before God or because we are always careful in the way we relate to others. Instead, we should continually commit ourselves to God for safekeeping. That is because if He does not keep us safe, we will not be safe, regardless of how sensitive we are or what things we are doing to stay safe (Ps 127:1).
Remember Uriah, one of David’s warriors. Remember that he was the one that bore the letter of his death sentence. Yet he did not know anything until he perished. And how could he have known that the king he trusted with his life and was ready to die for any day and any time had hidden his death sentence in the letter he gave to him? Or how could he have known that all the kindness and favour the king was showing him during his last hours on earth were just a way to trick him to accept a bastard as his son? He could not have known these things unless they were revealed to him. So, he perished because he had no revelation that could prepare him and lead him to escape from what was coming for him. (Cf. 2Sam 11)
That is telling us that good, upright and faithful people can become victims of the wickedness of even those that they trust, if God does not show them mercy and protect them. So, again, I am saying that you should learn to always entrust yourself and all that is yours to God for safekeeping instead of counting on your goodness or smartness. And my prayer is that He, in the fullness of His mercy, will always reveal to you every hidden snare of the enemy and also keep your feet from being caught by it. Amen.
Have a great day.
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ALLOW GOD’S TRUTH TO ABIDE IN YOU 23/07/2024
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Rev 4:11KJV)
Look at that. Everything that exists today was created by God and was created for His pleasure. That means there was not one thing that God created to bring Him pains or regrets; everything He created, He created to bring Him pleasure and delight.
Do you know that even Satan was originally created to bring God pleasure and delight? Concerning Him, the bible says, “…You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.” (Ezek 28:12-15NIV)
Can you just imagine that? Satan, before evil was detected in him, was a delight to the heart of God. He was created to be a demonstration of the wisdom, majesty and magnificence of God. And isn't that what most wise manufacturers do? They don't only manufacture products to meet certain needs of life; they also manufacture them to demonstrate their intelligence and taste for beauty, elegance and excellence. And that is why they are usually willing to go to any length to prevent others from pirating or adulterating their products.
So God also created Satan, like every other thing He created, to show forth the unsearchable riches of His wisdom, might and dominion. Unfortunately, wickedness was found in him and, instead for him to continue to be a delight to God's heart, he became an object of utter ruin and destruction and was set apart for an eternity of suffering and torture, an eternity away from the presence of God. (Cf. Matt 25:41, Rev 20:10)
But as we already saw from the Scriptures, it was never God's original intention for Satan to end up the way he has now ended up. It was his rejection of God's truth that brought this fate upon him. Remember that our Lord Jesus said this about him: “…He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him…” (John 8:44NIV) Can you see that? Satan would not hold to the truth of God's word. And because he would not hold to the truth, wickedness took over his being, and he was set apart for destruction.
Now do you know that was exactly the same thing that happened to Adam, the first man, in the Garden of Eden? He also was created to bring delight and pleasure to the heart of God. And even though Satan was said to be the model of perfection at his creation, Adam was far better than that. Adam was created to be the visible representation of everything God is, for he was made in the image and likeness of God. (Cf. Gen 1:26-27)
But, like Satan, Adam also, at some point, rejected the truth of God. And because of that, wickedness took over his own being too, and he stopped being fruitful and productive. I mean that he stopped fulfilling God's purpose for creating him, which was to bring joy and delight to His heart. Instead, he started bringing pains and regrets to His heart and so became a partaker of Satan’s fate. (Cf. Gen 6:5-6, 1Sam 15:10-11, Matt 25:41)
We thank God, however, that He provided a way to restore man in Christ Jesus. So man, in Christ Jesus, is now able to fulfil again God's original purpose for bringing him forth; in Christ Jesus man is now able to bring forth fruit that will delight God's heart.
In any case, the point of all this is that, for anyone to be fruitful and productive in this life, for anyone to fulfil God's original intention for bringing him forth, He must allow the truth of God's word to abide in His heart. Truly, the Lord Jesus Christ has said to us, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (John 15:4NIV) But how do you remain or abide in Him, for your fruitfulness and productiveness? It is by allowing His words to abide in you. That is exactly how John puts it in his first epistle. He says, “Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.” (1John 2:24NKJV)
So, as you continue your journey through this year, let the words of Christ abide in you richly and permanently, and you will be amazed at how fruitful and productive your life will be in the year. God bless you.
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CHRIST OUR WISDOM 22/07/2024
“…God, who is the Creator of all things, kept his secret hidden through all the past ages, in order that at the present time, by means of the church, the angelic rulers and powers in the heavenly world might learn of his wisdom in all its different forms.” (Eph 3:9-10GNT)
Think about that. God, right now and not later, wants the angelic rulers and powers in the heavenly world to learn His manifold wisdom through the church. In other words, He wants to manifest His wisdom through you and me because of our faith in His Son Jesus Christ. What a marvellous thing!
See, we may have started out in life as ordinary, ignorant and unimpressive people. And many indeed started out like that. But it really does not matter to God. As long as we are in Christ Jesus, our social, cultural, political or academic background does not matter; what matters is a new creation. And since we are new creations in Christ, God’s intention is to teach the world and all the powers that are operating in it His wisdom through us. This is what He recreated us for. Therefore, the thoughts we think, the words we say, the decisions we make and the things we do ought to daily and always communicate the wisdom of God to men, angels and demons alike.
Look, for example, at the apostles of old. Everywhere they went, they shocked rich, powerful and influential people by their words and acts of wisdom, even though many of them were unschooled and ordinary men. And why were they able to function like that? It was because of their relationship with the Lord Jesus. He was the wisdom by which they were living, functioning and handling life. (Cf. Acts 4:13; Acts 13:4-11; Acts 25&26)
In like manner, Jesus Christ is our wisdom too. The bible says, “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” (1Cor 1:30NIV) Because of who are we in Christ Jesus? It is because of God. He, not any man or woman, is the reason we are new creations in Christ Jesus today. And it is He who has made Jesus Christ our wisdom. So, as far as we are concerned, our own wisdom is a living person, not a mere sense of good judgment. Our wisdom is Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:2-3).
Now since our wisdom is a person, how do we see it manifest in us? Is it by daily confessing that He is our wisdom or how? While it is okay to confess and affirm that Jesus is our wisdom, His wisdom won’t find expression in us because of that. He is already our wisdom. Confessing Him, therefore, as our wisdom will not make Him any more our wisdom or make His wisdom find expression in us. What will make the wisdom that He represents find expression in us is our learning from Him, so that we make His ways our ways and His thoughts our thoughts. The more we do this the more His wisdom finds expression in us. And the more His wisdom finds expression in us, the more God’s purpose of teaching men and the rulers and powers in the heavenly realms His wisdom through us is fulfilled.
The question, then, is, “Do we want this purpose of God to be fulfilled in us and through us?” I am asking if we want those of this world and all the angelic beings that be to learn through us that God’s ways are the only true ways to make sense out of life. If we do, then, we must take more seriously our devotion to learning from our Lord Jesus in order that we may know Him better, for the better we know Him the better the expression of His wisdom through us gets (Phil 3:10). And my prayer is that, as you face this new day, you will realise that this is God’s expectation on your life and that you are in a position to fulfil it.
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FINDING REST 21/07/2024
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:28NIV)
This is a free invitation to everyone who is troubled and is bearing loads of life that are crushing him. The Lord says to him, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.” If He did not have what it takes to give us rest, He would not say, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.” It is because He has what it takes to deliver rest to us from all the things that are troubling us and making us tired of life that He tells us to come to Him for rest.
So, you don’t have to allow any problem of life to destroy you or drive you mad. You don’t have to allow any situation to take charge of your life and turn you into a beast or a slave. All you need is to come to Jesus for rest, and He will give it to you. I mean that the Lord will give you rest right here on earth. Yes, the rest He intends to give to us is beyond something that we enjoy only in this world. Rather, His intention is to give us eternal and permanent rest from every problem of life.
However, while the earth and all the problems that are associated with staying in it still remain, the Lord wants us to have rest in it. And He has been giving those who come to Him rest in it. For instance, we are told this about King David: “After the king was settled in his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, he said…” (2Sam 7:1-2NIV) Look at that. The Lord gave David rest from all his enemies around him. So, he settled down in his palace to enjoy his life and kingship. But that did not happen overnight. I mean that he did not come to this place of rest overnight. Only God Himself knows what number of miracles He had to perform in order to bring him there.
As we are told in the bible, this man was ordained to be king at a very tender age, when he was but a boy (1Sam 16:1-13). But did he ascend the throne the day after his ordination by God? No! Instead, even though he was a man after God’s own heart, he went through what many today would call ‘hell’ before he got there. He was persecuted, hunted, robbed, slandered and even betrayed on his way to the throne. And even after becoming king, troubles, wars and betrayals did not vanish from him overnight. They kept on coming for him. But because, in all these things, he set the Lord continually before himself and lived according to His word, he was preserved (Ps 16:8). Then there came a time in which even those around him could say, “The Lord has given this man rest from all his enemies around him.”
Now the same God that gave David rest from all his enemies around him is the one we are dealing with. Yes, He is the one that says to us, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.” And if you have come to Him, then, rest is already available for you to enjoy. But someone may say, “I have come to Him. Yet I am not enjoying any measure of rest in my life. My life is still full of troubles that are weighing me down and seeking to utterly destroy me. What, then, is the problem?” Well, the problem is that you have not learnt how to take His rest and make it yours.
See, the Lord does not just say, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” He also says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matt 11:29-30NIV) Did you see that? The only way to find the rest that God has given is to walk with Him and learn to do things His own way. Even though you have come to Him, as long as you are trying to solve your life’s problems in your own way, you will never find the rest He gives.
But the moment you quit using your methods and schemes and start listening to Him and acting on His instructions, you will start finding His rest in your life. Yes, He may have to daily perform a million miracles for you to experience His rest. But what does it matter? He will do whatever He has to do to make sure that someday you are able to look around and say, “Blessed be God, who has given me rest on every side from all that seeks to destroy me.”
Have a lovely day.
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DON’T GIVE HIS PLACE TO ANYTHING 20/07/2024
“He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)” (2Kings 18:4NIV
We have in the book of Numbers the account of how God sent venomous snakes among the Israelites because of their ingratitude and grumbling. And when they cried out to Him for forgiveness and mercy, He listened to them and told Moses what to do for their salvation. (Cf. Num 21:4-
What, then, was Moses to do for the salvation of these people? He was to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole for all of them to see. Then anyone that was bitten by a snake only needed to look at this bronze snake in order to live. And it was so. All those who were bitten by snakes and who looked up to the bronze snake lived and did not die – the venoms of those dangerous snakes had no power over the
Now what was in that lifeless bronze snake that made it effective in keeping alive any of the Israelites that was bitten by a live poisonous snake? What power was it carrying? The answer is ‘None’. There was nothing powerful about it or in it. It was just what it was – a lifeless bronze snak
Why then did it work in saving the people? The truth is that it wasn’t that bronze snake that saved those Israelites. Rather, it was God that saved them. Remember that it was He that told Moses to make the bronze snake and put it on a pole for the people to look at. And He could have asked him to put up something else or to do something totally different for their salvation, and it would have worked as well. Therefore, their salvation did not come from the bronze snake but from Him and through their obedience to His instructio
Unfortunately, they and their descendants after them did not see things that way. They thought it was that snake that saved them from death in the wilderness. So, somehow, years after Moses had left them, they idolised it and set it up in a high place as a god to worship. And they continued to worship it until Hezekiah became king and totally destroyed it and ended its worship, as we are shown in our opening bible tex
Now try to imagine the kinds of suffering those people must have experienced from God’s hand, year after year, for worshipping that bronze snake in place of Him. Yes, He was the one that gave it to them. But it was merely an instrument that He used to get their attention at the time and make them trust Him for their salvation. So, it was never meant to be kept as an object of worship. But they turned it into another god for themselves and became idolaters and sinners
In like manner, there are many today that have idolised certain people, things or processes that God used at some point for their salvation, healing or exaltation. So, anytime they have any problem or challenge, they look up to these things for help instead of looking up to God. They may have been doing this thoughtlessly. But it does not change the fact that they have become nothing but idolater
Now, as it is made very clear to us in Scriptures, God has zero tolerance for idolatry. He always judges it in very ruthless ways. That is why we are commanded by Him to flee from idolatry (1Cor 10:14; 1John 5:21). So, if you have anyone or anything that you have idolised in your life, perhaps because God once used it for your healing, deliverance or promotion, you need to redefine your relationship with it and smash whatever altar you have erected for it in your heart
See, people are people, not God. And things are things, not God. Yes, God may have used them in the past for your good. But He could as well have used other people or things or even nothing at all. So, don’t exalt them to His place in your life and arouse His jealousy. Don’t turn them into the solution to every problem you have or encounter. God alone holds the solution to all your problems and challenges. And if you give His place to another in your life, utter disgrace and destruction are the only things you can hope fo
Then be careful not to allow anyone to use you or anything from you to replace God in their lives. And if this is already happening, you need to stop it right away before you ensnare yourself. That is because God will never share His place as God with anyone or anything. And scriptures are very clear about this. So, watch yoursel
f.r.. s.. t.n.e.m.9)) So, watch yourself.
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PRAY AND WORK FOR PEACE AND NOT FOR BLOODSHED 19/07/2024
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you prosper. May there be peace inside your walls and prosperity in your palaces.”” (Ps 122:6-7GW)
The above text is taken from a prayer of King David for the city of Jerusalem, which happened to be God's chosen capital city for the nation of Israel at that time. Now his reason for offering this prayer is that there may be peace and prosperity within this city. That means the prayer of this king, here, is not against enemies that may want to take over the city of Jerusalem. Rather, his prayer is against internal dissensions that may lead to open conflicts and upset the peace and prosperity of the land.
Now we too need to learn to offer such prayers for our country, especially at a time like this when so many things have fallen apart. What I am saying is that instead of saying or doing things that could result in any form of civil or religious war, our focus should be on working and praying to see that peace reigns absolutely in our land. And that, to say the fact, is actually what God expects from us. He expects us to be committed to working and praying for the peace of the land in which He has settled us.
Look at what He said to His people, Judah, after they had been taken away to another land as slaves. He said, “Work for the good of the city where I've taken you as captives, and pray to the LORD for that city. When it prospers, you also will prosper.” (Jer 29:7GW) Can you see that? God would not allow His people to do anything that would jeopardise the welfare or prosperity of the land they had been taken away to as captives. Instead, He wanted them to labour and pray for the good and prosperity of that country. In fact, He went on to warn them not to listen to any preacher or prophet that may want to counsel them to act differently (Jer 29:8-9). And why did God say such things to them? It was because that was the only way He could get them to prosper—their prosperity was tied to the prosperity of the nation they had been taken to.
Now if God wanted His people, who were captives and slaves in a strange land, to work and pray for the good of that land, do you think He would expect anything less from us, seeing that we are in our own land? No, He would not. Rather, He would want us to pray more for our land and work harder for its prosperity.
It is, however, unfortunate that, in recent times, instead of praying and working for the peace and prosperity of our land, many of us, including Christians, have been saying and doing things that are capable of totally destroying our nation. We have been crying and calling for war and bloodshed. And I am yet to understand what we seek to gain by doing so.
Is it that we are so foolish that we now think that any kind of war or a revolution of bloodshed will bring this country to our desired haven? Or are we saying that we don't know that wars don't build nations but tear them apart?
Granted, we may be hearing and witnessing all kinds of things that don't promote our common welfare or peace. Nevertheless, the instruction we, as God's people, have received from Him is to work and pray for the peace of our land. To act differently is to act in disobedience to Him. And there is no way we can act in disobedience to God and not regret it.
So, beloved, even if others around you are bent on having a war, any kind of war that may ruin this nation, you must be more determined to work and pray to see that peace and prosperity reign in it. And let me assure you of this: the weapons we have in God are more powerful than guns, grenades, fighter jets, swords and so on; the weapons we have are mighty through God to pull down every stronghold of confusion, bitterness, class hatred, ethnic hatred and so forth. Let us, then, take up these weapons and begin to use them in building our nation, and victory will surely be ours.
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THE SPIRIT HELPS IN OUR WEAKNESSES 18/07/2024
“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” (Rom 8:26-27NKJV)
What is Paul saying here to us about the Holy Spirit and prayer? First, he tells us that we have a weakness, which is that we do not know what we should pray for as we ought to know. So, it is not that we don't know what to pray for at all. We do know a number of things that we should be praying to God about. But there are yet many things that we don't know we should be praying about or that we don't know what to say to God about.
Personally, I fully identify with what Paul is saying here. I know what it means to want to pray and not to know exactly what to pray about. And even when I know what to pray about, a lot of times, I may not know the exact things to ask of God concerning what I am praying about. So, I find myself stuttering and trying to find the exact words to phrase my petitions or requests. And that is the weakness that Paul is referring to.
Thankfully, however, as Paul also points out, the Holy Spirit is there to help us in dealing with this weakness. How then does He do that? According to him, the Holy Spirit makes intercession for us with groans that words cannot express. That means, even when we are short of words in prayer, even when all we can do when praying is groan or yearn, the Holy Spirit is able to communicate those deep and unvoiced yearnings of our hearts to God in accordance with His will.
But then, it is good to note here that Paul does not say anything about speaking or praying or singing in tongues. Instead, he speaks of groanings; he speaks of yearnings. And those are deep and inarticulate cries of an aching heart. How some people then have been able to take them as 'speaking in tongues' is what I still don't understand. I know what it means to groan when praying. I know what it means to pray with a heart that is so heavy that all you can do is to just let out some deep sighs once in a while. And since I also pray in tongues for the most part of my prayer time, I can tell there is a big difference between groaning when praying and praying in tongues. Yes, I agree that it is possible for one to also groan when praying in tongues, but groaning is still not the same thing as praying in tongues.
Furthermore, even though it is true that our Lord Jesus says that among the signs that will accompany those who believe in Him is that they will speak in other tongues, the bible is clear about the fact that it is not every believer that speaks in tongues. For example, Paul, while teaching the Corinthian church about the gifts of the Spirit in a letter, asks the following questions: “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts.” (1Cor 12:29-31NIV)
Now you know that those are very valid questions, which should not be difficult for us to answer. What I am saying is that we all know that it is not every Christian that is an apostle or a prophet or a teacher of the word of God. We also know that it is not every Christian that is a miracle worker or that has the gifts of healing or that can interpret tongues. And since this is the case, it should not be difficult for us at all to agree that it is not every believer that has been given the gift of tongues.
It is, therefore, totally wrong to make any believer feel less spiritual than we are because he does not speak in tongues or because he does not possess certain spiritual gifts that we possess. It is equally wrong to give a believer the impression that until he begins to pray in tongues he cannot get certain results in prayers or be built up to be a great believer. That, to say the truth, is one of the reasons there are many preachers that are taking all kinds of ungodly approaches to make people speak in tongues.
Well, the point I am making is that the Holy Spirit is always there to help in our prayer weaknesses. So, even when you feel too weak to pray or when you are so troubled in your heart that you don’t know what to say to God in prayer, still be encouraged to pray. That is because the Spirit of God will take charge and intercede for you with those deep sighs and groanings of yours in accordance with the will of God. And that, of course, will be followed with great testimonies.
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DO NOT BE ANXIOUS ABOUT ANYTHING 17/07/2024
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:6-7NIV)
Being anxious or worried when confronted with any problem of life is never the solution to experiencing victory and peace over it. But that is usually what many, including believers, do when they are in any kind of trouble, real or apparent. They keep thinking over and over again about what the trouble they are in or that they think they may be in will ultimately do to them and how they may never escape from its claws. And the more they think about it the more they are gripped with fear, fear that may eventually drive them to take foolish and destructive steps.
In any case, Paul says we are not to worry about anything. That, however, is not to say that we are to fold our arms and allow the troubles that have come to us to destroy us. That is not what the apostle is instructing us to do. While we are not to worry about any problem or trouble we may be faced with, for worrying will not in any way solve it but compound it, we are expected to do something about it. What, then, are we to do about it? One main thing we must do about it, according to Paul, is pray.
Again, his words are, “In everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” In other words, we are to tell God what we want Him to do for us about the matter at hand. Is that to say God will act exactly the way we want Him to act? No! God does not have to solve any problem the way we have figured it out. Otherwise, He would not be God.
Unfortunately, many often expect that when they present a matter to God in prayer, He has to handle it according to their own reasoning or what their understanding can handle. And when they do not see Him make the kinds of moves they think He should be making or take the kinds of steps they expect Him to be taking, they conclude that He is not doing anything concerning their matter and turn elsewhere for help.
But the bible says this to us about God: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Eph 3:20-21NIV) Look at that. God is not in our class in reasoning or in handling things at all. So, whenever He acts on our behalf, it will always be beyond what we have asked for or can figure out.
Nevertheless, we need to ask and to keep asking Him to move on our behalf. And every trouble that comes to us is presenting us another opportunity to ask Him to move on our behalf. Then, as we do this with a heart of thanksgiving, says Paul, the peace of God, which transcends all human understanding, will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus. Think about that. When we talk to God about the issues of our lives, whatever they may be, He releases His peace into our lives first. We may not see any change in our circumstances immediately. But we will have His peace in us, guarding and protecting our hearts and our minds against every evil thought of the devil that may want to fill us with fear or drive us to act against the will of God.
All of this is why it is important that we give ourselves to praying, not just when we are in trouble but at all times. That is because the more we pray, the more God's peace takes charge of our lives. This explains why people who truly pray to God hardly give up on life, commit suicide, run away from home or their responsibilities or become dejected in life. They may not see what God is doing about the problems they are faced with. But there is peace in their hearts, a kind of peace that comes with knowing that God, whom they have prayed to, will not fail them but make all things work together for their good.
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TAKE CHURCH MEETINGS SERIOUSLY 16/07/2024
Our Lord Jesus once spoke about the feast of the kingdom of God, illustrating it with the story of a king that sent his servant to invite certain people for a feast he was going to have. And when everything was ready, he sent that servant to go and bring in those that have been invited. But they all began to make excuses and would not come. So, he had to send the servant to go and get all kinds of people from wherever he could get them to come and partake in that feast. And this story was told to tell us the attitude of the Jews to the kingdom of God and how this paved way for those of us who are Gentiles to be partakers of this kingdom. (Cf. Luke 14:15-24)
Now what form this feast is going to take in the kingdom of God is not what we can say. But the church meetings we are holding now in the world are symbolic of what we will be experiencing then in God’s eternal kingdom. Every one of us will have his place in that feast. That is why we must take the various places God has given us in His kingdom very seriously. This is why you must not take church meetings lightly.
See, the Lord expects you to be in these meetings, your own assembly’s meetings. As we see in Scriptures, there was a time He healed ten lepers, who had come begging Him to heal them. He told them to go and show themselves the priests. And on their way to seeing the priest, they realised that they had been cleansed of their leprosy. So, they got so excited that they ran off to go and show themselves to the priests. But one of them, who was a Samaritan, came back to the Lord to give thanks. Why did he not go and show himself to the priests immediately? It may be that, as a Samaritan, there was no priest for him to meet and show himself to. And even if there were priests for him to show himself to, he felt it was only proper for him to first come and give thanks to the one that had healed him. (Cf. Luke 17:11-19)
Well, this man came back to thank the Lord. And from the way the Lord responded, it is clear that He was expecting all of them to come back to give thanks for their healing. But they all did not come. It was only that Samaritan that came back. And it was only he that the Lord ministered to more. He received more. He received something better than what the other nine people had received because he came to give thanks to the Lord.
In like manner, the Lord is expecting us to come to our church meetings not just for Him to minister to us but for us also to minister to Him and to minister to one another. He expects us to come and give thanks to Him for what He has done for us. He expects to come and pray. He expects us to come and learn. And if you are not where He wants you to be at the time He wants you to be there, you are wasting your time and energy wherever you are. Whatever you are doing that is not consistent with what God wants you to be doing is a waste.
Remember there was a time, according to bible accounts, that Jonathan wanted to find out whether his father truly wanted to kill David or not. And how he did he find out? It was through what happened in a feast of the king with his officials. When the feast began, the king observed that David was not in his own place like all the other officials. And the king was concerned, even as a natural man, that one of his officers was not in his place at his feast. So, he asked his son, “Where is the son of Jesse? Why is he not here?” Jonathan, of course, gave his excuses for David. But the king was furious because of the whole thing. (Cf. 1Samuel 20)
Now King Saul was mad on that occasion because of his jealousy. But the point is that there are times that natural men take meetings seriously. If, for example, you are working in an office and a meeting is being held in the interest of that organisation, but you will not show up there, it is only a matter of time before you start having issues with that organisation. Even if it is a social group that you belong to, and you will not take the meetings of the group seriously, you too will not be taken seriously.
In like manner, if you are not taking church meetings seriously in your assembly and others, as a result of this, will not take you seriously in certain ways, you are partly to blame. I am not saying that it is alright for other brethren in your church to ignore you. But my point is that if you will not take church meetings seriously, there is a level of attention or commitment that you too cannot enjoy from the people of God with whom you are in fellowship. So, cultivate the right attitude towards your church meetings. And may the Lord strengthen you to do this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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STOP HELPING THE WICKED 15/07/2024
“When Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem, Jehu the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, the wrath of the LORD is upon you. There is, however, some good in you, for you have rid the land of the Asherah poles and have set your heart on seeking God."” (2Chron 19:1-3NIV)
Why was King Jehoshaphat confronted by Jehu the seer with such strong words, as we see in the above text? It was because he had gone into battle to support that wicked King of Israel, Ahab. And he did that against God’s instruction. God had revealed through Prophet Micaiah that Israel would lose and that Ahab their king would die, should they go to war against Ramoth Gilead. But Ahab did not believe the words of the man of God because he was confident in his ability. Jehoshaphat, however, being a godly man, knew that Micaiah had spoken the mind of God. Yet, in order not to appear weak before Ahab and his officials, he ignored the Lord’s warning and went into battle in support of his friend, Ahab. And if the Lord had not been merciful to him, he would have perished for his foolishness and disobedience in that battle. (Cf. 2Chro 18)
At any rate, when this man came back safely to his own kingdom, God sent a prophet to let him know that He was clearly against him for going to help Ahab and that His wrath was already upon him. But why? It was because Ahab was an idolatrous and wicked king. So, in the eyes of God, to support him meant nothing other than to support idolatry and wickedness. And that could have cost Jehoshaphat his life.
Now what are we to learn from this? It is simply that God does not want His righteous people helping the wicked in promoting their wickedness. And don’t miss my point here. I am not saying that God does not want righteous people to help unrighteous people or do good to them at all. He wants us to help all men, both good and bad, and to do good to them, for He Himself is continually helping all men, both good and bad, and doing good to them. (Cf. Matt 5:43-48; Gal 6:10)
But then, we have to be discerning in the way we help or support people, especially those who do not know the Lord. When we are certain that the help that we give to them will do nothing but promote wickedness or unrighteousness, we must not give it. Otherwise, we will be participating in their unrighteousness and sinning against God. That, of course, may expose us to afflictions, if we are not shown mercy. And only God knows how many of His people are suffering at the moment because they, at some point in their lives, helped the wicked or those who hate God to do wickedness.
Therefore, learn to pay attention to the way you relate to unrighteous people, so that you don’t foolishly promote their unrighteousness. And to say the fact, if all of us who know God and believe in righteousness begin to take these things seriously, wickedness will begin to drastically reduce in our world. At least, we all know that, regardless of how smart a wicked man may be, there is a limit to what he can do alone, if he does not get help from others. So, we all can, to a great extent, paralyse the wicked in our world by refusing to help them steal, cheat, oppress, cover up evil or do any kind of wickedness.
Unfortunately, because many of us don’t know or understand God’s stand along these lines, we are continually sponsoring evil in our neighbourhoods, offices, schools, business centres, markets and so forth. Yet we complain all the time about the corruption and wickedness in our land and how they are ruining us. The truth is that these things will continue to grow and to ruin us unless we all who claim to know the Lord and to believe in His righteousness stop feeding them in people’s lives. But are we going to stop feeding them? Are we going to stop feeding wickedness and ungodliness? Well, I pray that we all are strengthened to stop, for our good and for the good of our nation.
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HE MAKES GROW ONLY WHAT YOU PLANT 14/07/2024
“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” (1Cor 3:6-8NIV)
In our opening text, Paul makes it very clear that the one responsible for any kind of real growth in life is God. And he uses his ministry and that of Apollos to illustrate his point. According to him, he was the one that was responsible for the planting of the seed of the gospel of Jesus on the soil of the hearts of the Corinthian brethren. And that was because he was the one that brought this gospel to them. He, in fact, stayed with them for more than a year to nurture the growing seed of the word of God in their lives (Acts 18:11).
Then, after Paul had left these brethren for a while, Apollos, another apostle of the Lord, came to them and began to water the growing plant of the word of God among them. How? By feeding them with more of the truths of the gospel! So, they began to grow remarkably in the grace of God and in the knowledge of His Son, Jesus Christ.
However, at some point, these Corinthians began to wonder whom they ought to give the credit to for their spiritual growth and for all the manifestations of the power of God among them. Was it Paul? Was it Apollos? Or should it be Peter, who had also come to them at some point and ministered to them in the grace of God? This, of course, brought divisions among them and opened the door for Satan to begin to spread all kinds of evil things among them.
Therefore, as we see in our opening text, Paul had to intervene and show them what they were missing. And what were they missing? It was the fact that the people that planted the word of God in their lives and the ones that watered it were not at all important, as far as the subject of their spiritual growth and fruitfulness was concerned.
Yes, God would reward each of these people according to their labour over and among these Corinthians. But they were not the ones to accept the credit for their spiritual growth and advancement. The one to accept the credit was God Himself, who made the seed of His word that was planted in their hearts and also watered to grow. That means if God had not caused the seed of the gospel that was planted in their hearts to grow, the labour of the one that planted it and that of those who watered it would have amount to nothing.
Now we see this same principle emphasised all through the Scriptures (Ps 127:1-2; Hosea 14:8; Heb 3:4). God is the one that makes all things grow and fruitful. In other words, the power for growth and fruitfulness comes from Him. Therefore, if He does not make whatever we are planting or watering grow and fruitful, it will not grow or yield any fruit for us. And that will result in vain labour for us.
So, if we want anything we are planting or watering, a business, a marriage, a house or people, to grow and bring forth fruit that will fill our hearts with joy, we must learn to commit it into God’s hand. We must not think that our skilful or diligent labour over it is enough to make it grow and fruitful, for it is never enough. And if we fail to realise this and act accordingly, we may end up labouring in vain. May you never again labour in vain, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
But then, even though God is the one that makes all things grow, He will not make grow what we have not planted. So, don’t expect God to release the power for growth and fruitfulness into what you have not planted. That will never work. For instance, if you have not planted the seed of faith in your heart, don’t expect God to make your faith grow. Crying to Him or praying to Him to make your faith grow won’t accomplish anything in this situation. That is because you are not planting faith in your heart.
Also, if you have not planted your money in some business, in people or to acquire some education or skill, don’t expect God to multiply it. This is what many of us who are always praying to God and confessing His word to multiply our resources don’t get. What is God going to multiply? It is the seed you have planted. He cannot multiply the seed you have not planted.
Yes, God can give you seed to plant. But if you turn all of it into bread and refuse to plant any of it, there is nothing He will multiply for you. Therefore, you will always have to wait for the supply or support that is coming instead of experiencing a multiplication of what you already have in addition to whatever supply or support that is coming. And that may slow down your prosperity or take it completely out of your reach.
What is my point, then? It is that if you want to see God multiply anything for you in life, you must begin to plant the seed of that thing. Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24NIV) In the same vein, if you want that thing in your life to multiply, plant it and then commit its growth and fruitfulness into God’s hand. And may your eyes be opened to see every seed you need to plant for your growth and multiplication in all good things, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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GOD IS THE BEST TEACHER 13/07/2024
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.” (Psalm 32:8-9NIV)
This is God telling us about His commitment to teaching us, counselling us and showing us the way we should go in life. And He will do this with His loving eye on us. So, we are talking about the teaching, leading and counselling of a lover, of one who cares about us and wants the best for us.
Then He goes on to tell us not to be stubborn. He wants to teach, counsel and guide us in love. But if we are like the horse or the mule, then, we will have to learn the hard way.
See, there are many today that it was after they had messed up their lives terribly that they understood what God had been saying to them all along and began to obey it (Psalm 119:67). So, you can choose to settle down and listen to what God is saying to you and experience His best for your life or you can choose to ignore Him and learn the hard way. Unfortunately, some people will die while learning the hard way. So, they will not be able to put to use the lessons they have learnt.
Well, what God is saying to us is that we can either learn from Him, that is, by His revelation, or by experience. I know people used to say experience is the best teacher. But they are wrong. Experience is not the best teacher. God is the best teacher. He is the teacher of the best. So, listen to Him. And He will teach you what is best for you and also guide you in the way you ought to go.
I want to be the best I can be and have the best I can have in this life. I do not know all these things. But God knows them. So, I want Him to teach and guide me into the best He has prepared for me. And if I listen to Him, that is going to happen – I will be the best He has destined me to be and have the best He wants me to have in life. But if I will not listen to Him, I will have to learn through experience. Learning through experience, however, is a hard thing, especially if you are learning through your own experience. And you will surely have to learn through your experience, if you will not listen to God.
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WE SEE JESUS 12/07/2024
“But there is a place where someone has testified: “What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? You have made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honour and put everything under their feet.” In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honour because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.” (Hebrews 2:6-9NIV)
The writer of the book of Hebrews, in our opening text, is quoting from Psalm 8. And he is informing us of our situation when God first made us and planted our feet here on earth. He put everything under our feet. Then this man goes on to say that in putting everything under our feet, God left nothing that is not placed under our feet. So, everything is under us. Even the angels are under us. Remember that Paul says that we will judge angels in chapter 6 of 1Corinthians. That is telling us something about our class in creation, in God’s scheme of things.
But then, this man further tells us something that is so real to us now. He says at present we do not see everything subject to us. In other words, even though God left nothing that He did not put under our feet in the beginning, right now, we do not see everything under us. At the moment, we are scared of animals. We are scared of snakes, lions and other wild animals. Some of us are even scared of cockroaches. These ones cannot sleep in any room in which there is a cockroach.
Now this is pointing to the fact that we do not see everything under our control anymore. Do we see the angels under our control? No! Do we see demons under our control? No! Even though God has given us authority over all demons, we do not see them under our control. That is why we are frightened by them. That is why we are often oppressed and tormented by them. Many today are blind or deaf because of demonic afflictions. Many also are on beds of paralysis because of demonic afflictions. And all this is because we do not see these demons under our control.
What about our economy? Do we see it under our control? Many are living in abject poverty today. They are not in charge of their finances. They are labouring hard in everything, but it is all in vain. Why? They are not in charge. Look at the way insecurity is staring us in the face in this country. Look at how hard it is for people to move from one place to another in the country without having to look over their shoulders. There is insecurity everywhere. There is chaos everywhere. And though we have governments and leaders of governments, they have not been able to curb or control these things.
Also, accidents, flooding, disasters, outbreak of epidermic and so forth often happen in our world and we have not been able to handle them. We can manage them to some degree and prevent them from totally destroying us. But we know that we are not in a position to absolutely stop or eradicate these things, even in our most developed climes. And that is because of our fall.
However, those of us who are Christians have hope. And that is because of our Lord Jesus Christ who has triumphed for us. So, the writer of the book of Hebrews, tells us that even though we do not see everything under our control at the moment, we do see Jesus who has been crowned with glory and honour as Lord over everything. Truly, we may not see the situations of our lives under our control, but we do see Jesus as Lord over them. We may not see the economy of our nation under our control, but we do see Jesus as Lord over it. We may not see a whole lot of things under our control, but we do see Jesus as Lord over everything.
Now because we see Jesus, there is hope for us of someday having everything back under our control. Because we see Jesus, we can live victorious in this world. Because we see Jesus, we can exercise control over all the situations of our lives that have been trying to dominate us. By ourselves, in ourselves we may not have control over anything going on in our lives. But as believers in Christ Jesus, we can exercise control over any situation of our lives because of our faith in Him. That is why it is important that we fix our gaze on Him. So, fix your gaze on Him and there will be no situation that He will not bring under control for you.
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CHRIST IN YOU. 11/07/2024
“I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness – they mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:25-27NIV)
Paul is here speaking about the mystery of God that He kept hidden for generations. What is this mystery? He says, “It is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” In other words, the mystery of God consists in the manifestation of Christ in us. Christ is referred to in this same letter to the Colossians as the image of the invisible God. It is also said in the letter that it has pleased God to cause His fullness to dwell in Christ. So, with Christ in us, the fullness of God is now dwelling in us. (Cf. Colossians 1:15&19)
But then, will His fullness be evident in us? That is the big question. God’s will is that His fullness will find expression in those of us who believe. But is it happening in me already? Is this happening in you already? Paul prays for the Ephesian brethren that God’s fullness will fill them. In other words, he wants His fullness to take charge of them and be evident in them. Why? That is what will draw men to God, the revelation of Christ in them, the revelation of the fullness of God in their lives. (Cf. Ephesians 3:14-19)
What, then, is the place of preaching Christ in all this? Well, it is indeed important that we preach Christ to those in our world. But any form of preaching that is not accompanied with the manifestation of the wisdom of God and His fullness will not draw people to Him or accomplish His purpose in their lives. People want to see what Christ has done in us. They want to see His image in us. They want to see what He is doing or has done in us. That is what they can appreciate.
If someone wants you to marry someone, for instance, and you have never met the person before, what is reported about that person may not be enough for you to want to meet him or her. But if you are shown the picture of that person, you will want to see whether it is appealing to you or not. If it is, then, you want to meet the person. If it is not, then, you may not want to meet the person, even if she is of awesome character.
In like manner, people need to see the image of Christ in us. They need to see His fullness in us. And if it is His image that is seen in us that we are proclaiming, then, it will be easier for those of the world to relate to our message. Paul says this of himself: “But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being.” (Galatians 1:19NIV) Did you see that? Paul was preaching the Son of God that was being revealed in Him. He was not preaching a Christ that people could not see in his own life and conduct.
The point I am making is that Christ needs to be seen in us. God wants Him to be seen in us, for He is the exact representation of His being. He wants the worlds of angels, demons and men to see Him in us. This is the secret He has been keeping, the fact that He wants all His creation to see that man is His actual child and that he is capable of manifesting His fullness. He wants them to see His wisdom, righteousness, holiness, love, patience, self-control, gentleness, generosity, goodness, humility and everything He represents in us. This is what will draw all men to Him. This is what will cause them to know that we are truly divine.
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GIVE TO CEASAR WHAT IS CEASAR’S
10/07/2024
“Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honour, then honor.” (Romans 13:7NIV)
Based on the positions our leaders are holding, we must show them adequate respect and honour. When Paul was giving his defence before King Agrippa and Governor Festus, he referred to this governor as ‘Most excellent Festus’ (Acts 26:35). That is as good as addressing him as ‘Your excellency’. And when he began to address King Agrippa, he motioned with his hands as a sign of respect.
That was a man of God, showing proper respect to the leaders of the land. But there are many so-called men of God today that have no iota of respect for the leaders of our government and societies. Yes, these leaders may be coming to you for prayers and counselling. That does not mean you should not honour and respect them. They are showing you respect because you are a servant of God. And as a fair exchange, you too should recognise them as servants of God and honour them.
See, God is watching you and the pride in your heart as you relate to the leaders of our land. And this pride that you are refusing to deal with will limit you in various. In fact, it is already limiting you. You are just not paying attention. Paul was a man of God. Yet he related with respect and honour to King Agrippa and Governor Festus. We all should learn from him and begin to function accordingly.
What about our attitude towards taxes? The laws of the land command us to pay our taxes and revenues. So, we should pay them and not seek to evade them. Today, we have the privilege of finding out what our leaders are doing to our taxes. We even have the privilege of taking them to task in the court about how they are using our taxes. But in bible days, the people did not have such privileges. Who was going to challenge the Ceasars on how they were using their taxes? Who was going to challenge the Herods on how they were using the taxes they were collecting from the people? Yet these people were commanded by God to pay their taxes.
In like manner, we too are commanded by Him to pay our taxes. And we do know there are stringent laws in many countries against tax evasion. So, don’t try to evade tax payment. The word of God says that if you owe taxes, pay them, and if you owe revenue, pay it. Yes, you can go to the tax offices to get some reduction on what you pay. That is alright. But don’t evade the payment of your taxes. You will be walking contrary to the will of God by doing that. And there will be consequences.
In Saint Mark’s gospel, chapter 12, some people came to Jesus to ask him, if it was alright for them to pay taxes or not. And He told them to bring Him a coin. When they had brought it, He asked them, “Whose inscription is this on the coin and whose image is this on it?” They said, “Ceasars!” Then He went to tell them this: “Give to Ceasar what is Ceasar’s and to God what is God’s.” By that, the Lord was telling them that it was right for them to pay taxes. And that is the final word on that matter. We too, then, must pay taxes. There is nothing to debate about it.
In addition to that, when the Lord said to those people, “Give to Ceasar what is Ceasar’s and to God what is God’s,” He wanted them to also know that they must respect national symbols. So, whatever respect that is due to our national symbols should be given to them. Show respect to our National Flag. Show respect to our National Anthem and National Pledge, when they are being recited. Show respect to our National Currency. And show respect to our uniform men, all the officers (police men and women, soldiers and so forth) that are representing the nation. They may misbehave. And many of them often misbehave. But the word of God does not permit us to insult them.
We read in Scriptures how a man called Simon, who was from Cyrene, was forced to carry the cross of Jesus by the Roman soldiers. So, it is not a new thing for uniform men to misbehave, especially when they are in uniform. Yet we are told to respect them. That does not mean we cannot take them to task in a court of law for misbehaving. But we are not permitted by God to molest, harass or insult them. Others may feel free to do such things. But we are not permitted to do so. Also, others may see us as weak for acting like this. But the word of God does not say so. Instead, it tells us that the weapons of our warfare are effective and mighty through God. (Cf. Mark 15:21; 2Corinthians 10:4)
So, praying to God about our leaders is effective. Practising righteousness in our land is effective. Submissiveness to established authorities is effective. Therefore, don’t stop doing these things because people are persecuting you or insulting you. And the Lord will reward you for being true to Him, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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WHAT IS YOUR REPUTATION BEFORE HIM? 09/07/2024
“While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill – while I was still in prayer, Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision…” (Daniel 9:20-23NIV)
Daniel is referred to here, in our opening text, by angel Gabriel as one that is highly esteemed before God. That means his reputation before men is not different from his reputation before God. Interestingly, on another occasion, another angel was sent to him and he said about the same thing concerning his reputation before God. This is in Daniel, chapter 10, from verse 10, which reads:
“A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.” (Daniel 10:10-11NIV)
Two different angels were sent to Daniel at two different times, and they both said the same thing about him. They both said that the reputation he had before men was the same as what he had before God. As he was highly esteemed among men, he was also highly esteemed before God.
Also, look at Job and his reputation before God. God saw him as a true worshipper, not as a fraudulent one. And does He see me as a true believer, as one that is truly living for Him or as a liar, a deceiver or an immoral person?
If you are truly God’s child, you are going to labour before Him to have a reputation that matches your position in His family. Otherwise, when all has been said and done, it may just be that you have actually not been born again. If you are truly a child of God, you will labour to live a life that is consistent with your position in His heart.
And isn’t that the way we function as children in our homes? We want to live to attain the positions we have in our homes. We want our parents to see us as their children indeed, that is, through the way we function. We do not want them referring to us as bastards. And there are times that we find parents referring to their children as bastards. Why? They are looking at how those children are behaving and wondering if they are truly their children.
Well, if you too are truly a child of God, what is your reputation before Him? I am not asking about your position before Him here. Your position, if you are truly born again, is that of a child before God. But does your reputation match that position? Is your behaviour showing that you are truly His child? You may have a reputation before men as being a true child of God? But do you have the same reputation before Him? That is what we are talking about. And that is what is going to determine how He rewards you on the day that He judges all men.
So, labour to have before God a reputation that agrees with the position He has placed you in His kingdom. That matters a lot to Him, for it is how you bring Him praise here in the world.
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AN ATTITUDE OF THANKSGIVING 08/07/2024
‘A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’” (John 3:25-28NIV)
What said these words? It was John the Baptist. And there is a part of what he said that I want you to pay attention to, which is, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven.” In other words, it is only what God has given you that you can legitimately receive – you cannot receive what He has not given.
Yes, you can go out of your way to take for yourself what God has not given to you. But that is going to get you into trouble sooner or later. It does not matter whether it is manipulation, force, witchcraft or sorcery that you are using to get what God has not given to you. It can only lead you into trouble. It is only what God has given that does not come with sorrow or pains.
Similarly, Paul says this to the Corinthians: “For what makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do your boast as though you did not?” (1Corinthians 4:7NIV) Did you see that? Is there any good thing that has come to us legitimately that we have not received from God? Did we bring anything into this world when we came? No, we brought nothing. Everything we have had and enjoyed in this life has come to us from God’s hands. Even the very life in us has come to us from Him. Our bodies also have come to us from Him.
That being the case, we ought to be grateful to Him. Our attitude to God must always be that of thanksgiving. And this is not only about when we receive from God things we have not worked for. Yes, from time to time, God will move people to give us gifts. We should be thankful to Him on such occasions for moving people’s hearts to give to us. And we may not really see anything wrong or difficult in doing that. But when it comes to those things we have worked to earn, we may not see the need to be thankful to God for them. However, whether what has come to us is what we have worked for or a gift, we must understand that nothing can come to us except what God has given.
Mind you, speaking about receiving gifts from people, it is not everyone that God moves their heart to give to you that will give to you. Some people may not give to you, even though God has spoken to them about giving something to you. So, if someone takes that bold step to give to you as he has been instructed by the Lord, if someone matches up their desire to give to you by actually giving to you, you should be thankful to God for it.
Am I saying we should not thank men for what they do for us or give to us? No! It is also important that we learn to thank human beings. When people give us gifts or do something for us, we should thank them. Even when people pay us for goods sold to them or services rendered for them, we should thank them. That is because there are people all around us who worked for some people or the government and are yet to collect what is due them. So, if someone pays you for what you have done for them, you should thank the person.
But more importantly, you must acknowledge God as the one responsible for all the good things coming to your life and be thankful to Him. You must not overlook any of the things He is doing in your life. Otherwise, you will be exhibiting an attitude of ingratitude. And ingratitude always comes with consequences.
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THE LITTLE THINGS OF GOD 07/07/2024
“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” (Luke 12:25-26NIV)
The book of 2Kings 20 gives us an account of how King Hezekiah, one of the greatest kings the nation of Judah ever had, became ill to the point of death and of how God sent His messenger, Prophet Isaiah, to tell him to put his house in order, for he would not recover from his illness but die. But instead for Hezekiah to readily accept that death sentence from God, he decided to pray to Him for mercy and healing. And did God answer him or not? He did. He answered him and even decided to add fifteen more years to the ones he already used. (Cf. 2Kings 20:1-11; Isaiah 38:1-8)
Now that is amazing, or what do you think? Fifteen more years to Hezekiah’s life! Just like that! I mean that God just added those years to this man’s life, just as simply as you would add a pinch of salt to your stew. Once again, I say that is amazing; it is just mind-blowing. And I can almost hear someone saying, “Oh, I want that. I wish I could have something like that.”
To say the fact, who does not want longevity. People wish for death on their sick beds or desire to commit suicide mostly because they consider their cases to be hopeless. They simply cannot see what joy, comfort or peace staying here in the world offers them again. So, they want to die and escape from everything that is troubling them and making their lives miserable. But if they knew just one thing to do to make their lives pleasant again, just one thing to do to take away their pains and exceedingly great sorrow, they would most assuredly tear whatever will they have written, take back whatever parting words they have said and say, “Oh, I want to live again and enjoy life too.”
And if you are one of such individuals, wishing for death to come to you now or wanting to kill yourself because of your miseries and misfortunes, I want you to know that you don’t have to die like that. That is because the life of peace, health, comfort and joy you want, which your money, influence, fame, education or power has not been able to give you, is something God is able to freely give to you.
Our Lord Jesus, as we see in our opening text, once while talking to His disciples about the need for them to do away with all forms of worries in their lives, said something very striking to them. He said, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” (Luke 12:25-26NIV) Look at that. There is nothing any one of us can do by ourselves to increase the length of our days here on earth by just one hour. Our worrying about this won’t even make it happen. Yet the Lord went on to say that increasing our length of days here on earth is a very little thing for God to do. A very little thing? I mean that is many people’s biggest problem. Do you know how much money, energy and so forth that people all around the world put everyday into staying alive? It is beyond comprehension!
Nevertheless, the Lord Jesus is saying to us that increasing our length of days is a very little thing for God to handle. Just as it was like nothing for him to add fifteen more years to Hezekiah’s years, so it is nothing for Him to add twenty, thirty, fifty or even a hundred more years to your time here on earth. At least, from what we see in the bible, people lived to be nine hundred years plus in the days before the flood of Noah’s time (Gen 5). So, it is almost nothing for God to add to your years. And if it is a little thing for Him to add to your years, then, what will increasing your resources, enlarging your business territory, bringing you a great husband or wife or giving you children of your own be for Him? Almost nothing!
All of this is why the Lord tells us not to worry about life or anything else in this life (Matt 6:25; Luke 12:22). That is because there is nothing that we need in life that is beyond what God can easily or readily make available to us. The only problem is with what we are going to do with what He gives us. The fact is that there is nothing God gives to some people that they are not going to waste on meaningless living. Even if He gives them a thousand additional years of comfort and rest, they are still going to waste them on nonsense. So, our Lord’s instruction to us is that we should stop worrying about those things that we need, which God already knows and can easily supply, but to put ourselves into taking our place in His kingdom and learning His righteousness (Matt 6:33; Luke 12:31). That way, not only will all these things that we need be given to us, but we also will have learnt how not to waste His gifts and blessings in our lives.
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REJOICE OVER HER 06/07/2024
“Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her. For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance." For this is what the LORD says: "I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem." When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass; the hand of the LORD will be made known to his servants, but his fury will be shown to his foes.” (Isa 66:10-14NIV)
I have observed that every time I discuss the situation of our nation with others I am filled with anguish of heart. Why? It is because I love this nation and want all to be well with her. But will all be well with her? All cannot be well with her, if God does not step in and make it happen. And this is why I pray for this country day after day that God will show her mercy, rescue her from all those who are ruining her and lift her up to be great again. If you too care about this country and want to see all go well with her, you should be praying to God for her.
More so, God Himself wants us to be praying to Him for any land in which we reside, even if it is a foreign land. Why? It is because our personal prosperity and peace of mind are connected to doing so. Look, for example, at what He said to the people of Judah, when they were in exile:
“Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." (Jer 29:7NIV)
Did you see that? God expected His people to seek the peace and prosperity of the land of their enemies and to also pray for it. Why? Their prosperity was connected to it. In other words, they could never prosper beyond the level of prosperity of that land. So, if they truly cared about their individual prosperity, then, they must also work and pray for the prosperity of the land they were sojourning in.
Since God, then, want foreigners to seek and pray for the prosperity and peace of the land they are in, do you think He will want anything less from the citizens of the place? Absolutely not! This is why we must be given to seeking the prosperity and peace of our country and to also praying for her.
Yes, it may look like our prayers and efforts are not working or accomplishing anything. But our Lord Jesus has told us to always pray and not to give up. Why? It is because God is always answering our prayers and working to turn things around for our good. Yes, there are times that He may need to perform more miracles than we can imagine in order for us to see what He has been doing for us all along. And there are also times that we may not for a long time see what He is doing for us because of the great measure of wickedness in our land. But there is no time He does not answer the heartfelt prayers of His people and work for their good.
So, we must not give up on praying for our land, even if we cannot yet fully see or comprehend what God is doing to save and exalt her. Instead, as we keep on praying for her, we should also begin to do what He tells us to do in our opening bible text. What does He tell us to do? He tells us to rejoice with and over our nation. And who among us are to rejoice over her? All of us who love her and who have been mourning in prayers for her!
Why, then, are we to rejoice with and over this country, especially when nothing seems to be working well for her? It is because God Himself has promised to give us peace of mind and satisfaction through her. Yes, He has promised to comfort us and make us flourish in her. How will He do this? I cannot tell you that. And exactly when will all this fully manifest? I cannot also tell you that. But I can tell you that if we will begin to act on His word and rejoice before Him over our nation, He too will make haste to fulfil His promises to us and make sure we witness and enjoy the salvation, exaltation and rest of the nation.
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GOD’S INTENTION 05/07/2024
“His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Eph 3:10-12NIV)
Paul, in our opening text, declares to us that God's intention is that He will be displaying His many-sided wisdom through the church of Jesus Christ that you and I are a part of to the world of demons and angels. He wants them to continually be in shock through the way we will be handling matters of life and solving problems that men think are impossible to solve.
Now what have we done to deserve to be treated by Him in this manner? Nothing! It is all a function of His love for us. And we have become beneficiaries of these things through our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So, you are favoured, my friend, if you are in Christ Jesus. You may not have realised it yet. But that is your situation. And you need to begin to make much of it. You need to begin to thank God continually for causing His favour to rest upon you and for choosing you for the display of His wisdom. And as you thank Him for this, also be bold to tell Him to fulfil His intention concerning your life. In other words, tell Him to daily cause His manifold wisdom to be in manifestation in your life, in all your affairs and in all your relationships. And you will be amazed at the way you will begin to make decisions and take steps that will make you prosperous, safe and unbeatable by the enemies in your life.
Remember what the Psalmist says along this line. He says, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” (Ps 23:5-6NIV) So, your enemies don't have to be dead in order for you to prosper and be safe where you are. God is able to take a very good care of you right in their presence. And they will not be able to do anything about it. You should say a loud 'Amen' to that.
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THE LITTLE THINGS OF GOD 04/07/2024
“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” (Luke 12:25-26NIV)
The book of 2Kings 20 gives us an account of how King Hezekiah, one of the greatest kings the nation of Judah ever had, became ill to the point of death and of how God sent His messenger, Prophet Isaiah, to tell him to put his house in order, for he would not recover from his illness but die. But instead for Hezekiah to readily accept that death sentence from God, he decided to pray to Him for mercy and healing. And did God answer him or not? He did. He answered him and even decided to add fifteen more years to the ones he already used. (Cf. 2Kings 20:1-11; Isaiah 38:1-8)
Now that is amazing, or what do you think? Fifteen more years to Hezekiah’s life! Just like that! I mean that God just added those years to this man’s life, just as simply as you would add a pinch of salt to your stew. Once again, I say that is amazing; it is just mind-blowing. And I can almost hear someone saying, “Oh, I want that. I wish I could have something like that.”
To say the fact, who does not want longevity. People wish for death on their sick beds or desire to commit suicide mostly because they consider their cases to be hopeless. They simply cannot see what joy, comfort or peace staying here in the world offers them again. So, they want to die and escape from everything that is troubling them and making their lives miserable. But if they knew just one thing to do to make their lives pleasant again, just one thing to do to take away their pains and exceedingly great sorrow, they would most assuredly tear whatever will they have written, take back whatever parting words they have said and say, “Oh, I want to live again and enjoy life too.”
And if you are one of such individuals, wishing for death to come to you now or wanting to kill yourself because of your miseries and misfortunes, I want you to know that you don’t have to die like that. That is because the life of peace, health, comfort and joy you want, which your money, influence, fame, education or power has not been able to give you, is something God is able to freely give to you.
Our Lord Jesus, as we see in our opening text, once while talking to His disciples about the need for them to do away with all forms of worries in their lives, said something very striking to them. He said, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” (Luke 12:25-26NIV) Look at that. There is nothing any one of us can do by ourselves to increase the length of our days here on earth by just one hour. Our worrying about this won’t even make it happen. Yet the Lord went on to say that increasing our length of days here on earth is a very little thing for God to do. A very little thing? I mean that is many people’s biggest problem. Do you know how much money, energy and so forth that people all around the world put everyday into staying alive? It is beyond comprehension!
Nevertheless, the Lord Jesus is saying to us that increasing our length of days is a very little thing for God to handle. Just as it was like nothing for him to add fifteen more years to Hezekiah’s years, so it is nothing for Him to add twenty, thirty, fifty or even a hundred more years to your time here on earth. At least, from what we see in the bible, people lived to be nine hundred years plus in the days before the flood of Noah’s time (Gen 5). So, it is almost nothing for God to add to your years. And if it is a little thing for Him to add to your years, then, what will increasing your resources, enlarging your business territory, bringing you a great husband or wife or giving you children of your own be for Him? Almost nothing!
All of this is why the Lord tells us not to worry about life or anything else in this life (Matt 6:25; Luke 12:22). That is because there is nothing that we need in life that is beyond what God can easily or readily make available to us. The only problem is with what we are going to do with what He gives us. The fact is that there is nothing God gives to some people that they are not going to waste on meaningless living. Even if He gives them a thousand additional years of comfort and rest, they are still going to waste them on nonsense. So, our Lord’s instruction to us is that we should stop worrying about those things that we need, which God already knows and can easily supply, but to put ourselves into taking our place in His kingdom and learning His righteousness (Matt 6:33; Luke 12:31). That way, not only will all these things that we need be given to us, but we also will have learnt how not to waste His gifts and blessings in our lives.
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DEAL WITH LAZINESS IN YOUR LIFE 03/07/2024
“I went past the field of the sluggard, past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment; thorns had come up everywhere, the ground was covered with weeds, and the stone wall was in ruins. I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw: A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest — and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.” (Prov 24:30-34NIV)
As we see in our opening text, Solomon learnt from the lazy people around him. He learnt that things can only get bad or worse for us in life through laziness; they can never be better. So, he would not yield to laziness in his life. Unfortunately, many have been too dull to learn from the lazy people around them. So, they had to learn from themselves. When they were young and agile and could put their hands and mind to work, they were busy running around from place to place. They would not settle down in any formal school to learn things that would make them fit for life. And even when they were taken to some people to serve as apprentices, laziness would not just let them stay.
But now that they are old, we see these same people, when some of their mates have already retired from active work and are now receiving dividends from their businesses or pensions and support from the children they have brought up, waking up early and working all day and sometimes all night just to be able to take care of themselves and perhaps their children or grandchildren. Yet what they are doing is not enough to deal with the poverty or misery in their lives. One, of course, may look at them and feel very sorry for them or wonder why life has been so cruel in treating them. But the truth is that they are the reason for their own pains and miseries.
Is that to say that God is unwilling to show such people mercy and send help to them? No! But they must first admit that they are largely to blame for the sorrow and pains in their lives before they can truly receive His help.
Then we have those that laziness is seriously hurting in their workplaces. God has blessed them with a good job. But laziness would not just let them prosper in it. So, nobody is interested in promoting them or in employing their services. They may go from prayer mountain to prayer mountain, if they please. But unless they deal with their lazy or slothful approach to their jobs, they can only expect things to go from bad to worse for them.
What about some who are now suffering in their marriages? Laziness brought them there. First, when they were growing up with their parents or guardians, laziness would not permit them to learn those things that will make them responsible wives, husbands or parents. Then, having gotten married, laziness would still not allow them to settle down and learn those things that would make them responsible in their homes. Therefore, marriage and parenthood have become sour for them. But who brought the pains and miseries they are now experiencing upon them? They brought it on themselves. And unless they deal with the laziness in their lives, they may never experience any better day.
If I want to continue to give you examples of how laziness is able to make life hard and miserable for us, space will not permit me. But my point is that don't make room for laziness, any kind of it, in your life. Don't detest hardwork. It won't kill you. Don't detest mental activity that is directed towards increased usefulness and profitability in life. It will only make life easier and better for you. And don't avoid any spiritual activity that will enable you to gain more and more from God, for its benefits are beyond measure. Instead, strengthen your lazy arms and knees and wake up your sleeping mind, so that you may give yourself fully to whatever responsibility you need to give yourself to. By doing this, you will be naturally separating yourself from certain present or future problems and laying a foundation for a lifetime of rest for yourself.
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NO MAN HAS ANY MERIT BEFORE HIM 02/07/2024
“"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."” (Luke 18:10-14NIV)
What was the problem with the prayer of the Pharisee mentioned in this text? It was full of self-praise. Yes, he thought he was giving God a report of his life and what was going on in it. But that was not it at all. He was simply praising himself to God and telling Him how he was far better than other men, especially the tax collector that was praying close to him. So, his prayer was not a report of his fulfilment of the will of God but an expression of his feeling of importance to God.
Sadly, there are still many like this Pharisee today. They too are often expressing their sense of importance to God when they pray. And they believe there are things He must do for them because they are so important to Him and righteous too. But God does not do things for people because He owes them, for He owes nobody nothing. We are the ones that owe Him our very lives. Therefore, whatever He does for us is never going to be on the basis of what we deserve or what He owes us but on the basis of His love for us and mercy. (Cf. Job 41:11; Rom 11:35)
Now the other man that was praying right next to that Pharisee understood that. He knew that he was a sinner and did not deserve to receive anything from God. That was why all he was asking for was mercy. And did he get it or not? He did! But the other fellow got nothing from God. Why? He, in his pride, approached God on the basis of his merits, on the basis of his sense of importance. And he did that because he did not know that no man has any merit before God.
As the bible tells us, all our righteous acts are as filthy rags before Him (Is 64:6). So, the only righteousness that is acceptable to God is His own righteousness, which He freely gives to all those who put their faith in Him and not in their works. And it is those who have received this righteousness as a gift from Him that He qualifies to be partakers of His kingdom and sharers of His life and work (Rom 5:17).
If you, then, have received God's gift of righteousness, you don't need to pray like that tax collector, addressing yourself as a sinner before Him. That will be nothing but an insult to His righteousness; it will be nothing but a rejection of His righteousness. What you need to do is to thank Him for making you righteous in His sight and also worthy of whatever He gives to you (Col 1:12).
Have a great day.
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NO MAN HAS ANY MERIT BEFORE HIM 02/07/2024
“"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."” (Luke 18:10-14NIV)
What was the problem with the prayer of the Pharisee mentioned in this text? It was full of self-praise. Yes, he thought he was giving God a report of his life and what was going on in it. But that was not it at all. He was simply praising himself to God and telling Him how he was far better than other men, especially the tax collector that was praying close to him. So, his prayer was not a report of his fulfilment of the will of God but an expression of his feeling of importance to God.
Sadly, there are still many like this Pharisee today. They too are often expressing their sense of importance to God when they pray. And they believe there are things He must do for them because they are so important to Him and righteous too. But God does not do things for people because He owes them, for He owes nobody nothing. We are the ones that owe Him our very lives. Therefore, whatever He does for us is never going to be on the basis of what we deserve or what He owes us but on the basis of His love for us and mercy. (Cf. Job 41:11; Rom 11:35)
Now the other man that was praying right next to that Pharisee understood that. He knew that he was a sinner and did not deserve to receive anything from God. That was why all he was asking for was mercy. And did he get it or not? He did! But the other fellow got nothing from God. Why? He, in his pride, approached God on the basis of his merits, on the basis of his sense of importance. And he did that because he did not know that no man has any merit before God.
As the bible tells us, all our righteous acts are as filthy rags before Him (Is 64:6). So, the only righteousness that is acceptable to God is His own righteousness, which He freely gives to all those who put their faith in Him and not in their works. And it is those who have received this righteousness as a gift from Him that He qualifies to be partakers of His kingdom and sharers of His life and work (Rom 5:17).
If you, then, have received God's gift of righteousness, you don't need to pray like that tax collector, addressing yourself as a sinner before Him. That will be nothing but an insult to His righteousness; it will be nothing but a rejection of His righteousness. What you need to do is to thank Him for making you righteous in His sight and also worthy of whatever He gives to you (Col 1:12).
Have a great day.
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KEEP WATCH AND GET READY 01/07/2024
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” (2Peter 3:10-15NIV)
Why is God going to bring about a new heaven and a new earth? It is because He is going to destroy the present heavens and the present earth. As Peter tells us in our opening text, everything we have here on earth is reserved for fire. All the things we now see – the heavens we see, the earth we live in and the things we use here on earth, the cars, the roads, the machines, the vehicles and so forth – will be destroyed. God is going to make an end of them all. Not one of them will survive. And after they have been destroyed, God will set up a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
Righteousness has not been permitted to reign here on earth. Yes, God has introduced His righteousness to us. But people love wickedness instead of righteousness. People love darkness rather than light. And they do all kinds of things to subdue the truth. They do all kinds of things to harm the truth. They do all kinds of things to get rid of the truth and righteousness from the face of the earth. But a day is coming in which all the activities of men, all the evil things they are doing will be brought to an end. Then righteousness will begin to reign freely on that day.
Now we are to anticipate that day. And not only are we to anticipate it, we are to get ready for it. In fact, the reason we are told these things in advance is that we may get ourselves prepared for what is coming. We may not know how the government of our nation will turn out. We may not know how the circumstances of our nation will turn out. But we do know that a day is coming when God will put an end to all the things that are happening here on earth in order to establish a new order of things. Are we going to be a part of that new order of things or are we going to be lost forever? It all depends on how seriously we take the things we have been told about what is coming.
In Saint Matthew’s gospel, chapter 24, verse 42, we are told this: “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” (NIV) Here the Lord is clearly showing us that the day these things will begin to take place is not known by anyone. No one knows when God will introduce in a new order of things. None of us knows exactly when God will set this earth and these heavens on fire in order to establish a new order of things. That is why we are told to keep watch. And if we believe all that we are told about what is coming, we will definitely keep watch and get ready for what is coming.
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ARE YOU REPELLING HIS BLESSINGS? 30/06/2024
“When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.” (Luke 10:5-7NIV)
As we see in the bible, God has blessed all of us who are His children with all the blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus (Eph 1:3). So, we cannot be more blessed by anybody or through any ministration than we already are. However, having all the blessings of God is not the same thing as experiencing all the blessings of God. That is why there are many children of God whose lives don’t appear blessed at all, even though they are fully blessed.
To experience the fulness of God’s blessings, there are things we must be doing. For instance, we must be devoted to praying to Him, for there are some of His blessings for us that will not manifest in our lives unless we do so. Also, we must be devoted to learning and practising His word. Otherwise, there are certain of His blessings that we will never know of or enjoy. These will just keep eluding us.
Then we must be devoted to fellowshipping with His people. That is because there are certain blessings of His for us that we can only access and enjoy as we properly receive and fellowship with other children of His that He has planted in our lives. So, we will do well to duly recognise the role every child of God that is in our lives at the moment is meant to play in our experience of the blessings of God. Otherwise, we may, for our entire lifetime, cheat ourselves of certain blessings of God that we could have enjoyed or experienced.
For example, as we see in our opening bible text, every minister of the gospel sent out by the Lord is a channel through which He makes people experience His blessings for them. Therefore, how they respond to such a person and his ministry will go a long way in determining whether they experience His blessings through him or not. If they relate to him well, then, the blessings God wants them to access and enjoy through him will flow freely into their lives. But if they do not relate to him well, then, those blessings will just return to him, regardless of how hard he himself tries to get them across to them.
This explains why all the prayers and words of blessings being offered for some believers by their church leaders and other ministers of God are not working for them or in their lives. They are not relating to those ministering to them with love and respect and in peace. So, they cannot experience or enjoy the blessings of God that are for them and are meant to be communicated to them through the ministries of these leaders. And unless they humble themselves and change their attitudes towards these people, certain good things that could have been theirs in life will never be theirs.
Now it is possible that you too are not experiencing or enjoy certain blessings of God in your life, marriage, business, job or academics because your attitude towards some people that God has placed in your life to minister to you is wrong. Yes, it is possible that you are the very person repelling certain manifestations of the blessings of God in your life through your pride, stubbornness or stinginess in relating to some people placed by Him in your life to minister to you. If that is the case, then, you need to admit the fact that you have been missing it and change your ways.
What exactly do you need to do about this? Well, everything depends on what wrong attitudes you have towards those people God has appointed to make you experience His blessings through their ministries or prayers. So, check yourself to see if there is anyone that is currently in a position to minister to you in the word of God or prayer that you have been relating to in pride, bitterness, stubbornness or stinginess and begin to do the right thing in relating to them. And before you know it, those blessings of God that have refused to manifest in your life through them will begin to freely find expression, causing you to overflow with joy and praise to God.
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DON’T BECOME USELESS TO HIM 29/06/2024
“But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD's command." (1Sam 13:14NIV)
Those were Samuel’s words to King Saul after he took it on himself to offer to God sacrifices that Samuel ought to have offered to Him. And why did he do that? He did it because he got tired of waiting for Samuel.
As the account goes, Samuel had told him to give him seven days to be with him and make sacrifices to God before he would engage in the battle that was before him. But for reasons not disclosed in the bible, Samuel was late in coming. So, Saul decided to usurp his authority and make the sacrifices the man was supposed to offer. Unfortunately for him, just as he finished making the offering, Samuel came. And all he had left to do was pronounce God’s judgment on him. (Cf. 1Sam 13)
Now what was God’s judgment concerning Saul? It was that He had already replaced him with someone else. But did God really have to do that? Why did He not give him another chance to redeem himself? Well, God did not give him another chance because it was useless to do so. As we also find out in the bible, after this incident, God sent Samuel to him again to give him another assignment. And how did he handle it? Unfaithfully, as usual! He went and did his own thing, not what God had commanded him to do. (Cf. 1Sam 15)
So, Saul at that time had already developed an independent mind. That means he was only after doing what pleased him and not what pleased God, who anointed him and made him king over His people, Israel. Therefore, he could not be trusted by God. No, God did not remove him from his throne immediately. In fact, He allowed him to reign for forty-two years. But He never gave him any task or assignment again till he died. So, those years of his reign were nothing but useless years, as far as God was concerned, just as he too had become nothing but a useless king.
What is the point of all this? It is that God is taking note of our attitude towards whatever task He gives to us. If we are handling the tasks He gives to us diligently and faithfully, whether they are tasks He gives to us directly or those that He gives to us through others, He will continue to give us more tasks. And as He gives us more tasks, He will also multiply His grace in our lives to do them. So, we will find ourselves increasing in usefulness, fruitfulness and relevance before Him.
But if we cultivate the habit of handling the tasks God gives to us as we please, a time is coming when He will have nothing else to say to us again. He will simply find someone else who will do what He wants. Don’t we also function in like manner? We do! If, for instance, we have a tailor or carpenter that is always doing what he pleases with our work and not what we want, are we going to keep giving him jobs to do for us? No, we will not, especially when he is not the only carpenter in town. Why? We don’t want use all our time arguing with someone that has no mind or intention of satisfying us.
In the same vein, God also does not want to use all His time arguing with us, when it is clear we have no intention of doing what will please or satisfy Him. This is why, as we see in our opening text, He is always searching for people who are after His heart. Why? They are those who will willingly and faithfully do what He wants and not be arguing with Him or doing their own thing.
So, if you are not one of those who are after satisfying God always in living for Him and also in handling His work, you are simply making yourself ready for redundancy in His kingdom. That, of course, does not mean that God will reject you as His child. He won’t reject you as His child, if you do not reject Him as your Father. But the fact that you are His child does not mean that He considers you as someone He can entrust His work to. And if He is not entrusting His work to you, then, you are nothing but a useless child.
I pray that you will not end up living the rest of your life as a useless child of God, in Jesus’ name. But you also need to examine your ways and your attitude towards whatever tasks you are currently handling for the Lord and make amends where necessary. It is well with your soul.
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LIVE AN OPEN LIFE 28/06/2024
“Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one.” (2Corinthians 7:2NIV)
These are the rules to follow in relating to our brethren in our various assemblies. We are to make room for them in our hearts, as long as they have no reputation of corrupting, injuring or exploiting others. It is only those who have a reputation for doing these things that you may not open your life to.
But if the people of God in your life do not have a reputation of corrupting people, injuring people or exploiting people, it is in your interest to open your life to them. That way, they can help you, if you are missing it.
What I am saying is that if your life is open before the people of God, they can easily help you deal with whatever is wrong in it. If your life is not open to them, there is no way they can help you unless they receive a revelation about you that can guide them to do so.
Now I am sharing these things with you because I do not want you to become a Judas, a betrayer, or even something worse and ruin your faith and life. See, you must be careful not to supress or ignore the truth coming to you. You must live an open life. Let the people of God know what is going on in your life, regardless of where you live and what you do. Then they can fulfil the word of God that tells us to keep watch over one another.
In Hebrews, chapter 3, from verse 12, we are told this:
“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3:12-13NIV)
Can you see that it is our duty to watch over one another in our journey as Christians. But we cannot do this effectively, if we do not know what is going on in our individual lives. So, let us know what is going on in your life.
We have similar instructions in chapter 12 of this same book. Look at them from verse 15:
“See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.” (Hebrews 12:15-16NIV)
You can again see that it is our duty to see to it that none of us falls short of the grace of God. But how can we do that, if you are behaving like Judas Iscariot and hiding your activities. It is the duty of your brethren to watch over you. It is their duty to help you in your faith journey. But if you don’t allow them, how will they be able to fulfil this duty to you? So be open to the brethren in your life. And God will continue to keep you safe.
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DON’T BE DISTRACTED 27/06/2024
“Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica…” (2Timothy 4:9-10NIV)
Demas, as we see in our opening text, got distracted at some point in his Christian walk. But he used to move around with Paul in doing the work of God. But at the time this letter was being written by Paul to Timothy, Demas had become distracted and had deserted Paul.
We are not told what got Demas distracted. We are simply told that he fell in love with this world. Maybe he felt that his life was not moving forward enough because of his devotion to the gospel. Maybe he felt that he was not getting enough money to do the things he wanted to do in life, just as Judas Iscariot once felt. Or maybe he felt that he needed to settle down and have a family of his own. Whatever his reason may be, the fact remains that he got distracted and probably held his devotion to the work of God as the reason for his backwardness in life and abandoned the work.
Many have also deserted their ministry because of distraction. Perhaps you to are already distracted. Well, the Spirit of God is calling out to you today and now and saying, “Do not diminish in my work for any reason; instead, abound in it.”
So, identify and deal with the distraction in your life that is preventing you from living for God or serving Him wholeheartedly. And I pray that God Himself will empower you to rid your life of everything distracting and preventing you from doing His will and His work, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a pleasant day.
Have a great day.
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MENTAL LAZINESS 26/06/2024
“"Then the man who had received the one talent came. 'Master,' he said, 'I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' "His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.” (Matt 25:24-27NIV)
In the parable told by our Lord Jesus of a man that gave talents to his servants to work with, the one that did not work with his own talent was referred as lazy by his master. Why? Was it simply because he was unwilling to work with his hands? No! Rather, it was because he was not going to use his head. As his master pointed out to him in our opening text, he could have put the money he was given in the bank, so that he would receive it back with interests. It was a lot of money that he was given. Yet he just laid it away somewhere. He did not do anything with it.
What, then, was he busy with? Something totally irrelevant! So, he had nothing to show for all the time his master gave him to work. That was why his master told him that he was mentally lazy. And because of that, he could not be promoted or elevated. Instead, what he had was taken away from him and given to someone else.
In like manner, there are many who will have nothing to show for the time they were given by God to live here on earth. And that will be because they are mentally lazy. Like that lazy servant, every time they come in contact with a challenge, they see it as the end of life. They will not think of or consider how they can overcome it.
If such people are learning in school or learning a trade and they come in contact with some difficulties, that is the end of the road for them. They will abandon what they are learning and find something else to do. If it is in their workplace or business centre that they come in contact with challenges, they will see it as the end of their world. They will not think and consider how they can handle those challenges and walk in victory over them. Why? They are mentally lazy. So, they are not ready to consider any problem and solve it.
But great companies, organisations and institutions are looking for men and women that will solve problems for them. Many who are starting businesses are looking for problem solvers. And being able to solve problems in this sense goes beyond having a college education. Yes, going to school is meant to be an advantage. But that you have received some formal education from some schools does not mean that you are not mentally lazy. It does not mean that you are ready and willing to use your head. That is something you need to examine your life for and deal with. And may God strengthen you to do so.
Have a great day.
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SELF-EXAMINATION 25/06/2024
As we begin this new day, I want you to ask yourself, “Am I growing in the things of God at all, or have I been stagnant?” This self-examination is important for each of us, if we are going to fully develop into all that God wants us to be. Yes, I know there are people who don’t think we can honestly examine ourselves to determine how we are really doing in our walk of faith. They think we should allow others to do that for us, especially since other people often see some of the things that we don’t see in ourselves.
Indeed, other people can be of tremendous help to us in highlighting for us some areas of our lives in which we are growing and those in which we are not growing at all. But we cannot totally rely on other people’s evaluation and submission about our walk with God. That is because their knowledge of us and what is going on in our lives is limited. They can only know as much as we and God allow them to know about us. Besides, their evaluation of our walk with God can only be as relevant and trustworthy as their own understanding of the Christian faith.
So, with God’s help and a heart of sincerity, we can do a prettier job of evaluating our own walk with God than any other person can. What I am saying is that we can look into the Scriptures and see for ourselves the degree to which our lives now conform to the likeness of the person of Jesus Christ and what necessary corrections we must make. Yes, we can look into the Scriptures and see for ourselves whether we are growing in the things of the Spirit or not.
In one of Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, he says, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.” (1Cor 13:11-12NIV) Now what Paul says in this text applies not just to his life as a natural man but also to his life as a Christian. So, just as this man was able to tell that he had grown in the things of this life, he was also able to tell that he had grown in the things of the Spirit at the time he wrote this letter.
Truly, as he said in another letter, it was not that he had already grown into the fullness of God’s desire for him at the time. But he could tell that he had already made some progress and that he was still very much on the path of becoming everything God wanted him to be and doing everything He wanted him to do. And how did he know these things? It was by examining his life using the Scriptures. The more he compared his life with what the Scriptures said, the more he was able to know the extent to which he had grown and the extent to which he needed to change. (Cf. Phil 3:12-14)
Now we also are expected to learn to do likewise. We are expected to daily examine our lives with the Scriptures, so that we can see to what extent we have become like our Lord and to what extent we have not conformed to His likeness. We don’t need to wait for others to tell us that we are growing or that we are becoming worse before we take advantage of God’s word to encourage and purify ourselves. If we are truly concerned about becoming all that God wants us to be and doing all that He wants us to do, we will on our own commit ourselves to self-examination.
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AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO TO YOU 24/06/2024
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt 7:12NIV)
As we see in Scriptures, our Lord Jesus has very interesting ways of condensing or summarising the commandments and laws of God. For instance, He once told a man that all the laws of Moses could be summarised into two, namely: love God with everything you represent and love your neighbour as yourself. So, even if your mind is not keen enough to memorise all the instructions we have in Scriptures about living to please God and relating to our neighbours, you should have no difficulty at all in taking to heart these two instructions. (Cf. Matt 22:34-40)
Then, as we see in our opening Scripture, the Lord also condenses all the instructions of the laws and the prophets about our various human relationships into just one fact, which is that we are to treat others as we would have them treat us. Again, even if your mind is not keen enough to memorise all that God has to say in the Scriptures about how to relate to others, you should have no problem taking this one instruction to heart.
Well, the point the Lord is making is that you should treat others the way you would want them to treat you. And the question now is, “How will you want others to treat you?” In my little experience in life, I know that all men want others to take them seriously and treat them with love, compassion, honour, kindness, understanding and consideration. But the problem is that they are usually not ready to treat others the way they will want to be treated.
Now the Lord is saying that is wrong. It is wrong for you to want others to love you and care for you, when you are not ready to do the same to them. It is wrong for you to want those in your life to always be available to support you, protect you and honour you, when you are not ready to lift a finger to do anything for anybody. What kind of person are you really? You are a selfish person. And the word of God teaches us against selfishness.
Look, for example, at what His word says about it: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Phil 2:3-4NIV) Did you see that? God does not want you to see life as all about yourself only. Instead, He wants you to see it as also about others. In fact, He wants you, out of humility, to always value others above yourself. How? It is by considering their interests in all things and not just your own interests.
So, while it is a good thing to have others loving us, helping us and honouring us in various ways, we also should give ourselves to loving, helping and honouring them. In fact, we should always think of how we can do more for others than they are doing for us, for the bible says that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). And if this is how we all are living, always seeking what is best for others and not just for ourselves, our world and homes will be a lot better places for us to live in.
But if all we are after is what we can squeeze out of others or get them to do for us, while we keep treating them like nothing, God will surely see to it that we reap a great harvest of the evil seed we are sowing. My prayer is that God will cause you to grasp this truth and also strengthen you to apply it in all your relationships, so that you can daily be among those making the world a better place for us all to live in. Amen.
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IT CAN DO WORSE THAN CORRUPT YOU 23/06/2024
“Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."” (1Cor 15:33NIV)
Those are the Spirit’s words to us. He says don’t ever think or assume that keeping bad company will not hurt you at all or is incapable of making you misbehave. That is because it is only a matter of time. If you hang out enough with a bad or wicked person, they will at some point corrupt you or make you act against what you yourself know to be the will of God. And you may not be able to tell how their bad habits or attitudes become a part of your life and begin to find expression.
This is why the bible says, “Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn his ways and get yourself ensnared.” (Prov 22:24-25NIV) Did you see that? It is our job to dissociate ourselves from hot-tempered people. It is our job to dissociate ourselves from anyone that obviously has a destructive habit or that is obviously involved in something that is contrary to the will of God. Otherwise, it may not be long at all before we learn their ways and start participating in their wickedness. And that certainly will expose us to the wrath of God.
But then, we don’t have to participate in the wickedness of a wicked or evil person before we get ourselves exposed to the wrath of God. Being in their company is enough to make us partakers of whatever judgment God has passed on them. This is sometimes why good people perish with sinners or suffer the fate of sinners. If as a good person, you don’t know when and where to stay away from certain wicked people in your life or certain believers that are living in disobedience to God in some ways, you may end up suffering with them in the day of their judgment.
For example, King Jehoshaphat once narrowly escaped death while fighting the Arameans alongside King Ahab. But first, it was not his fight. It was a fight between King Ahab and the King of the Arameans. So, he should not have been involved. Second, King Ahab was a very wicked man. And because he was wicked, he was being lured by an evil spirit on that occasion to go and fight the Arameans and meet his death. Therefore, he was not someone that Jehoshaphat should have anything to do with at all. (Cf. 2Chro 18)
Unfortunately, because he did not understand the power of evil company and what danger it can expose one to, he allied himself to this wicked man by marriage. And once you become related to someone by marriage, that is, once you become an in-law to someone, you will need to possess great strength of character to refuse to help or support them when they are going in the wrong direction. That was the predicament Jehoshaphat found himself in. Even though he clearly heard the warning of the prophet of God about the danger of that battle against the Arameans, he lacked sufficient strength of character to tell his in-law that he would not be joining him in that battle.
Therefore, he went with him and, if God had not shown him mercy when he cried out to him in the heat of the battle, he would have lost his life, even though he was a godly king. And look at what is written in Scriptures about God’s reaction to his involvement with Ahab on that occasion:
“When Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem, Jehu the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, the wrath of the LORD is upon you.” There is, however, some good in you, for you have rid the land of the Asherah poles and have set your heart on seeking God." (2Chron 19:1-3NIV)
Did you see that? God’s wrath was on this man because of his partnership with wicked Ahab. And the only reason God was being merciful to him was that his heart had been set on seeking Him all along. In like manner, there are many today that are under God’s wrath, not because they are wicked themselves but because they are companions of certain wicked people. And if such people continue to stay in the company of those wicked people, when their day of judgment comes, there is every tendency that they too will not be spared.
So, if you have anyone that is obviously wicked as a friend, colleague at work, neighbour, family member or in-law, set very clear boundaries of righteousness for your relationship with them. In other words, make it plain to them that you will not be a party with them in doing anything that is ungodly or contrary to the will of God. And if there are things you are doing with them or for them or things that they are doing for you that may lead you towards participating in their error, put an end to it.
Doing this, of course, may result in some losses for you. But it is better to lose money, positions of advantage, prestige or influence than to lose your soul, your life or other things no human being can give. So, count your cost and do the right thing without delay. It is well with your soul.
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RULE OVER US 22/06/2024
“The Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us — you, your son and your grandson — because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian." But Gideon told them, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you." And he said, "I do have one request, that each of you give me an earring from your share of the plunder." (It was the custom of the Ishmaelites to wear gold earrings.)” (Judg 8:22-24NIV)
Why did the Israelites come together as one man to ask Gideon to become their king? Why did they want him to establish a dynasty with his family line among them? It was because he delivered them from the cruel rule of the Midianites.
As the account goes in the bible, the Midianites had oppressed these people for seven years before they were delivered by Gideon. And their oppressive rule was so severe that the Israelites had to hide in caves and mountain cliffs in order to survive. They simply made it a business to impoverish these Israelites and keep them in misery and shame.
But at some point, the Israelites remembered the God of their forefathers who brought them into the land they were occupying and cried out to Him for help. And it was in response to their cry that He raised Gideon for them and used him to deliver them from the cruel rule of the Midianites.
Now, having being delivered from the Midianites, who should these Israelites naturally praise and yield to His absolute dominion over their lives and nation? God! Was it not the one that raised Gideon for them? Was it not the one that built courage and faith into him, so that he was able to confront their enemies with only 300 men? And was it not the one that caused all their enemies to turn against one another and slaughter themselves? It was the one who did all these things.
Yet, after the people had gotten their liberty and comfort, they immediately turned away from the one that delivered them unto the instrument that He used in delivering them and asked him to rule over them. And if Gideon had been a foolish man, if he had quickly forgotten that it was not by His power that he delivered these people from their enemies, he would have listened to them. That, then, would have been the beginning of his ruin.
But Gideon was not foolish or thoughtless. He knew how God brought him up and empowered him to rescue his people. He knew that everything came from Him and so all the glory and honour of their victory should go to Him. So, very politely, he refused the offer made to him by his people to rule over them. And not only did he tell them that he and his family would not rule over them, he also told them the one that would over them. He said, “It is the Lord that will rule over you.” In other words, he was saying that it was the Lord who saved them that would continue to be their king. Therefore, He was the one they should submit to.
What, then, is the point of all this? It is that regardless of what great things God has used or is using anybody to do for us, we should not give them the place of God in our lives. Otherwise, apart from the fact that we will be guilty of idolatry, we may also end up becoming slaves again, slaves of those that God has used in saving us helping us at one time or the other.
And how many today have become slaves of certain family members, neighbours, colleagues at work, men of God or women of God in this manner? They were helped by these people at some point in their lives, and they were truly grateful for the help. But they also went too far by trying to replace them with God, the God who made everything possible in the first place, in their lives. Therefore, before they knew it, they had put themselves under another form of slavery. And if they do not repent of their sin of idolatry and allow God to take His rightful position in their lives, it may take forever before they and their generations after them become free.
But then, I do not want you to miss my point here. I am not saying that you should not be grateful to those God is using to bless, lift or save you. Be grateful to them, for the word of God teaches this. However, the word of God also tells us not to become slaves of human beings. Why? It is because we are God’s properties and not men’s properties. (Cf. 1Cor 6:19-20; 1Cor 7:23)
In like manner, don’t make yourself anybody’s God and begin to rule over them because you have helped them in certain ways. Remember that you can only help or save those that God has already saved. And you can only do good to anyone because God has enabled you to do it. So, even if some people that you have helped are, in their ignorance, pushing you to take the place of God in their lives, be wise enough to quickly reject the offer. Otherwise, you may end up receiving glory, honour, responsibilities and even wars that are never yours to take and bring yourself to ruin. So, be smart and learn from Gideon or be foolish and end up like King Nebuchadnezzar or King Herod of Peter’s day.
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SEE TO IT 21/06/2024
“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today’, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3:12-13NIV)
What is our apostolic instruction here? It is to see to it that none of us has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. How, then, can we effectively and successfully do that? It is through fellowship!
Now, as we see in that text, this is everybody’s job. Don’t forget that the writer of the book of Hebrews was not writing to pastors or church leaders here; rather, he was writing to every member of the Hebrew churches, wherever they may be at the time. And he was saying, “Watch one another and see to it that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.”
Well, what this means is that once someone has become a believer and has come to be among us and given his allegiance to the Lord, we all must make sure he does not turn away from Him. You and I have to do whatever we have to do to make sure that person does not turn away from the Lord. And that can only happen through an active and meaningful fellowship with them. Otherwise, we may not be able to help them.
In like manner, we too must know that it is the duty of other believers in our lives to see to it that we do not turn away from God. And they may be willing to do that, that is, to help us from turning away from the Lord. But if we are unwilling to fellowship with them and allow them to help our faith in whatever way they can, they may not be able to help us from being ruined by the devil.
So, don’t allow Satan to isolate you from other believers that can help you stand firm in the truth of Christ Jesus till the very end. Instead, take your fellowship with the people of God in your life seriously. And may God continually keep you safe from the evils and corruption of these last days, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a lovely day.
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MAKE HIS PURPOSE YOUR PURPOSE 20/06/2024
“I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:10-14NIV)
Paul, in his life, never thought he was going to have anything to do with Jesus of Nazareth. That was because his mission, as a young man, was to destroy the name of Jesus, to take it away from people’s mouth. But one day the Lord appeared to him and told him that He had chosen him to reveal Himself to him and to use him in remarkable ways. That was God’s purpose for him.
But Paul also has to make God’s purpose his own purpose too in order for it to be realised. So, he says, “I want to know Him. I want to know the power of His resurrection.” Then he further says, “I do not yet consider myself to have accomplished this, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”
This man is in other words saying, “Jesus Christ took hold of me for a purpose. Now I want to take hold of that thing. Jesus called me for a purpose. Now I am going for it. There was a reason He saved me. There was a reason He delivered me. He wants me to know Him. So, I want to know Him. He wants me to become like Him. So, I want to become like Him.”
Furthermore, Paul says, “At this moment, I do not consider myself to have accomplished this goal yet. But one thing I do is to forget what is behind.” Look at that. He is not looking at the things he did in the past. He is not looking at the number of souls God has used him in blessing. He is not looking at the things he already knows about the Lord. Instead, he says, “Forgetting what is behind, I am straining towards what is ahead. That is because I want to take hold of that for which He took hold of me. This is my goal, my spiritual goal.”
But did Paul not have a profession? He did. Did He not have a ministry? He did. But he was looking beyond those things. He wanted to become the person God wanted Him to be.
Do you also want to become the person God wants you to be? Do you want to grow in every respect to become like Jesus Christ? This must be your goal every day and till Jesus comes or till your time here is up. Becoming the person He wants you to be, living the life He wants you to live, standing the way He wants you stand and doing the things He wants you to do – this must be your goal.
I pray for you today that the Spirit of God will strengthen your heart to make God’s goal for you your goal for yourself, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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HOW TO EXCEL IN USING YOUR GIFT 19/06/2024
“So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church. For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say.” (1Corinthians 14:12-13NIV)
Paul, in this chapter, has earlier spoken to the Corinthians about speaking in tongues, that is, addressing God’s people in tongues, which is different from praying in tongues. And he says you don’t edify God’s people when you instruct them in tongues. But if you are able to interpret what you are saying, then, you can edify them.
So, he says pray to God that He will enable you to interpret what you say in tongues. In other words, pray to God that He will cause you to excel in taking that gift you have to the point of building up the people of God. And that can be applied to any gift you have. You can talk to God about it that He will cause you to be effective in using it. And He will make you excel in using it.
Second, study the Scriptures to see how you can please God with that gift. Study the Scriptures to see how others who had that gift or similar ones in the past used them. That way, you too can be further enlightened on how to use them to please God and not yourself or other men.
Third, recognise opportunities to use your gift. Stephen was ordained as a deacon in the church. But the bible says he worked great miracles and signs among the people and also taught them many things. He did not wait until he got to church meetings before using his gifts. The apostles were there teaching the brethren at that time. So, he may not have the opportunity to teach them too. But out there he could teach, heal the sick, raise the dead and so forth. And he did just that. (Cf. Acts 6:1-10)
What about Philip the evangelist? He was ordained as a deacon to handle food matters. But out there he began to preach the word of God to people. And he did not matter to him whether he was talking to one person or to cities. So, at some point, everybody recognised him as an evangelist. So, recognise the opportunities God brings you to use your gift. And I pray for you that the Spirit of God will strengthen your heart and your hands to excel in those gifts that He has given to you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a lovely day.
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IF THE CIRCUMSTANCES ARE NOT SUITABLE 18/06/2024
““You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place." For this is what the LORD says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers: "They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like refuse lying on the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth." (Jer 16:2-4NIV)
Did you see that? God told Jeremiah not to marry in his country at the time he was prophesying to them. Why? Was it because He did not want him to marry at all? No! Rather, it was because the circumstances were not right. The land was facing enemy invasion at the time. In other words, it was a time of war. And God had told him that his country would fall and many of the people would die or be taken into captivity. Anyone, then, who married at that time did so at their own risk.
Therefore, it was because God wanted to spare Jeremiah the sorrow of losing his wife or children to the on-going war against the Babylonians that He told him not to marry. What this is teaching us, then, is that God is not dumb. He is not stupid or unfeeling. He also can tell when the circumstances of our lives are not right for us to manage certain things, including love relationships. So, He is not going to force anyone to do anything or to go into a love life that they are not ready for or that will end up defeating His purpose for their lives.
Love relationships, for instance, are basically for companionship. That was why God brought Eve to Adam, the first man. God wanted her to be a suitable companion to him in living his life, in managing the earth and in filling the earth with children of his kind. If you, then, can see that the prevailing circumstances of your life will not permit you to experience love in this manner, it is only wise and right for you not to go into any love affair. And will God get angry with you because of that? No! He will only see and praise you as a wise child.
Well, the point we are making is that if the circumstances of your life are not ripe or suitable for something you want to embark on, don’t force yourself to embark on it. No, you may not hear the voice of God, as Jeremiah did, warning you not to embark on that thing. But you already have His warning in Scriptures, showing you to watch the circumstances of your life before you do anything. Otherwise, you may end up labouring in pain.
Now I pray that you will not labour in vain ever again in your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen. But pay attention to this word of wisdom. And have yourself a lovely day.
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SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM DESTRUCTION 17/06/2024
“Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. He warned the assembly, "Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins." So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents.” (Num 16:25-27NIV)
There are times that the only way to escape from God's judgment or destruction is to separate ourselves from certain individuals. And at such times, prayer, fasting, giving or any other religious duty we may give ourselves to will not work. The only thing that will be our salvation is to move away from those that have been marked for destruction.
Now such was the case with the children of Israel that Moses brought out of Egypt to take into the Promised Land during the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. God, at the time, was determined to destroy these men, their immediate families and their possessions. And that was because of their rebellion against the leaders He had appointed over them, that is, Moses and Aaron. But as Moses pointed out to the people, it would not only be these men and their people and things that would be destroyed, when God's moved to judge them. Anyone that associated himself with them, whether out of sympathy or arrogance, would also be destroyed along with them.
That means if the whole Israelite assembly took their stand with these men, they also would be swallowed up by death along with them. That was why Moses told them to move away from them and their properties. And they did. So, when these men were swallowed up by the ground, the rest of the Israelites were not swallowed up with them.
Similarly, when God was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, the angels He sent made it clear to Lot and his family that the only way for them to be saved from what was coming was for them to separate themselves from the people in these cities. In other words, they must get as far away as they could from these two cities. In fact, they were told not to look back at all when escaping. Otherwise, they would be destroyed along with the people of the cities. (Cf. Gen 19:12-26)
Unfortunately, even though they were sternly warned in this manner and told to escape for their lives, Lot still hesitated, according to the bible. That means he was reluctant to leave. Was it because he did not believe the words of those angels? No! Rather, it was because he was counting what his losses would be, if he should leave like that, seeing that he was a wealthy man. He was really hoping there was an alternative to what the angels had told him.
But there was no alternative to what they had told him. The only way for him and his family to be saved from what was coming was for them to run away from those wicked and unreasonable dwellers of Sodom and Gomorrah. And he did not have forever to do that. He did not even have one more hour to think the matter over or to have a meeting with his family about it. The angels told him that he had to flee with his people immediately. Otherwise, he would miss the mercy of God. And when they saw his reluctance to leave, they grabbed all of them and led them safely out of Sodom. Yet his wife lost her life in the process because she disobeyed the words of the angels that came to them and looked back.
Why am I showing you this? I am showing you because I want you to know that there are times that the only way for you not to suffer, fail or lose your life is for you to separate yourself totally from certain people, organisations, systems or even communities. And that will be because they have been marked for failure or destruction because of their sins or some active curses. So, regardless of what love, sentiments or sympathy you may have for them and regardless of what prayers you may be offering for them, the best you can do for yourself is to get away from them without delay. That is because even if God gives you time to get away from them, you won't have forever to do so. And a little moment of hesitation from you may make you end up as Lot's wife did.
How, then, will you know who to get away from and when to get away from them? Well, Paul gives us a clue to this in 1Corinthians 5. There he tells us that if anyone who calls himself a believer is living in very obvious sins and will not repent, you must stay away from him totally until he repents. Otherwise, you may end up sharing in his judgment. Apart from that, you can't tell who is marked for certain destruction that you need to immediately get away from, unless God reveals them to you. So, you will be in order to regularly pray to God to make known to you relationships or associations that may end up exposing you to destruction and that you need to get away from. And once He reveals them to you, it will be wisdom for you to act accordingly for your safety.
Have a great day.
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WHERE YOU SHOULD NOT IMITATE JOB 16/06/2024
“As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” (James 5:11NIV)
One of the lessons that the story of Job teaches is perseverance in the face of life’s challenges. As we see in the bible, this man faced tribulations that many who have lived and died never faced. He lost all his children and all his possessions in one day. And as if that were not enough, he lost his health too and became an object of scorn among those who had once revered and honoured him. To make matters worse, he did not experience any of these things as a wicked man but as a righteous man. (Cf. Job 1&2)
According to the bible, God Himself testified before all His angels and even the devil that Job was an upright and blameless man. If fact, as God pointed out to the devil, there was no one on the face of the earth like Job. Yet this man was severely afflicted. So, you should never think that Satan is incapable of touching you or afflicting you because you are righteous or holy or because you give generously for God’s cause and to people. If he is permitted, Satan will step into your life and afflict you, regardless of what degree of righteousness, holiness or blameless you or others may think you have. (Cf. Job 1:8)
Now we are not told how many days, weeks, months or years Job’s afflictions lasted. But we are told that the man endured everything. He did not give up on God because of his afflictions. Even though his own wife took advantage of the situation to torture him and to pressure him to denounce God, he still would not denounce him. And though his friends also seized the period to harass him and express their reservations about his devotion to God, he did not give up on Him.
Yes, at some point, he became offended and got angry with God for everything he was going through. But he never for once denied or cursed him. He maintained his integrity all through. So, at some point, God, who is full of compassion and mercy, stepped in, set him right where he was wrong, healed him, made him whole and restored his life, home and fortunes. What a good God!
Therefore, whatever you may be faced with, don’t give up on God. No, do not deny Him or disown Him because of your trials or challenges. That is because the bible says:
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." (Heb 10:35-38NIV)
Did you see that? Our unfailing confidence in God will be richly rewarded, just as Job’s unfailing confidence in Him was rewarded. All we need is to persevere, even as we do His will. And in just a very little while, we will see Him move on our behalf. Yes, sometimes we may think He is not fast enough or that He is just too quiet about our situation. But we are told in that text that He will not delay His work or action for our salvation, deliverance or exaltation. That means even when we think He is not working at all or when we cannot see what He is doing, He is working fast for our good. And if we do not shrink back, we will see what He has been doing all along for our good.
But then, there is another side to Job’s story, which we hardly notice or pay attention to. And that has to do with the fact that he did not resist the devil at all in his life. Of course, God permitted the devil, as the story goes, to touch his family, possessions and even body. And that was to show the devil that his faith in him was true and genuine. But even though God permitted the devil in that manner, he too had a right here on earth and through his faith in God to resist him.
Unfortunately, he did not even know at the time that Satan was the one responsible for all that he suffered and was going through. He thought God was to blame for everything. He thought that God was always the one behind everything good and everything bad. And his ignorance in this matter gave Satan all the time and space he needed to make matters go from bad to worse for him. If God, then, had not limited the devil and his works and told him not to touch his life, he would have killed him.
In like manner, many are suffering in the hands of the devil today because of ignorance of different kinds. It may be ignorance that is associated with his works or one that is associated with not knowing that he can be resisted in the name of Jesus Christ. The bible tells us that we can resist the devil and that we should resist him steadfastly. It also tells us not to give him any opportunity to work in our lives. Then it tells us the nature of his work – it tells us that he is a thief, killer and destroyer. So, anything that is geared towards stealing from us, killing us or destroying us or anything that belongs to us is a work of the devil, and we must not allow it. (Cf. John 10:10; Eph 4:27; Eph 6:10-18; James 4:7; 1Pet 5:8)
This, then, is one area in which we must not imitate Job. Job did not resist the devil at all. Instead, he accepted his problems as coming from God and allowed Satan to persist in afflicting him. And as I pointed out before, if God had not been merciful to him, he would have been utterly destroyed by this enemy of his soul. But we have been clearly told that we can resist the devil and that he will run away from us when we do so. Job did not resist the devil because he did not know that he could resist him. But we know. So, if we allow Satan to work in our lives and mess us up, we must blame ourselves and ourselves only.
Now I don’t want to end up blaming myself for giving Satan any room at all to work in my life. So, I have got my mind made up to daily take advantage of the grace of God to say ‘No’ to this wicked being’s works in my life and affairs. And I enjoin you too to make up your mind to do the same.
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HOW FAR WILL YOU GO? 15/06/2024
“And say to Amasa, 'Are you not my own flesh and blood? May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if from now on you are not the commander of my army in place of Joab.'” (2Sam 19:13NIV)
Those were David’s words to Amasa, his nephew, when he was labouring to bring all Israel back to him after the rebellion of Absalom had been squashed. And did he fulfil this promise or not? He did, for we are later told in the bible, “Then the king said to Amasa, "Summon the men of Judah to come to me within three days, and be here yourself."” (2Sam 20:4NIV)
That means David actually made Amasa the commander of his entire army in place of Joab. And was Joab happy with that? No! Truly, judging by some standards, Amasa was not as competent as Joab in leading Israel’s army. For example, he was late in carrying out the very first task he was given by the king (2Sam 20:5). And if he were to be judged by that, he would cease being Israel’s army commander from that time on.
But then, David did not make him the commander of the army because he was more competent than Joab. Rather, he made him the commander because he wanted to end the bloodshed that the rebellion of Absalom had started and make peace with everyone. As we are shown in the bible, Amasa was the commander of the army of Absalom. And his army was larger than the one David had with him. So, it was only wise of David to bring someone like him on board and use his influence to unite the divided armies of the nation. (Cf. 2Sam 17:25)
However, because Joab was not happy with the fact that this man, who had been on the side of rebellious Absalom, was taking over his place, he made a move in disguise to kill him. Look at how the account is rendered in the bible:
“While they were at the great rock in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab was wearing his military tunic, and strapped over it at his waist was a belt with a dagger in its sheath. As he stepped forward, it dropped out of its sheath. Joab said to Amasa, "How are you, my brother?" Then Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. Amasa was not on his guard against the dagger in Joab's hand, and Joab plunged it into his belly, and his intestines spilled out on the ground. Without being stabbed again, Amasa died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bicri.” (2Sam 20:8-10NIV)
Did you see what Joab did in order to maintain his position as Israel’s general? He killed an innocent man. He killed a man that took him as a brother and who had not offended him in any way. And Amasa was indeed his relative. He was his cousin, the son of his mother’s sister. Yet he did not mind killing him in a very cruel and diabolical way. (Cf. 2Sam 17:25)
Well, that is to show us how far some people will go in order to have what they want. They are willing to sacrifice even their own family members or relatives in order to realise their ambitions. And every day we hear news of people sacrificing their families or friends for money, blackmailing their colleagues at work for positions or selling their neighbours to wicked and unreasonable people in order to take over their wealth. We even hear news of people using parts of their own bodies for rituals in order to gain wealth or some earthly positions.
Now I may not know how you far you are willing to go in order to realise certain ambitions of yours. And I may not know how much you are willing to sacrifice in order to satisfy your desires. But I do know that God is watching every one of us and looking at the steps we are taking to realise our dreams or ambitions. And someday, He will judge us accordingly.
Joab was not judged by David for his ruthless killing of innocent men, men better than him. But Solomon, who became king after David, did not hesitate at all to judge him. He saw to it that he paid with his blood for all his crimes. So, even if the society you now live in or the government of your place will not judge you today for ruthlessly destroying others in order to satisfy your cravings, it does not mean that God won’t find someone else who will judge you tomorrow. (Cf. 2Kings 2:28-35)
By the way, apart from the fact that God will judge all people on the day He has set at the end of this age, He is daily judging people for their works (Zeph 3:5). It is just that it is not every time that people can tell that certain problems they are facing in life are symptoms of God’s judgment on their lives. So, you cannot escape God’s judgment for whatever you are doing, good or bad. And if you are going too far, going beyond what is righteous in realising your dreams, He will at the right time make sure you duly pay for your excesses.
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HAVE A SENSE OF DEVOTION 14/06/2024
“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possession was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there was no needy person among them…” (Acts 4:32-34NIV)
Now I want to ask, “Can that still happen among us today? Can we today have a situation in which there is no needy person among us?” Why not? Why can’t we experience the same thing? I believe we can. If we will devote ourselves to one another in love, this same thing is going to happen in our midst.
But today, in the same Christian assembly, some people will put on clothes that are close to rags and some others will come around with flying robes and apparel. Yes, a family will come around for a church meeting with two or three cars while several others don’t even have a bicycle to ride. Yet all of us will sit together, pray together, lift our hands together, sing together, give offerings together and dance together. Sometimes, some of us will not even allow others to move or dance around freely because of our flying robes and expensive apparel. Yet our eyes cannot see the needs of others, because we have become so blind.
I will tell you this: many of us are blind; we are unable to see the things that God wants us to see. And that is because we have no sense of devotion. We have no sense of belonging. We don’t think that the church is a family. And sometimes I don’t blame us, for some families of the world are like that. Children of the same mother and the same father will come together for the same programme or meeting, and some among them will be well dressed while some others will be poorly clothed. Yet their brothers and sisters will not ask, “What is wrong with you? Why are you like this? Is anything the matter with your business? How can we help you?” Rather, they will pride themselves in the fact that they are better than their own brother or sister. That is a spirit of the world, which should not be in the church at all.
When you see a family that is functioning as God wants families to function, they will be devoted to one another. The brothers and sisters in that family will be devoted to one another. They will want every one of them to do well in life. Your brothers and sisters will be committed to your welfare. If things are not going on well for you, they will be on your case. And if you want to marry the wrong person, they will not allow you or support you. They will say, “No, you will not marry this person, for he is going to destroy your life.” And that is because they are concerned. They know that, ultimately, they are not the ones that will live with you in that marriage; you will be living alone with whomever you marry. And by the time you begin to smell pepper, they will not be there with you.
But in the church today we will say, “It is not our business.” And that is because we have no sense of devotion; we have no sense of belonging. But this is your family, my beloved. That was how the brethren were taught by the apostles to see the church in the early days. To them the church is the household of God. So, when you come into the church, you know that you have come into the family of God. And you have to be devoted to that family. You have to be responsible in that family. And may you be taught and strengthened by the Spirit of God to be so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Enjoy your day.
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GIVE YOURSELF TO HIM FIRST 13/06/2024
“And they exceeded our expectations: they gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.” (2Corinthians 8:5NIV)
Who was Paul referring to in our opening text? The Macedonian Christians! And what was the first thing they were reported to have done? They gave themselves to the Lord and to His people. That is where to begin. Give yourself to the Lord first. And once you have given yourself to the Lord, nothing will be too difficult to give to Him.
This, however, has to be a conscious thing. You don’t release yourself to the Lord by accident. Your faculties and everything about you have to be involved. Do you release yourself to people by accident? I doubt it. I know there are people who may want to manipulate you and get you to give yourself to them unconsciously. But generally, we don’t give ourselves to people unconsciously. And it must be the same in our dealings with God.
Yes, sometimes, we may give ourselves to the Lord unconsciously. I mean there are times that we just join other people of God in doing what they are doing without even thinking about what it means or what it implies. But the giving of ourselves to God has to be a conscious thing. We are to consciously release ourselves to Him. You are to do this out of your own volition. That means you have thought about it and have concluded that that is the right thing to do. So you say, “Lord, I release myself to you. I have thought about this and have seen that it is the right thing to do, especially in the light of all that you have done for me. So, my hands are now yours. My legs are now yours. Every part of me is now yours. You can do with me as you please.”
Once you have done that, I am telling you, there is nothing that will be difficult for you to release to the Lord. One of the reasons it has been so difficult for some of us to release our substance to the Lord is that we have not fully yielded ourselves to Him. There is no greater gift a man can give than himself. Or is there a greater gift? When you release yourself to a man, you have given him the greatest gift of all. So, nothing else will be difficult for you to give to Him.
In like manner, when you have freely given yourself to God, nothing will be too much or difficult for you to give to Him. So, start by giving yourself to Him. Then you will soon see that it will not be hard or difficult for you again to give Him anything and everything you have.
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CARRIERS OF HIS POWER 12/06/2024
“One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal those who were ill.” (Luke 5:17NIV)
What do we see here? We see that Jesus was in a place, teaching the people. And those who were there could recognise that God’s power was there with Him to heal the sick. How were they able to tell? It must be that they could literally feel God’s power there. So, they began to take advantage of it to be healed. In fact, the next incident Luke reports in the passage is about some people that brought a man that was paralytic into the place. And he did not leave the place the same way he came in. He was healed, for the power of God was present there to heal the sick. (Cf. Luke 6:18-26)
Also, in the same gospel, chapter 6, from verse 17, Luke says, “He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming out from him and healing them all.” (Luke 6:17-19NIV) Look at that. The power of God was coming from Jesus and healing the people. So, they were trying to touch Him, for they could sense that the power of God was coming out from Him.
We too, who believe in Christ Jesus, must get to that place where people will be able to tell or sense that God’s power is flowing out from us. Many of us have not experienced this. That will probably be because we are not desirous of experiencing it or because we are ignorant of the fact that we are carriers of His power. And we are carriers of His power. We just need to know this and continually pray, as Paul prays for the Ephesian brethren, that we will know that His power is at work in us and also know the greatness of this power and how to take advantage of it. (Cf. Eph 1:18-22)
Look at the apostles of old. There was a time, for example, that the people were placing their sick people on the road so that Peter’s shadow would fall on them and they would get well. Why were they doing that? It was because they could tell that he was carrying God’s power everywhere he went. Also, there was a time that people were taking aprons and handkerchiefs from Paul to place on their sick folks, so that they could get well. Why? They could tell that God’s power was coming out from him and that anything he used would have that power on it. (Cf. Acts 5:12-16 & 19:11-12)
Now it can be the same for us. Our cloths can carry God’s power. Our beds can have the power of God settled on them. The things we use can have the power of God settled on them. It is just for us to know that we are carriers of this power and know how to take advantage of it and unleash it on our lives’ situation and for those around us to enjoy. And I pray that you will be enlightened more and more about this power of God that is resident in you, so that you may make the most of it in doing His will.
Have a splendid day.
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CARRIERS OF HIS POWER 12/06/2024
“One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal those who were ill.” (Luke 5:17NIV)
What do we see here? We see that Jesus was in a place, teaching the people. And those who were there could recognise that God’s power was there with Him to heal the sick. How were they able to tell? It must be that they could literally feel God’s power there. So, they began to take advantage of it to be healed. In fact, the next incident Luke reports in the passage is about some people that brought a man that was paralytic into the place. And he did not leave the place the same way he came in. He was healed, for the power of God was present there to heal the sick. (Cf. Luke 6:18-26)
Also, in the same gospel, chapter 6, from verse 17, Luke says, “He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming out from him and healing them all.” (Luke 6:17-19NIV) Look at that. The power of God was coming from Jesus and healing the people. So, they were trying to touch Him, for they could sense that the power of God was coming out from Him.
We too, who believe in Christ Jesus, must get to that place where people will be able to tell or sense that God’s power is flowing out from us. Many of us have not experienced this. That will probably be because we are not desirous of experiencing it or because we are ignorant of the fact that we are carriers of His power. And we are carriers of His power. We just need to know this and continually pray, as Paul prays for the Ephesian brethren, that we will know that His power is at work in us and also know the greatness of this power and how to take advantage of it. (Cf. Eph 1:18-22)
Look at the apostles of old. There was a time, for example, that the people were placing their sick people on the road so that Peter’s shadow would fall on them and they would get well. Why were they doing that? It was because they could tell that he was carrying God’s power everywhere he went. Also, there was a time that people were taking aprons and handkerchiefs from Paul to place on their sick folks, so that they could get well. Why? They could tell that God’s power was coming out from him and that anything he used would have that power on it. (Cf. Acts 5:12-16 & 19:11-12)
Now it can be the same for us. Our cloths can carry God’s power. Our beds can have the power of God settled on them. The things we use can have the power of God settled on them. It is just for us to know that we are carriers of this power and know how to take advantage of it and unleash it on our lives’ situation and for those around us to enjoy. And I pray that you will be enlightened more and more about this power of God that is resident in you, so that you may make the most of it in doing His will.
Have a splendid day.
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THE RICH MUST BE WRONG 11/06/2024
“Do not show partiality to a poor person at his trial.” (Ex 23:3GNT)
I really cannot recollect the number of times I have on the road witnessed commercial motorcyclists abusing and cursing private vehicle owners, even when it was clear that they were in the wrong. Unfortunately, most times, when others would intervene and judge such cases between people, it was the one that appeared to be rich among them that they would want to blame. Some would not even bother to find out what really happened before point accusing fingers.
Now why is that often the case? It is because most poor people have hidden bitterness in them against rich people. And that is because they usually think they are the reason they are poor. But while it is true that rich people can be oppressive and unfeeling, it is not every rich person that is hostile, wicked or oppressive. There are rich people that have become rich through the help of God and their honest and diligent labour. And there are rich people that are kind, generous and peace-loving in every way.
Therefore, we can’t always hold the rich responsible for the poverty of the poor. In fact, in many cases, they are not to blame at all for the poverty of the poor. People become poor and stay poor in life for different reasons, some of which could be lack of financial intelligence, laziness, pride, misfortunes and so forth.
If you are poor, then, you should settle down and carefully study the reason for your poverty and misery instead of always blaming the rich in your land for them. That way, you can begin to take steps that will take you out of poverty and lead you into abundance.
In any case, in our opening bible text, God warns us not to function with bitterness against the rich, regardless of our position in life. Why? It is so that we will not become judges with evil intentions. See, as long as we are bitter against those who are rich in our lives or around us, we will never see anything good in or about them. They and whatever they do will always be wrong in our eyes. This being the case, whenever we have any opportunity to judge a case between a rich person and some poor fellow, we will most likely favour the poor person against the rich one, without examining the facts or even with the facts clearly showing us something different.
Now when we function like that, we are promoting wickedness in our land; we are perverting justice in the land. And God will not hold us guiltless. This explains why some people will never be rich or great in life. Yes, they themselves want to be rich and great. But they are filled with hot bitterness and anger against rich and great people. Therefore, God Himself is resisting their advancement and exaltation in life. And He will continue to do so unless they repent and cleanse their hearts.
Perhaps you too are guilty of these things. Perhaps your bitterness, anger and injustice against those who are richer or more highly placed in life than you are the reason your life is stagnant. Every time you are speaking against them and working against them, even when they have not offended you or done you any wrong. You need to repent without delay and allow God to wash your heart with His word. Otherwise, that great height or better life you are eyeing and wishing for yourself in this life may forever elude you.
Mind you, I am not saying we should not condemn the rich when they are wrong. By all means, we should judge them wrong wherever they are wrong. But we must never assume that the rich must be wrong in every case they have against the poor. God will never work with such assumptions. So, we too should henceforth stop working with them.
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SALVATION FROM UNREASONABLE AND WICKED PEOPLE 10/06/2024
“…and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.” (2Thess 3:2NKJV)
As bible accounts show us, there was a time that King Saul, in his quest to capture and kill David, was ready to kill and destroy anyone associated with him. First, it was his own son, Jonathan, that he wanted to kill. He wanted to kill him because of his friendship with David. But originally, it was because he wanted the throne for Jonathan that he wanted to kill David. Why, then, would he want to kill him? And who would he give the throne to after killing the son that was the most qualified of all his sons to take over from him? He was not thinking about this at all the day he hurled his spear at him. Why? He had become wicked and unreasonable. (Cf. 1Sam 20:24-34)
Also, because he had become wicked and unreasonable, he made a move to attack Prophet Samuel and all the other prophets with him, just because he had learnt that David was with them. But God disgraced him that day and delivered them from his hand. (Cf. 1Sam 19:18-24)
Unfortunately, the story went differently with the priests at Nob. Their head priest, Ahimelech, had interacted with David briefly when he was fleeing from Saul. And he had innocently done this without knowing what was going on between the two of them. But because Saul had become wicked in heart and unreasonable in his actions, he did not even bother to investigate Ahimelech’s involvement with David at all. He simply ordered his execution and the execution of all his family members and the town of the priests. Think about that. (Cf. 1Sam 22)
Now, and this is something I want you to pay attention to, when Saul ordered his officials to rise and kill the priests of God, they would not listen to him. Yes, it was a royal order and these men could be executed themselves for defying it. Nevertheless, they would not carry it out. Why? First, it was because they feared God. In other words, these men knew that there was no way they would touch God’s anointed priests and be guiltless. And since He is greater than their king, they would rather obey Him than obey their king, even if that would bring punishment on them.
Second, those men would not carry out Saul’s order because they had not lost their minds like him. That means they could tell, based on the explanation of Ahimelech, that he had no fault at all in helping David. So, killing him, the priests with him and entire town of the priests had no justification whatsoever. Oh, that God would bless us in our various government and private institutions with such men and women, men and women that will not allow any unreasonable or wicked person to use them to condemn or punish the innocent!
Unfortunately, that same day, there was another wicked and unreasonable person like Saul with him. His name was Doeg the Edomite. He was just like Esau, his ancestor, who was godless and had no care at all for spiritual things. And it was he that rose up to strike down Ahimelech, all the anointed priests of God with him and the entire town of the priests, with all their women, children and livestock. Why did he do that? What was he going to benefit by killing innocent people? Had Saul promised him a great position? No, the account does not say that. So, he just did what he did because he was a wicked, unreasonable, godless and bloodthirsty fellow.
In like manner, unreasonable and wicked people do not need to have any justifiable reason to attack you or to seek to destroy you. In other words, even if there is no benefit for them in harming you, they may still want to harm you. Or if they simply feel like harming you or someone tells them to harm you, they may not mind doing so. Why? It is because they do not care about tomorrow or the future. No, they do not care about human lives, properties, love, justice or peace. They do not care about the consequences of their actions, even if they may result in their own death or destruction. They only care about themselves and the immediate gratification or satisfaction they are going to get from what they do.
So, you cannot reason with them or counsel them because they are not different from wild animals. All they want is to consume to their satisfaction now. If tomorrow comes, fine. And if it does not come, it is fine with them as well. These ones are also not different from machines, which are being operated with a remote control. Therefore, they can only do what they are asked to do by those who have possessed them – they cannot ask questions.
You can see why kidnappers, bandits, terrorists, robbers, serial killers, rapists, paedophiles, thieves of public funds and those who use people for money rituals behave the way they do. They do not care about those things that God fearing and sensible people care about. They care only about themselves. So, unless they are destroyed or saved by God, most people will not be safe around them.
Which, then, is better, their salvation or their destruction? Evidently, their salvation is better. In fact, God, as the bible shows us, wants all such people saved (1Tim 2:1-4). However, while they are yet living their wicked and unreasonable life, we will need to be protected from them, so that we do not become victims of their wickedness. That is why Paul, in our opening text, tells us that one of the prayers we should be offering is that we will be protected from unreasonable and wicked people, people who have no faith in God. And we will do well to continually offer this prayer for ourselves and for all our loved ones, for we all have around us wicked, unreasonable and godless people.
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AN ATTITUDE OF THANKSGIVING 09/06/2024
‘A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’” (John 3:25-28NIV)
What said these words? It was John the Baptist. And there is a part of what he said that I want you to pay attention to, which is, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven.” In other words, it is only what God has given you that you can legitimately receive – you cannot receive what He has not given.
Yes, you can go out of your way to take for yourself what God has not given to you. But that is going to get you into trouble sooner or later. It does not matter whether it is manipulation, force, witchcraft or sorcery that you are using to get what God has not given to you. It can only lead you into trouble. It is only what God has given that does not come with sorrow or pains.
Similarly, Paul says this to the Corinthians: “For what makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do your boast as though you did not?” (1Corinthians 4:7NIV) Did you see that? Is there any good thing that has come to us legitimately that we have not received from God? Did we bring anything into this world when we came? No, we brought nothing. Everything we have had and enjoyed in this life has come to us from God’s hands. Even the very life in us has come to us from Him. Our bodies also have come to us from Him.
That being the case, we ought to be grateful to Him. Our attitude to God must always be that of thanksgiving. And this is not only about when we receive from God things we have not worked for. Yes, from time to time, God will move people to give us gifts. We should be thankful to Him on such occasions for moving people’s hearts to give to us. And we may not really see anything wrong or difficult in doing that. But when it comes to those things we have worked to earn, we may not see the need to be thankful to God for them. However, whether what has come to us is what we have worked for or a gift, we must understand that nothing can come to us except what God has given.
Mind you, speaking about receiving gifts from people, it is not everyone that God moves their heart to give to you that will give to you. Some people may not give to you, even though God has spoken to them about giving something to you. So, if someone takes that bold step to give to you as he has been instructed by the Lord, if someone matches up their desire to give to you by actually giving to you, you should be thankful to God for it.
Am I saying we should not thank men for what they do for us or give to us? No! It is also important that we learn to thank human beings. When people give us gifts or do something for us, we should thank them. Even when people pay us for goods sold to them or services rendered for them, we should thank them. That is because there are people all around us who worked for some people or the government and are yet to collect what is due them. So, if someone pays you for what you have done for them, you should thank the person.
But more importantly, you must acknowledge God as the one responsible for all the good things coming to your life and be thankful to Him. You must not overlook any of the things He is doing in your life. Otherwise, you will be exhibiting an attitude of ingratitude. And ingratitude always comes with consequences.
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WHAT TIME IS IT? 08/06/2024
“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.” (Proverbs 6:6-8NIV)
Solomon, in our opening text, is telling us to learn from the ant. And what are we to learn from it? It is the fact that even though the ant has no overseer or commander, it knows when to gather and store its provisions. That means the ant knows when to work and when it cannot work.
It is just like what our Lord once said to His disciples. He said, “We must do the work of Him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming, when no one can work.” That means He knew when He was meant to be working and what He was meant to be doing. And when His time came, He knew that His time had come and was ready to glorify God with His death. (Cf. John 9:4; John 17:1)
Now since our Lord Jesus knew what He was meant to be doing with His life and devoted Himself to doing it, we too must know what we are meant to be doing with our lives. We must know what time it is in our lives. Is it a time for us to be working? Is it a time for us to be resting? Is it a time for mourning or a time for laughing? Is it a time to make war against people or things that have been limiting or hindering us?
What time exactly is it in our lives? We need to know, if we will progress and be fruitful with our lives as God wants.
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WHAT TIME IS IT? 08/06/2024
“Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.” (Proverbs 6:6-8NIV)
Solomon, in our opening text, is telling us to learn from the ant. And what are we to learn from it? It is the fact that even though the ant has no overseer or commander, it knows when to gather and store its provisions. That means the ant knows when to work and when it cannot work.
It is just like what our Lord once said to His disciples. He said, “We must do the work of Him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming, when no one can work.” That means He knew when He was meant to be working and what He was meant to be doing. And when His time came, He knew that His time had come and was ready to glorify God with His death. (Cf. John 9:4; John 17:1)
Now since our Lord Jesus knew what He was meant to be doing with His life and devoted Himself to doing it, we too must know what we are meant to be doing with our lives. We must know what time it is in our lives. Is it a time for us to be working? Is it a time for us to be resting? Is it a time for mourning or a time for laughing? Is it a time to make war against people or things that have been limiting or hindering us?
What time exactly is it in our lives? We need to know, if we will progress and be fruitful with our lives as God wants.
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DEAL WITH IT 07/06/2024
“Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.” (Genesis 4:8NIV)
Did you see that? Cain lured his brother to a field to kill him. He told him to come with him to the field. And Abel followed him. He followed him because he did not suspect him. He, of course, must have seen that his face was fallen and unhappy. But he did not think that was going to be a problem. Perhaps he had been going out with him to the field like that in the past. It may even be that Cain had been showing him care and love before, since he was his elder brother. So, he did not suspect him. Of course, he should have paid attention to his countenance. But for reasons not stated in Scriptures he did not pay attention to it. And he lost his life as a result of this.
But why did Cain end up killing his brother? It was because he did not guard his heart. He allowed anger, envy and bitterness to take root in his heart. So, he ended up killing the very one he was supposed to protect. And when God came to him, all He wanted to know was where his brother was. That was because he was supposed to know; he was supposed to be his keeper. But he had killed him.
Now all along, evil had been resident in this man’s heart, but he did not deal with it. We are told in John’s first epistle that Cain was of the evil one (1John 3:12). That explains why he and his offering were not accepted in the first place. He had not been living right before God. His heart had not been right before him. But he did not deal with it. And because he did not deal with it, the occasion in which he and his brother brought God offerings revealed the evil in his heart. So, if you will not deal with the evil in your heart, a time is coming when circumstances of life will bring it out in the open. Then everybody will see you for who you really are.
In the first place, you are not supposed to permit any form of evil in your heart. But we know that, as long as we are in this world, all kinds of evil desires will be making war against our souls. That is why Peter tells us in his first epistle to abstain from the evil desires that war against our souls (1Peter 2:11). So, we may have all kinds of evil desires crouching at the doors of our hearts. It is on us, however, to protect these hearts, so that these evil things will not gain entrance into them, not to talk of find expression in them.
But suppose some evil seed has already gained entrance into your heart. Then you need to tell yourself the truth about it and deal with it. You need to rid yourself of it by allowing the word of God that is being planted in your heart to take charge of you. James tells us that the word of God is able to rid our lives of every kind of evil and save our souls (James 1:21). But if we do not take His word seriously, we stand no chance to win this war or walk in victory over any of the evil things Satan may bring to possess our souls.
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HE WILL NOT TAKE SIDES WITH YOU 06/06/2024
“But Samuel replied: ‘Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.’” (1Samuel 15:22-23NIV)
Did you see what Samuel said about God’s view of rebellion? He said rebellion is like the sin of divination and arrogance like idolatry. So, as far as God is concerned, rebellion is like divination – it is like practising sorcery or witchcraft. If you, then, are rebellious, God sees you as one who is seeking to manipulate those who have authority over you.
And that is exactly what you are doing. You are trying to force them to abandon what they know to be right and follow your ways. That is why you are giving them attitudes and disobeying them. So, God says you are a witch and an idolater. How, then, will He take sides with you? It is not going to happen. Instead, He will expect those who have authority over you to deal with you.
Yes, there are times that those in authority may go beyond the laws or what is reasonable in judging rebellion or disobedience to authority. And if that happens to you, you should know that you are the cause. Even when you are in the will of God, those who have authority over will still judge your rebellion. No, God will not see your stand against their order or instructions as rebellion. But they will see it that way and so will judge it.
When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow for the idol of King Nebuchadnezzar, they were standing in the will of God. Yet their king did not see it that way. So, he sentenced them to death. He commanded that they be thrown into the fiery furnace he had prepared for rebels. And the only reason God protected them was that they were in His will. (Cf. Dan 3)
Daniel experienced something similar. King Darius issued an edict that no one should pray to anyone else but himself. Now Daniel knew that this edict was contrary to the righteousness of God. So, he disregarded it and continued to pray to God. That, of course, resulted in his being thrown into the den of lions. And the only reason God came to his rescue was that he was standing in His will. If he had not been standing in His will, he would have perished in that situation. (Cf. Dan 6)
I want you to understand, then, that it is only those standing in the will of God that He is under the obligation to protect from their leaders. Those who are not standing in His will should not expect Him to protect them from their leaders, if they are rebellious. And it is only if they are shown mercy that they will be protected. So, keep away from any form of wilful rebellion. God will not take sides with you on it.
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SUBMISSION AND PROTECTION 05/06/2024
“The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash. You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.” After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.” (Acts 19:35-41NIV)
There was a riot calling for Paul’s head. But when the city clerk would address the matter, he made the people see that there was no reason at all for their agitation or rioting. He told them that the people who started the riot were out of line. According to him, the people they were accusing were law-abiding citizens of Rome. They were not temple robbers or blasphemers. So, there was no reason to be calling for their heads. And if anyone did have issues with them, the courts were always open for them to approach and press charges. That was how God used that man to rescue Paul.
Also, in chapter 18 of the same book of Acts, God rescued Paul in a similar fashion. He was in Corinth then. And Gallio was the proconsul of Achaia. The Jews at the time made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the court. But Gallio would not even allow them to say a word before telling them that he would not be a judge of matters concerning the Jewish laws or religion. Therefore, they were ejected from his court. And that was the end of the story -- God had protected Paul from his enemies, using an unbelieving government official.
If you, then, are law-abiding, God can use the leaders of your government to protect you. You may not be able to say exactly how He will do that. But He is able to use them. And that is why you have to be submissive to those over you wherever you are and to the laws of your land.
There are people who pray all the time for God’s protection. They want Him to keep them safe when travelling and in their workplaces. But they would not obey traffic rules and regulations. Also, they would not take seriously the safety rules given in their workplaces. How on earth is God going to protect them?
God has given you leaders who are giving you instructions on how to be safe at work, on the road and so forth. But you will not listen to them. Instead, you are praying and doing vigils to have God’s protection. How is that going to happen? You are your own enemy.
We see similar things happening in our various Christian assemblies. Many get into trouble because they will not submit to their church leaders. We are told in the bible of how God protected a king of Israel from the king of Aram. And how did He do it? It was through the submissiveness of the man to Prophet Elisha. Any time Elisha gave him instructions about where to go and not to go, he obeyed. So, God was able to protect him and his kingdom. (Cf. 2Kings 6:8-12)
Now I am not saying you should turn your church leader to God in your life or allow any leader to take the place of the Holy Spirit in your life. No! But if you believe that they have the Spirit of God in them and that the counsel they are giving you is not contrary to Scriptures, you should submit to them. That may just be what will save your life, your home, your business or your job.
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TALK TO GOD 04/06/2024
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7NIV)
What is Paul saying here and what is he not saying? Well, Paul says do not be anxious about anything. In other words, do not become worried because of anything, the things you want to do, the things you want to have or the challenges you are faced with at the moment. Do not allow anything you are faced with to make you downcast.
But then, observe that Paul does not say, “Don’t worry about anything. All will be well by themselves.” He does not say that at all. Unfortunately, that is the idea that some people have. They think when we say, “Don’t worry about anything,” we are saying, “Things will somehow get better by themselves. So don’t worry about anything.”
But things don’t get better by themselves. If things do not become bad by themselves, then, they are not going to become good by themselves. There are forces, influences, beings that make things bad and make life sometimes miserable for us. And if things are going to become good or better for us, God must step in and change them.
That is why Paul does not just say, “Do not worry about anything”; he also says, “In every situation, talk to God.” He says tell God what you want, what you need. And when you do this, first, He will allow His peace to take charge of your heart and mind. This, of course, does not mean that the circumstances of your life have changed. Things may still remain the same for you or even worse, though you have cast them on God. But He will let His peace fill and calm your heart and mind. He will do this to assure you that He is in charge of the situation, even though you may not yet see anything happening about the matter you have entrusted to Him.
The second thing God will do, when you talk to Him about your situation, is to actually deal with that situation. Of course, everything He is doing to handle it may not be immediately clear to you. But sooner or later, you will see that the matter has been handled and that the peace He has given to you in your heart is not false peace at all. So, don’t give room for any form of worry in your life. You just talk to God about the situation, whatever it may be. And He will have it handled for you.
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SPEED UP THEIR READINESS 03/06/2024
“The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said, "You are sterile and childless, but you are going to conceive and have a son. Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean, because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines."” (Judg 13:3-5NIV)
Who did the angel of the Lord appear to, as we see in this text? It was Manoah’s wife, that is Samson’s mother. And what did He tell her about the child that she was going to have? It was that the child would begin the deliverance of the nation of Israel from the hands of the Philistines. So, if God is going to deliver a land or anyone from any form of oppression, He will begin somewhere and with someone.
But then, for those who are being oppressed, the person God uses in delivering them is often not their concern but the time He begins to use that person to deliver them. He can use anyone He likes, as long as the person begins the work on time and also succeeds in getting it done. Therefore, it is not enough for us to be praying that God will raise deliverers for us or for our nation, deliverers that will rescue us from all the mess we are in; it is equally important that we are praying that He speed up their readiness to do the job.
Why is this important? It is because until God considers people ready for whatever job He wants them to do, He cannot use them for it. They may know that He wants to use them in certain ways or even have a great burden to be used by Him in some ways. But until He has made them ready for what He wants to use them for, He won't send them forth. Otherwise, they may mess up the work or turn away from it for one reason or the other.
For example, even though God had chosen Moses for the deliverance of His people, something the man himself could sense, He did not call him and send him until he was eighty years old. Is that to say that people always have to be as old as Moses before God uses them in any tangible way? No! God did not wait for Samson or David to become eighty years of age before He began to use him to lead His people. Instead, He began to use him even as a young boy.
So, it is really not about the age but about the readiness of the vessel God wants to use. That being the case, we should not just be praying for God to raise deliverers and comforters for us in this country; we should also be praying that He will perfect all that concerns those He has chosen for this job, so that they will start working right away.
But are we going to pray to Him about this? Or are we praying to Him at all about this? Do we even believe in praying to God anymore, especially when we consider that our situation in the country seems to be getting worse instead of getting better? Our Lord Jesus says, “Men ought to always pray and not give up.” Why? It is because there are possibilities that we will be faced with challenges that will want to make us give up on praying to God. (Cf. Luke 18:1)
Now if we give up on praying to God, what are we going to turn to that will be able to save us? Will our wisdom be able to save us? Will violence or lawlessness be able to save us? What about rioting, industrial strike actions and so forth? Can these things save us?
If they could save us, we would have been saved long ago through them. But they cannot save us and will never be able to save us. The only one that can save us is God. And as our Lord Jesus says, if we will not give up on praying to Him, we will surely see His salvation. That is because He never puts off the prayers of His people but always acts quickly on their behalf. And the only way they will eventually see and enjoy the fruit of what He is doing for them is if they do not give up on Him and turn to the weapons of the flesh, which are nothing really.
So, don't give up on praying to God for this nation, for I too will not give up. And I am sure that at the right time, if we do not faint, we will all see the deliverance of our land and also enjoy it along with all God's holy people who are looking forward to it.
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BE CONCERNED ABOUT OTHERS TOO 02/06/2024
“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Phil 2:1NIV)
Why did God so favour Nehemiah that he ended up becoming the governor of Judah for some years? It was because he was genuinely concerned about the welfare of his people. As bible accounts show us, when this man first learnt of the horrible state of the exiles of Judah who had returned to Jerusalem, he mourned, fasted and prayed about their matter. Not only that, he risked his life by meeting the then emperor, Artaxerxes, for permission to go and work for their welfare. And because his heart was right, God caused him to be favored. That was how he became the governor that rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and that also gave the people the confidence they needed to live and thrive again. (Cf. Neh 1-6)
What, then, is the point of this bible story? It is that there are certain levels of elevation or significance we cannot attain in life, if we are not genuinely interested in the welfare of others. We read in the bible of how God used Moses to deliver the children of Israel from that house of bondage, Egypt. Why? Why was he the one chosen by God for the job? It was because he was genuinely interested in the welfare of his people, the Israelites.
Truly, this man did not initially know the right way to go about securing their independence. So, he ended up becoming a murderer. However, everything he did at that time, even in his ignorance, he did because he truly cared about his people and wanted to set them free to live in their own land and to eat the fruit of their own labour. And when God saw that he had learnt and become mature enough to handle the job, He came to him and equipped him with all that he would need to get the job done. And that was how he became one of the greatest prophets of all times. (Cf. Ex 2-3)
In like manner, if we too want God to elevate us to heights that are beyond even our own contemplation, if we want Him to greatly increase us in significance in life, we must rid ourselves of every form of selfishness and begin to take genuine interest in the lives of others around us. That is because it is usually those who are genuinely interested in the welfare of others that God reveals the solutions to their problems to.
Why are many of our elected leaders today clueless about the problems of their people? For the most part, it is because they are not genuinely interested in their welfare. If they are genuinely interested in their welfare, they will not sit still and watch them suffer or live in misery and pains in life. If they are genuinely interested in their welfare, they will not fold their arms and watch them destroy themselves through reckless, foolish and irresponsible lifestyles. Instead, they will subject themselves to serious thinking, consultations and even prayers, if they believe in God, in order to see how to make life better, safer and more rewarding for them. And it is as they do this that God will begin to open their eyes to see what steps to take to accomplish their missions and objectives, even if they do not believe in Him.
You can, then, see why we have nations of the world whose leaders do not know the Lord or are not religious at all that are yet living in prosperity and affluence. You can also see why we have scientists who do not know the Lord at all coming up with great inventions and discoveries that are making life better and safer for us all. These people love and care about the welfare of others around them. Some of them are even willing to risk their lives and everything they have to seek the welfare of others.
Therefore, God is not ashamed or reluctant to bless them with ideas and secrets that could turn their world around. And He can do the same with us too. Yes, He can continually overwhelm us with ideas and secrets that will solve most of the basic problems of our homes, neighbourhoods, offices, religious assemblies and even nation as a whole, if we will take the words of Paul to us in our opening bible text seriously. What does he say to us? He says, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Who among us does He say this to? All of us! Who among us should look out for the interests of others as well and not just his own interests? All of us!
But are we going to begin to do this? Are we going to begin to show genuine interest in the welfare of others in our lives and all around us instead of thinking and working for our own good alone? If we will begin to do so, then, God also will begin to equip us with the wisdom, understanding, knowledge, influence, power and resources that we need to take good care of them for Him. And before we know it, our lives will have increased immeasurably in goodness and significance, so much so that the top will be the only place that can accommodate us.
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THE RELEVANCE OF MODERATION 01/06/2024
“If you find honey, eat just enough — too much of it, and you will vomit. Seldom set foot in your neighbor's house — too much of you, and he will hate you.” (Prov 25:16-17NIV)
Years ago, as a boy in the primary school, I once fell terribly ill and had to be on drugs for some weeks. But instead for me to be getting better, I was only getting weaker and duller. It was so bad that I would sleep for most part of the school period. And when my teacher brought this to my father’s notice, he got really worried about it. Eventually, he went back to find out from the clinic where I had been treated and given medications what could be wrong. It was then he found out that he had been giving me an overdose of the medications. And if he had been a little late in finding out what he was doing wrong, the case would have ended differently.
Now what is the point of my story? It is that something that is meant to accomplish some good may end up accomplishing something bad, if it is not handled moderately. And it is this same point that Solomon is making in our opening bible text. According to him, as tasty and medicinal as honey can be, it is very little of it that our bodies can handle at a time. But if we ignore this fact and begin to drink it as one would drink water, it would not be long before we get into trouble. Then something that is supposed to heal us will end up endangering our lives. The same thing is applicable to salt and several other things that are available for our use.
Therefore, in using the things of this life, we must always pursue moderation. Yes, the Scripture says everything God created is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving (1Tim 4:4). However, if we do not know the right dose of these good things that God has created and use them accordingly, we will surely get ourselves in trouble. It does not matter whether it is food, water, drink, dress, sleep or even money that we are dealing with. As long as we do not use it moderately, it will lose its goodness and become evil in our hands, a channel through which Satan can afflict us.
How, then, do you know that you are being immoderate or excessive in the way you are using things that are good and not bad in themselves? First, when through your use of something that is good, you endanger your life or others’ lives, there is a tendency that you are being excessive in your use of it. Second, when through your use of something good, people start seeing you as irresponsible, you may be certain that you are already being excessive. So, as you use the good things God has placed at your disposal, be careful to always use them in ways that they will not endanger you or others or make you appear irresponsible to those who care about you.
Also, as Solomon further points out in our opening text, as important as it is to be friendly with our neighbours and to know how they are faring, it is not every time they will want us around them. Even if we think they need us, they may not think so. And if we are not discerning about this and be moderate in our dealings with them, we may end up unduly intruding or interfering with their lives and affairs. Then we may get to see what we should not see about them or get to access information or resources belonging to them that they don’t want us to have access to. And this may get them to become irritated about us or it may give room for them to begin to despise or disregard us.
Therefore, in handling our relationships, we must also and always seek to be moderate. Know when the visitation should end. Know when the chatting should end. Know where the quizzing should end. Master the art of getting to know how much of you people really want in their lives. Remember that even God usually does not come into people’s lives and affairs without first knocking and waiting for them to respond, even though He is the creator and owner of every one of us. And when He comes into our lives, He will still only move to the degree that we permit Him. Learn from God, then, and don’t unduly insert yourself into anyone’s life. (Cf. Rev 3:20)
Now someone may ask, “How do I know that I am already becoming excessive in my dealings with others?” First, when your dealings with them is making you irresponsible in any area of your life, preventing you from doing what you ought to do or paying attention to what you ought to pay attention to, your presence in their lives is becoming excessive. Second, when your dealings with them is making them irresponsible in any area of their lives, hindering them from being busy with what they ought to be busy with or resting when they ought to be resting, your presence in their lives is becoming immoderate.
Then when you can see that your presence in people’s lives or with them makes them uncomfortable or exposes you to things about them that you should know or are not qualified to be part of, know that it is becoming too much or excessive. So, you need to excuse yourself. Otherwise, as I said before, they may end up being the one that will excuse you. And the disgrace or shame that will accompany that may be too much for you to bear.
My prayer is that you will not be disgraced by those who are meant to honour you or ruined through anything God has given for your good. But you too must learn and master the art of moderation in life. The benefits are just too immense to ignore. Cheers!
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RECOGNISE THE OPPORTUNITIES THEY PRESENT 31/05/2024
“And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.” (Philippians 1:14NIV)
That was Paul’s testimony to the Philippians about his time in the prison. According to him, because of what he was doing with his time in the prison, other brethren who heard about it became excited the more to share the gospel and reach out to others. That means, right from the prison, Paul was still influencing the people of God. He did not diminish in relevance in the kingdom. He did not diminish in influence in the kingdom. Why? He would not waste his time in the prison on nonsense. Instead, he redeemed the time. He took advantage of the opportunities that his circumstances presented to him to remain useful in the kingdom of God.
Now this is the way we too must learn to live, recognising and utilising for good the opportunities that the circumstances of our lives present to us, regardless of how horrible those circumstances may be. What I am saying is that instead of wallowing in anxiety and in shame, instead of complaining, griping or grumbling, we are to open our eyes to see what opportunities our circumstances present to us that we can take advantage of, for the glory of God, for our good and for the good of others.
In the fourth of chapter of this book to the Philippians, Paul says something else very striking when writing his closing greetings. He says from verse 21, “Greet all God’s people in Christ Jesus. The brothers and sisters who are with me send greetings. All God’s people here send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household.” (Philippians 4:21-22NIV)
Consider that. A church was birthed in that place because Paul redeemed the time and would not waste the opportunities that his prison circumstances presented to him. Now I wouldn’t know what your own circumstances are. But if you will open your eyes to see the opportunities they present to you and make the most of them, great things will happen to the glory of God.
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PRAY ALSO 30/05/2024
“Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36NIV)
Observe that the Lord does not just say we are to be on the watch; He also tells us to pray. So, being on the watch is not enough; we must also learn to pray.
See, without offering prayers for strength and protection in these last days, we don’t stand a chance. The fact that you are on the watch does not mean you will be able to escape what is coming. If the Lord does not keep you in these last days, you will not be safe. That is the truth. If He does not protect you against the evil, the corruption, the pollution of these last days, there is no way you are going to escape these things.
For example, wasn’t Joseph watchful in the house of Potiphar? Was he not careful enough with his master’s wife? Read the account in Genesis 39, and you will see that the young man was very careful in relating to that woman. He made sure that he avoided her the moment he found out that the woman was interested in him. He saw that the woman wanted to lure him into adultery. So he began to avoid her. But as careful as he was, there was a day he fell into that woman’s trap. And if the Lord had not given him the wisdom to do the right thing with the woman, there was no way he would have escaped her snare. Nevertheless, he ended up in jail because of her evil scheme.
So, it does not matter how watchful or determined you are, if the Lord Himself does not support or sustain you in these last days, you will not be sustained. This has nothing to do with human might, power or intelligence. We do not have any competence of our own to survive in these last days.
It is no wonder, then, that Paul says to us in 2Corinthians, chapter 3, from verse 4, “Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.” (NIV) Look at that. It is not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves; our competence comes from God.
Then he goes on to say in verse 6, “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant – not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2Corinthians 3:6NIV) Our competence comes from God. Our ability to survive in these last days comes from God. So, we have to be drawing from Him. We have to draw from Him the wisdom we require to survive in these last days. We have to draw from Him the courage we require to survive in these last days. We have to draw from Him the strength to say ‘No’ to wickedness and worldly passions in these last days. We have to draw from Him the protection we need from all the calamities and plagues of these last days. We need to draw from Him the protection we need from the wickedness and the hostility of wicked people in these last days. We need to draw from Him all that we need to survive in these last days.
How, then, do we draw from Him? One major way to do so is through prayers. So, the Lord tells us directly in that text to pray that we will be able to escape all that is about to happen on the face of the earth. That means more terrible things are about to happen here on earth. And the only one that can keep us in the midst of them all is God Himself. So, we have to continually reach out for Him. We have to continually express our dependence on Him. We must realise that we cannot do this on our own. It is not by might nor by power but by His Spirit. Our intelligence cannot do this for us. Our will power cannot work here.
Let me remind you that Peter was determined not to deny his Lord. Read the account in the gospels yourself, and you will see that he was not lying when he said that he was ready to die with or for the Lord. But when the time came for him to prove himself, was he able to do so? No! The courage to do so was not there. The strength to do so was not there.
But the Lord had told him and the other apostles to pray that they would not fall into temptation. He did not just tell them to watch; He also told them to pray that they may not fall into temptation. But did they pray? No! The accounts show us that they were too tired to pray – they were sleepy. So, when the time of their testing came, they could not stand. Yes, they loved the Lord and did not want to deny Him. But all of them ended up running away from Him.
Now I am sure you don’t want to end up running away from the truth or the practice of righteousness in these last days. And if you don’t want to end up running away from the practice of righteousness, if you don’t want to end up falling into the trap of greed, immorality and bitterness in these last days, then, you must pray.
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BAD THINGS DON’T HAVE TO HAPPEN 29/05/2024
“This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: he was preparing swarms of locusts after the king’s share had been harvested and just as the late crops were coming up. When they had stripped the land clean, I cried out, ‘Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!’ So the Lord relented. ‘This will not happen,’ the Lord said. This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: the Sovereign Lord was calling for judgment by fire: it dried up the great deep and devoured the land. Then I cried out, ‘Sovereign Lord, I beg you, stop! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!’ So the Lord relented. ‘This will not happen either,’ the Sovereign Lord said.” (Amos 7:1-6NIV)
Amos narrates for us here two visions he saw about the Lord’s judgment that was coming on the nation of Israel. One of them was supposed to result in famine in the land. And when he saw this, he prayed to God, saying, “Sovereign Lord, please forgive. How can Jacob survive this?” In other words, he prayed to God not to allow what he had seen from happening. And how did God respond to that? He relented and said, “This will not happen.”
Then the second thing Amos saw was that fire devoured the land. That means there would be disasters that would devour the land. And when he saw this too, he did not say, “Well, since this is what God wants, let it be.” No, he did not say that. Instead, he prayed to God saying, “I beg you, Sovereign Lord, stop. This is too much for us. We cannot bear it. Please, forgive.” And God answered him and forgave the land.
Unfortunately, we have today people who, when they see visions of bad things that are meant to happen, will desire that those things happen. Why? It is that they may appear before people as real prophets. People like such are like Prophet Jonah and are not functioning with the mind of Christ.
Bad things don’t have to happen, even if we have seen them in a vision. We can intercede that they will not happen. Of course, there is an extent to which our intercession can work for people, if they will not turn away from their wickedness. But at least, we can intercede for them.
Amos interceded for the land twice. And God answered him those two times. We too can intercede for our land, our people or anyone that God has revealed bad things to us about. Then we can also proceed to warn them. In fact, we are to warn them, unless God has instructed us not to say anything to them. But if He has not warned us not to warn people about the things He has shown us concerning them, bad things that may happen them, we need to warn them so that they may turn from their wicked ways and be saved. And that is because bad things don’t have to happen to anyone, if they can be avoided.
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Stop denying to truth 28/05/2024
“But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.” (James 3:14-16NIV)
What is James saying here? First, it is that we can habour wrong and destructive things in our hearts and lives. Second, it is that when we are confronted with the truth about that which is wrong in our lives, we may begin to boast about it. So, you can be boasting about the fact that you are selfish, proud, stingy, wasteful or inconsiderate.
I have seen people boast about such things before. Yes, I have seen people pride themselves in the fact that they are harsh, proud, selfish and inconsiderate in the way they treat others. And it is such people that condemn those who humble themselves before the word of God in handling their lives and refer to them as foolish.
The third thing James says in that text is that we can deny the presence of wrong things in our lives. And when we deny something, we cannot repent of it. If we will not agree that we have been selfish, proud, inconsiderate or stingy in life, we will not see anything to repent of. This, of course, is very dangerous for us. That is because it can lead to a sudden destruction of our lives and even of everything dear to us.
See, those who are boasting about the wrong things they are doing can still be helped. They can still be brought to repentance. But those who are self-deceived, those who will not admit that they are missing it in their lives or homes and need to repent cannot be helped much. And such people, if care is not taken, may end up being utterly and suddenly destroyed by the devil, something that I pray will never happen to you or your home.
So, if you have gone off at a tangent in your life, you need to admit it and stop boasting about it or denying the truth. The wisdom that you think you possess that is making you to act like that, as James tells us, is unspiritual and satanic. Yes, your friends or colleagues at work or even family members may be praising you for being so smart in the way you are handling your life. But the word of God says you are operating by a worldly, unspiritual and satanic wisdom. And soon enough, that wisdom will fill your life with confusion and destruction. It is only a matter of time.
What, then, do you want? Do you want to continue to operate with that satanic wisdom and ruin your life, your home and perhaps your faith as well? Or do you want to embrace the wisdom of God and live humbly before His word?
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LOVE IN DEMONSTRATION 27/05/2024
“Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.” (Gen 24:67NIV)
Can you see what is said about Isaac in that text? He loved his wife the moment he married her, even though he was not the one that chose her – she was chosen for him. And because he loved her, they went on to have a great home together. They did not divorce themselves, neither did they end up becoming polygamous.
Did they not have challenges? They did! For instance, we are told this about them in the bible:
“Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.” (Gen 25:21-22NIV)
Did you see that? Just as Sarah, Isaac’s mother, was barren for years, his own wife too was barren for almost twenty years. And how did her husband respond to that? Did he go Rebekah’s maid, as his father, Abraham did? No! Did he find another lovely woman in town to marry? No! Or did he put the blame on Rebekah or on his father’s servant who brought her for him to marry? No! Or did he go for a divorce and send her back home to her people? No!
What did he do, instead? He prayed for her. Why? It was because he loved her. And did God answer his prayer or not? He did.
Think about it. Isaac did not even go looking for any prophet to pray for them (and I doubt if there was any at the time). And he did not send his wife out to start looking for the solution to her barrenness. It is a shame that this what some men often do when there is a challenge in their homes. They will put the blame on their wives and send her to go alone in finding a solution to the challenge.
This is why5 most of our prayer mountains today are never in shortage of married women or mothers seeking solutions alone to their family problems. Where are the men? If you ever find them on any prayer mountain, they are most likely there for themselves, their health, their jobs, their businesses, their ministries or their future partners. It is usually about them. And to say the fact, it is highly irresponsible of us to be acting like that.
This is also why many women have become preys of sorcerers, wizards, herbalists and false prophets. For example, I was once told of a woman that was looking for the fruit of the womb and of how she met a prophet about the matter. And what did he tell her? He told her that he must sleep with her for at least seven times, if I remember correctly, before she would be able to conceive. That’s outrageous, right? But it did happen. And even though what the man asked of that woman was totally ungodly, she yielded and allowed him to sleep with her for a number of times before the matter was exposed.
Why did that happen to that woman? First, it was because she was desperate. Second, it was because her husband left her all alone to solve their common problem. Perhaps you too have been acting like that, often leaving your wife to solve your family challenges alone. Apart from the fact that you are acting irresponsibly, your love for your wife is questionable. If you love her, then, you will never abandon her to face any issue of her life or of your home all by herself.
Isaac did not leave Rebekah to face her barrenness alone. Instead, he took it on himself to pray for her. And God answered. That is love in demonstration. And that is what is also expected of all of us that are men. We are to love her wives and to demonstrate this love both in word and deed.
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ACCEPT YOUR PRAYER RESPONSIBILITIES 26/05/2024
“Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving…” (Col 4:2NKJV)
This is an instruction and not a suggestion. And it is an instruction each of us must personalise. In other words, I must see it as a personal instruction to me. You too must see it as a personal instruction to you. Therefore, we must keep on praying, morning, noon, evening and night. And we must be earnest, serious about it.
It is unfortunate that many of God's people are not serious about prayer. And you can easily detect this from the way they pray in their church meetings. When they are not being frightened or manipulated to pray, most of them will not be serious with it. So, you may find them dozing off, getting distracted with things that do not concern them or just pacing the floor and getting lost in thought. Why? They have not accepted their prayer responsibilities. And that way, they will often have to rely on other people's prayers for them.
But however committed others may be in praying for us, there are things their prayers will never be able to take care of in our lives. For example, before the Lord went to the cross, He plainly told Peter that He had prayed for him so that his faith would not eventually fail. And God did answer that prayer. But Peter himself needed to pray for himself so that he would not fall into temptation. And did he do that? No! So, he fell into temptation. Yes, the Lord's prayer for him got him restored. But it could not keep him from falling in the first place. (Cf. Luke 22:31-62)
In like manner, it is not every time that the prayers of your pastor, parents, siblings, friends, colleagues at work or brethren in church will be enough to get you out of certain troubles of life or to get you elevated to certain positions in life. So, you must accept your own prayer responsibilities and be serious in carrying them out. Otherwise, a day may come when, as Peter wept profusely after denying Jesus three times in a row, you too may have to weep over certain matters of your life that you have failed to pray about.
But then, as I pointed out before, accepting your prayer responsibilities does not mean you have to abandon life and every other thing just pray. Rather, it means that your heart is continually reaching out for God for all that you need and is always ready to break out in prayers. So, don't abandon your responsibilities at work (if you have not taken due permission to do so) or at home (if you have not gotten your partner or a trusted person to stand in for you) in order to pray. That will amount to doing the right thing at the wrong time. And it will come with consequences, something you will have observed, if you have been doing so.
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EVERYONE MUST BE INVOLVED 25/05/2024
“Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. Let the priests, who minister before the LORD, weep between the temple porch and the altar. Let them say, 'Spare your people, O LORD. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?''” (Joel 2:15-17NIV)
Those were the words spoken by Prophet Joel to the people of Judah, as he watched them wallowing in misery and pains. And what was he asking them to do? He was asking them to blow the trumpet and call everyone together to fast and pray for the land. Otherwise, things should be expected to go from bad to worse for them.
As we see in other passages of Joel's book of prophecy, God, at the time He said these things, was judging the land. So, food, joy, gladness and peace had been cut off from them. But God was not done at all. He was still bringing in a large and mighty army that would ravage the land and make it desolate. And that is what happens when people persist in wickedness and will not pay attention to their experience of God's judgment. Things can only get worse and worse for them. (Cf. Joel 1&2)
But things don't have to get worse for us, regardless of what degree of God's judgment we are faced with in our lives or in our land. All we need is to humble ourselves and turn to God for mercy. And that was what Joel was calling his people to do. He said to them, “Look, don't let us wait until the unbelieving nations around us begin to say, 'Where is your God?' before we turn to Him for salvation. Instead, let us call out everybody, old and young, priests and prophets, leaders and followers, husbands and wives, grooms and brides, mothers and sucklings, and ask God to spare us and take away our shame.”
In like manner, this is what we should be doing in Nigeria now, especially those of us who know God and who are called by the name of Jesus. We should be calling out to one another in our various assemblies and getting everyone involved in praying to God for the salvation of our nation. As clearly shown in Scriptures, all that we are experiencing now is nothing but the judgment of God on our land for our widespread injustice, bloodshed and idolatry, even in the church. What I am saying is that we don't need any prophet to tell us that all that we are now witnessing in form of banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and a breakdown of social order in every part of our country are signs of God's judgment on our land. (Cf. Ezekiel 14:12-21; Amos 4:6-13)
And if we do not want things to get worse for us, as they usually get worse for nations and peoples that refuse to pay attention to what God is saying to them, those of us who know the Lord need to begin to get every one of us involved in praying for the land. This is not a job for the leaders of our congregations alone; it is a job involving every one of us. So, instead of gathering together to offer selfish prayers or to promote things that do not edify us or our nation, we should cultivate the culture of remembering our nation in prayers in each of our prayer meetings. (Cf. Leviticus 26:13-39; Deut 28:15-68)
Now is there any assurance that when we pray like this God will answer? Yes! In fact, the next thing Joel says after his call to prayer in the verses in our opening bible text is this: “Then the LORD will be jealous for his land and take pity on his people. The LORD will reply to them 'I am sending you grain, new wine and oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations.'” (Joel 2:18-19NIV)
Did you see that? If we will pray to God to save our land, He will show us mercy and speak tenderly to us. Why? It is because He does not delight in anybody's destruction but in their salvation. This, in fact, is why He has severally instructed us in His word to take praying for our nation and all men seriously. So, beginning at our family levels, let us start to get everyone involved in praying to God for the salvation of our nation. Then, instead for things to go from bad to worse for us, God will show us mercy and redeem us.
Have a lovely day.
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EVERYONE MUST BE INVOLVED 25/05/2024
“Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber. Let the priests, who minister before the LORD, weep between the temple porch and the altar. Let them say, 'Spare your people, O LORD. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?''” (Joel 2:15-17NIV)
Those were the words spoken by Prophet Joel to the people of Judah, as he watched them wallowing in misery and pains. And what was he asking them to do? He was asking them to blow the trumpet and call everyone together to fast and pray for the land. Otherwise, things should be expected to go from bad to worse for them.
As we see in other passages of Joel's book of prophecy, God, at the time He said these things, was judging the land. So, food, joy, gladness and peace had been cut off from them. But God was not done at all. He was still bringing in a large and mighty army that would ravage the land and make it desolate. And that is what happens when people persist in wickedness and will not pay attention to their experience of God's judgment. Things can only get worse and worse for them. (Cf. Joel 1&2)
But things don't have to get worse for us, regardless of what degree of God's judgment we are faced with in our lives or in our land. All we need is to humble ourselves and turn to God for mercy. And that was what Joel was calling his people to do. He said to them, “Look, don't let us wait until the unbelieving nations around us begin to say, 'Where is your God?' before we turn to Him for salvation. Instead, let us call out everybody, old and young, priests and prophets, leaders and followers, husbands and wives, grooms and brides, mothers and sucklings, and ask God to spare us and take away our shame.”
In like manner, this is what we should be doing in Nigeria now, especially those of us who know God and who are called by the name of Jesus. We should be calling out to one another in our various assemblies and getting everyone involved in praying to God for the salvation of our nation. As clearly shown in Scriptures, all that we are experiencing now is nothing but the judgment of God on our land for our widespread injustice, bloodshed and idolatry, even in the church. What I am saying is that we don't need any prophet to tell us that all that we are now witnessing in form of banditry, terrorism, kidnapping and a breakdown of social order in every part of our country are signs of God's judgment on our land. (Cf. Ezekiel 14:12-21; Amos 4:6-13)
And if we do not want things to get worse for us, as they usually get worse for nations and peoples that refuse to pay attention to what God is saying to them, those of us who know the Lord need to begin to get every one of us involved in praying for the land. This is not a job for the leaders of our congregations alone; it is a job involving every one of us. So, instead of gathering together to offer selfish prayers or to promote things that do not edify us or our nation, we should cultivate the culture of remembering our nation in prayers in each of our prayer meetings. (Cf. Leviticus 26:13-39; Deut 28:15-68)
Now is there any assurance that when we pray like this God will answer? Yes! In fact, the next thing Joel says after his call to prayer in the verses in our opening bible text is this: “Then the LORD will be jealous for his land and take pity on his people. The LORD will reply to them 'I am sending you grain, new wine and oil, enough to satisfy you fully; never again will I make you an object of scorn to the nations.'” (Joel 2:18-19NIV)
Did you see that? If we will pray to God to save our land, He will show us mercy and speak tenderly to us. Why? It is because He does not delight in anybody's destruction but in their salvation. This, in fact, is why He has severally instructed us in His word to take praying for our nation and all men seriously. So, beginning at our family levels, let us start to get everyone involved in praying to God for the salvation of our nation. Then, instead for things to go from bad to worse for us, God will show us mercy and redeem us.
Have a lovely day.
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A HARD PART OF LEADERSHIP 24/05/2024
“For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them.” (1Sam 3:13NIV)
Eli, as we are shown in the bible, was a true man of God and a good man. And though his sons were children of Belial, he was not a partaker of their sins and wickedness. However, because he was the chief priest of Israel at that time, it was on him to deal with those sons of his that were desecrating the priesthood God had given them.
As God told Samuel in our opening bible text, Eli was supposed to have restrained them by sacking them. But he did not do that. And because he did not do so, God decided to punish him and his entire family line along with them. What a shame! (Cf. 1Sam 2:27-36)
Now what is the point of this? It is simply that if we are occupying any leadership position, we need to know that God is expecting us to use our authority to ensure that those under us are not misbehaving and getting away with it. Otherwise, we ourselves may end up being punished along with them, even though we are not partners with them in their error or misbehaviour.
To say the fact, one of the hardest jobs of leadership is restraining people, putting in place measures that ensure that people don’t behave as they please or get away with wrongdoings. That is because it can make you a lifetime enemy of those involved. It can make people label you will all kinds of derogatory names or titles or make them begin to seek your downfall or death.
But any home that will remain sane and healthy and not destroy itself must have over it parents that are bold and tough enough to restrain their children and prevent them from always acting as they please. And any society, organisation or institution that does not want to collapse without warning must have over it leaders that are bold and firm enough to restrain those in it and keep them from doing as they please. In like manner, any church of God in which the brethren will remain sound and healthy spiritually must have as leaders men and women that are bold and tough enough to restrain the members and let them know that they cannot be doing as they please and be ignored.
As we know from Scriptures, human beings are naturally delinquent. That means they are naturally prone to do evil. Therefore, if there is no one to restrain them, they will, just as in the days of Noah, continue to do as they please until they destroy themselves. All of this is why God has established for us all kinds of human and spiritual authorities, starting from our homes. And He has placed swords in the hands of those occupying these positions of authority to keep us in line and prevent us from destroying ourselves and everyone around us. (Cf. Rom 13:1-5)
Unfortunately, in many situations and for various reasons, those bearing these swords don’t use them to restrain evil. Instead, they, like Aaron of bible days, tend to succumb to the pressure of those under them and allow them to have their way (Ex 32). You can see why governments of several nations of the world today are now passing laws in favour of homosexuality, lesbianism and other related nonsense and why some of them are actually overlooking injustice and insecurity in many ways.
But what such leaders they don’t realise is that when those appointed by God to restrain evil refuse to do so, a time will come when He Himself will step in to do the needful, as in the case of Eli. And where this is the case, even the authorities involved will not be spared on the day of judgment.
So, wherever you are occupying a leadership position, remember that an essential part of your job is to restrain evil. Yes, it is a hard one, perhaps the hardest part of your job. But it has to be done, if you don’t want to end up paying for crimes you have not committed. So, get the job done or resign.
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YOU MAY NOT GET ALONG WELL 23/05/2024
“I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.” (Phil 4:2-3NIV)
How does Paul describe Euodia and Syntyche in those verses? He describes them as women whose names are in the book of life and who have also fought hard at his side for the cause of the gospel. That means they were both great believers and ministers of the gospel. Yet they could not agree with each other to work together in the assembly. What was the cause of their disagreement? We are not told. But we are told that they could not walk together as one and so needed someone to help them deal with whatever was causing disagreement between them.
So, you can see that great and wonderful believers may not get along well in the same assembly, at work, in school or neighbourhood. Is that to say that they are enemies? Not necessarily so! But for some reasons they may not just be able to cooperate to do anything tangible together. In fact, it may be that God does not want them to function in the same space. And that will be because He has different fields of operation for them.
Remember that there was a time that Abraham and Lot had to part ways. Was there any disagreement between the two men? No! But there were constant frictions between their workers. And that was because the space they were both operating in had become too small for them. So, the only wise thing for them to do at the time was to go their separate ways. Yes, how Lot handled the choice of where they both went was not commendable. But that is not to say that they were wrong to go their separate ways at the time. They were right. (Cf. Gen 13)
Why am I sharing all this with you? It is to let you know that the fact that someone is a child of God does not mean that you can do things together. Your peculiarities may not just make room for the two of you to be able to work together, do business together or marry each other and get along. Sometimes, it may even be the people in your lives that will make it hard for you to do things together without stepping on each other’s toes.
Now where that is the case, don’t force things. In other words, where it is not absolutely necessary or compulsory that you do things together, make sure you don’t force yourself into doing things with them. That will reduce your chances of quarrelling with each other. (Cf. Rom 12:18)
Second, where you have to do things together, be willing to respect their peculiarities and promote their interests, as long as doing so does not set you against the will of God (Phil 2:4). Respecting and advancing other people’s interests does not make a fool of you. Rather, it shows that you are loaded with humility and peace. And if you do that long enough, you may just earn the respect and trust of the person involved and build a loving and lasting relationship. But if that still won’t work, you will need to do your best to stay out of trouble and let God have His way.
Have a pleasant day.
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FULFILLING YOUR WOMANHOOD 22/05/2024
“Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.” (Prov 31:11-12NIV)
Did you what is said about the husband of the virtuous woman? It is said that her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. Why? It is because she is devoted to bringing him good and not harm, as long as she lives.
What this means is that God expects you to go into your marriage, as a woman, to do your husband good and not harm, all the days of your life. He expects you to go into that marriage and perfect your man. Yes, He expects that you will go into that marriage and lawfully use everything you have, knowledge, wisdom, strength, love, affection, resources, influence, education and so forth, to complete your man, to supply whatever is lacking in his life, so that he may be a total man. And it is as you devote yourself to doing that, that your real womanhood is expressed and perfected.
Am I saying that a woman cannot be a real person without going into a love or marriage relationship? No! With or without marriage, a woman is a real and complete person. And from what our Lord Jesus Christ Himself teaches us, when we come into His eternal kingdom, nobody will be getting married to anybody. That is because we all are going to be like the angels and there will no longer be what we call sex distinctions. (Cf. Matt 22:23-32)
So, it is only in this world that we have to deal with sex distinctions. And if a woman should decide not to marry at all, nothing is wrong with that. She can still fulfil her humanity without getting married, regardless of her field of study or vocation. That is because being human, as we are told in the Scriptures, is all about living in reverence fear of God and keeping His word (Ecc 12:13). Anyone who lives on this basis, then, is the real human being.
However, when we are talking about womanhood, it can only be well and fully realised and expressed in a marriage relationship. I know that is contrary to the thinking or philosophy of our feminist groups and foundations. But what they think about this matter does not really count. What counts is what God says about it. And God is saying that if you want to stand out as a real woman, not just as another human being, then, you have to be in a marriage relationship and function appropriately there.
Again, do not misrepresent me or miss my point in this matter. I am not against feminist groups or movements. In fact, I commend them for the bold steps they are taking in defending the rights of the woman in a world that is twisted in its understanding of how women should be treated. However, in dealing with love or marriage matters and how women should handle them, they are often working against God’s revelation and will for the marriage institution. That is why they hardly succeed in solving marital problems. Instead, they often compound them. And if you, as a woman, want to have a great home, as far as marriage matters are concerned, you should listen only to God and not to men.
Well, my point is that if you want to realise your womanhood, it can only happen in a marriage relationship. But it won’t happen automatically, if you do not know what is expected of you in your marriage and act accordingly. And one of the things expected of you in your marriage is that you support and do your husband good with everything you have got, all the days of your life. So, this is a life time commitment. And if you are not ready for it, you should forget about marriage.
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PRAYER IS A DUTY. 21/05/2024
“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” (Colossians 4:2NIV)
Why would you devote yourself to prayer? It is because it is a duty. We devote ourselves to our families, for we know that we are responsible for them. We devote ourselves as students to our studies, for we know it is our duty to do so. Otherwise, we will not do well. Also, in business, we devote ourselves to those things that will make our businesses flourish. Why? It is our duty to do so. And if we do not do it, no one else will do it for us. Then, if you want to do well in your workplace and rise there, you devote yourself to doing the right thing there – you handle every task diligently.
In like manner, we must see prayer as a duty. Therefore, our attitude towards it must be that of devotion. And it is those who devote themselves to prayer in this sense that we can refer to as men and women of prayer. In Psalm 109, verse 4, David refers to himself as a man of prayer. Can you also refer to yourself as a man of prayer? Can you refer to yourself as a woman of prayer?
I can refer to myself as a man of prayer. That is because I take my prayer duties very seriously. I take my prayer duties for my family, the church of God and my country very seriously. That is because I have come to know that it will be a sin for me not to do so.
You too must take your prayer duties seriously. You must understand that it is a sin for you not to take them seriously. God is going to hold you responsible for those you are supposed to pray for that you will not pray for and who fail because of this. He will hold you and me responsible for things that fail or get ruined under our watch because we will not pray.
I know we don’t usually think like this. This is why we hardly take prayer seriously, even in our church meetings. Here is someone who has come for a prayer meeting. Yet he is sleeping all the time. Or he is wandering in his mind. He is not excited or serious about it because he thinks it is the exclusive duty of the preacher to do all the praying or most of the praying.
But it is your duty to pray. And you must be faithful in doing so. God is not going to reward your irresponsibility in handling prayer. That is why a lot of things are not in place in the lives of many of us. We are irresponsible as far as prayer matters are concerned. And the word of God is telling us today to wake up and be faithful in prayer.
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THE COST OF REWARDING YOURSELF 20/05/2024
“Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?" (1Sam 15:19NIV)
Who were these words spoken to? It was King Saul. And why were they spoken to him? It was because he disobeyed God's instruction to him. And what was God's instruction to him? It was for him to go and utterly destroy the Amalekites and everything belonging to them.
Now did he go or not? He actually went, fought the Amalekites and destroyed them. But he did not carry out the Lord's instruction exactly the way he was told. He was supposed to destroy all the Amalekites and everything they had. But he did not do that. The bible says, “He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs — everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.” (1Sam 15:8-9NIV)
Did you see that? First, Saul spared the king of the Amalekites. Why? We are not told. Perhaps the man promised to deliver some hidden wealth to him. We really would not know. What we do know, however, was that he had no authority to spare something God had already sentenced to death.
Second, he and his men were reluctant to destroy the best of the animals of the Amalekites. But they destroyed all the weak and despised ones. Why? Greed! They just could not imagine how they would carry out such a great task, at the risk of their lives and resources, and not get paid or rewarded for it. So, again, they chose to reward themselves with things that God had already marked for destruction.
But was God not going to reward Saul and his men for this task? He surely was going to reward them. The bible tells us that there is nothing we do for the Lord that will be in vain (1Cor 15:58). In other words, He will surely reward us for everything we do for Him. How is He going to reward us? We will know when He does reward us. And when is He going to reward us? We will also know this when He rewards us. But He will not fail to reward us at the right time and in the right way. (Cf. Gal 6:9)
All we need to do, then, is to patiently wait for Him to reward us for whatever we do for Him. And that was what Saul was supposed to lead his men to do. He was supposed to lead his men to carry out the Lord's instruction to the full and then wait for Him to reward them for their faithfulness. As we see in the bible, several years after this, God gave Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon the task of utterly destroying the city of Tyre. And he did it faithfully. But he got no reward from doing so. Therefore, God decided to reward him with the wealth of Egypt by handing Egypt over to him. Isn't that amazing? It is! (Cf. Ezekiel 29:17-20)
In like manner, God would have rewarded Saul for doing His work faithfully, if he had not chosen to reward himself. But he was obviously ignorant of the fact that God rewards those who are faithful to Him. So, as we are told in our opening bible text, he and his men pounced on some of the animals they were supposed to destroy and rewarded themselves with them. And God responded to that by taking the throne of Israel that He had given him away from him and his family forever.
Now think about it. Which would Saul consider to be more important, the throne or the few animals of the Amalekites? Evidently, he would take the throne to be more important to him, any day and anytime. But he lost it because he chose to reward himself for the work God had given him instead of patiently waiting for God to reward him.
In the same vein, we too can lose more than God's reward when we choose to reward ourselves for serving Him instead of waiting for His reward. This is why our Lord Jesus warns us about monetising the things God wants us to freely give to others and also about serving God to win the praise of men (Matt 6:1 & 10:7-8). These things will surely make us lose whatever reward we may have hoped to receive from God. And they can even make us lose more. They can make us lose our health like Gehazi or lose our ministry and lives like Judas Iscariot. Therefore, we need to be watchful so that we don't get ruined by taking for ourselves rewards God has not given to us.
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WE CAN TAKE O
19/05/2024
“Then the officials and all the people said to the priests and the prophets, "This man should not be sentenced to death! He has spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God."” (Jer 26:16NIV)
One of the reasons God's people often shy away from speaking the truth or confronting wickedness where they are is fear of persecution. And there are times indeed that speaking against unrighteousness can be very dangerous. There are times that it could go beyond ordinary threats to real assaults on the lives of those involved.
For instance, as we are told in the chapter of the book of Jeremiah from which we have taken our opening bible text, there was a prophet of God like this man who also spoke of God's judgment coming upon Jerusalem, her king, her officials and her people. His name was Uriah son of Shemaiah. But King Jehoiakim did not take his prophecy kindly at all. Instead, he sought to kill him. And though the man ran away to Egypt, this wicked king still sent people to go and find him. And when they brought him, he was killed, and his body was disposed as that of any common man. (Cf. Jer 26:20-23)
So, confronting evil can be really dangerous and life-threatening. Yet God wants us to confront it with the truth, especially when we are in a position to do so or when He has sent us to deliver His word against it. And though many come against us to harm us for speaking the truth or for standing for righteousness, we need to learn to entrust ourselves to Him for safe keeping. That is because He is able to raise people to defend and protect us.
See, it is not every time that God employs angelic protection to save His people from enemies of the truth or from wicked and unreasonable people. There are times that it is even those that we consider to be unbelievers that He uses to save them. For example, as we are shown in our opening text, the people that God used in protecting Jeremiah from the religious leaders of the land that wanted to kill him were those who were not religious at all. (Cf. Jer 26:1-15)
Think about it. It was actually the so-called priests and the so-called prophets of the land of Judah that wanted Jeremiah's head. Why? Was it because he was a wicked sinner that deserved nothing but death? No! Rather, it was because he spoke to the land in the name of the Lord, addressing their wickedness and calling them back to repentance. And what could be wrong with calling people back to repentance and warning them against the coming wrath of God? Nothing! But those priests and prophets were offended by that because they themselves were chiefs in practising wickedness in the land.
You are probably familiar with that kind of situation, a situation in which it is the so-called Christians where you are that are calling for your head and persecuting you. Why? It may be because you are confronting their wickedness or because you are exposing their evil. So, they want to get rid of you. And they may not mind how far they have to go in doing so.
Now that was the situation Jeremiah found himself. He found himself about to be killed because he spoke the truth in the name of the Lord. But just when he felt death was sure, God used the people he least expected Him to use to defend him. He used the government officials of the land, who were probably the most corrupt in the land, to defend him. They all came together as one and said, “No, Jeremiah must not be executed. He has not done anything wrong by speaking the word of the Lord to us. He has only done us good by warning us ahead, so that judgment will not come upon us.” And that was how he was snatched from the mouth of the lions that wanted to devour him.
In like manner, as long as we are ready to stand for His truth where we are, God also is ever ready to raise people, even those that we least expect, to defend us against the hostility and wickedness of men who hate righteousness and love to suppress the truth. But are we ready to stand for the truth and watch God raise all kinds of defenders and protectors for us while doing so? Or are we going to keep standing back and allow wickedness to continue to gain ground where we are, all because we are afraid of men? Which one is it going to be?
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HE WILL EXPOSE THEIR EVIL PLOTS 18/05/2024
“But when the son of Paul's sister heard of this plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul.” (Acts 23:16NIV)
The word of God clearly teaches us to watch how we live in this world. Why? It is because the days we live in are evil days. To say the fact, man’s days here on earth have become evil days right from the day Adam fell into the sin of disobedience in the Garden of Eden. And we see an illustration of this in what happened to Abel through the hands of his own brother, Cain. So, each of us must study to walk with wisdom and with open eyes every new day. Otherwise, we may just end up becoming victims of the schemes of the evil men and women of these evil days. (Cf. Gen 3&4; Eph 5:15-16)
However, even if we are most watchful and careful in our dealings with men, if God does not keep us safe from the schemes of the wicked, we will not be safe. That is why Solomon says unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen or guards can only stay awake to watch over it in vain (Ps 127:1). So, regardless of how careful and watchful we may be in this life, we must never put our trust in our carefulness or watchfulness. Rather, we should put it in God who is able to both expose the plots of the wicked against us and to also keep us safe from them.
For example, Paul experienced God’s salvation in this manner when he was arrested in Jerusalem by the religious leaders of the Jews. They had apprehended him because of the gospel and tried to establish for the Roman authorities that he was indeed a criminal deserving nothing but death. But they were not successful. They only ended up arguing among themselves. So, Paul had to be kept in the barracks by the Roman army commander in the place where he had been arrested. (Cf. Acts 21-23)
Now it was while he was there in the barracks that more than forty Jewish men made a solemn oath to assassinate him. And they informed their religious leaders about how they intended to execute their wicked plot. But God, who was continually watching over Paul, exposed their plot to his nephew, his sister’s son. So, in a very discreet manner, he told him about it. Then the commander that was holding him in his barracks was also informed about it. And that was how he was delivered from traps of those wicked and unreasonable men that were seeking his life.
In like manner, God is able to deliver us too from all those who are secretly plotting to harm or injure us. He is able to expose their evil plots and also make provisions for us to be saved from them. All we need is to continually commit ourselves and all that is ours into His hands, even as we are careful and watchful. And He will make known to us every hidden evil scheme of men’s hearts that is geared towards hurting or destroying us.
As we are also shown in the bible, in the days of Elisha, God always revealed to him all that the king of Aram and his officials were planning, even the things they were planning in this king’s bedroom (2Kings 6:8-12). So, he was able to warn the king of Israel of their plots and keep the nation safe. And that is how things will be for you too. The secret plots of all those who are seeking your destruction and downfall will never be hidden. They will always be exposed. And God will keep you and your whole household safe from all forms of evil both now and forever, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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WE CAN TAKE OUR STAND AGAINST HIM 17/05/2024
“The Lord said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.” (Job 2:6-7NIV)
Notice that Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job. So, it was not God that afflicted him; it was Satan that afflicted him. But he did not see the hand of the devil in what was happening to him. Therefore, instead of resisting him, instead of talking to God about the situation, so that He would destroy the works of the devil in his life, he kept on blaming God for everything. He blamed him for harassing and tormenting, even though he had done nothing wrong.
Now from this we can see that you do not need to do anything wrong for Satan to work in your life. You do not need to be a sinner or a wicked person for him to work in your life. You do not need to do any bad thing for Satan to work in your life. He can afflict anybody. He can attack anybody. Once he has an opportunity to work somewhere, he is going to work there. So, it is on us not to allow him to work. It is on us to take our stand against him.
Paul tells us in Ephesians 6 to put on the whole armour of God, so that we can stand against the schemes of the devil. So, we really can take our stand against the schemes of the devil. We do not have to allow him to have a free day in our lives. We do not have to allow him to destroy our lives, our homes, our marriages, our children or anything dear to us. We do not have to permit him to keep us in poverty or in misery. We can take our stand against him.
But if we do not know his schemes or recognise his works, we, as Job did, will accept his works and take it as fate. We will be saying, “Maybe that is how God wants things to be. Maybe He wants me to suffer or die in this situation.” We will be talking like that because we don’t know that the one messing us up is the devil. But he is the one. And we can resist him, as children of God. We can take our stand against him. We just need to recognise his works and how he functions, so that we will not permit him to work in our lives but drive him.
Remember that James says if we resist the devil, he will flee from us – he will run away from us (James 4:7). But he won’t run away from us, if we do not resist him. Satan has to be shown that we are willing to resist him. He is not going to assume that we will resist him. He will want to devour and ruin us, just to see if we are going to resist him or not. And this is why we must not be ignorant of his works. We need to know when he is working, so that we can take our stand against him.
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A PLACE OF RESPONSIBILITIES 16/05/2024
“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, “Son, go and work today in the vineyard.” “I will not,” he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, “I will sir,” but he did not go. Which of the two did what his father wanted? “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” (Matthew 21:28-31NIV)
Here the Lord is showing us that the kingdom of God is a place of responsibilities. There is work for everyone to do in it. In fact, we are told in Ephesians 2 that God created us to do the good works He has prepared in advance for us to do. And as we fellowship with Him day by day, He reveals these good works He wants us to do to us and also expects us to carry them out. These works may be ones to be done in our homes, neighbourhoods, offices, towns, cities and so forth. But they are works that God has prepared in advance for us to do. And we must be willing and devoted to doing them.
So, we are to ask, “What are my responsibilities in the church and to the world?” Don’t just come around for church meetings to listen to instructions being given to you week after week or to have others pray for you, counsel you or give to you. You too need to find out what your own responsibilities are in the kingdom. Each of us has a responsibility in the kingdom. Each of us has something to contribute to the overall growth of the body of Christ. Each of us has something to contribute to the overall usefulness of the body.
Look at how Paul puts this in Ephesians 4, from verse 11:
“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does it work.” (Ephesians 4:11-16NIV)
Observe here that one of the reasons we have pastors, evangelists, apostles and prophets is that they may train God’s people for works of service. They are not just to instruct us in the will of God. They are also to train us for works of service. They are to build us up to be responsible children of God. One of the ways they do this is by giving us responsibilities. They may show us all kinds of things we are to do in our lives, homes, workplaces and so forth. But they can’t always be there to watch us do these things. By giving us specific responsibilities in the church and watch us how to do them, they, however, can tell whether we are taking seriously all the instructions they are giving us in the church or not.
Then observe that Paul says the body of Christ grows as each part does its work. So, if you are not carrying out your own duty in the kingdom, you are limiting the growth of the entire body of Christ. If you are not doing anything in the church, you are limiting the overall growth and usefulness of the body of Christ. And we cannot be certain that you are taking seriously all the things we have been teaching you about how to live to please God. But when we give you responsibilities and you carry them out, then, we can have some guarantee that you will put into practice other things we are teaching you.
This, of course, is not always the situation. I know there are times people show themselves responsible in their various assemblies, when they are not acting responsibly in other areas of their lives. But the truth is that it is those who show themselves responsible in whatever task they are given in church that often show themselves responsible in other areas of their lives as well. Those who don’t take up any task at all in the church don’t often show themselves responsible in Christian living.
Therefore, if you have no responsibility that you are carrying out in the church, and you are not ready to take up any, it is most likely that you are not living in the will of God where you are.
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THEY WILL RECOGNISE HIS GRACE IN YOUR LIFE 15/05/2024
“As far those who were held in high esteem – whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favouritism – they added nothing to my message. On the contrary, they recognised that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognised the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.” (Galatians 2:6-9NIV)
Paul, here, is talking about how he came to be received by the leading figures of the church in those days, that is, James the brother of the Lord Jesus, Peter and John the brother of James the son of Zebedee. Of course, when Paul became born again, he began to teach the word of God to people almost immediately. That was because he desired to do so; he loved to do so. But that does not mean that he was actually gifted to do so.
See, that someone loves to do something does not mean that he is actually gifted to do so. Paul loved to preach the word of God. He loved to talk to people about Jesus Christ. His life had been radically changed by the Lord. So, he wanted everybody to know about it.
That, however, does not mean that he was qualified to do so or that he had what it takes to do so. But as he preached, people could tell that he was gifted of God to do so. Yes, of course, the Lord Jesus had told him that He was sending him to the gentiles to preach His word to them. And by sending him like that, it means that the Lord has actually gifted him to preach His word, for the Lord is never going to ask you to go and do something He has not gifted you to do.
But then, people also had to receive Paul, even though he was gifted and sent by the Lord to proclaim His word. And we see that, in his early days as a believer, there were believers who did not want to have anything to do with him. For instance, the believers in Jerusalem did not want to have anything to do with him until Barnabas came and told them the story of his conversion (Acts 9:26-28). So, it is possible for people not to think you have the spiritual gift you are trying to exercise or not to think you are even a believer. Where that is the case, you will need to be patient.
Now the apostles that Paul mentions in our opening text recognised that God had actually sent him to go and preach to the gentiles, as Peter had been sent to the Jews. And when they recognised the grace of God in his life, they gave him and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. That means they acknowledged that God had actually appointed him as an apostle and that he had been given all the gifts that he would require to function as an apostle.
So, it was not because Paul was moving around to tell people that he had this gift or that gift that he was recognised and acknowledged to be an apostle; rather, it was because other believers, including the leaders in the church at that time, could see the grace of God at work in his life. Therefore, if you do have any spiritual gift, the people of God will see it in your life, as you operate it, and acknowledge that you have it. That is one thing you need to keep in mind in getting to know and understand what spiritual gifts you have.
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A RELEVANT FAITH 14/05/2024
“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world.” (Rom 1:8NIV)
What is Paul’s testimony about the Roman brethren in our opening text? It is that thier faith is being reported all over the world. In other words, people are discussing their faith in Jesus Christ everywhere.
But why are people discussing the faith of these brethren? First, it is because of the change they can see in their lives. They can see how they turned away from idol worship, immorality, drunkenness and greed in order to worship God and to wait for His Son Jesus Christ. Also, they can see how they are now doing what natural men find impossible to do – they are living a life of love and a life of righteousness. And these things are so obvious and surprising to everyone that they cannot but talk about them or call one another’s attention to them.
The second reason they are reporting the faith of the Roman brethren is the impact that it is making on their society. People are suddenly realising that there is a new breed of individuals among them that are not morally impotent, deficient or incapacitated. They are seeing that there is a new crop of people that can be trusted with lives, money, properties and so forth, a new crop of people that are constantly full of joy and are peaceable and lovely to be with.
So, wise owners of businesses want them on their team or as their partners. Community leaders who truly care about their people want them among their staff. Slaves want them as their masters. And slave masters who have them don’t want to lose them because of the quality of service they are giving them. In short, these brethren are changing the mind of everybody about life and how to handle it meaningfully. There is, therefore, no way they won’t talk about their faith in Christ Jesus and its impact on their world.
Unfortunately, this is not the case with many of us believers today. People are not reporting our faith at all because they cannot see its relevance. They cannot see any good thing it has done to our own lives or homes, not to talk of our society. We have remained the old persons they used to know, that is, if we have not even become worse. I mean that they cannot see any good change our so-called faith in Christ Jesus has brought about in our lives. So, they don’t consider it something worthy of attention or something worthy of reporting.
Now why is this the case? It is the case because many of us who profess to be Christians don’t even understand what it means to be a Christian. In other words, we are not even saved at all – we are just church meeting goers. Then many among those of us who have been genuinely saved are not walking in the consciousness of who we are. We are not walking in the consciousness of the fact that we are the salt of the earth and that our lives are supposed to bring healing, preservation and taste to our world (Matt 5:13). So, we live carelessly and thoughtlessly, giving not much attention to how what we say and do affect those in our world.
But the Lord is now saying to us, as we face this new day, “This ought not to be so. You should not lose your saltiness in the world and allow yourself to be trampled upon, as it is the case with many. So, wake up and be the salt that you really are to your world, taking advantage of my grace. And before you know it, those in your world will begin to see and talk about the relevance of your faith in me.”
Do have a fabulous day.
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DON’T BE CARRIED AWAY 13/05/2024
“Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.” (2Peter 3:17-18NIV)
What is Peter’s main instruction to us here? It is that we should be on our guard against the errors of lawless men. Now who are lawless people? These are individuals who do not care at all about righteousness, godliness, justice, peace or anything that glorifies God. They are individuals who make evil look good and good look evil. I am talking about people who live their lives to communicate the idea those who are truthful, upright, godly and selfless are foolish and will never enjoy life or amount to anything in it and that it is those who are crafty, selfish, immoral and insincere that will make the most of life.
But is it true that righteousness does not pay much or at all and that it is wickedness that offers great rewards in this world? No, it is not true. Yes, it may look like wicked, immoral and unrighteous people are the ones getting the good things of life and occupying the most important places. And it may look like such people are always getting away with their wickedness, selfishness and abundance of immorality. But it only looks so; it is not so in reality. So, don’t be fooled or deceived by the façade their lives are communicating.
Read Psalm 73, and you will see what its writer has to say about being envious of the wicked. As he pointed out, at some point in his life, he began to compare his life with those of the wicked people around him who, in their wickedness and arrogance, were increasing in wealth, power and fame. So, discouragement set into his life, and he began to feel that his devotion to God and His righteousness was all in vain. (Cf. Ps 73:2-14)
But thanks to God, who led this Psalmist into His sanctuary and there showed him the truth about a life lived in wickedness. Then he saw for himself that no matter how prosperous and powerful a wicked person may be in their wickedness in this world, eternal miseries and pains will be their ultimate reward. He also saw that this earth has nothing that compares to what God intends to be and give to those who trust and love Him. So, he says, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Ps 73:25-26NIV)
Now you too need to see God as the strength of your heart and as your profit in this world. Otherwise, before you know it, you will have been carried away by the error of the lawless people around you, who will continually entice you and give you the impression that you are missing something by not following them in their foolish path. And remember that Peter tells us that if we do not guard ourselves against the errors of these people, we will fall from our secure position in Christ.
So, it is actually possible for people to fall from the place of God’s grace and favour and ruin their lives, if they would not guard their hearts against the ungodliness in the world. And my prayer is that you will not fall away or lose your place in God’s scheme of things. But you too must take care and see to it that your heart is not enticed to follow ungodly men in their path of destruction.
Do have a great day.
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BE FAITHFUL IN YOUR SERVICE TO HIM 12/05/2024
My word for you today is that you to take your service to God seriously and handle it wholeheartedly. Why? First, it is so that God can use it to accomplish His purpose in the lives of men. When we do not serve God wholeheartedly and according to His will, we may taper with the results He wants to get with whatever we are doing. And that will not be for our good or the good of those we are serving on His behalf.
For example, though the Jews of the earthly days of our Lord Jesus had priests, teachers of the law, Pharisees and Sadducees, who were ministering to them, the Lord still said that they were like sheep without a shepherd. In other words, the ministry of their religious leaders was not achieving the purpose of God in their lives. Why? Was it because something was wrong with them? No! Rather, it was because most of these religious leaders of theirs were hypocrites, whose hearts were not truly devoted to serving God according to His will. (Cf. Matt 9:35-36; Matt 23)
Now if we compare their ministry to that of the first seven deacons of the church, we see a great difference. That is because even though these deacons were not ordained to preach but to handle the sharing of food among God’s people, their ministry still resulted in the spread of the word of God and the growth of the church. Why? It was because they ministered with hearts that were faithful to God. (Cf. Acts 6:1-7)
So, if we are faithful in our service to God, He is able to use whatever we are doing, however insignificant it may seem to men, to accomplish His good purpose in people’s lives. But if we are not faithful, as I said before, we will most likely hinder or destroy His work.
Yes, of course, there are times that God ignores people’s unfaithfulness in serving Him and still accomplishes His purpose through what they are doing. For example, there was a time that Moses and Aaron disobeyed Him and still got results. In other words, in spite of the disobedience of these men, God still performed a miracle for His people through what they did. But did they get rewarded for their unfaithfulness? No! Instead, they got severely punished for it. (Cf. Num 20:1-13)
Also, when we look at the life of Samson, we see that one main lesson it teaches us is that it is possible to be unfaithful to God in our lives or in our service to Him and still be seeing Him at work in what we are doing. But then, as we also see through His life’s story, if we continue to act in unfaithfulness in our lives or service to God, there will certainly come a time in which He will have to allow us to face the consequences of our unfaithfulness, which may be too much for us to handle. (Cf. Judges 13-16)
So, if you are unfaithful in your service to God, know that there will be consequences. One of them is that you won’t be receiving any reward or praise from Him for whatever you are doing. And the forms other consequences may take is not something I or anyone else can talk about. But they may be very grievous.
All of this is why you need to watch the quality of service you are giving to God. Remember that He cannot be deceived or mocked. That means what you sow is what you will get. If you sow deception, unfaithfulness or hypocrisy in your service to Him, the fruit you will reap will show it. And if you sow faithfulness, diligence and love in your service to Him, the fruit you will reap will also show it. (Cf. Ps 18:25-26; Gal 6:7-8)
So, stop lying to yourself about your service to God and face the truth about its quality. Yes, examine and test the quality of your service to God in the light of His word in order that you may do what is needful. Otherwise, you will have only yourself to blame, when He begins to treat you as your service deserves. I pray that you will not end up losing your reward for serving Him or get severely punished for not serving Him appropriately, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Do have a fabulous day.
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REMEMBER AND PRAISE THE GIVER OF TRUE INDEPENDENCE 11/05/2024
“When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.” (Deut 8:10-11NIV)
“You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.' But remember the Lord you God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth..." (Deut 8:17-18NIV)
Even though Moses was the human instrument that led these people out of Egypt to go into Canaan, he never asked the people to praise him or to remember him as the source of their independence or prosperity. Rather, he told them, as we see in our opening bible texts, to remember God and to give all the credit to Him. And that was because he knew that he did not possess any power of his own to give anybody independence or to make anybody stay independent. Only God possesses that sort of power. And only He should be continually remembered and praised by men for their independence or freedom.
Unfortunately, most countries of the world that are enjoying political and economic independence today, including Nigeria, have totally forgotten the God that gave them independence. Some of them don't even see Him as the source of their independence at all. So, instead of praising Him and pursuing His righteousness, they praise men and make laws that please themselves.
No wonder many of them are still slaves of other countries, even though they claim to be independent. And unless they repent and remember to give God's due place to Him in their everyday affairs, individually and collectively, they will never be truly free.
Now am I saying that it is wrong to acknowledge all those people that were instrumental to our independence as a nation? No! For instance, people like Herbert Macaulay, Tafawa Balewa, Nnamdi Azikwe, Obafemi Awolowo and so forth played significant roles in securing independence for Nigeria. And we should rightly acknowledge them for what they did. But we must not forget that they all were mere human instruments used by God. Without Him, making us independent, all their efforts could not have amount to anything.
So, they, with whatever great ideas they may have had, are not ones we should make the big factor in experiencing true independence as a nation; the one that should take that place is God. And if, in fact, they, with all the other leaders we have had since our independence, had continually seen, praised and proclaimed God as the source of our independence and every good thing we may hope to enjoy in our country, we would by now have been greatly exalted in the midst of all the other nations of the world.
In any case, it is not too late for us to retrace our steps, individually and collectively. It is not too late to remember God and give Him the place that is due Him in our lives, homes, communities, organizations and so forth. And this, of course, will be the beginning of our deliverance into a true experience of independence.
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STRENGTH TO GET WEALTH 10/05/2024
“But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth…” (Deut 8:18NIV)
Many often wonder why the time, effort, diligence, devotion, intelligence and resources they are putting into life are not producing for them the kind of results or wealth they believe they need to enjoy life, as they will love to. And what they are failing to note is that, as important as smartness, education, intelligence, devotion and diligence are in life, they are not sufficient on their own to give anybody wealth or good success. The only one with the ability to do that is God.
So, as we see in our opening text, when He brought His people, Israel, out of Egypt, one of the things He highlighted for them through Moses was that He was the one responsible for their wealth. He said to them, “When your flocks and herds grow large and your silver and gold increase and all that you have is multiplied, don't say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.' Instead, remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” (Cf. Deut 8:10-18)
And why did God say that to them? First, it was so that they would learn to be thankful to Him for their wealth. And thanking God for our wealth is especially necessary when we consider the fact that there are many hard working, smart, diligent, godly and honest people around us today that are not wealthy at all but poor. So, if anyone has legitimately acquired wealth, it will be foolish of him to just assume that it is because he has been smart, hard working, diligent, godly or tenacious that he has become wealthy. If he will look around, he will see that there are many people that are better than him in every way who are still not wealthy.
Remember that even Solomon, who was one of the richest people that ever lived on the face of the earth, says in his book on life, “…The fastest runner does not always win the race, the strongest soldier does not always win the battle, the wisest does not always have food, the smartest does not always become wealthy, and the talented one does not always receive praise. Time and chance happen to everyone.” (Eccl 9:11NCV) Can you see that? Events of life can turn against even the brightest and strongest of men and frustrate them, so that nothing becomes of their hard labour in life. So, anyone who finds his intelligence, hard work, skills, diligence, devotion, honesty and tenacity tremendously rewarding and profitable ought to learn to appreciate God. Otherwise he may never enjoy his success or wealth (Luke 12:16-21).
Another reason God showed those Israelites that He was the one responsible for their wealth was that they may not abuse it but be generous with it. As long as you see yourself as the one responsible for your wealth, you can decide to use it as you please. But if you see God as the one responsible for your wealth, then, you will want to learn from Him how to use it to please Him.
In any case, my point all along is that the one that gives people the ability to make wealth legitimately is God. And He can make this ability abundantly available for you too, if you are willing to recognise Him, cast all your cares upon Him and also learn from Him. Of course, He may not give you that kind of wealth that will make people know you all over the world. And He may not give you the kind of wealth you desire to have overnight. But if you will patiently follow and learn from Him, He will certainly give you rest from all your fruitless labour and bring you to that place in life where, in all things and at all times, you will have all that you need and can be generous on all occasions. (Cf. Is 1:19; Matt 11:28-29; 2Cor 9:8-11)
Have a lovely day.
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WHAT POSITION SHOULD WE TAKE WHEN PRAYING? 09/05/2024
Among the questions people often ask about prayer is 'What is the best position to take when praying?' Now this question, of course, looks somewhat ridiculous. But it is not at all, for all kinds of misleading teachings have gone out on it.
Some, for instance, have said the right thing to do when praying is to kneel. Why? It is because we are praying before the King of kings, Lord of lords, Ancient of days and so forth. And that sounds great, doesn't it? It does! But there is nowhere we are told in the Scriptures that people must kneel before they can pray to God or before their prayers can be answered. Or do you know any such place in the bible?
Also, there are those that are saying the proper thing to do when praying is to stand. Why? For them, standing to pray before God is a symbol of respect for Him and also a sign of seriousness. So, they get furious when they see people praying on their seats, for they see them as being disrespectful to God. And sometimes they also get irritated when they see people praying on their knees, for they see them as capable of dozing off while praying.
But again, there is nowhere we are told in the Scriptures that people must stand or take a particular position before they can pray to God and receive from Him. Yes, under the Old Covenant, the Jews were taught to face Jerusalem when praying, for it was the city of God and the abode of His temple among them. And that idea did not even originate from God but from King Solomon. (Cf. 1Kings 8:22-53; Dan 6:10)
So, nowhere are God's people taught in Scriptures to always take a particular position when praying in order for God to answer them. We can take any position we are most comfortable with when praying. And what I mean by that is that when praying, we are to take a position in which we will truly pray and not do something else. That is because, from what I see in the Scriptures, it is not the position we take when praying that will determine how God answers us; rather, it is the heart with which we are praying to Him.
Go through the Scriptures yourself, and you will see that the saints of old and even our Lord Jesus Christ did not have any particular position that they took when praying to God. They just prayed to Him according to the burdens of their hearts and as they were led by the Spirit, and He heard them.
For example, Moses, when praying for mercy for the children of Israel because of their sin of idolatry, fell prostrate before the Lord for forty days and forty nights, and He answered Him (Deut 9:18-19). But when you read the Scriptures, you will see that he did not do that all the time. Also, when you read about Joshua and the day he asked the Lord to alter the normal daily routines of the sun and the moon, you will not see any emphasis on the position that he took in praying. He just said what he said, and God answered him. (Cf. Jos 10:12-14)
In addition, read about David, and you will see that he did not have any stereotyped position that he took when praying to God. There were times he fell prostate before Him to pray. And there was even a time that all he did was sit before the Lord to pray. Did God answer him or not? He did. (Cf. 2Sam 7:18-29 &12:16; 1Chro 17:16-27 & 21:16-17)
Look also at our Lord Jesus Christ. When He was teaching the people how to pray, did He insist on any particular position they must take when praying? No! And why? It was because He Himself did not have any fixed position that He took when praying. At least, we know from the Scriptures that He had no trouble praying, regardless of His position, whether sitting or standing or lying on the ground. It all depended on the burden of His heart and where He was when He needed to pray. (Cf. Matt 26:39; John 11:41-42 & 17)
So, don't let anybody make you feel your prayers are being unanswered because you will not take certain positions while praying. The disciples of old were sitting when the Holy Spirit came upon them on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4). So, God does not need you to stand up or kneel down or lie down before He answers your prayers. All He needs is for your prayers to be heartfelt and to be in accordance with His will, and He will answer you. (Cf. James 4:3 & 5:16; 1John 5:14-15)
But then, it is important that you do not get unruly or rebellious about all this. It is okay for you to take whatever prayer position you like when praying on your own. But once you are together with other believers, you must, out of reverence for Christ, respect the wish of whoever is leading you in prayers on matters of what position to take or not to take when praying. Otherwise, you may just be laying a foundation for rebellion, bitterness or discord among God's people. And that will never be to your advantage. So be wise.
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IT CAN BE TAKEN FROM YOU 08/05/2024
One of the truths that are made plain to us in the bible is that no man can attain any position of authority in life except it is given to him from heaven, that is, by God. Yes, people often help themselves in one way or the other to occupy some offices in life. But the reason they are still able to succeed is that God wants them to get there. If He does not want a man in a position, it does not matter how highly favoured he is among men or how formidable the forces behind him are, he will never get there. And examples of this abound both in the bible and in all of human history. (Cf. John 3:27 & 19:10-11; Rom 13:1-2)
Similarly, no one can keep himself in any position, if God no longer wants him there. You know it is not uncommon to find people who allow certain positions they occupy in life to so possess them that they begin to see themselves as irreplaceable or unchallengeable. That explains why many in leadership positions in our country today often act recklessly and arrogantly, without any form of regard for those that they are leading.
Now what individuals like such don't understand is that they are not sovereign. No leader or ruler anywhere is sovereign. And even though there are certain individuals that are referred to as sovereign in their domains, their power is limited and can be taken away from them anytime by the One who gave it to them. That is why each of us must be very careful how we use whatever position, place, authority or power that God has given to us.
In Daniel 4:31-33, for example, we have God's verdict against that terrible and mighty King, Nebuchadnezzar. At that time, he was a king of kings and lord of lords, according to the bible. But he did not become all that by himself; God made him what he was. Unfortunately, at some point during this man's reign, he began to see himself as all in all; he began to think of himself as the master of his own destiny. And this began to affect his rule and attitude towards his subjects. He began to act as he pleased. (Cf. Dan 2:37-38)
Nevertheless, God, being a merciful Creator, sent warnings to him through a dream and also provided one of his subjects, Daniel, to interpret the dream to him. And His aim was to show this mighty king that he was not sovereign. The kingdom and all the beautiful things that he was ruling over did not belong to him but to God. And God was ready to take that kingdom and everything in it away from him until he acknowledged this fact. This was why Daniel, that righteous man, admonished this king to repent of his sins and be kind to the oppressed, so that he may receive God's mercy and be spared from the impending doom. And that is one thing most of our preachers won't do today. (Cf. Dan 4:1-27)
But sadly, like most men, Nebuchadnezzar would not listen to sound counsel. Instead, he continued to rule in arrogance and self-importance. And as a result of that, what God had decreed against him eventually came to fulfilment. He was afflicted with insanity, and the kingdom was taken away from him. Then all his pomposity and arrogant display of power disappeared into thin air. And he was not restored to his place of honour until he acknowledged God and glorified Him as the one with all the power. (Cf. Dan 4:28-37)
Now King Nebuchadnezzar was highly favoured of God to be restored in that manner. And that was largely because he did not waste the privilege that he was given to repent. Some persons, however, because of their stubbornness were never restored to their previous positions of honour or strength – they were either killed or forever banished. (Cf. 1Sam 2:12-36; 2Chro 16; Dan 5)
In any case, all of this is why you and I also need to watch the way we are using the present positions God has placed us, regardless of how insignificant they may seem. If we are abusing our powers, oppressing and hurting people, and have not yet been punished for doing so, we must understand that we are simply enjoying some days of grace that have been given for our repentance. But those days of grace will someday be over (2Pet 3:9; Rev 2:20-23). Then God will step in and put us where we really belong, a place of shame and disgrace (Prov 18:12 &29:23; James 4:6-7; 1Pet 5:5-6).
But my earnest prayer is that you will not wait until disgrace and shame come upon you before you repent of every form of abuse and misuse of your place of authority or power. So, think carefully now and start acting wisely. May God's mercy overflow towards you.
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HE WILL NOT GRANT OUR REQUESTS 07/05/2024
“'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?' Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.” (Isa 58:3-4NIV)
Look at that. Even though those people were praying and fasting to God about their legitimate needs, they were missing it in their relationships. On the one hand, they were praying to God for help and, on the other hand, they were exploiting, fighting and destroying others. And God says, “That will never work. If you want me to grant your requests, then, you have to show me that you will not use the things I give you to destroy others but to bless them.” (Cf. Is 58:5-14)
Now don't we also do similar things? We want God to bless us with all kinds of things, and rightly so. But it is already clear what we are going to do with the things we are asking of Him, if He should give them to us. We will not use them to glorify Him; rather, we will simply use them to hurt and harm others all the more. And God, because He loves those that we want to harm too, will not allow that to happen. In other words, He will not grant our requests.
So, we must understand that God is not only concerned about granting our prayer requests; He is also concerned about what granting those requests will do to others. If by granting our requests, God will be unjustly ruining the lives of others, He will not grant them.
Why? That is because He is not only God to us; He is also God to everyone else in the world. Therefore, He is responsible for their well-being as well, just as He is responsible for ours. If we, then, keep this in mind, there are requests we will never again make of Him – there are prayers we will never again offer to Him.
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YOU CAN ACCESS IT OR STOP ITS FLOW 06/05/2024
One of the things we are shown in Scriptures is that even though God is all powerful and there is nothing impossible for him, we can limit His power in our lives. How is that possible? Shouldn't God be able to do anything He likes anytime He wants? Yes, God does have the power to do anything He likes anytime He wants. But God does not use His power anyhow. Instead, He uses His power according to His character, which has been adequately described in Scriptures.
For example, it is not in God's nature to force people to receive Him or to receive whatever He is offering them. Therefore, when His Son, Jesus Christ, came to His own people, the Jews, and they would not receive Him, He did not force Himself on them. Instead, He said to them, “Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'” (Matt 23:38-39NIV)
Did you see that? When His own people would not accept Him, He just left them desolate. And it is the same thing that is still happening in the world today. Wherever people will not accept Jesus as their Lord, even though they have been presented with diverse opportunities to accept Him and His gift of eternal life, they will be left desolate. That means they will be left to be ruined by the things that are seeking to destroy them.
Now we see an illustration of this once when Jesus visited His hometown. The people there did not warmly receive Him as other people had received Him in other places He had gone to minister. Instead, they ridiculed and insulted Him. Therefore, Mark, in his own record of this situation, says, “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith.” (Mark 6:5-6NIV)
Think about that. Jesus could not do any miracle in His Hometown. But people used to say that there is nothing Jesus cannot do. How come He could not do any miracle in His Hometown? That means He left many of the people that were ill, deformed and possessed of the devil in the conditions that He had met them. Why? Was it because He had no power to heal and save them? No! He went there in the fullness of God's power. But their unbelief, which manifested in their ridiculing of Him, stopped the power of God from flowing to them and from working in their lives.
In the same vein, if, for any reason, we too begin to despise God or His servants sent to us, the power of God will not flow to us. In fact, Jesus tells us that the power of God can flow back to the one that God wants to use to communicate it to us, if we do not receive it. Look at how He puts it: “When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you.” (Luke 10:5-6NIV)
Did you see that? The power of God can flow right back to the one transporting it, if the person that is supposed to receive and experience or enjoy it will not have it. Yet this same power can be accessed from God through any of His servants by anyone who is ready to have it, if the person will reach out in faith to receive it. That was exactly what happened in the case of the woman with the issue of blood that was healed by touching the hem of Jesus' cloth. (Cf. Mark 5:25-34)
According to the bible, that woman had told herself that if she could just touch the hem of Jesus' garment, she would be well. And when she did, power flowed out from Jesus to her and she was instantly made whole. Interestingly, even Jesus could not stop the power from flowing to her. So, you can see that all by ourselves we can access God's power for our healing, salvation and prosperity, if we will demonstrate our faith in Him. And that is because His power is always and instantly available for all those who believe in Him (Eph 1:19).
Which is it going to be, then? Are we going to be taking advantage of God's power for the transformation of our lives through prayer and a faithful declaration of His word or are we going to be hindering the flow of His power into our lives and situations through unbelief, pride or the practice of wickedness? My prayer, again, is that your heart will be rid of anything that is keeping you from fully accessing and enjoying God's indescribable power in your life and affairs, in Jesus' name. Amen.
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ACCIDENTS SOMETIMES HAPPEN 05/05/2024
“But if without hostility someone suddenly shoves another or throws something at him unintentionally or, without seeing him, drops a stone on him that could kill him, and he dies, then since he was not his enemy and he did not intend to harm him, the assembly must judge between him and the avenger of blood according to these regulations. The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send him back to the city of refuge to which he fled. He must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.” (Num 35:22-25NIV)
From what we see in our opening bible text, it is clear that even God acknowledges the fact that accidents can happen in this life, whether to good people or bad people. We don’t want them to happen. We don’t like them. But sometimes they happen.
Now though God has the power to stop any kind of accident from happening, He does not always prevent accidents from happening. Why? We will never know the reasons for these, if He does not reveal them to us. That being the case, we must always be careful in the way we use our bodies and the things of this life. We must also not keep quiet about the carelessness or recklessness of the people around us in handling life matters or resources. Otherwise, their activities may result in accidents. And they may not be the only victims of such accidents. We or (and) others with them may become victims as well.
You can then see why Solomon says this to us: “Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them; whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.” (Eccl 10:8-9NIV) Did you see that? We ourselves can be victims of our own activities through carelessness or recklessness. So, in all that we do, we must function with safety in mind.
That means if, for example, we know that we are not well trained or qualified to do something, we should stay away from it, especially if there is no one to monitor or supervise us. And if we have an animal, a facility, an equipment or a system that can accidentally hurt us or others or destroy things, we should put safety barriers, equipment or signs around it that will warn others about it or keep them safe from it.
However, as we also understand through our opening bible text, even when we are most careful, accidents can still occur. An animal we keep may go wild and cause trouble for us or others. An equipment we are using may malfunction, for no machine is a hundred percent efficient, and endanger lives or properties acquired through many years of hard labour. Or an ignorant person may tamper with a system we have set up and cause unexpected trouble.
Interestingly, even if such things happen, God still expects our society to protect those responsible for them. He does not want us to punish them without first making sure that they did not deliberately cause what happened. And once their innocence is established, they have to be protected, even where a loss of lives is involved. Otherwise, God will hold our nation guilty of bloodshed (Deut 19:5-10).
Mind you, there are equally times that Satan uses nature or natural things that God created for man’s benefits to cause accidents for us and ruin us. For example, as we are told in the book of Job, one of the things Satan did in attacking him was to cause fire (lightning) to fall from the sky and consume all his sheep and their shepherds, leaving only one man alive to tell the story. That, of course, was an accident, which Job was not responsible for at all. But people were victims of it. And he and the families of those men involved just had to take heart and go on with life. Just think about it. (Cf. Job 1:16)
Well, all of this is why we must never rely on our carefulness at all for the safety of our lives, others’ lives or our properties. Instead, we must always rely on God for it. That is because if He does not keep us and the people and things in our lives or around us safe, we will not be safe.
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WHEN YOU NEED SPIRITUAL SOLUTIONS 04/05/2024
“The men of the city said to Elisha, "Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive." "Bring me a new bowl," he said, "and put salt in it." So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, "This is what the LORD says: 'I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.'" And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.” (2Kings 2:19-22NIV)
Why did the men of Jericho approach Elisha about their city? It was because they sensed that they needed more than natural solutions in solving its problems. As they pointed out to the man of God, this city was well situated. In other words, it was settled in a place where it could attract the people and things that it needed to become great. But it was not great, neither was it about to become great. Why? It was because the water was bad and the land was unproductive.
Now who wants to stay in a place where the water is bad and useless for drinking, cooking, bathing and so forth? That kind of place is unsuitable for healthy living. And who wants to stay in an obviously barren and unproductive land? You will just be wasting your resources and hard labour there.
Since Jericho, then, was such a place, a place where people’s health was continually being endangered by the water and where their resources and hard work were being wasted, people began to avoid it. So, though it was well situated and could have been a great city, that was not the case with it at all at the time.
But thankfully, there were still men in that city who believed in what it could become. And these ones also knew that its problem could not be solved in a natural way; it would require supernatural intervention. So, when Prophet Elisha came passing through it, they took that as their opportunity to see it healed. They humbled themselves, went to him and told him their predicament. And in response, the man of God ministered to the land by the Spirit of God and healing and wholeness was brought upon it.
What lesson, then, does this teach us? It is that we too must learn to recognise when the issues we are confronted with require divine solutions or intervention. Yes, by putting the mind God has given us to work, there are problems we are able to readily solve. And He expects us to solve those problem instead of waiting on Him to solve them for us. At least, the reason He has blessed us with a mind to think, learn, understand and evaluate things is that we may use it in dealing with the matters of our lives. So, if we are praying, fasting and waiting on Him in handling matters that He expects us to use our head to fix, we are simply wasting our time.
However, there are matters that a mere application of human knowledge, understanding and wisdom cannot handle. Such matters need divine solutions. But if we fail to realise or acknowledge this or if we, in our arrogance, think God does not matter at all, then, those problems would not be solved at all. Instead, they will only keep going from bad to worse, regardless of what we do or say.
Now perhaps that is the kind of problem you are confronted with now, a problem that requires divine intervention for it to be handled. You yourself can tell that unless there is a supernatural altering or removal of certain things that are fundamentally wrong with the matter at hand, all that you are doing will never amount to much. Then admit it and seek God’s face about it. And you don’t have to do this all alone. Engage the people of God in your life too for prayer support and spiritual counsel on the matter. And before you know it, there will be a divine release of all that you need to change the situation, whatever it may be, and move from where you are to where you ought to be.
Stay blessed.
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STOP SOWING THE WRONG SEED 03/05/2024
“Don't be misled; remember that you can't ignore God and get away with it: a man will always reap just the kind of crop he sows! If he sows to please his own wrong desires, he will be planting seeds of evil and he will surely reap a harvest of spiritual decay and death; but if he plants the good things of the Spirit, he will reap the everlasting life that the Holy Spirit gives him.” (Gal 6:7-8TLB)
That is a trustworthy saying, and it is worthy of full acceptance. Whatever we sow is what we will reap. And to say the fact, we have been reaping the fruit of what we have been sowing. I am saying that the chaos, the confusion, the dissension, the oppression, the bitterness, the bloodshed, the hunger, the decay, the weeping and the gnashing of teeth we now see and experience all over our nation are fruits of the wicked and terrible seeds we all have been sowing since our existence as a nation. And if we want this painful cycle of decay and deterioration to end, then, we must stop sowing the wrong seeds.
In the book of Numbers, chapter 25, we are introduced to an incident that took place while the nation of Israel was still wandering in the wilderness. According to the text, the people, while they were staying in Shittim, began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, something the Lord was utterly against. As a result of that, a plague broke out amidst the people, and it resulted in the death of about twenty-four thousand people. This, of course, brought about national lamentations. The whole assembly gathered before the sanctuary of God in their midst, weeping because of their loss.
But do you know that their weeping did not stop the plague? No, it didn't. And the reason was that they had not totally stopped sowing the seed of sexual impurity. According to the Scripture, while they were yet weeping, one of their leaders (Zimri) boldly and shamelessly brought into his tent a Midianite woman to sleep with her, right in the presence of Moses and all the people. How then could the plague stop?
Well, thanks to God that somebody acted immediately and wisely in order to arrest the situation. Phinehas, a grandson of Aaron the High Priest, as it is written, took a spear, followed that shameless man into his tent and killed both him and his partner in sin. And that was what ended the plague. (Cf. Num 21:1-8)
Now what lesson does that teach us? If we too want to stop reaping decay and corruption, as a nation, then all of us must stop sowing the wrong seeds. I mean that you and I must stop sowing seeds of hatred, bitterness, discord, unfaithfulness, apathy and terror wherever we are or find ourselves. And we must instead start planting godly seeds, that is, seeds of faithfulness, diligence, self-control, love, unity, peace and contentment. Then we can expect, through the goodness, mercy and favour of God, to begin to reap joy, peace, prosperity and progress all across our land. And so shall it be, in Jesus' name. Amen.
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BE CONCERNED ABOUT THEM ALSO 02/05/2024
“Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.” (1Corinthians 8:13NIV)
What is this text showing me? It is that I must not just be concerned about myself; I must also be concerned about my brethren. I am must be concerned about how the things I do or do not do affect them. If the things I am doing are misleading my brethren or getting them into trouble, I am sinning against them and against the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now this is a message to believers. So, we are talking about believers sinning against believers and against the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not talking about unbelievers persecuting the church here. Unbelievers can persecute the church because they don’t know any better. They can be hostile to members of the body of Christ because they don’t know any better. They were hostile to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And so He said to us, “If they persecuted me, you can expect them to persecute you too.” (Cf. John 15:18-21)
However, if those outside the body of Christ are treating us in a hostile way, should we also be treating ourselves in the same manner? Visit a good number of our government offices today, and you will realise that the so-called believers are the most difficult to deal with. When you enter an office and see someone posing as a believer, you know immediately that you are in for big trouble, for they will make things hard for you. Is it meant to be so? No, it is not.
Now look at those in secret societies, and you can see the way they treat their members. Their members will commit very serious crimes, and they will find ways to exonerate them. That, of course, is wrong. So we don’t do that. But these fellows are so committed to themselves that they are willing to pervert justice because of their members. When you enter a place and make some signs that they recognise as those of their fraternity, they will find out if you are one of them and immediately take up your case. If it is admission into a school that you want, and you are not qualified for it, they will qualify you for it and bring you in.
Well, we don’t do that, as I said already. We have not been taught to do such things. But the point we are making is that when you find other believers, who are in need, legitimate needs, don’t ignore them—attend to them. No, don’t abandon them. That is because a day is coming when you will have to give account of the way you have treated them to their Lord, who is also your own Lord. And how will you feel then? What excuse will you give for not treating them right?
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CAUTION OR SUSPICION 01/05/2024
“So Hanun seized David's men, shaved off half of each man's beard, cut off their garments in the middle at the buttocks, and sent them away.” (2Sam 10:4NIV)
Why did Hanun, king of the Ammonites, treat David’s men in the manner described in our opening bible text? He did so because he thought he was being cautious. But was he really being cautious or suspicious?
As the account shows us, Hanun’s father, Nahash had been a friend of David before he died. And though we are not told how they became friends, we are told that the reason David sent his men to give his condolences to his son, Hanun, was that he was a very kind person to him (2Sam 10:1-2). That, of course, was one of the things that characterised David’s way of life. He was not someone that would forget those who had been good or kind to him. Rather, he was someone that was always seeking them out, so that he could show his gratitude to them in whatever way he could. (Cf. 1Sam 30:26-31; 2Sam 9; 2Sam 19:31-39)
Unfortunately, on this occasion, his kind gesture was totally misrepresented by Hanun, the son of his late friend. And it was misrepresented because the officials with the young man misled him. They sowed a seed of evil suspicions in his heart, even though there was no reason for him to be suspicious. (Cf. 2Sam 10:3)
David, before that time, had done nothing to Hanun’s country to make him think of him as an enemy. He had been nothing but a good and loyal friend to his father. And even if he had wanted to be cautious, probably because he was not really close to David, all he would have needed to do was to give instructions to his men to watch the activities of his ambassadors. Then their report would have cleared his doubts and prevented him from being unduly suspicious.
But because he was a foolish young man, instead of acting with caution at that time, he acted in evil suspicions and shamelessly maltreated ambassadors of an ally country that only came to sympathise with him for the loss of his father. That, of course, resulted in an unfortunate war between him and the nation of Israel, which was a stronger and more powerful nation. And because of the war he lost his men, his land, his crown and his reputation. How sad! (Cf. 2Sam 10; 1Chro 19:1-20:3)
Well, this story is teaching us one thing, which is that there is a great deal of difference between caution and evil suspicion. To be cautious means that we do not assume that we know what people will do or how they will function under any circumstance, if we do not know them to be true children of God or have not known them for a very long time. Therefore, we do not carelessly let them into our lives or affairs. Instead, we put appropriate boundaries in place in our dealings with them, so that we may, in the course of time, learn how well we can trust them.
But to be suspicious means to have a feeling that something is wrong or that something may go wrong in our dealings with someone. And is it altogether wrong to have this feeling? No! It all depends on who we have such feelings about, why we have such feelings about them and what we do as a result of such feelings that we have about them.
If someone, as Paul says about himself and his ministry companions, does not have any record of being injurious, manipulative or corrupt in dealing with us or others that we know, we have no reason to be suspicious of them (2Cor 7:2). Otherwise, whatever suspicions we have about them will only be evil suspicions, something that the word of God warns against (1Tim 6:4).
Then even if we have reasons to be suspicious of someone because we don’t know them well enough, because we have seen them act in some ungodly manner before or because someone gave us some bad news about them, our suspicions should only drive us to be cautious and on guard in dealing with them. We should not allow them to drive us to disgrace or embarrass them when they have not done us any wrong and we have no real proof that they are going to hurt us in any way. Otherwise, our suspicions about them will be nothing but evil suspicions.
Now when we allow evil suspicions to drive us to hurt, disgrace or embarrass others who have done nothing wrong to us, we, like Hanun, may end up having an unnecessary and unfortunate war to fight. And that may forever shut some doors of goodness that could have come to us through them against us. Only God, then, knows how many people have been denied certain measure of His goodness that could have been theirs in life because of these things. They, out of suspicion, treated shamefully or abusively certain individuals who merely wanted to help them or do them good. And they have to live with the sorrow and loss that came with doing so for the rest of their earthly lives.
More so, when we allow evil suspicions to drive us in relating to others, even if our suspicions are right, those watching and who have seen the kind of bad treatment we have given to them may never get to know that our suspicions are right. Therefore, instead of being seen as the victims of those who want to hurt us, we will be seen and treated as the villains. And who knows how terribly that will affect us? Only God knows.
So, yes, be cautious in all your dealings with men. But give no room in your heart for any form of evil suspicion. That is because it can only harm you; it has no good to offer you.
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HIS WORD WILL SUSTAIN YOU 29/04/2024
“The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (Heb 1:3-4NIV).
Scientists have shown us again and again that there are laws governing this universe. And according to them, it is because of these laws that we are able to live here on earth and thrive. It is because of these laws that we and the things we use are not flying out into the space each time we take a step. It is because of them that the stars are not falling down from the sky and crashing on us.
But who put these laws in motion? Who gave commands to all the things in the universe, so that they cooperate for our good? It is God. While addressing Job and pointing out his ignorance of many things to him, He asked him this question: “Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?” (Job 38:8-11NIV) Why did He ask him this question? Was it because he did not know that it was He who did these things? No! He asked him to draw his attention to the awesomeness of His power in sustaining the entire universe by His word.
We too need to learn to meditate on the awesomeness of God's power in sustaining the universe all around us. Think about this: the sea, with all its proud waves, will not go beyond the boundaries set by God for it. And that is why, though we are surrounded by oceans, we have not been submerged by them. But remember that in the days of Noah, by one word from God, the floodgates of the heavens were opened and all the boundaries and limits set for the oceans and rivers on earth were removed. And everything on the face of the earth was wiped out. Only Noah, his family and the living creatures that he took into his Ark with him survived. And they survived only because they acted on the word of God. (Cf. Gen 7)
What is the point? It is that this universe is existing and kept in existence by the power of the word of God. And that, in fact, is the point that the writer of the book of Hebrews is communicating to us in our opening text, where he says, “God sustains all things by His powerful word.” In other words, anything that is not standing on the word of God cannot exist or survive.
That being the case, if we want to survive in this world, we must stand on the word of God. As I pointed out before, the only reason Noah and his family survived the flood that wiped out every living thing on the face of the earth in their day was that they stood on the word of God. They believed what God said to them about His coming judgment and also acted on what He told them about the way of salvation. So, they were saved.
But remember that Noah and his family were the minority. They were only eight in number. Yet they were the ones that survived that worldwide flood. So, the majority isn't always right. If the majority is not living on the basis of the word of God, they will not survive the evils of this world, regardless of what measure of wisdom, strength or technology they deploy or employ.
I want you to know, then, that you, your home, your marriage, your business or anything that is yours will not survive or be sustained in this world because you are with the majority or because you are doing what everybody is doing. Instead, you will be sustained and survive only by taking God's word seriously and acting on it. So, be devoted to taking everything He is saying to us about how to experience life, peace, joy, health, protection and fruitfulness in this dark world seriously and also to acting on it. And though many around you may be losing their minds, losing their homes, losing their lives or collapsing, their experience will not be your experience. That is because the word of God, which you are acting on and standing on, will sustain and preserve you until the day He comes to be glorified in all His holy people.
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HIS WORD WILL SUSTAIN YOU 30/04/2024
REVELATION FOR SAFETY
“When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son." When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.” (Matt 2:13-17NIV)
Why did Herod give orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem, two years old and under? It was because he wanted to get rid of the boy Jesus at all cost. That, of course, is to show us how wicked and unreasonable some people can be. They don’t care what steps they take or what things they destroy in order to have their desire granted. This man was king already. And he knew that there was no way he could possibly be king forever. Yet when he heard that another king had been born, he could not just take it, even though he knew nothing about the nature or character of the kingdom of this boy-king.
At any rate, he made up his mind to get rid of the boy-king. In fact, as the angel that warned Joseph about this matter pointed out, this wicked king was determined to use all the resources at his disposal to find the boy and to kill him. And when it was clear to him that locating the boy Jesus would be very hard, if not impossible for him, he decided to kill all the boys in Bethlehem, where he had been born, within his age bracket. He did that and succeeded because there was no one in the land powerful enough to withstand or resist him.
Thankfully, God had already warned Joseph in a dream to take the boy Jesus and His mother and leave for another country, Egypt. And he lost no time at all in obeying. Our bible text says that he took the child and his mother that same night and made good their escape. That, of course, was how Jesus was kept alive to fulfil God’s purpose for His life.
What, then, is the point of all this? First, it is that there are times we need specific divine revelations to escape from certain danger or trouble that are bound to destroy us or prevent us from fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives. If it had not been revealed to Joseph what Herod was planning, there was no way he would have known what was coming for his family. And if he had not known what was coming for them, there was no way he would have been able to lead them to safety. So, it is in proper order for us to constantly pray to God to continually fill our hearts with divine revelations for our safety and for the safety of everyone and everything dear to us.
The second point of the story is that innocent people can be victims of circumstances they did not ask for or bring upon themselves. All the boys that were killed by Herod in his attempt to get rid of Jesus knew nothing at all about the matter. They did not ask for Jesus to be born. And they did not ask the wise men that told Herod about his birth to spread the news. Yet they ended up losing their lives and not fulfilling whatever purpose God may have had for them here on earth. What about their families? They too suffered for nothing.
So, don’t think that you need to commit a crime or to be involved in a fight with someone before you can become a victim in this world. You don’t have to do any of these things. You may, for some reasons, unexpectedly become a victim even of crimes you did not commit or fights you did not start or ask for. Therefore, learn to pray that God will always keep you and all that is dear to you from being victims of other people’s problems, errors or bad judgments. And He surely knows how to keep you and also possesses the power to keep you.
Now the last point of that account is that it is not enough to receive divine revelations for our safety or anything else. It is also important that we are prompt to act on it. Joseph was prompt to act on the revelation he received for the safety of his family. So, he was able to save them from destruction. Lot, on the contrary, was not prompt to act on the revelation brought to him by God’s angels about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. He was hesitant. If God had not shown him mercy, his hesitation would have been his doom. And eventually, that hesitation to leave Sodom was what brought destruction upon his wife. (Cf. Gen 19)
So, never think you will be safe or exalted just because you have God’s revelation. If you won’t act on it or be prompt in acting on it, you may end up suffering like one who had no divine revelation at all.
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HIS WORD WILL SUSTAIN YOU 2/04/2024
“The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (Heb 1:3-4NIV)
Scientists have shown us again and again that there are laws governing this universe. And according to them, it is because of these laws that we are able to live here on earth and thrive. It is because of these laws that we and the things we use are not flying out into the space each time we take a step. It is because of them that the stars are not falling down from the sky and crashing on us.
But who put these laws in motion? Who gave commands to all the things in the universe, so that they cooperate for our good? It is God. While addressing Job and pointing out his ignorance of many things to him, He asked him this question: “Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?” (Job 38:8-11NIV) Why did He ask him this question? Was it because he did not know that it was He who did these things? No! He asked him to draw his attention to the awesomeness of His power in sustaining the entire universe by His word.
We too need to learn to meditate on the awesomeness of God's power in sustaining the universe all around us. Think about this: the sea, with all its proud waves, will not go beyond the boundaries set by God for it. And that is why, though we are surrounded by oceans, we have not been submerged by them. But remember that in the days of Noah, by one word from God, the floodgates of the heavens were opened and all the boundaries and limits set for the oceans and rivers on earth were removed. And everything on the face of the earth was wiped out. Only Noah, his family and the living creatures that he took into his Ark with him survived. And they survived only because they acted on the word of God. (Cf. Gen 7)
What is the point? It is that this universe is existing and kept in existence by the power of the word of God. And that, in fact, is the point that the writer of the book of Hebrews is communicating to us in our opening text, where he says, “God sustains all things by His powerful word.” In other words, anything that is not standing on the word of God cannot exist or survive.
That being the case, if we want to survive in this world, we must stand on the word of God. As I pointed out before, the only reason Noah and his family survived the flood that wiped out every living thing on the face of the earth in their day was that they stood on the word of God. They believed what God said to them about His coming judgment and also acted on what He told them about the way of salvation. So, they were saved.
But remember that Noah and his family were the minority. They were only eight in number. Yet they were the ones that survived that worldwide flood. So, the majority isn't always right. If the majority is not living on the basis of the word of God, they will not survive the evils of this world, regardless of what measure of wisdom, strength or technology they deploy or employ.
I want you to know, then, that you, your home, your marriage, your business or anything that is yours will not survive or be sustained in this world because you are with the majority or because you are doing what everybody is doing. Instead, you will be sustained and survive only by taking God's word seriously and acting on it. So, be devoted to taking everything He is saying to us about how to experience life, peace, joy, health, protection and fruitfulness in this dark world seriously and also to acting on it. And though many around you may be losing their minds, losing their homes, losing their lives or collapsing, their experience will not be your experience. That is because the word of God, which you are acting on and standing on, will sustain and preserve you until the day He comes to be glorified in all His holy people.
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HIS WORD WILL SUSTAIN YOU 2/04/2024
“The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” (Heb 1:3-4NIV)
Scientists have shown us again and again that there are laws governing this universe. And according to them, it is because of these laws that we are able to live here on earth and thrive. It is because of these laws that we and the things we use are not flying out into the space each time we take a step. It is because of them that the stars are not falling down from the sky and crashing on us.
But who put these laws in motion? Who gave commands to all the things in the universe, so that they cooperate for our good? It is God. While addressing Job and pointing out his ignorance of many things to him, He asked him this question: “Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?” (Job 38:8-11NIV) Why did He ask him this question? Was it because he did not know that it was He who did these things? No! He asked him to draw his attention to the awesomeness of His power in sustaining the entire universe by His word.
We too need to learn to meditate on the awesomeness of God's power in sustaining the universe all around us. Think about this: the sea, with all its proud waves, will not go beyond the boundaries set by God for it. And that is why, though we are surrounded by oceans, we have not been submerged by them. But remember that in the days of Noah, by one word from God, the floodgates of the heavens were opened and all the boundaries and limits set for the oceans and rivers on earth were removed. And everything on the face of the earth was wiped out. Only Noah, his family and the living creatures that he took into his Ark with him survived. And they survived only because they acted on the word of God. (Cf. Gen 7)
What is the point? It is that this universe is existing and kept in existence by the power of the word of God. And that, in fact, is the point that the writer of the book of Hebrews is communicating to us in our opening text, where he says, “God sustains all things by His powerful word.” In other words, anything that is not standing on the word of God cannot exist or survive.
That being the case, if we want to survive in this world, we must stand on the word of God. As I pointed out before, the only reason Noah and his family survived the flood that wiped out every living thing on the face of the earth in their day was that they stood on the word of God. They believed what God said to them about His coming judgment and also acted on what He told them about the way of salvation. So, they were saved.
But remember that Noah and his family were the minority. They were only eight in number. Yet they were the ones that survived that worldwide flood. So, the majority isn't always right. If the majority is not living on the basis of the word of God, they will not survive the evils of this world, regardless of what measure of wisdom, strength or technology they deploy or employ.
I want you to know, then, that you, your home, your marriage, your business or anything that is yours will not survive or be sustained in this world because you are with the majority or because you are doing what everybody is doing. Instead, you will be sustained and survive only by taking God's word seriously and acting on it. So, be devoted to taking everything He is saying to us about how to experience life, peace, joy, health, protection and fruitfulness in this dark world seriously and also to acting on it. And though many around you may be losing their minds, losing their homes, losing their lives or collapsing, their experience will not be your experience. That is because the word of God, which you are acting on and standing on, will sustain and preserve you until the day He comes to be glorified in all His holy people.
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LEARN TO GIVE THANKS TO GOD IN EVERY SITUATION 28/04/2024
“So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds — everything that moves on the earth — came out of the ark, one kind after another. Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.” (Gen 8:18-20NIV)
What was the first thing Noah did when he came out of the Ark alive and well? He built an altar of thanksgiving to God. That means this man acknowledged that God was the reason he, his family members and all the animals and birds with them were alive and well after about eleven months of staying in the Ark. Yes, the earth they came upon was no longer what it used to be. Yet he gave thanks for the gift of life; he gave thanks for the gift of a new beginning.
Have we also learnt to give thanks to God, irrespective of the situations in which we find ourselves? Have we learnt to give Him thanks for the gift of life, even though the circumstances of our world are not pleasant or orderly in any way? Have we learnt to give thanks to Him for every new beginning, the beginning of a new day, a new week, a new month, a new year, a new season and a new phase of our lives?
The bible says, “… give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1Thess 5:18NIV) Did you see that? It is the will of God for us to give Him thanks in all circumstances, instead of complaining, griping or grumbling. And it is those of us who learn to give Him thanks in all the situations of our lives that are truly living in His will for us and that will continually receive more and more of all that we need to make our lives count in this world from Him.
For example, look at how God responded to Noah's sacrifice of thanksgiving:
“The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease." Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.”” (Gen 8:21-9:3NIV)
Can you see how God responded to Noah's thanksgiving? He responded with words of blessings on the leader of this new world and his family. First, He said I will no longer curse the ground again because of man, even though he is wicked from infancy. In other words, He reversed the curse he had placed on the ground because of Adam. Just think about that. Through one man's sin, the ground was cursed for all of us. And through one man's thanksgiving, the curse was removed. This is why farming has continued to be a blessing to all of us all around the world.
Then, apart from removing the curse that was placed on the ground, God also specially blessed Noah and his sons, just as He had blessed Adam in the very beginning. He blessed these men with fruitfulness and increase. He blessed them with the authority to rule over and utilise for their good everything on earth, in the air and inside the sea. So, even though they were starting afresh in the world, starting with almost nothing to their credit, they had enough of God's blessings to turn the earth into a wonder for themselves to live in. And what made all these blessings available to them? Thanksgiving!
Furthermore, God made a covenant with Noah that same day that He would never again cut off life from the face of the earth by the waters of a flood. And He gave him the rainbow as the sign of this covenant. What made God so pleased with Noah that He did this? It was his thanksgiving.
You can now see that thanksgiving is a powerful way of receiving fullness from God. It is a powerful way of unleashing His blessings on our lives and in our lives. And to say the fact, we can never tell how far God will go in moving in our lives and setting things right for us, if we will begin to wholeheartedly give Him thanks for all that He is to us and for all that He has done for us.
So, stop looking at the circumstances of your life at the moment, however messy they may be. Instead, start giving thanks to God for the gift of life and for everything else He has done for you that you can think of. That is because as long as there is breath in you, there is no height you cannot attain by the grace of God. So, learn to give thanks to God in every situation, and you will be amazed at how He will move in your life and change even rules of centuries to favour you.
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DON’T FOOLISHLY COMPARE YOURSELF WITH OTHERS 27/04/2024
“We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.” (2Corinthians 10:12NIV)
It is a foolish thing to measure yourself or compare yourself with others. And you know it is one of the reasons we sometimes think that certain people should not enjoy certain things in their lives. We look at the way we are living our lives – so holy, righteous and pure – and we see that there are certain things we are still not enjoying from God’s hand. But here is a fellow that is messing up and does not take God seriously at all. He skips church meetings as he likes. At work he is known as a rogue. And in his neighbourhood, nobody likes him. Yet he is progressing in life.
Now perhaps you are working in the same office with this fellow, and you realise that he often gets promoted ahead of you. You may want to begin to say, “Wait a minute. This guy is not living right with God. Why then should he is being promoted before me? I am the one living to please God. I am the one doing everything right here.” And the truth is that we often think like this – many of God’s people often think like this. We think that when people’s lives are messed up, they should not be enjoying God’s goodness at all. At least, they should not be enjoying His goodness the way we are. We are the ones that are pleasing God. So, if we are enjoying His blessings and goodness, it is understandable. But these fellows that are not pleasing God. Why, then, should they enjoy His goodness or be experiencing progress in their lives at better than us?
Well, things don’t work that way with God. Do you even know that the fact that you are spiritual does not mean that you are going to be more gifted in the things of God than one that is carnal? A Carnal Christian can be more spiritually gifted than you are. Some people are so carnal that it is obvious in their lives. Yet when they share Scriptures with others, you may begin to wonder, “How come this man is able to share the Scriptures like this, even in his carnality?” Also, often you meet some Carnal sisters who are very gifted with singing. And when they begin to sing among God’s people, everybody is stirred and excited to worship. But then you could look at yourself and say, “But when I sing people don’t get stirred this way? And I am the spiritual one here.” Well, things don’t work that way with God.
See, God can and, in fact, has used carnal people in healing the sick and even in raising the dead in the past. So, there are things you don’t equate with spirituality. The bible, for example, tells us that John the Baptist never performed a single miracle. Yet the Lord Jesus said that of all those who were born of women not one was greater than John the Baptist. (Cf. Matthew 11:11; John 10:41)
So, don’t foolishly compare yourself with others. There is no basis for doing so in Scriptures. Just be yourself and live out your life on the basis of God’s grace upon your life. And may you be daily strengthened to do so, in Jesus’ amen.
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IF THEY HAD NOT BEEN SUBMISSIVE 26/04/2024
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2NIV)
This is a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ and how He would be born in Bethlehem. And we see Matthew quoting this prophecy when talking in his gospel about the birth of Jesus Christ. He says this from verse 1 of chapter 2 of his gospel:
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.””” (Matthew 2:2NIV)
You can see that even the religious leaders of the Jews were expecting their Messiah to be born in Bethlehem. They believed Micah’s prophecy and even quoted it to Herod. Now Matthew, in this account, does not share with us the circumstances that led to Jesus’ being born in Bethlehem. But Luke does so in his own gospel. Look at how he puts it from verse 1 of chapter 2:
“In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So, Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.” (Luke 2:1-7NIV)
You can see here that Luke is showing us how Jesus came to be born in Bethlehem. There was a decree issued by Caesar Augustus at that time, directing everyone in his empire to go to their places and be numbered. And Joseph and Mary both obeyed that decree, even though they were living in Nazareth at the time. Now their minds were not on the prophecy that said that the baby Mary was carrying would be born in Bethlehem. But when the decree was issued, they too, in submission to the emperor, went to Bethlehem. And it was while they were there that Jesus was born.
So, even though it does not look like God is working in the affairs of men, He is actually working in our affairs. God moved that emperor at the time to issue that edict for everybody to go to their places to be numbered. And it would require Joseph and Mary to be submissive to the governing authorities to obey that decree. If they had not been submissive, then, the will of God would not have been accomplished in their lives and through their lives.
God wanted His Son Jesus to be born in Bethlehem. And He needed a man and a woman that He would use to accomplish that. That man and that woman, however, had to be submissive to the governing authorities. Otherwise, what God wanted would not happen. Choosing Joseph and Mary, then, was not a mistake on God’s part. He chose individuals who were submissive to governing authorities as parents for Jesus. If He had chosen people who had no respect for the leaders of their government, His purpose may have been thwarted through their rebellion.
Well, here is a point we must hold on to: when rules or laws are made by our leaders, don’t stand against them, as long as they are not contrary to the righteousness of God. That is because through those laws God can accomplish His good purpose in your life. We know that God is at work in us to will and to act according to His good purpose. We also know that He is working to turn things around for our good. But it is not every time that He will step out of heaven to do things for us or that He will send His angels to do things for us. Most of the time, it is people that He will use. And among the people that He often uses to accomplish His good purpose in our lives are those who have authority over us. He often uses them to guide us, lead us and sometimes drive us to do things, even things that we don’t like to do, that will cause His good purpose to happen in our lives. But if we are not submissive to them, this will not happen.
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BE HUNGRY AND THIRSTY FOR MORE 25/04/2024
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matt 5:6NIV)
Who is the giver of righteousness? God! So, in order to be righteous, God must give you righteousness as a gift. It is not something that your hard work can obtain for you. But to possess His righteousness, you must be hungry and thirsty for Him in your life. Then for His righteousness to manifest in you, you must also be hungry and thirsty for Him to work in yo
Well, the point is that God wants us to be hungry and thirsty for Him, for more and more of Him. And He says that those of us who are hungry and thirsty for Him, who want to see His righteousness manifest in our lives and in our world, will be satisfied by Him. He will satisfy us with everything we need
Why will He want to satisfy us with everything we need, if He does not want us to have more? The truth is that He wants us to keep having more until we are satisfied. And all we need for that to happen is to be hungry and thirsty for more of Him and more of what He wants us to have
This, of course, is showing us that He does not want us to be complacent in life. Instead, He wants us to always desire to know Him better, to have His fullness dwell in us, to be all that He wants us to be and to have all that He wants us to have in this world. And what will lead us to experience these things is our hunger and thirst for them
Look also at what Jesus says in John, chapter 10, verse 10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (NIV) Can you see that? Our Lord Jesus came so that we may experience fullness of life. And if you are complacent, you cannot experience life to the full. If you are complacent, you cannot be all that God wants you to be in life or accomplish all that He wants you to accomplish. The moment you are complacent, the moment you think that your life is okay as it is and that you do not need to be a better man, woman, husband, wife, child, Christian or citizen, you are already on your way out of relevance and out of this world. You are already dead, even though you are alive, and your life has begun to decompose and decay
You need to understand that as long as you are alive in this world, you cannot have any false sense of self-satisfaction. It will keep you from looking ahead to becoming the person God wants you to be and to having what He wants you to have. It will make you crest. And once you crest in that sense, you can only depreciate in character and usefulness
God, however, does not want us to crest in life. What He wants is for us to continually hunger and thirst for the fullness of Him and of the life that He purchased for us in Christ. So, we must always look forward to what can be instead of fixing our gaze on what is. Of course, we must be thankful for what we are and what we have. And we must not get ourselves involved in anything that is contrary to the will of God in order to be where we want to be or have what we want to have. But we must always be hungry and thirsty for more of God and more of life. Otherwise, our lives will be stagnate
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SYMPTOMS OF WORLDLINESS 24/04/2024
“I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarrelling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not mere human beings?” (1Corinthians 3:2-4NIV).
From what Paul says to us in our opening text, the Christian is not a mere human being—he is not an ordinary human being. The Christian is a different class of human beings. He belongs to a different class. That is because he has been born again. He has received the life of God. He has received the nature of God. So, he is no longer a mere human being.
But Paul says about the Corinthian Christians, “You are still acting like mere human beings. You are still worldly.” Why? According to him, it is because there is jealousy and quarrelling among them. And that means, to begin with, jealousy does not belong in the church. It is an attribute of the world. It belongs in the world, not among God’s people. Envy, rivalry and the like do not belong among God’s people. So when a brother is jealous of another brother, he is worldly. And when a sister is jealous of another sister, she is worldly. These things do not belong in the church. So, if you are jealous of anybody, you are worldly. It is as simple as that. And if you are envious of anybody, you are worldly.
Yes, there is a sense in which the word ‘envy’ is used positively. Then you will be talking about envying someone for something good that he is doing, so that you also can do likewise. But that is not what we are talking about here. We are talking about bitter jealousy or bitter envy here. And we are saying this is not a trait or an attribute that you should have. This is not a trait with which you should be described, as a child of God. It belongs in the world. And so, having become a child of God, we should not be seeing jealousy in you. We should not see it in your face or in the way you talk or in the way you act.
In any case, even though members of the church in Corinth had been Christians for a while and had all the gifts of the Spirit that you could think of at work in their midst, they were still jealous of one another. In addition to that, they were also quarrelling with one another. And that means if you are quarrelsome, you are worldly. It is as simple as that. If you quarrel with people or have issues with them all the time, then, you are worldly. If you cannot relate freely with people or work freely with people, without quarrelling with them, then, you are worldly.
Now I am not saying that when people are doing wrong things they must not be corrected or set right. But you don’t correct people in a quarrelsome manner. Unfortunately, some people are just quarrelsome. They are simply belligerent. Any little act of provocation from anybody towards them, they are set to quarrel. That is a symptom of worldliness.
In addition, members of the church in Corinth were also divided among themselves. The church was divided into different camps with different heads and leaders. But the church has just one head. Yes, there may be people that you respect in the church. But the church has just one head, and that is Jesus Christ. And you should not allow anybody to take His place in your life, neither should you yourself attempt to take His place in anybody’s life.
All of this is why it is wrong to debate among ourselves which minister of the gospel is superior in anointing to the other. But we often find ourselves doing this. We compare ministers of the gospel and try to establish the better ones among them. And each time you find yourself having this kind of conversation with anyone, you are showing that you are worldly.
Now there are other symptoms of worldliness given to us in Scriptures, which space will not permit me to list for you. But the point I want you to get is that worldliness should not be identified with any child of God. That is because it results in spiritual death. It brings us to a situation in which we are again dead to God and not able to respond to Him appropriately. And where that is the case, spiritual stagnation will set in, exposing us to all kinds of satanic afflictions and God’s judgment.
So, don’t give room for any kind of worldliness in your life or make excuses for it. Otherwise, it may ruin everything good in your life before you wake up.
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THE REASON MAN IS NOT HOPELESS 23/04/2024
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16NIV)
Who loved the world? God! And here John describes the extent of His love for humanity. He says, “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Already, what humanity deserves is destruction; what it deserves is to be eternally separated from God. But because God loves man, He is unwilling to allow man to perish. So, He gave His one and only Son for him. We can, then, see that the love of God is geared towards preventing man from perishing.
Furthermore, in Romans 5, Paul tells us the condition of man when God proved His love for him. From verse 6 he says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6NIV) Look at that. When we were still powerless, God came to our rescue. At that time, we could not help ourselves from sinning or from destroying ourselves. But God came to our rescue.
Now we still see many in this condition today. They cannot help themselves from destroying themselves. They know this, but they are not seeking help in the right direction or are not seeking help at all. You may have come in contact with individuals like that before. You keep telling them that they are going to destroy themselves, should they continue to do certain things they love to do. And their response is always, “I know these things, but I cannot help myself.”
Sometimes, what such people are struggling with may not even be something that is obviously immoral. It may be an addiction to wine or cigarettes. We often see people who are smoking cigarettes and coughing at the same time. And when you tell them, “This is killing you. Why don’t you stop it?” they will most likely say, “I know. But I cannot help myself.” He is powerless against what is destroying him.
Also, we often see married people who are involved in things that will ultimately destroy their homes or lives. And when you tell them, “This is hurting you already. Stop it!” their response will be, “I know it is hurting me. But I can’t stop it.” Why? They are powerless against what is destroying them.
In addition, look around, and you will see many young people that are destroying their own lives through wrong relationships. Some of them are failing in their studies because of this. They were fine before they started these relationships. But now they are in trouble. They have lost focus and everything is falling apart for them. Yet when you tell them, “Why don’t you stop this?” their answer will be, “I can’t!” There are even times that they use love as their excuse for destroying themselves. They are simply powerless against the thing that is destroying them,
Well, again, Paul says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.” (Romans 5:6-7NIV) What is coming from Paul here is quite interesting actually. He makes a distinction between righteous people and good people. So, someone can be good in the eyes of men and not be righteous in the sight of God. But you cannot find a righteous person that is not good.
This, of course, is because men’s understanding of righteousness and goodness is corrupt. So, they though they want what is good, they don’t want righteousness or righteous people. That is what the bible says and that is also what we see in all of life. And that is why Paul says even though we may not find anybody that wants to give his life for a righteous man, we may occasionally find people who are willing to give their lives or take a bullet for someone that has been good to them.
But as far as God is concerned, none of us was either righteous or good in His sight. Yet He showed us love. Paul describes this in verse 8 of this chapter, where he says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8NIV) And he is saying this to show us our condition when God did all that He did for us. We were still unrighteous, ungodly and powerless when He came to us and saved us. We deserved nothing but death when He did what He did. And Paul says He did what He did for us because He loves us. So, the reason man is not hopeless is that God loves him.
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CONCERNING CULTURAL INFLUENCES 22/04/2024
“For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach – and that for the sake of dishonest gain. One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith.” (Titus 1:10-13NIV)
Titus had been left in Crete by Paul to take care of certain things that were out of place among the brethren there. And in this passage, Paul his addressing him on how he is to handle them. First, he tells him to silence certain people who have been rebellious in the churches in Crete. So, it is not a new thing to have rebels in the church, people who will not want to take instructions or be rebuked or follow what is in accordance with sound doctrine. And leaders of God’s people must not give in to the pressure or manipulation of such people. Instead, as Paul tells Titus, they must silence them.
What we are saying is that anyone that is causing confusion in the church or disrupting order among God’s people must be silenced. They must not be allowed to carry on with whatever nonsense they are carrying out among God’s people. How is that to be done? Are church leaders to resort to force in silencing them? No! This is a spiritual thing. So, we handle it by teaching the word of God to point out the errors of such people to the people of God and to warn them and those associating with them.
Then Paul goes on to point out certain cultural or environmental influences in Crete that Titus must not overlook but must be ready to address among the brethren. He says to him, “One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” And this saying is true.” These people have become Christians, as we can see. Yet certain cultural traits of their people are still finding expression in their lives. Many of them have not abandoned these traits; they are still conforming to them and allowing them to run their lives.
Now what are these cultural traits that are prevalent among the Cretans? First, there is lying. That means an average Cretan is a liar. So, if you are interacting with him, you can be sure that he will attempt to deceive you or cheat you. Second, they are called evil brutes. That means they are violent. And if you should get involved in anything with them that results in a quarrel, you can be sure that they will want to hurt you physically. Then they are referred to as lazy gluttons. That means they don’t want to work or be responsible in life. They just want to play around and eat the bread of idleness.
Unfortunately, as Paul further tells Titus, all these things are not only true of Cretans but are also finding expression among those of them that have become Christians. And he is telling him these things because he wants him to know that he will surely find in Crete brethren in whose lives these evil cultural traits are still present and obvious. That means these believers have not yet renewed their minds. That is why they are still conforming to those evil cultural tendencies of their city.
Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans to renew our minds (Rom 12:2). And with what are we to renew our minds? The word of God! We are expected to have our minds cleansed with the word of God. That way, evil cultural traits or influences that are prevalent where we are or that are associated with the culture in which we grew up or got educated would not dominate our lives again as Christians.
Yes, we may have grown up under these evil influences. But having become Christians, we are no longer of the world; we are now of God and of His kingdom of righteousness. And as citizens of the kingdom of God, we have our own culture. The word of God defines our culture for us. And in doing so, it tells us that we have been recreated to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. These, then, are what our lives must reflect: God’s righteousness and holiness. And the only way this will happen is for us to allow His word to renew our minds, to change the way we think.
Well, my point is that we need to pay attention to the cultural influences or traits that are prevailing where we live, work, do business or study. This is so that we will know those among them that we must not yield or conform to. Otherwise, though we have become Christians, people may find it difficult to tell that we are, when they can see that certain wrong cultural traits that are seen in those of the world are also in us.
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THE TIMING DOES NOT REST ON HIM ALONE 21/04/2024
“… when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built…” (1Peter 3:20NIV)
As we see in the book of Genesis, when God wanted to save Noah and his family from the worldwide flood that He wanted to bring to destroy everything from the face of the earth, He told him to build an ark. But why did God make that move to destroy humanity and every other living thing from the face of the earth? It was because of man's wickedness. Man's wickedness at that time, according to the bible, filled God's heart with pain. Our wickedness made Him regret making us and handing His earth over to us to govern. So, the only solution before Him was to make an end of us and perhaps start all over again. (Cf. Gen 6:5-7)
But then, He found a man that was righteous and blameless before Him. And because He is a just God, He was not willing to destroy this man and his family along with the rest of humanity. So, He told him what to do to be saved. And the man went ahead and did exactly as he had been instructed. He built the ark he was told to build and so saved himself and his family from that flood that took away everyone and everything from the face of the earth. (Cf. Gen 6-8)
However, there is something we are not told in the account of this man's salvation that we have in the book of Genesis. And it is that God patiently waited for him to finish building the ark before He sent the flood. Exactly when God spoke to Noah to start building that ark we are not told in Genesis. We are only told that he was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came (Gen 7:6&11).
But Peter, in our opening bible text, tells us that God waited patiently for this man to finish building the ark during those days. That means it must have taken Noah a while before he raised money to build the ark and to finish building it. It must also have taken him a while to gather and store all the food that his family and all the animals and birds with them would eat while in the ark. And we know that they were in the ark for one full year (Gen 7:11&8:13-14). So, it couldn't have been a small job for Noah to get all the food they ate in the ark ready and preserved before the flood.
Furthermore, Noah and those with him must have needed more than food to survive in that ark in which they were shut in for a whole year. They must have needed water to drink, clothes to wear, fuel for cooking and lightings and so forth to make their stay in the ark a little comfortable for them. You can, then, see why God had to be patient with him. God had to make sure that this man was fully ready to be saved from what was coming before He brought His judgment on man and all his activities here on earth at that time.
So, in a sense, the time that the flood came was not dependent on God alone; it was also dependent on Noah's readiness. God was always ready. But Noah too had to be. Otherwise, his salvation could not happen. In like manner, there are things God cannot bring about for us in our lives until we are ready to handle them. Yes, we may be praying to Him to make those things happen without delay. And if He should answer us and make them happen, according to our yearnings, their coming may just be our undoing.
But because He loves us, God often patiently waits for us to be ready to handle what He is bringing for our salvation, elevation or expansion before He brings it. That way, He can preserve us to enjoy whatever He brings to us. So, while we think we are waiting for God to move in certain ways on our behalf or to do certain things for us, the truth is that He is always the one waiting for us to be ready for what is coming. Do you know that even in dealing with the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we are told the in the bible, we are the ones that must speed it up by perfecting our readiness for Him? (Cf. 2Pet 3:10-12)
See, God lives in eternity. So, a day or a thousand years make no difference to Him (2Pet 3:8). He always has all the time to do whatever He wants to do and can be patient with us for as long as He wants to. But do we, here on earth, have all the time to do whatever we want to do? No, we don't! We can't only function while it is day, as our Lord Jesus tells us (John 9:4). Once night overtakes us, all works must cease. This is why our prayer all the time must be that God will daily perfect our readiness to receive from Him all that He has in store for us in this world and to also receive His Son when He finally arrives to bring us into our eternal home. And may this be so for you and me everyday, in Jesus' name. Amen.
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SEPARATE LIGHT FROM DARKNESS 20/04/2024
“God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.” (Gen 1:4NIV)
Why did God, in the beginning, separate light from darkness? It was because light is clearly different from darkness. Light is anything that makes things visible, according to the bible, while darkness is anything that hides the real state of things (Eph 5:14). Therefore, God was not going to lie to Himself in the beginning and act as though light and darkness were the same thing, when they were actually different. That was why He separated them.
Now we too, as children of God, must imitate Him in this: we must learn to separate light from darkness wherever we are. Why? It is because they are actually different. Light is different from darkness, just as day is different from night. We don't debate this or argue over it, for we know it is the plain truth.
In like manner, good is different from bad and righteousness is different from wickedness. So, we must always separate them wherever we are. Why? It is because, ever since the fall of man, there have always been in the world individuals who will have us believe that there is really no difference between good and evil or righteousness and wickedness. For them, everything depends on how we look at things. So, if you consider something to be evil, then, to you it is evil. That, however, does not mean that someone else has to accept your opinion of that thing. In other words, if another person considers what you take as evil to be good, then, that thing is good to that person.
You can now see why many all over the world are now accepting homosexuality, lesbianism, bestiality and other related forms of perversion as good. You can also see why many now accept indecent exposure of people's bodies, especially ladies, as nothing but an expression of self-awareness and confidence. And this, of course, is the explanation for why many, especially in our country, are now feeling at home with internet fraudsters and sorcerers, also known as 'Yahoo guys', and prostitutes, also known now as 'Hook-up girls' as people that are legitimately working like others. But are they right?
Well, human beings will always be right in their judgment of what is good or evil, if they are the author of life. But they are not the author of life. God is. And because God is, He separated light from darkness and day from night from the very beginning of things. He did not mix these things up and say, “They are all the same,” or say, “What you think of them depends on how you look at them.”
In like manner, the truth about what is good and what is bad lies with God, not with man or any other being. Remember that He declared everything He made in the beginning, with the exception of none, to be very good (Gen 1:31). So, if anything that is bad shows up on the scene, He is the only one that will be able to tell us.
That being the case, we cannot rely on the world's concept of good or evil, if we want to be able to separate them. The only one that we can rely on for the truth about what is good and what is evil is God. And He has given us the Scriptures to make this clearly known to us. Our job, then, is to devote ourselves to what He has said through the Scriptures and learn for ourselves what is good and what is evil.
Why is this important? It is important because God has called us to be light. And since He has called us to be light, He does not want us to have anything to do with darkness anymore. The bible says, “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Eph 5:8-12NIV)
Did you see that? The child of God is light and, as such, must live as a child of light and separate himself from all forms of darkness. But will he be able to live fully as light, if he can't always separate darkness from light, good from evil? No! This, then, is why he is further told in that text to learn and prove what pleases the Lord. And if you are truly a child of God, you will give yourself to doing that – you will give yourself to learning the will of God for your life, so that you can always separate yourself as light from darkness. This, of course, is what will show whether you will reign eternally with Him or not.
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CAUTION OR SUSPICION 19/04/2024
“So Hanun seized David's men, shaved off half of each man's beard, cut off their garments in the middle at the buttocks, and sent them away.” (2Sam 10:4NIV)
Why did Hanun, king of the Ammonites, treat David’s men in the manner described in our opening bible text? He did so because he thought he was being cautious. But was he really being cautious or suspicious?
As the account shows us, Hanun’s father, Nahash had been a friend of David before he died. And though we are not told how they became friends, we are told that the reason David sent his men to give his condolences to his son, Hanun, was that he was a very kind person to him (2Sam 10:1-2). That, of course, was one of the things that characterised David’s way of life. He was not someone that would forget those who had been good or kind to him. Rather, he was someone that was always seeking them out, so that he could show his gratitude to them in whatever way he could. (Cf. 1Sam 30:26-31; 2Sam 9; 2Sam 19:31-39)
Unfortunately, on this occasion, his kind gesture was totally misrepresented by Hanun, the son of his late friend. And it was misrepresented because the officials with the young man misled him. They sowed a seed of evil suspicions in his heart, even though there was no reason for him to be suspicious. (Cf. 2Sam 10:3)
David, before that time, had done nothing to Hanun’s country to make him think of him as an enemy. He had been nothing but a good and loyal friend to his father. And even if he had wanted to be cautious, probably because he was not really close to David, all he would have needed to do was to give instructions to his men to watch the activities of his ambassadors. Then their report would have cleared his doubts and prevented him from being unduly suspicious.
But because he was a foolish young man, instead of acting with caution at that time, he acted in evil suspicions and shamelessly maltreated ambassadors of an ally country that only came to sympathise with him for the loss of his father. That, of course, resulted in an unfortunate war between him and the nation of Israel, which was a stronger and more powerful nation. And because of the war he lost his men, his land, his crown and his reputation. How sad! (Cf. 2Sam 10; 1Chro 19:1-20:3)
Well, this story is teaching us one thing, which is that there is a great deal of difference between caution and evil suspicion. To be cautious means that we do not assume that we know what people will do or how they will function under any circumstance, if we do not know them to be true children of God or have not known them for a very long time. Therefore, we do not carelessly let them into our lives or affairs. Instead, we put appropriate boundaries in place in our dealings with them, so that we may, in the course of time, learn how well we can trust them.
But to be suspicious means to have a feeling that something is wrong or that something may go wrong in our dealings with someone. And is it altogether wrong to have this feeling? No! It all depends on who we have such feelings about, why we have such feelings about them and what we do as a result of such feelings that we have about them.
If someone, as Paul says about himself and his ministry companions, does not have any record of being injurious, manipulative or corrupt in dealing with us or others that we know, we have no reason to be suspicious of them (2Cor 7:2). Otherwise, whatever suspicions we have about them will only be evil suspicions, something that the word of God warns against (1Tim 6:4).
Then even if we have reasons to be suspicious of someone because we don’t know them well enough, because we have seen them act in some ungodly manner before or because someone gave us some bad news about them, our suspicions should only drive us to be cautious and on guard in dealing with them. We should not allow them to drive us to disgrace or embarrass them when they have not done us any wrong and we have no real proof that they are going to hurt us in any way. Otherwise, our suspicions about them will be nothing but evil suspicions.
Now when we allow evil suspicions to drive us to hurt, disgrace or embarrass others who have done nothing wrong to us, we, like Hanun, may end up having an unnecessary and unfortunate war to fight. And that may forever shut some doors of goodness that could have come to us through them against us. Only God, then, knows how many people have been denied certain measure of His goodness that could have been theirs in life because of these things. They, out of suspicion, treated shamefully or abusively certain individuals who merely wanted to help them or do them good. And they have to live with the sorrow and loss that came with doing so for the rest of their earthly lives.
More so, when we allow evil suspicions to drive us in relating to others, even if our suspicions are right, those watching and who have seen the kind of bad treatment we have given to them may never get to know that our suspicions are right. Therefore, instead of being seen as the victims of those who want to hurt us, we will be seen and treated as the villains. And who knows how terribly that will affect us? Only God knows.
So, yes, be cautious in all your dealings with men. But give no room in your heart for any form of evil suspicion. That is because it can only harm you; it has no good to offer you.
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IN THE HIGHEST REGARD 18/04/2024
“Treat your leaders in the highest regard.” (Cf. 1Thessalonians 5:12-13)
That is God’s instruction to us on relating to our church leaders. He commands us to treat them in the highest regard. What does it mean to treat people in the highest regard? Nobody can define this for you; you are to define it for yourself. So, what does it mean to you?
Mind you, you are not told to do treat your church leaders in the highest regard because they are better than you, for they are not better than you. No child of God is better than another child of God in the sight of God. And I am not talking about being better than others in terms of conduct here; rather, I am talking about being better in terms of worth. I am saying no child of God is better than others in terms of worth. That is because the same price was paid by Him for our souls. He placed the same value on all of us.
Remember that Jesus, while praying before going to the cross, said, “Father, let the world know that you have loved my disciples just as you have loved me.” (Cf. John 17:23) God loves us just as He loves Jesus. This is amazing. And really, if this had not been the case, He would not have given Jesus to die for us. In order for Him to give Jesus for us, He must have placed the same value He placed on Him on us too. So, He loves us just as He loves Him. And all of us stand before Him equal. We all are brethren.
But in terms of service, He wants us to honour those who are serving us because of the work they are doing among us. So, don’t talk to them anyhow or relate to them anyhow. This is for your own good. And where leaders understand this, they will not force you to respect them.
I know there are places where church leaders literally force or coerce their brethren to respect them. They have all kinds of structures in place that will make brethren respect or regard them, even though those brethren may not be sincere about it. You know you can prostrate for someone, when inside you something else is going on. But we are not talking about giving insincere regard to our leaders. That is hypocrisy, and God does not want it in His church – He hates it.
So, willingly, respect your leader. Don’t talk to them anyhow or relate to them anyhow. There are indeed assemblies in which such things happen. They abuse their leaders and talk to them as they please. Some will even be willing to beat up their leaders when provoked. Things like such are wrong. And I am not saying that the brethren are always to blame for such things. There are leaders who also have all kinds of problems in their lives, which they have not dealt with and which give brethren reasons to disrespect them.
Respect has to be earned. Yes, God has commanded us to respect our leaders. But leaders also have to earn it from their brethren. This is why you, as a leader of God’s people, must live your life in such a way that those you are leading will respect you. You cannot be quoting scriptures to people all the time, saying, “The bible says you must respect me.” What kind of life are you living? Are you living that kind of life that will earn people’s respect?
When Paul tells Timothy not to allow anybody to look down on him, most people think that he means that the young man must not give room for anybody to talk anyhow to him because he is young (1Timothy 4:12). But that is not what he means. What he means is that Timothy is to live his life in such a way that nobody will have any reason to look down on him because he is young. He is to live in such a way that nobody will say, “It is because he is a small boy that he is acting like that.” He is to conduct himself in such a way that people will not use his youthfulness as an excuse for disrespecting him.
So, leaders also have their own roles in all this. They must show themselves as worthy of respect. However, you cannot use the misbehaviour of your leader as an excuse for violating God’s instruction that says that you are to treat them in the highest regard. Otherwise, you will have God to answer to. And you may not know how He is going to judge your matter. So, mind yourself.
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THE PRACTICE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 17/04/2024
“The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” (2Thessalonians 2:9-10NIV) .
Look at that. the coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. And how does Satan work? By the use of all sorts of display of power, through signs and wonders!
So, Satan can forge miracles. He can forge signs. He can produce (forge) miraculous things. And that is why we cannot say that you belong to God just because you perform signs and wonders or because you exercise what seem to be gifts of the Spirit. Those things can be forged.
But there is something that cannot be forged, and that is the practice of righteousness. That is why the Lord says make a tree good, and its fruit will be good; make a tree bad, and its fruit will be bad. A good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit. And a bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit. So, the practice of righteousness cannot be forged. If you have righteousness in you, you will bring forth the fruit of righteousness. If you don’t have it in you, you cannot bring forth its fruit. (Cf. Matt 12:33-35)
You know there are trees that don’t bring forth fruit but that look like some trees that bring forth certain fruits. When you look at their leaves or flowers, you may mistake them for certain fruit-bearing trees. But they are not. So, that a tree looks like a mango tree does not mean that it can bring forth mangoes. Or that a tree looks like an orange tree does not mean that it can bring forth oranges. If it is an orange tree, it will definitely bring forth oranges. But if it is not, there is nothing you do to it that will make it bring forth oranges.
All this is why, as a child of God, it is important for you to give yourself to the practice of righteousness. That is because one main outward proof of your possession of righteousness in your heart is your practice of it.
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SHARE ALL GOOD THINGS WITH THEM 16/04/2024
“Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.” (Gal 6:6NLT)
Did you see that? It is the will of God for you to be generous to anyone that is regularly and faithfully feeding you with the word of God. There are, of course, many teachers of the word of God in the church and all around the world. And God is not asking you to share all good things with all of them, even if you know them by their names. But you have a duty to be generous to those who are committed to teaching you the word of God and building up your life with it, so that you will become the person God wants you to be in life.
Then observe that that bible verse says that we are to share all good things with such people. That means as good things are happening to us, we should remember to let them partake of them. It is not only our troubles, distresses, misfortunes and so forth that we should be sharing with them. Unfortunately, what most of us often share with our pastors and other believers that God regularly uses to teach us His word are our troubles. We want them to counsel us and pray for us each time things are hard for us. But when our prayers are answered or we are blessed with some unusual favour we don’t remember them. And this is wrong.
Now, again, it is not about how much good things you give to them or share with them; rather, it is about the willingness of your heart to do the will of God by being generous to them. If you are willing to do this, God will accept whatever you give to them based on what you have and not on what you do not have. To say the fact, one of the reasons most of our preachers now lie, manipulate, pressure and threaten God’s people to give to support them is that many of us have been irresponsible along this line. We have not been willingly generous to supporting them and the work they are doing.
So, they have resorted to using all kinds of gimmicks in getting us to give to them. If they are not organising some fake programs for our elevation or glory, they will be selling some special oil, water, handkerchiefs and so forth to us. And while it is true that God will not fail to judge them for their lies and unfaithfulness, it is also true that He will not fail to judge every one of us who is not willing to do His will by being generous to those He has appointed to minister to us.
You may now want to ask yourself, “HOW REGULARLY DO I SHARE GOOD THINGS WITH MY PASTOR AND SOME OTHER BROTHERS AND SISTERS GOD HAS BEEN USING TO TEACH ME HIS WORD AND MAKE MY LIFE BETTER? WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME I EVEN GAVE SOMETHING TO ANY OF THESE PEOPLE TO SUPPORT THEM AND MAKE THEIR WORK EASIER OR MORE ENJOYABLE, NOT BECAUSE THEY ASKED ME BUT BECAUSE I WAS BEING DILIGENT TO ACT ON THE WORD OF GOD?”
Well, regardless of what your answers to these questions may be, my prayer is that God will lead your heart to take these words seriously and begin to apply them to your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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WHEN IT IS BETTER 15/04/2024
“But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” (1 Cor 7:9NIV)
Did you see that? It is better to marry than to burn passion. It is better to get married than to be involved in sexual immorality. It is better to marry than to nurse evil and destructive thoughts in your heart about sex. It is better to marry than to give yourself to pornography or masturbation. These things will ultimately destroy you and your love life, if you give in to them.
Why do people who have no intention of getting married to each other end up being in a home or marriage together? A lot of times, it is because they are overcome by sexual passions. And you who are saying that you are not ready for marriage may end up being overcome by these same passions, once you stir up love and refuse to do what is right on time. There are many that will voluntarily testify to the trueness of this.
So, if you can tell that you are ripe for a marriage relationship and you have found the right person, don’t unduly waste time on any kind of courtship. Don’t start out a love life and then immediately embark of a project that will surely make you unready for marriage in the next couple of years. It is not wise. And don’t start acting all spiritual about this and making everybody believe it is the Spirit of God that is leading you to act like this. I think I too have the Spirit of God (1Cor 7:40).
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CAN ANYBODY REALLY HIDE FROM HIM? 13/04/2024
“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"” (Gen 3:8-9NIV)
After the fall of man, God came to him and his wife in order to speak to them. But as we see in our opening bible text, they went hiding the moment they heard the sound of His presence in the garden that they were. Why? They were ashamed of themselves. They were ashamed of what they had done and the results that had followed. So, they went to hide themselves.
But what could they possibly accomplish by hiding where they were? Could they undo what they had done by hiding from God? Evidently, hiding from God the way Adam and Eve did could not in any way solve the eternal problem they had created. The only one that could solve it was God. So, instead of hiding from Him, what they should have done was to come to Him as they were, acknowledge their errors before Him and cast themselves on Him for salvation and deliverance. And maybe the storyline we have in the bible would have been different, if they had done that.
Unfortunately, Adam and Eve did not do that. Instead, they chose to hide their shame and fall from God. But could they really hide from Him? Can anybody really hide from Him? The bible says, “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Heb 4:13NIV) So, what Adam and Eve did was not hidden from God. Also, where they were hiding was not hidden from Him. He saw everything and knew everything.
In like manner, there are many that are hiding from God today because of certain things they have done to their lives or other people's lives. They know they have messed up. They know that they have done the unthinkable. And they are ashamed of themselves and of their acts. But hiding from God is not the solution to whatever problem they have created for themselves. Instead, hiding from Him can only make things worse for them.
Now perhaps you are one of those people hiding from God. You need to come out of your hideout and let Him save you from that which is destroying you. Understand that you cannot really hide from Him. He sees you where you are and as you are. But He won’t force you to come out for His help, if you don’t want it. So, come out to Him for your salvation, and He will save you. Otherwise, you may end up perishing where you are, if you stay there one moment longer.
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BEGIN TO DO YOUR OWN JOB
13/04/2024
“Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace." I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied, "Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work.” (Neh 2:17-18NIV)
There are things God must do for us in this life. And if He does not do them, there is nothing we can do about them that will amount to anything. That is why absolute dependence on Him is important, if we want our lives to be what they ought to be.
But then, there are also things we must do for ourselves in order for our lives to be what they ought to be. And if we will not do these things for ourselves, there is nothing God can do about them. Why? It is because He has already given us the abilities, skills and resources required to do them.
For example, when Nehemiah heard about the condition of the Jews in Jerusalem that had returned home from exile, he was not happy at all and wished he could be of help. But he also knew that if God did not intervene in the matter, there was nothing he or any other person could do to help. So, he turned to Him in prayer and asked for His favour before the only man that was in a position at that time to clear the way for him to help his people. (Cf. Nehemiah 1)
Now did God answer his prayer or not? He did! He granted him favour before the emperor that the nation of Judah was under his rule at the time. So, the man was willing to let him go and help his people. More than that, he was willing to supply him with a small army for his protection and plenty of resources to accomplish his mission. Therefore, when we pray to God, we cannot even imagine what great miracles He can perform on our behalf to make things work for our good. (Cf. Nehemiah 2:1-9)
However, though it was God’s job to cause Nehemiah to be favoured before Artaxerxes, it was not His job to give this king the details of how long it would take Nehemiah to go and help his people or what sort of resources he would need to help them. That was Nehemiah’s job. And he had to do it in a very diligent and responsible manner. Otherwise, the king would not take him seriously at all.
Also, though it was God’s job to move the hearts of the Jews in Jerusalem at that time to get up and rebuild their lives and land, it was not His job to gather them, talk to them and organise them to start working. That was Nehemiah’s job. And he had to do with a demonstration of knowledge, understanding and enthusiasm. Otherwise, the people would not take him seriously at all.
Then, though it was God’s job to favour the people by sending Nehemiah to them and providing the resources they needed to rebuild their ruins for them, it was not His job to put the resources on ground together and rebuild. That was the people’s job. And they had to do it with a sense of urgency and seriousness. Otherwise, all of God’s favour lavished on then would simply go to waste.
What, then, is the point of all this? It is that we must go beyond praying to God for His intervention in our lives and affairs. We must also identify what we must do with His intervention and begin to do it with every sense of seriousness, understanding and care. Otherwise, our lives and situations will not leave where they are for where they could be.
So, as you are praying to God for better living conditions, also begin to do whatever legitimate things you can do to experience better living conditions in a very serious manner. That way, you will not be wasting His favour but utilising it to fulfil His purpose in your life.
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BEGIN TO DO YOUR OWN JOB
13/04/2024
“Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace." I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied, "Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work.” (Neh 2:17-18NIV)
There are things God must do for us in this life. And if He does not do them, there is nothing we can do about them that will amount to anything. That is why absolute dependence on Him is important, if we want our lives to be what they ought to be.
But then, there are also things we must do for ourselves in order for our lives to be what they ought to be. And if we will not do these things for ourselves, there is nothing God can do about them. Why? It is because He has already given us the abilities, skills and resources required to do them.
For example, when Nehemiah heard about the condition of the Jews in Jerusalem that had returned home from exile, he was not happy at all and wished he could be of help. But he also knew that if God did not intervene in the matter, there was nothing he or any other person could do to help. So, he turned to Him in prayer and asked for His favour before the only man that was in a position at that time to clear the way for him to help his people. (Cf. Nehemiah 1)
Now did God answer his prayer or not? He did! He granted him favour before the emperor that the nation of Judah was under his rule at the time. So, the man was willing to let him go and help his people. More than that, he was willing to supply him with a small army for his protection and plenty of resources to accomplish his mission. Therefore, when we pray to God, we cannot even imagine what great miracles He can perform on our behalf to make things work for our good. (Cf. Nehemiah 2:1-9)
However, though it was God’s job to cause Nehemiah to be favoured before Artaxerxes, it was not His job to give this king the details of how long it would take Nehemiah to go and help his people or what sort of resources he would need to help them. That was Nehemiah’s job. And he had to do it in a very diligent and responsible manner. Otherwise, the king would not take him seriously at all.
Also, though it was God’s job to move the hearts of the Jews in Jerusalem at that time to get up and rebuild their lives and land, it was not His job to gather them, talk to them and organise them to start working. That was Nehemiah’s job. And he had to do with a demonstration of knowledge, understanding and enthusiasm. Otherwise, the people would not take him seriously at all.
Then, though it was God’s job to favour the people by sending Nehemiah to them and providing the resources they needed to rebuild their ruins for them, it was not His job to put the resources on ground together and rebuild. That was the people’s job. And they had to do it with a sense of urgency and seriousness. Otherwise, all of God’s favour lavished on then would simply go to waste.
What, then, is the point of all this? It is that we must go beyond praying to God for His intervention in our lives and affairs. We must also identify what we must do with His intervention and begin to do it with every sense of seriousness, understanding and care. Otherwise, our lives and situations will not leave where they are for where they could be.
So, as you are praying to God for better living conditions, also begin to do whatever legitimate things you can do to experience better living conditions in a very serious manner. That way, you will not be wasting His favour but utilising it to fulfil His purpose in your life.
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ON THE BASIS OF OUR RESPONSE TO HIS CALL 12/04/2024
“All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” (John 6:37NIV)
God is making out a call to all men, saying, “Come to me, and I will give you rest. Come to me, if you are thirsty, and rivers of living water will start gushing out from within you, if you believe.” This is a general call to everyone, to anyone. Is it everyone that will respond to this call? No! But whoever responds to it will not be driven away by the Lord.
Judas Iscariot responded to that call. And the Lord would not drive him away. Instead, He embraced him as He did others and gave the same opportunities to learn and to serve as He gave to others. You can see why He gave him authority to heal people and do miracles. It is also why He made him His treasurer. He was relating to this man on the basis of his response to His call and not on the basis of the revelation He had about him.
That, of course, is huge to swallow. But then, it is showing us that we need to be careful when we are relating to spiritually minded people. They may know things about you and not say anything to you about them. They may know things about you and not relate to you on the basis of those things they know about you. Jesus knew these things about Judas Iscariot and yet never related to him on their basis. Instead, He related to him on the basis of his own response to Him. When Jesus called him, he came. When He sent him out, he went out. When He was teaching others, he too was there to listen and learn. So, you see that, besides the revelation the Lord had about his betrayal, He had no reason at the time not to treat this man with love and care, as He was doing with the other apostles with Him.
But we may still ask, “Why did the Lord not relate to Judas on the basis of the revelation He already had about him?” The reason was that He wanted the world to see that even though this man had every opportunity to be good, to be the very person God would want him to be instead of a betrayer, he would definitely mess up in the end because he belonged to the devil, the evil one. See, the Lord has always known those that belong to Him and those who don’t. That is why the bible says God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: the Lord knows those who are His and let everyone who calls on the name of the Lord depart from wickedness. (Cf. 2Timothy 2:19)
Now even though the Lord knows those who belong to Him and those who don’t, even though He knows that who will end up with Him in heaven and those who will end up with the devil in hell, He still daily gives everybody the same opportunity to receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. What I am saying is that God is still calling everybody to Him through Jesus Christ everyday and not looking at the fact that some will ultimately reject Him. He is not relating to us on the basis of what He already knows about us and how our lives will end but on the basis of our response to His call.
Ultimately, what everyone stands for will be revealed. Ultimately, those who are going to deny or reject Him will be revealed. Yet the Lord is going to give everyone the opportunity, sufficient opportunity, to do what is right. This is so that when He begins to judge us, He will be a just God and judge. You can see why the bible says no one will have any excuse for not being saved before Him.
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COUNT IT PURE JOY 11/04/2024
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4NIV)
James is telling us here that we are to face our life’s trials and challenges with a sense of joy. Yes, the challenges we are faced with will want to ruin our happiness and joy and also take away our peace. But it is on us to choose not to permit that to happen.
See, if we are functioning with a sense of victory, we will not give room for sadness because of certain challenges we are faced with. True victors don’t walk around with an aura of gloom, sadness or sorrow. Victors rejoice. And we must learn to rejoice in the face of life’s trials.
Now that, of course, may be difficult for us to do. But it is what God wants us to learn. He wants us to learn to rejoice in the face of difficulties, knowing that we have already overcome them, even though our victory over them may not be visible yet. So, He says to us through James, “Count it pure joy, whenever you are faced with trials.”
That means you must not let any trial take away your joy, happiness or peace of mind. And if you function like that, instead for your trials to destroy your faith, God will use them to build it up. Every trial is an attack on our faith. Whether it is a temptation to sin or a sickness that is seeking to take our lives or a loss of things, Satan’s aim is to use it to lure us away from God.
What I am saying is that we need to understand that whatever the attack Satan launches against us may be, an attack on our body, mind, purity, reputation, business or anything else, his aim is to lure us away from God. He wants us to throw away our confidence in God and begin to seek peace or rest where it does not exist. That is what he wants.
Now God’s people who do not understand this often fall into his traps. They may turn away from God to the practice of witchcraft. And that is what the devil wants. Or they may begin to complain and blame God for their failure in life or for not taking good care of them. That is also what Satan wants. That was what he wanted to do with Job. He wanted him to throw away his confidence in God and curse Him. And though he got his wife to do that, he did not get Job to do so. You too must not allow him to get you to throw away your confidence in God because of what you are faced with.
Well, James tells us to consider all our trials pure joy and know that they are coming to us to test our faith. And as faith is tested, the fruit of perseverance that is already in us begins to manifest. That means one of the ways God makes us know that we can persevere or be patient is through trials. We have His ability in us to be patient, to endure and to persevere. But unless we are tried in some ways, we may not know how strong God has made us on the inside. And this is why James goes on to say that we should allow perseverance to finish its work in us when we are faced with life’s trials. We should not give up along the way. Instead, we should persevere till the end. That way, we will be able to receive and experience everything God is seeking to accomplish through what we are going through.
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DON’T OPEN THE DOOR FOR THEIR ATTACK 10/04/2024
“The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it, saying to himself, ‘I’ll pin David to the wall.’ But David eluded him twice.” (2Samuel 18:10-11NIV)
What came upon Saul forcefully here? It was not the Holy Spirit. It was an evil spirit that came upon him forcefully. And he began to prophesy. This was different from what happened when he was just anointed as king over Israel and the Spirit of God came upon him and he began to prophesy (1Sam 10:9-13). He was prophesying by an evil spirit on this occasion. And that spirit led him to attempt to kill David.
But what brought Saul into that situation in which an evil spirit began to lead him in that manner? It was disobedience to God. When you are walking in disobedience to God, you are making room for evil spirits to use you. And this is especially true of those who turn away from God to idols or to the practice of witchcraft or sorcery. Whether they have been believers or not, their lives are always open for demonic spirits to afflict them. That is how some people become mad. That is also how some become sick and nothing done for their healing works. It is equally how some become deaf, dumb or paralysed. Their involvement in witchcraft and sorcery opened the doors of their lives for evil spirits to come in and afflict them.
Well, the point I am making is that disobedience to God, any kind of disobedience to Him, can open our lives for satanic affliction. Don’t forget that Saul did not commit adultery for him to be afflicted in this manner. He had not even at this time got involved in idolatry. His sin was simply that of not carrying out God’s instruction against Amalek. That was why the Spirit of God left him and he became exposed to satanic affliction.
Now we have the Spirit of God in us. So, we cannot be possessed by demons. I mean that the Holy Spirit and demons cannot occupy our hearts at the same time. However, by disobeying the word of God, we will be opening the doors of our lives for demons to attack and afflict us. And we may be able to tell how dangerous their attacks on us will be. So, we need to avoid any form of disobedience to God. It is safe us from needless satanic attacks and afflictions.
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EVEN WHEN YOU ARE TIRED 08/04/2024
“Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"” (Matt 26:36-46NIV)
Why were Peter, James and John sleeping on this occasion instead of praying? Tiredness! They had had a very long and busy day. So, their eyes were heavy that very night with sleep. Yet the Lord told them to pray, so that they would not fall into temptation. But three times, within one hour, He came back to check them to see if they were praying, and He met them sleeping those three times. And that was because they were really tired.
But was the Lord Himself not tired? He was. Why, then, did He pull Himself together to pray? It was because He knew what was coming for Him. And He also knew that without praying to God to receive the strength and courage He needed to face what was coming, that dark hour of dying on the cross, He would fail.
So, though He was tired, He put Himself in a prayer position that was suitable for Him in that hour. He fell with His face to the ground and prayed. And when He was done, He was ready to do the will of God and save humanity.
His disciples, however, were not ready when they finally woke up. So, they all ended up running away and abandoning Him when He needed them the most. Why was that? It was because they did not pray, as they had been told to do.
Now why did they not pray? Was it just because they were tired? No! Rather, it was also because they did not understand the magnitude of what was coming for them. See, regardless of how tired you are, if you sense danger where you are, you will not sleep over it, if you are not a mentally or physically lazy person. Instead, you will take whatever steps you can take to keep yourself safe.
In like manner, if the Spirit of God is warming your heart to pray in your moment of tiredness, even if you don't know why, you will be doing yourself much good to overcome your tiredness at such times and pray. How? Take a position that will make sleeping difficult or impossible for you. Then you will be able to pray and prevent what is coming or pray to receive from God what you need to make yourself ready for whatever is coming
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A TEST OF GREED 07/04/2024
“Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."” (Luke 12:15NIV)
Why does our Lord Jesus tell us to be on our guard against all kinds of greed? First, it is because a man's life does not consist in the abundance of what he has. In other words, God does not measure the significance of our lives on the basis of how much we have or what position we are occupying in life. Rather, He measures the significance of our lives on the basis of how seriously we take Him and how seriously we take His gifts in our lives. And this is the way we too should measure the significance of our lives.
The second reason the Lord tells us to be on our guard against all kinds of greed is that there are different kinds of it. Some forms of it are easily recognised. But some forms of it are not easily recognised. The ones that are easily recognised are usually easier to deal with. It is its forms that are not easily recognised that often end up quietly and slowly ruining our lives.
For example, as in the case that prompted our Lord Jesus to say what He said in our opening bible text, when a man is demanding for his rights, we will not say that he is greedy. And really, he may not be greedy. But the Lord says he is greedy, if he is willing to use any means whatsoever to have his rights granted. So, if you are willing to kill, manipulate or employ witchcraft or sorcery in securing your rights, whatever those rights may be, you are a greedy person. (Cf. Luke 12:13-15)
Also, there is a form of greed that is associated with choosing ahead of others or sharing things among others. And we may not know that we have this form of greed in us until we are in a position to choose ahead of others or to share something among ourselves and others. Then it just shows up in us, as we labour to choose what is better or best for ourselves without thinking much about the usefulness or worthiness of what we are leaving for others to choose or take.
For example, when Lot was tested with the very rare opportunity of choosing the place to live and farm before his uncle, Abraham, would choose, greed showed up in him. Yes, he was a good and righteous man. But on that occasion, greed did not allow him to reason that it was foolish of him to choose ahead of his uncle, the uncle who taught him everything he knew and because of whom he had become rich. Truly, it was his uncle that asked him to choose first. However, if this form of greed that I am talking about had not been quietly living in him, he would have rejected the offer and asked the man to choose for him. (Cf. Gen 13)
Unfortunately, it was in him and he did not recognise it. And it made him choose the good part of the land, without thinking much about the usefulness of the leftover to his uncle and without also considering the consequences of staying in a good land that was full of bad people. If his uncle, then, had not known God, he may have regretted for life his decision to let him choose first, even though he was the younger of them. And if God had not been merciful to him too on the day that He visited Sodom and Gomorrah with judgment, it was not only his wealth that he would have lost, he would have lost his life and all his family members as well. (Cf. Gen 19)
Now it is easy for us to judge Lot as greedy and disrespectful. But if we too will carefully check our lives, we may find that we are not at all different from him in some ways. When we too are tested with the privilege to choose ahead of our colleagues, bosses or elderly ones, do we show concern and respect for their interests at all? Even when it comes to trivial matters of sharing food in parties or some special functions, do we show respect and concern for others, especially our seniors or elderly ones? Aren't we often more concerned about getting the better or best part of everything for ourselves without considering how this will affect others or our own reputation? I am sure we know the answers to these questions.
In any case, the word of the Lord to us is this: “Be on your guard against all forms of greed.” Why? You may not know what form of it will someday ruin your life or faith or take away from you all that is dear to you. And my prayer is that God will rid your life of all hidden and obvious forms of greed that may be there, so that they will never again open the door of your life to satanic afflictions or God's judgment. Amen.
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EMOTIONAL STATEMENTS ENSNARE 06/04/2024
“Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you." And he promised her with an oath, "Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom."” (Mark 6:21-23NIV)
When Herod was swearing an oath to Herodias’ daughter that he would give her anything she wanted, up to half of his kingdom, he did not think that the girl would, even in her wildest dreams, ask for nothing but the head of John the Baptist. But that was what she asked for. Now because he made his pledge publicly, he was under pressure to fulfil it. And he fulfilled it and joined the company of prophet killers.
But was Herod under any form of pressure to make that pledge? No! He made the pledge because he was excited. So, it was an emotional pledge, a pledge that he made without thinking clearly, a pledge he made when he was probably half-drunk, a pledge he made without considering the character of the person involved. So, he needlessly ensnared himself by his words and made himself a murderer.
Also, we have in the bible the account of a man named Jephthah and of how he made a vow to give to the Lord as a burnt offering whatever came out of his house to greet him, if the Lord should give him victory over his enemies, the Ammonites. Unfortunately, when he came back home, after the Lord had given him victory over his enemies, it was his daughter, his only child, that came out to greet him and to celebrate his victory with him. (Cf. Judges 11:29-40)
Now was Jephthah under any pressure to make a vow to the Lord at the time? No, he wasn’t. Yes, he was faced with the pressure of a war that he did not ask for. But the bible is also very clear about the fact that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him on that occasion to give him victory over his enemies. So, whether he made a vow or not, victory was already sure for him.
Was it wrong for him, then, to make a vow to the Lord, as he did? No, it wasn’t! Making vows to the Lord is an act of faith in Him and should not be discouraged. However, making vows to Him is also a personal thing. It is not something anybody should force anybody to do or something anyone should do under pressure. That is because once we make a vow to Him, we are bound to fulfil it. Otherwise, we may just put ourselves in trouble (Ecc 5:4-6).
Therefore, you must never allow anyone or any situation to drive or coerce or manipulate you to make any kind of vow to the Lord. Make your vows only because your heart wants to do so.
But then, even if you have to make a vow, don’t make it on an emotional basis. Rather, make your vows on rational basis. In other words, think carefully about the kind of vows you are making and your capacity to fulfil them. Remember that you are not in charge of life and its affairs but God is. Remember also that accidents, mistakes and all kinds of unforeseen events happen everyday in this life. So, before you make a vow, first, make sure it is in line with the will of God. Also, make sure it is what you truly have the ability to make good. That means you must be reasonable in making your vows. That way, even if circumstances that are beyond your control should keep you from fulfilling your vows when due, God Himself will understand that is not your fault.
Jephthah made an emotional vow. He did not consider the will of God at all in making his vow. Would God ever accept a human burnt offering? No! Did He literally accept it from Abraham? No! In fact, one of the things He told the children of Israel never to do was to sacrifice their sons or daughters in the fire, for it was because of such things that He drove out the inhabitants of Canaan for them. (Cf. Deut 18:10)
So, it was totally out of place for Jephthah to make the kind of vow he made to God. In other words, his vow was dead on arrival – it was invalid from the moment it came out of his mouth. Why, then, did he make it? He made it because he was ignorant of the will of God for them. He made it at a time everybody in Israel did was what right in his eyes, not what was right in the eyes of God. Otherwise, he should have had people that would let him know that it was not in his place to make that kind of vow. (Cf. Judges 21:25)
Unfortunately, people still act like Jephthah and make invalid vows and pledges today. They make vows and pledges that are born out of their ignorance of the will of God for them. Also, people make vows and pledges without considering how they will affect those in their lives or the roles those in their lives could play in enabling them to fulfil their vows or in voiding them. Then, when it is time for them to fulfil them, they will realise that they have taken on themselves responsibilities that are too much for them to handle.
Now, of course, how Jephthah fulfilled his own vow will always be a subject for debate among God’s people. Did he truly offer his daughter as a burnt offering to the Lord? Or did he redeem her and offer something else to God in her place? We really would not know what he did, seeing that we were not there. But the lesson of his story is clear. And it is that we must avoid making emotional statements, emotional pledges, vows, curses, blessings and so forth, especially when we are excited or under pressure. Otherwise, we may end up ensnaring ourselves with our words. And if we do so, the price we will pay may just be too much for us to handle.
So, be careful.
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PAYDAY IS COMING 05/04/2024
“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2Peter 3:8-9NIV)
What is Peter telling us here? It is that one main reason God’s judgment is often delayed is that He is patient. Sometimes we expect that when people sin or do something wrong, God should step in immediately and whip or flog them. But God does not often act like that. He is a patient God. And He is patient because He does not want the destruction of anybody. He says, “I take no pleasure in the death of the sinner.” (Cf. Ezekiel 18:23 & 32)
Unfortunately, some people now take that as meaning that they might ultimately escape God’s judgment. They are now of the opinion that they might ultimately get away with wrong doings. They have heard all kinds of things about God’s judgment. They have heard that He was a just judge, who would pay everybody back according to his deeds. But then, they have also been asking themselves, “If all these things are true about God, why has He not judged me for my misconducts? Why hasn’t He punished me?”
Some will even say to you, “You say that judgment is coming. How come God has not judged me for all my sins? Look at me. I am still prosperous, even though I am stealing and embezzling public funds. But look at you. You say that you are living for God, but you can’t even pay your children’s school fees. Look at you. You can’t even dress well. I am the one that is supposed to be suffering here. But I am not suffering. You call me a sinner. And I am fine with that, for I am not suffering.”
Now people like such think that they will ultimately escape the consequences of their sins. But they will not. It is unfortunate, however, that that wrong thought has made scoffers of them. Because of this wrong philosophy that they will ultimately escape the consequences of their errors, they now scoff at the things of God.
But if you are doing the wrong thing and have not yet faced the consequences of doing so, you are just enjoying the patience of God. That is what you are enjoying. And it is important that you turn away from your wrongdoings before it is too late. I tell you payday is coming. A day will come when you will pay for all your wrongdoings. And what you believe about this does not matter. It is the reality that you will have to deal with when the time is ripe.
(Adapted from ‘Days of scoffers’, a Sunday 15th October 2017 sermon by J.O. Lawal)
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HE CANNOT SIN 04/04/2024
“No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.” (1John 3:9NIV)
Now there are bible renderings that put this bible verse a little differently. For instance, the King James Version says:
“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” (1John 3:9)
And New King James Version says:
“Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.” (1John 3:9NKJV)
As to be expected, people have built all kinds of doctrines on the part of this bible text that says, “He cannot sin.” But from the Greek rendering, the idea John is communicating is that the one that is born of God does not make a practice of sin. That means it is not in him to sin. It is not in his nature or character to sin.
Mind you, when you compare what John says here to what he says in both chapters 1 and 2 of the same letter, you will see that he is not saying that a Christian cannot sin at all. For instance, in chapter 2, verse 1, he says:
“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for ours sins, and not only for our sins but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1John 2:1-2NIV)
So, John has it in mind that is possible for the Christian to sin. And since that is the case, how can he go on to say in chapter 3 that the Christian cannot sin at all? That will be contradictory.
Also, in chapter 1, he says:
“If we say that we have no sin, when we have actually done something wrong but insist that we have not, then, there is no truth in us. Not only that, we are making a liar out of God. But if we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to purify us from all our unrighteousness.” (Cf. 1John 1:8-10NIV)
So, that you have your heart after pleasing God does not mean that you cannot sin; it does not mean that you cannot err. Do you know what James says? He says from verse 1 of chapter 3 of his letter:
“Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways…” (James 3:1-2NIV)
Now all this is coming from James. He says we all stumble in many ways. First, notice that he includes himself. Then, he goes on to say that we stumble in many ways, not in some ways. And if you will sit down at the end of your day and look at the things you have done and have not done, the things you have said and have not said, the way you have acted and have reacted, you will see your many faults and errors. Yes, you will see that you are probably not as nice as you think you are.
But because of what Jesus has done for us, because His righteousness that He has imparted to us, we can walk blamelessly before God, knowing that the blood of his son Jesus Christ is purifying us (1John 1:7). So, don’t ever think that because people now consider you as spiritual or look up to you, you can no longer sin. If you are not careful, Satan will rubbish your life.
So, writing to the Corinthians, Paul says, “He that thinks he is standing should be careful, so that he does not fall.” Watch yourself, then. Otherwise, you may fall where you least think you can fall.
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YOU WILL DIE 03/04/2024
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation – but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:12-13NIV)
Paul is speaking to the brethren here about carnality and spirituality. And first, he says that we have a responsibility; we have an obligation. See, every child of God has a responsibility. Some think that, having become Christians, it is God that will do everything for them. But that is not so. God indeed has His own role of making available for you everything you need for life and godliness. And He has already done that. It is now up to you to take advantage of all that He has provided for you to be the person He wants you to be and to do the things He wants you to do.
That is why Paul here says that we all have a responsibility. And it is beautiful that he includes himself in this. He says, “We (all of us) have an obligation; we all have a responsibility, and it is not to live according to the flesh.” That means our obligation is not to walk in carnality. That is because to live in carnality is to live in the flesh, to live according to your senses, to live according to your feelings, instead of living on the basis of the word of God.
A child of God is expected to live on the basis of the word of God, not on the basis of his feelings, not on the basis of his emotions, not on the basis of what he sees or hears. So, those who are carnal are carnal because they will not live on the basis of the word of God but on the basis of their senses. You heard that someone said something about you and, instead of responding according to the word of God, you want to respond according to your feelings. So you say, “How could this person say such things about me?” Then you begin to feel bad and angry. And you want to respond on that basis. Well, if you eventually respond on that basis, then, you are carnal.
Or you need money to do a number of things. And because of that, you respond according to your feelings and decide to steal or take something that does not belong to you. What is that? Carnality!
But here we are saying that we have a duty, and it is not to live in carnality or to stay in carnality. If you live or stay in carnality, as Paul points out here, you will die. And we are not talking about physical death here but spiritual death.
But someone may ask, “Is it possible for a Christian to die spiritually?” The bible says that it is possible. I know there are Christians who don’t agree that it is possible. But their opinion about this cannot change what the word of God says.
For example, writing to the church of God in Sardis, the Lord Jesus says, “You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.” (Cf. Revelation 3:1) So it is possible, according to the Lord, for a Christian to die spiritually. And the point we are making is that if we refuse to deal with any form of carnality in our lives, before long, we will return to that state of deadness – we will die. Yes, before long, people will not be able to tell the difference between us and those who do not know God at all. If you, then, do not want that to happen to you, if you do not want to die spiritually, don’t live in carnality.
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THE COST OF DESPERATION 02/04/2024
“Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said.” (Gen 16:1-3NIV)
What led Sarah to act the way she is reported in our opening bible text to have acted? Desperation! She was desperate to have a child for her husband, Abraham. And though God had promised to give them a child of their own, she just could not be patient to receive the fulfilment of the promise. Why? She was considering her age at the time. She had already passed the age of child bearing and her husband also had become an old man. In fact, he was ten years older than her. (Cf. Gen 17:17)
So, even though she believed God, she still felt that she had to do something about their childlessness before it was too late. That, of course, was because of her love for her husband. He had been faithful to her all the years of their marriage and had not gone after any other woman in order to have a child. Therefore, she must have thought that if there was anything she could do to make him have a child, apart from waiting on God, she would give it a try. That was what led to her suggesting that her husband sleep with her slave, Hagar. And the idea was that any child that came through the union would be hers as well, since Hagar herself was her property. Interestingly, her husband agreed to do what she had suggested, went in to Hagar and slept with her. And she conceived, as they had wished.
But then, just when Sarah was beginning to think that she had won and that her move, carried out in desperation, had paid off, Hagar began to misbehave. Why? It must have been because the care she was already receiving from Abraham got into her head. So, she totally forgot her place as a slave in that house and began to see herself as her mistress’ mate. At least, she had proven that the problem was with her mistress and not with her husband. And “Who knows,” she must have thought, “I may eventually become the madam of this house after giving my master a child.”
Now do you know that situation could actually have made Sarah lose her home? There have been women who lost their homes in very similar situations. So, if her husband had not feared God and truly cherished her, maybe Hagar’s pregnancy would have given her a chance to go from being a slave to becoming the madam of the house. But because her husband feared God and also loved and cherished her, he allowed her to handle the matter as she pleased. So, she dealt so ruthless with Hagar that she ran way from the house. And though she was restored because of God’s mercy, at some point, she and her son still had to be sent away for peace to reign in that home. (Cf. Gen 16&21)
What, then, is the point of all this? it is that when we are desperate to have something or do something, we are likely to take just about any step without counting the cost. But steps taken in desperation often come with very serious consequences. In Sarah’s case, the step she took in desperation in order to solve her problem of childlessness almost cost her her husband’s love and home. Also, it turned her into a callous and cold-blooded person who was willing to do anything to save her home.
Therefore, before you ignore the word of God or common sense and take that step out of desperation, think about the cost. Yes, think about the likely consequences of what you are about to do because of your desperation. That step you take today may indeed solve your immediate problem or meet your immediate need. But will it not create more problems for you in the future, problems that may ultimately take away from you what you are so desperately trying to have or protect? So, you need to think carefully about this before doing anything stupid, just because you are desperate.
And remember this: God is never late. So, as long as you trust in Him and are acting on His word, He will certainly make all things beautiful for you at the right time, even when all hope seems to be lost (Ecc 3:11).
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JUST ONE WRONG THING 01/04/2024
“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power. Turbulent as the waters, you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father's bed, onto my couch and defiled it.” (Gen 49:3-4NIV)
Reuben, on this occasion, was supposed to receive a blessing from his aged and passing away father. But what he received instead was a curse. Why? According to his father, it was because he slept with his wife and defiled her. Was this true? Did he actually sleep with his father's wife? Yes, he did. The bible says, “Israel moved on again and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder. While Israel was living in that region, Reuben went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it…” (Gen 35:21-22NIV)
Did you see that? Reuben actually slept with his father's woman. And who was this woman? Well, her name was Bilhah. She was the maidservant given to Rachel, Jacob's second wife, by her father when she got married. But how did she become Jacob's concubine or wife? It was Rachel that actually gave her to him, when she realised that she was barren and was not giving him any child. The idea was for Jacob to impregnate her, so that any child she gave birth to would become hers. Remember that Sarah did the same thing with Hagar, when she was desperate to have a son for her husband, Abraham. So, it was a customary thing at that time for people to act like that. (Cf. Gen 16; Gen 30:1-8)
That, any rate, was how this woman, Bilhah, became Jacob's wife and mother of two of his twelve sons (Gen 35:25). And from what I just shared about this woman, you should have no problem seeing that she was far older than Reuben. She had been in the house even before Reuben was born. So, it is quite unclear how the young man succeeded in sleeping with her. At least, we know that he did not rape her. We have rape cases recorded in the bible. So, if this one had been a rape case, it would have been recorded as such.
Anyway, my own thought, though you do not have to accept it, is that the woman seduced Reuben. She was the older one of the two of them, remember. She was, in fact, there when Reuben was born and had watched him grow up. So, if the boy ended up sleeping with her, the fault must have been majorly hers, not his. She must have been the one that sexually harassed him. And we hear all kinds of similar stories today, stories of housemaids sexually molesting the sons of their madams and of stepmothers sexually molesting their stepsons. So, it is not only men that are always guilty of such wickedness; women also are often found guilty of it.
Nevertheless, Jacob did not exonerate Reuben for sleeping with his own step mother, whatever the reasons may have been. That was because he was old enough to know that it was wrong of him to do so. Even if the woman was sex-starved, it was not in his place to quench her thirst. But he offered himself to quench her sex thirst, perhaps to test his own readiness for manhood. Yes, he did it once. But that one time of doing the wrong thing took away excellence from him and from his generation after him. His father told him that though he had been excelling, he would no longer excel. And that, of course, was it for him.
Now if Reuben had known that that one act would take away from him a lifetime of excellence, he would most likely have resisted every urge to do so. But he did not know. He did not know how terribly that wrong thing would affect his life. So, he gave in to it and messed up everything for himself.
In like manner, we too can mess up our entire lives by giving in to just one wrong thing. It is possible that you know certain individuals who were once excelling in life until they took a particular wrong step or decision about their lives or certain relationships. And that was the end of excellence for them. They started going down and things started falling apart for them. If such people are not shown mercy, they may end up dying without ever tasting excellence again in life. So, if you will pray to God every day that He may keep you from doing anything wrong, it won't be too much at all.
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GIVE HIM NO OPPORTUNITY TO WORK 31/03/2024
“Don't give the devil any opportunity to work…” (Eph 4:27GW)
Among the things we don’t ever want to fail to recognise or utilise in life are opportunities. We want to recognise and utilise opportunities to demonstrate our talents, opportunities to make money, opportunities to attain some position of advantage, opportunities to do good for ourselves or others and even opportunities to punish our foes. And it is only the opportunities to serve God or to give to Him in some big way that we hardly desire not to miss or utilise.
In any case, my aim here is not to address the need for us to identify and utilise our opportunities to do good and fulfil the will of God for our lives. Rather, it is to let us see that just as we are after recognising and utilising opportunities to better our lot in life, there is also one who is seeking opportunities to destroy and ruin our lives. And that is the devil.
For example, the bible says this about the way he once related to our Lord Jesus: “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.” (Luke 4:13NIV) Think about that. Satan, on that occasion, tempted Jesus with three different things. First, he tempted Him with His appetite, but he did not succeed. Second, he tempted him with His position and power, as the Son of God, but did not succeed. Then he tempted him with the riches of this world, thinking that would work, but he also failed. Therefore, he left Him. (Cf. Luke 4:1-13)
But as Luke further shows us in that account, Satan did not leave Jesus permanently. He only left Him for a while. He left him until there would be another opportunity for him to tempt Him again and perhaps make Him fall. And that is telling us something about how Satan reasons and works. He is always looking for opportunities to tempt and hurt us.
No, he may not consider today to be a perfect day of opportunity for him to tempt or harass us. But tomorrow may be. Also, the situation we are in now may not be considered by him as an opportunity to hurt us. But that does not mean that he has given up on hurting us. He never gives up on doing his evil works. And he never gives up on keeping close watch on us until he sees his opportunity to strike.
Now, concerning those recorded temptations of our Lord Jesus Christ that we considered above, Satan saw an opportunity to tempt Jesus when He went through forty days and forty nights of fasting. He came for him when he believed that, like most people, He would be feeling high, mighty and untouchable in the spirit. And if the Lord had been merely functioning on the basis of His feelings, He would have fallen flat on His face before this wicked and clever being.
Therefore, that we are regularly praying, fasting, giving or preaching does not mean that Satan will not be able to work in our lives. On the contrary, those very things we do and that we often pride ourselves in or put our confidence in may be the very things that will give him an opportunity to mess us up. So, first, as Peter tells us, we must keep in mind the fact that Satan is always on the lookout for opportunities to devour our lives (1Peter 5:8). Then, as Paul tells us in our opening text, we must always be careful not to give him any opportunity to work in our lives.
Now one major way not to give Satan an opportunity to work in our lives is to stay away from acts of the flesh. That is because any act of the flesh that we indulge in can be taken by him as an opportunity to ruin our lives or relationships. Anger, for instance, has given him countless opportunities to ruin several lives and relationships. Sexual immorality has also given him opportunities to destroy many lives, marriages and children. If we, then, do not want to open the doors of our lives for him to come in and freely work in them, we must desist from all acts of the flesh.
Another way not to give Satan an opportunity to work in our lives is to always resist him in prayer and with the word of God (James 4:7). The bible already tells us that we have authority over him and his works (Luke 10:19). But that will not stop him from testing us with evil. Remember that he once attempted to capsize a boat that was carrying Jesus and his disciples (Mark 4:35-41). And he can try something similar or worse with us as well. So, we too, like Jesus, must always be ready and willing to use our God-given authority to stop and frustrate whatever he is doing against us. Otherwise, he may not stop harassing us until he takes away everything from us, just as he did with Job. And may that not be your lot, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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THE COST OF DESPERATION 30/03/2024
“Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said.” (Gen 16:1-3NIV)
What led Sarah to act the way she is reported in our opening bible text to have acted? Desperation! She was desperate to have a child for her husband, Abraham. And though God had promised to give them a child of their own, she just could not be patient to receive the fulfilment of the promise. Why? She was considering her age at the time. She had already passed the age of child bearing and her husband also had become an old man. In fact, he was ten years older than her. (Cf. Gen 17:17)
So, even though she believed God, she still felt that she had to do something about their childlessness before it was too late. That, of course, was because of her love for her husband. He had been faithful to her all the years of their marriage and had not gone after any other woman in order to have a child. Therefore, she must have thought that if there was anything she could do to make him have a child, apart from waiting on God, she would give it a try. That was what led to her suggesting that her husband sleep with her slave, Hagar. And the idea was that any child that came through the union would be hers as well, since Hagar herself was her property. Interestingly, her husband agreed to do what she had suggested, went in to Hagar and slept with her. And she conceived, as they had wished.
But then, just when Sarah was beginning to think that she had won and that her move, carried out in desperation, had paid off, Hagar began to misbehave. Why? It must have been because the care she was already receiving from Abraham got into her head. So, she totally forgot her place as a slave in that house and began to see herself as her mistress’ mate. At least, she had proven that the problem was with her mistress and not with her husband. And “Who knows,” she must have thought, “I may eventually become the madam of this house after giving my master a child.”
Now do you know that situation could actually have made Sarah lose her home? There have been women who lost their homes in very similar situations. So, if her husband had not feared God and truly cherished her, maybe Hagar’s pregnancy would have given her a chance to go from being a slave to becoming the madam of the house. But because her husband feared God and also loved and cherished her, he allowed her to handle the matter as she pleased. So, she dealt so ruthless with Hagar that she ran way from the house. And though she was restored because of God’s mercy, at some point, she and her son still had to be sent away for peace to reign in that home. (Cf. Gen 16&21)
What, then, is the point of all this? it is that when we are desperate to have something or do something, we are likely to take just about any step without counting the cost. But steps taken in desperation often come with very serious consequences. In Sarah’s case, the step she took in desperation in order to solve her problem of childlessness almost cost her her husband’s love and home. Also, it turned her into a callous and cold-blooded person who was willing to do anything to save her home.
Therefore, before you ignore the word of God or common sense and take that step out of desperation, think about the cost. Yes, think about the likely consequences of what you are about to do because of your desperation. That step you take today may indeed solve your immediate problem or meet your immediate need. But will it not create more problems for you in the future, problems that may ultimately take away from you what you are so desperately trying to have or protect? So, you need to think carefully about this before doing anything stupid, just because you are desperate.
And remember this: God is never late. So, as long as you trust in Him and are acting on His word, He will certainly make all things beautiful for you at the right time, even when all hope seems to be lost (Ecc 3:11).
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WE ARE THE HOUSE OF GOD 29/03/2024
“If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.” (1Corinthians 3:17NIV)
Paul says if anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person. And don’t forget that when he is talking about God’s temple here, he is not talking about this building. You know Christians often get angry when their church meeting places are demolished or destroyed because they think it is the houses of God that are being demolished. Now I am not saying if there are ways God’s people can address such matters, according to the laws of the land, they should not do so. But don’t say, “Don’t you know you are destroying the house of God?” That is not the house of God. That place in which your church meets is not the house or temple of God. Do you realise that?
See, we may raise an imposing structure for our assembly to meet in. But it will not be the house of God. We may use millions of naira or millions of dollars to raise that structure. But it will still not be the house of God. You are the house of God. I am the house of God. We are the house of God. We are God’s temple.
So, as we see in our opening text, we are the ones Paul is referring to when he says, “If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person.” That means if there is anything you are doing that is destroying God’s temple, you have to be careful.
Again, I am not talking about littering our church meeting places or messing up with them. Sometimes, when we come around the meeting place of my local assembly, we find the whole front messed up by the students of the school on the other side of the road. And I know some may look at them and say, “Don’t you people realise that this is a house of God?” But even though it is wrong of them to mess up other people’s properties, our church meeting place is still not God’s house.
So, we should not say to anyone, “You are littering this place, which is God’s house. Do you want God to destroy you?” The truth is that God will not destroy him for that, for that place is not His house.
I remember something that Ray Stedman said along this line. He said that someone approached him after a meeting to report a sister, if I remember correctly, that was chewing gums while the meeting was on. The person said something like, “Can you imagine that she was chewing gum in the house of God?” And he said that his reply was, “What do you mean by that? It is the house of God that was chewing gums?”
But do you know that these are some of the things that infuriate us and set us against one another in our various Christian assemblies? Truly, certain things could distract us in our church meetings when they are not done decently. For instance, when some people chew gums, everybody will know that something is going on in their mouths. And that can be terribly distracting. So, I am not saying that it is alright to distract God’s people in their meetings. But to try to bring down judgment on people because of such things is to simply waste your time. That is because God does not think as man thinks.
Do you know that some even get angry when they see some ministers of the gospel drink water while preaching? They will say, “How can he be drinking water in the house of God? He is just too proud. He is arrogant.” But no church meeting place is the house of God. We are the house of God. We are God’s temple.
Therefore, we should not destroy one another. That is what Paul is saying. Don’t do anything that will destroy other brethren, for we are God’s temple. And if anyone destroys God’s temple, then, God will destroy him. Notice that Paul does not say that satan will destroy such a person. Instead, he says that God will destroy him. And that is because God’s house is sacred. His temple is special to Him. You are special to God. I am special to Him.
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WARN THEM 28/03/2024
“God will repay each person according to what they have done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honour and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favouritism.” (Romans 2:6-11NIV)
Did you see that? For those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. That means they will face God’s anger and wrath. In addition to that, Paul says there will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil.
Now that is the plain truth. Trouble is coming. People may think they are facing troubles now in this world. But whatever form of trouble they are facing now is nothing to compare to what is coming. Yes, people agonise every day. And that is because there are no jobs, no money and nothing seems to be working well for many. Also, in many places, there are no good health services for people to access and enjoy. So, many people are indeed suffering. Many are in debt. Many are discontented. Many are in distress.
But I tell you this: all the things that people are facing now, which they call trouble, are nothing to compare to what is coming. Paul says there will be trouble and distress for everyone who does evil. And is this a settled fact in your heart?
Well, Paul says that this is a settled fact in his heart. And that is why he is warning those around him that are not saved, saying trouble and distress are coming for you, if you don’t believe the gospel and let it change your lives.
Unfortunately, there are people who think, in preaching the gospel, we should not place our fingers on things like this. They will say, “You are scaring people by the things you are saying.” But people are already scared. We are just telling them the truth. Of course, there are ways you can say these things and really scare people; there are ways you can say these things and drive people away from the Lord Jesus. But when we are talking about the implications of rejecting the gospel, it is not basically to frighten people; it is to let them know the truth.
In Acts of the Apostles, chapter 24, Luke tells us of Paul’s defence of his life and ministry before Governor Felix and the leaders of the Jews. And from verse 24 he says:
“Several days later [that is after the defence of Paul] Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, ’That is enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.’” (Acts 24:24-25NIV -- emphasis added)
Felix was an unbeliever. Therefore, Paul preached to him. And in doing that, he first told him about the Lord Jesus and the need to have faith in Him. Then he moved on to talking to him about righteousness, self-control and the judgment that is coming. And the man became afraid.
Now was it Paul’s intention to frighten him? No! Paul was a prisoner. He was not holding a sword. He was not holding a bow and some arrows; neither was he holding a dagger. He was just preaching the word of God. Well, we are told that the word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. And as Paul confronted this man with it, he became afraid. Why did he become afraid? The truth dawned on him; the truth came home to him. Did he eventually act on it? That is something we will find out someday in God’s eternal kingdom.
In any case, the point of all this is that if we too possess an understanding of what is coming upon mankind, we are going to warn those who are around us. You may not need to hold a crusade in order to do that. And you may not need to go from house to house in order to do that. You can start with those in your life or around you who persist in evil and are walking in unrighteousness. They need to know the truth. They need to know what God has done for their salvation and what will happen if they reject this offer of salvation. Therefore, the idea of saying people should not be told about the coming judgment or about what is coming upon the face of the earth is not scriptural.
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IF YOU WILL NOT WATCH YOURSELF 27/03/2024
“When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lyres. As they danced, they sang: ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.’ Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. ‘They have credited David with tens of thousands,’ he thought, ‘but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?’ And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David. The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it, saying to himself, ‘I’ll pin David to the wall.’ But David eluded him twice.” (1Samuel 18:6-11NIV)
Now there are certain interesting things that are set forth for us in these few verses. First, we see how an evil thought came into Saul’s mind concerning David and how he did not watch it or do anything to prevent it from taking charge of him. Then, while that evil thought was gaining power over him, the evil spirit that had been tormenting him came in again to torment him. And when that spirit came to torment him, he began to prophesy. Just imagine that!
Today, people prophesy and we credit it to God. But it is not everyone that prophesies that is of God. It is not every prophesy that can be credited to God. Saul prophesied on this occasion. But it was the evil spirit that was tormenting him that was at work, not the Spirit of God. No wonder he sought to kill David, even while he was prophesying. (Cf. 1Samuel 10:9-12 & 19:23-24)
Jesus says, “By their fruit you shall know them.” So, you have to look beyond what people say or claim to be to the fruit that their lives are bearing. Then you can tell whether they are of God or not. (Cf. Matthew 7:15-20)
Well, the point I am making is that if you will not watch yourself, the very people around you that you are supposed to keep may end up being victims of your fall. Because Saul would not watch himself, he was going to kill a young man that he was supposed to protect. But David was there to do him good. He was there at his service. The lyre he was playing was for his comfort. Yet he was going to kill him.
Unfortunately, something similar happened to David too several years later. Because he would not watch his life, he allowed adultery to enter it. And afterwards, he found himself killing a man that he was supposed to protect. Uriah was one of his men. He was one of his loyal servants. I mean that this man was one of those people that would give their lives for him any day. Yet he orchestrated the man’s murder. This is why it is important that we keep our lives right first, if we are going to be of any help to our brethren. (Cf. 2Samuel 11)
See, one of the reasons many believers are unable to help anybody or be a blessing to anyone around them is that their lives are not what they are meant to be. When our lives are not what they are meant to be, there is no way we can be of help to anybody around us. So, it has to be about us first. It has to be about you first. When you get things right in your life, then, you can help other believers around you to get things right in their lives. The safety of your brothers and sisters depends also on your own safety.
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DON’T BE AFRAID TO STAND ALONE IN RIGHTEOUSNESS 26/03/2024
Life in this world is never designed by God to be lived alone by anybody. That explains why God gave the first man, Adam, a woman, so that she would be a suitable companion for him (Gen 2:18-24). It explains why He has planted all kinds of wonderful people in our lives. And we must learn to cherish and to take all such people that He has put in our lives seriously. That is because they are gifts from Him to us, gifts given that we might enjoy life together.
But then, there are times that we may have to stand all alone in this world, even among members of our own family. And that is when the righteousness of God is at stake. For example, we are told in the bible of how Noah and his family stood all alone in all the world in the first centuries of man here on earth. Yes, they had to stand all alone in the practice of righteousness. And could that have been convenient or really enjoyable for them? I doubt.
Nevertheless, Noah and his family did not allow the fact that every other person was contrary to them to discourage them from standing for justice, mercy, truth, love, forgiveness and all the other beautiful things that accompany God’s righteousness. They did not succumb to the pressure of immorality, greed, idolatry and so forth that pervaded the world of that time. Therefore, God, who knows every man’s heart, was pleased to show them His salvation when He came to destroy the whole mankind from the face of the earth. They were the only ones that were spared. (Cf. Gen 6-8)
Also, we are told in the bible of a young prince named Abijah who stood out for goodness in his entire household. This man was actually one of the sons of King Jeroboam I, the king who, because of greed and selfishness, led the entire nation of Israel back into the worship of idols. Yet, despite the wickedness, wantonness and idolatry that characterised his family, God had a testimony about him that he had some goodness in him.
Now, of course, we are not told in the bible how good or upright this young man was. But God recognised the goodness in him, regardless how little it may have been. And because of that He gave him the sole privilege of receiving a proper burial among all the members of his household. All the others died miserable deaths. (Cf. 1Kings 14:1-19 & 15:25-30)
What, then, is the point I am making? It is that you should not be afraid to stand alone in the practice of righteousness. All the people around you may be bent on doing evil, bent on living immoral and godless lives. But you must not join them, regardless of how unpopular that may make you or what sufferings you may have to endure for saying ‘No’ to wickedness. That is because God is watching all of us, taking note of everything we are doing. And someday, He will show through those who have been faithful to Him that it pays to practise righteousness. Yes, a day is coming when He will, in the full glare of all men, make obvious the distinction between the righteous and the wicked. And my prayer is that you will be on the right side on that day. Amen. (Cf. Mal 3:18)
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DON’T GIVE HIM ANY OPPORTUNITY TO WORK 25/03/2024
“Don't give the devil any opportunity to work.” (Eph 4:27GW)
The bible is very clear about the fact that Satan is man’s chief enemy, and he is continually looking for someone to devour (1Peter 5:8). This is why we are warned in our opening bible text not to give him any opportunity to work in our lives. Unfortunately, out of ignorance of what the word of God teaches on how to handle life, many are continually giving Satan opportunities to work in their lives. So, they are constantly having problems that should never have been a part of their experience.
See, even though Satan is a thief, devourer and murderer, there are things he cannot mess up in our lives, if we do not give him any opportunity to work in them. But when we keep taking steps that will give him a space to work, he will certainly come into our lives and work. And trust me, before we wake up from our slumber, much good may have been destroyed already.
For instance, there have been people who were sacked in their work places not because some witches got to them but because they mismanaged funds entrusted to them or because they were slothful. So, they were the ones that opened the door for Satan to come in and mess up their lives. And there are many of such people today who have not been able to get their lives straight since they were out of job.
Also, there are businesses that are not doing well today not because life’s circumstances are against them but because the attitudes of their owners are wrong or because they have no skill or ability to handle what they are doing. So, Satan capitalises on their bad manners, lazy attitude or ignorance and uses it to frustrate them out of business and, sometimes, out of life.
For some others, it is in their homes that they are giving Satan a chance to work. It may be that they spend so much time with their jobs or businesses that they barely have time to care for their spouses or children. So, the enemy seizes the opportunity and begins to use it to upset things for them. Or it may be that they are continually going for things that are beyond their financial capability, all in the name of ‘taste’ or ‘quality’. And the enemy has been using that to keep them in financial bondage and disgrace. Unless they wake up and shut the door against him, they may remain financially handicapped for their entire lifetime.
In any case, my point, all along, is that it is important that we watch our lives to see that we are not our own enemies, that we are not the very ones calling the devil to come and mess up things in our lives.
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KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS 24/03/2024
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” (Rom 12:3NIV)
Look at that. Even in matters of the Christian faith, we are expected by God to function on the basis of the knowledge of Him and of His provisions that we truly have and not that we think we have. Otherwise, we may find ourselves trying to use our faith to take for ourselves what God has not given to us or trying to work with spiritual abilities that we do not have, either of which will put us and others in trouble.
There have been individuals, for example, who, on the basis of certain spiritual knowledge or abilities that they thought they possessed, abandoned their secular occupations and went to start some ministry. But after a while, when much good had already been destroyed in their lives and homes, they realised that they had no abilities for what they were trying to do.
There have also been those who, on the basis of faith in God, started businesses that they had no abilities or resources to manage or who took loans on the basis of faith in God's ability to work some miracles to pay their debts. Then, months or years after life had become utterly miserable or difficult for them, they were forced to admit that they missed it. And who are they to blame for their misery? Themselves! Of course, they acted in ignorance. But ignorance usually doesn't protect people from experiencing the consequences of their actions or inactions.
So, don't be ignorant of the things you should know. And among the things you should know are your limitations, whether as they concern spiritual matters or natural matters. This will help you to function on the basis of your true capabilities instead of assumptions.
The bible says, “As a man is, so is his strength.” (Cf. Judges 10:21) What this means is that you cannot give what you do not have; you cannot function beyond your abilities. Otherwise, you will often find that you are not making life easy or simple for yourself at all.
Now, of course, I am not saying that you should be lazy or slothful. That, in itself, will not make life easy for you at all but miserable. But I want you to know that people have driven themselves to death because they did not recognise their limitations. And people also have lost their business reputations because they would not learn to recognise their limitations. It may be that, out of greed, they took jobs that were beyond their personal abilities or staff strength and then messed up everything. So, they lost their peace and rest of mind and eventually their reputation. Perhaps you too have been there. Did you learn your lessons or did you not?
Well, my point, is that, besides praying to God, there are things you can personally give yourself to in order to make life easy, smooth, meaningful, comfortable and enjoyable for yourself. And one of them is to know your limitations and function accordingly. It will separate you from carrying unnecessary burdens in life and ensure that you conduct your affairs, for the most part, with peace of mind.
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FOR YOUR FAITH TO PRODUCE RESULTS 23/03/2024
“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on people who are ill, and they will get well.’” (Mar 16:15-18NIV)
Whom will the signs that the Lord speaks of in this text accompany? Believers! Those who have faith in Him! They will experience the miraculous power of God.
But then, faith in God is not all that is required for us to experience or work the miraculous power of God. There are two things that our experience of His power depends on. The first is His will. What does God want us to have? What does He not want us to have? What does He want us to do? What does He not want us to do? And what are the things He Himself is doing? Our experience of His miraculous power is dependent on these things.
Then the type of faith we have in God also has a great role to play in our experience of His power or in our ability to work His power. Faith in God always works, as we are shown in the bible. But the degree to which it will work is dependent on the type of faith it is, whether it is strong or week, great or little.
In a nutshell, what I am saying is that if we know what God wants us to have, then, we can demonstrate faith in Him to have it. If we know what He does not want us to have, then, we will not bother exercising our faith in Him for it. If we know what He wants us to do, we can trust Him to supply us with the energy and resources to do it. And if we know what He does not want us to do, we will not bother to trust Him to make available what we need for it, for it will not work.
Unfortunately, some think that once they have faith in God, they can move Him to do just about anything. But that is not true. Your faith can only work within the confines of the will of God. Your faith can only receive what God has given. What He has not given, your faith cannot access.
For example, people trust God for salvation today, and they are saved. Why? It is because He has already provided salvation. If He had not provided salvation, then, it would have been useless trusting Him for it. Thankfully, He has provided it. So, we can trust Him for it.
Furthermore, if we know what God is doing, then, we can align ourselves with Him in order to experience His power for our advancement or salvation, as the case may apply. So, knowing the will of God or the mind of God is important in order for our faith, whatever type of faith it may be, to produce results or to receive from Him. And you must not forget this.
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THE GOAL IS EQUALITY 22/03/2024
“Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: ‘The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.’” (2Corinthians 8:13-15NIV)
Paul has been talking to the brethren in Corinth about giving to support other believers in a letter to them. And then he comes to the verses we have above and says, “Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed.” That is not the goal of Christian giving. So, when we are saying we should support our leaders, the idea is not for them to be relieved while we are hard pressed or for them to be enriched while we are impoverished. That is not the idea.
Unfortunately, this is the case in many assemblies today. Brethren that are struggling financially are still being pressured to give more and more. Why? They are required to support their ministers. And is that wrong? No! But if ministers are getting richer and richer through the support of the brethren and the brethren are getting poorer and poorer, something is wrong.
Yes, there may be certain individuals in some assemblies that have access to lots of money. And such should be encouraged to be rich to God and to His ministers in a greater measure. But is it everyone that we can describe as rich in our assemblies today? Then is it every rich person in our Christian assemblies today that has become rich through legitimate means? We know there are many in the church today who are involved in all kinds of dubious things.
In any case, Paul is telling us that the essence of Christian giving is not to impoverish some believers by enriching others. I was once in an assembly in which, anytime the pastor wanted to do his birthday, the brethren, many of whom were struggling with their lives, were still the ones that would be squeezed to get the money to celebrate him. But he was fine already. Why, then, did they need to impoverish the brethren in order to get him richer? Ignorance of the truth of Jesus!
Paul, in our opening text, says the goal of Christian giving is equality. So, when I support you, the idea is not for me to enrich you while I am hard pressed; rather, the idea is to create equality. That is what Paul means when he says, “At the moment, your plenty will supply their own lack, so that in turn their own plenty may supply your own lack.”
The idea, then, is that when one of us is supported, he too will be able to support others. But all he thinks of is enriching himself with the support he is receiving and living like a king, he is wasting the grace of God. And a day will come when he will have to answer for that. But before that day comes, we too can ensure that we do not support anyone to promote their greed or selfishness.
Have a very pleasant day.
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EXCEL WITH IT 21/03/2024
“…The large crowds listened to him with delight.” (Mark 12:37NIV)
Whom did the crowd listened to with great delight? Jesus! Therefore, Jesus was not some boring teacher. Instead, He excelled with His teaching gifts. No, He did not teach to entertain the people. He did not teach them what their itching ears wanted to hear. He delivered the truth to them instead. And He delivered it to them in such a way that they listened to Him with delight. They just could not help doing so. In fact, the Greek word suggests that they were amazed to the point of losing control of themselves. That means they could not sit still while listening to Him. His words burned in people’s hearts.
Furthermore, Matthew says that He taught with authority (Matthew 7:28-29). He did not teach like the teachers they were familiar with. They had teachers teaching them before Jesus came. But when He came, the people said, “This is a new kind of teaching, and with authority and power.” He taught like someone who knew what He was saying, not someone who was guessing. When He said something, that was the final word on that matter. There was no way you could revise what He had said; His was the final word of authority on every matter. He excelled with preaching.
You too may have teaching gifts, but if you do not develop them, they would not amount to anything. That is why sometimes we wonder where some have gotten the things they teach. And really there are preachers that amaze people today with the things they say. But those things, mostly, are not consistent with the body of truth we have in Scriptures.
There are even those who will say something like, “I don’t study specially to preach. When I want to preach, I just open the bible and whatever the Spirit of God inspires me to teach on, that is what I teach.” They may quote Scriptures and say, “The bible says, ‘Don’t premeditate when you want to preach. The Spirit of your Father will give you the wisdom to preach.” But is that what the bible teaches? No! The bible indeed says that when you are being interrogated by your persecutors, you don’t need to premediate on what to say, for the Spirit of God will take charge and give you words to say to them. This, however, is different from when you want to teach the people of God. You have got to study to make yourself ready to do so. (Cf. Matthew 10:19)
Well, my point is that whatever your spiritual gift is, you need to excel with it. You need to work hard with it. Paul tells the Corinthians that he worked harder than all the other apostles (1Corinthians 15:10). Why he said that and the truth behind it we will find out someday. But when one considers the fact that this man was still writing letters while he was in the prison, he may agree with him.
The word of God was in Paul, but he was locked away from people in some prison. Then he asked himself, “What do I do now? Okay, let me write the word and send it out.” And that was what he did. He started writing and sending his letters out. So, the prison walls could not cage him or prevent him from using his spiritual gifts. And today, about two thousand years later, we are still being blessed through the letters he wrote. That is excellence in ministry.
Now I am saying to you too today, whatever your spiritual gift is, you need to fan it into flame; you need to excel with it. Then, even when you are long gone, if Jesus tarries, generations after you will still be benefiting from the blessings of that spiritual gift. And may this be so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a fabulous day.
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FEAR PREVENTED THEM 20/03/2024
“That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"” (Mark 4:35-41NIV)
This is a familiar story. Jesus was in the boat with His disciples and was sleeping. He was sleeping because He was tired. Then, when they had already travelled some distance on the Lake, a furious squall came against them and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly overturned. Yet the Lord was sleeping. He was sleeping while all this was going on. And what were these disciples supposed to do, knowing that the Lord was with them in the boat? Were they supposed to be afraid? No, they were not supposed to be afraid. What, then, were they supposed to do the death that was staring them in the face?
Well, first, they could have quietly woken Jesus up to tell Him what was going on, so that He could address the situation. Or they could have addressed the situation themselves. In fact, what the Lord expected them to do was to address the situation. That was why He later asked them, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Just think about it. They had the Son of God with them in the boat and were still afraid that they would drown. They had Him with them in the boat and were still afraid of death.
Now it is true that they woke Him up. But they did not wake Him up because they believed He was up to the task of handling the situation. They did not expect Him to do anything to solve the problem. They simply wanted Him to be aware of the kind of danger they all were facing. That was why they were shocked when He addressed the situation and stilled the waves by the words of His mouth. And they could have done the same thing, for He had given them authority to do all kinds of great and beautiful things in His name. Yes, they had been given authority to heal the sick, drive out demons and even raise the dead. But they did not use it because they did not think that authority would work in that situation.
Why? It was because they were afraid. And it was that fear that paralysed their initiatives. It was that fear that prevented them from seeing that the authority Jesus had given to them could be used by them to fix that situation. That fear prevented them from seeing that with Jesus in the boat with them the storm could not prevail over them or against them.
In like manner, as long as we are afraid of the devil or of whatever challenge he may bring against us, we will lose our initiatives to resist him. We have been told to resist him and that he will flee from us, if we would do so. But many of God’s people are not resisting the devil in their lives today. Why? They are afraid. They are afraid that they do not have what it takes to handle him or that if they resist him, he will not go. And that is because they see him to be more powerful than the God in their lives.
Now as long as you see the devil as more powerful than God in your life, you will not resist him. Then he can have a free day to work or operate in your life. Satan is not more powerful than God, for he is nothing but a created being. Satan does not have any power against the authority of our Lord Jesus that has been given to us. But he will continue to give us the impression that he has all the power and that there is nothing we can do to stop or frustrate him. And that is not what the word of God says. The word of God tells us that we can resist him. The word of God commands us to resist him. Ours, then, is to resist him, regardless of how enormous the challenges or problems he brings to us may seem. And when we do so, he will surely flee from us.
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WAIT FOR HIS TIME 19/03/2024
"He has made everything beautiful in its time…” (Eccl 3:11NIV)
One of the things most of us find difficult to do is life is to wait. Whether it is to wait for someone, an event, some resources or a position, we just don’t like to wait. That is because we want everything and everyone to run according to our schedule or timing of things. But that is absolutely impossible. I mean that it is impossible for everything and everyone in this life to move at our pace or according to our own timing of things. That is because we are not the creator of life or the ones in charge of life. The creator and author of life itself is God. Therefore, it does not matter what we and other creatures of His hands do, things will always go according to His own timing and never according to ours.
Now, of course, we are never happy when things do not go as we have them laid out or as we would want them to go. But if we will learn to trust God with our lives, He will, as Solomon tells us in our opening bible text, make everything beautiful for us at the right time. See, there is time for everything, as Solomon equally tells us in that great book, Ecclesiastes. And it is to the degree that we function with this mindset that we will access and enjoy God’s provisions for us and also attain the place He wants us to attain in life.
One of the reasons many are anxious today is that they are unwilling to function according to God’s time for their lives. The things they want for themselves may not be bad or evil. But they are unwilling to wait for God to supply these things at the time He has set for them. Why? It is often because they think time is going to run out on them, and they will never have their desires satisfied. And why do they think like this? It is because they are looking at the circumstances of their lives and other people’s lives instead of looking unto God. So, they give themselves to all kinds of things in order to have what they want and end up destroying much good and, sometimes, their own very lives.
Why did Moses end up being a murderer? It was because he was in a hurry to save his people, the Israelites. As the bible points out, he had sensed in himself that God was going to use him to save his people (Acts 7:25). And God, indeed, was going to use him to save them. But was Moses ready at age forty to save them? Obviously, he was not ready. Yes, he could see that things were really getting worse by the day for his people and that they needed help urgently. But it was not time yet for them to be saved by God.
Now one of the things that showed that it was not yet time for them to be saved was that the one God was going to use to save them was not ready. He had not yet learnt at that time that his own power, might or intelligence could not save his people. So, he messed things up and had to run away for his life. It took him another forty years of his life, forty years of living as a fugitive and lowly shepherd, before God considered him ready for the task. I mean that this man had to come to an end of himself and see himself as totally unfit for the task of setting his people free before God saw him as ripe for the job. And it was then that his going back to Egypt to save his people was really beautiful and fruitful. (Cf. Acts 7:23-36)
Similarly, there are times that we are just not ready to handle what is coming or what we so desperately want to have or protect. And God knows this and expects us to patiently walk with Him or wait for Him until the set time. But if we foolishly and impatiently take matters into our own hands and act before we are ready, then, the results we will get will definitely show us that we should have waited for God.
Also, what about King Saul, the first king of Israel? What made God seek another person to replace him as king? One of the reasons was that he did not know how to work with God’s schedule. On one occasion, when he was supposed to wait for Prophet Samuel to come and carry out the sacrifice they needed to perform before going for a battle, he got impatient, when Samuel did not come at the set time, and carried out the sacrifice himself. Yes, it was true that Samuel did not keep to time on that occasion. It was also true that the circumstances were not at all favourable for Saul, for all his men of war were already deserting him. But what needed to be done was something spiritual, something beyond his understanding. So, he should still have waited for Samuel instead of allowing the things he could see and feel lead him to act before God’s own time and at the cost of his kingship. At any rate, because of his impatience, he lost the kingdom he was trying to preserve. (Cf. 1Sam 13:1-14)
In like manner, many are daily losing what they are trying to keep or win because they will not learn to wait for God. Waiting for God, of course, does not mean we are to sit down, fold our arms and do nothing about the matters of our lives. No, that is not what it means. God Himself does not want us to be idle. Instead, He want us to get busy with whatever legitimate things we can do for ourselves, based on the abilities, resources and people He has endowed us with.
However, He does not want us to rely on ourselves, other people or anything we are doing for our advancement or safety in lives. On the contrary, He wants us to solely rely on Him for everything. And when we have done all that is within our abilities to do for ourselves, in accordance with His grace at work in us, we should allow Him to do that which only He can and must do for our lives to experience the promotion, prosperity, fruitfulness, peace, rest or salvation that we desire. And this is what Peter means, when he says, “So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.” (1Peter 5:6NLT)
Did you see that? There is a right time for you to have or enjoy everything meant for you in this life. And as long as God is the one in charge of your life, He will not bring anything to you or take you anywhere before the right time. You may seek to take for yourself what you believe to be yours before the time set by God. Other people may also seek to do the same for you. But as long as the time God has set for you to have whatever it is you want is not ripe, even if you get it by pressuring Him to give you or by using some worldly or satanic means, your possession of it will ultimately not give you the satisfaction or joy you want. On the contrary, it may be the very thing that will ruin your life, joy or peace. Therefore, as Peter says, humble yourself under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honour or give you that thing your heart is so much yearning for.
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WATCH HOW YOU FOLLOW THEM 18/03/2024
“At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill, and Jeroboam said to his wife, "Go, disguise yourself, so you won't be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is there — the one who told me I would be king over this people. Take ten loaves of bread with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy."” (1Kings 14:1-3NIV)
We have in the bible the story of King Jeroboam, the first king of the northern nation of Israel, that is, after God had divided the nation into two. This man was ordained to be king by God Himself. And He did this through the hand of His prophet, Ahijah (1Kings 11:29-39). But as soon as this man became king and was firmly established, he created new gods for the people and also personally ordained priests to serve them. Why did he do that? Was it because he did not believe in God, the one who ordained him king? No! Rather, it was because he was desperately trying to keep a kingdom that he did not give himself. (Cf. 1Kings 12:25-33)
And how many people are like Jeroboam today, who, in their attempt to keep or protect certain things that God has freely given them, get involved in all kinds of dangerous and harmful things. I am talking about people who get involved in sexual immorality, sorcery, theft, cultism or any other ungodly practice that they know is totally wrong for them, just because they want to keep a job, a position, a marriage or a facility. When all has been said and done, all such people will terribly have themselves to blame.
In any case, as the account of King Jeroboam goes, when one of his sons became very sick to the point of death and he again desperately needed to know what would become of him, he did not turn to the gods he created or to the priests he ordained. Instead, as we see in our opening bible text, he turned to the living God, the one who ordained him in the very first place. But why did he not go to his own gods and priests? It was because he knew that they were all fake, for he was the one that created them.
How terrible! This man knew all along that the religion he established for his entire country was fake and lacked any capacity to bless anybody. Yet he manipulated the people to embrace it. And they too foolishly followed him. But when he needed real help for his son, he secretly sent his wife to the right person that could help. And how did God respond to that? He responded by bringing judgment and destruction on Jeroboam and the whole house of Israel that followed him in his nonsense. (Cf. 1Kings 14:5-18)
Now what does all this teach us? Two things! And the first is that it is dangerous to deliberately ignore or supress the truth for any reason. That is because we won’t be the only ones suffering for doing so – all the people that are misled or misguided because of our lies will suffer as well. And that in itself will make things much worse for us, when God is ready to judge (Luke 7:1-3). So, before you create that lie that you call a religion, an organisation or a concept, think well.
The second thing the account teaches us is to be careful how we follow people, even those who possess some legitimate or God-established authority over us. It was God that ordained Jeroboam to lead the nation of Israel. Yet he deliberately misled the people. So, the fact that someone is anointed or is authorised by God to lead you does not mean that he cannot deliberately or ignorantly mislead you. And once you are misled, the consequences will surely follow.
This is why you need to take Paul’s words very seriously, which say, “Follow me, as I follow Christ.” In other words, we are permitted to follow people, regardless of who they are to us or how highly we revere them, only to the degree that they are obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. In any area in which they are not obedient to Him, we are not under any obligation to follow them. Otherwise, though they will be punished for misleading us, we too will not be held guiltless for allowing ourselves to be misled. (Cf. Deut 13; 1Cor 11:1)
Have a great day.
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YOU ARE AFFECTING YOUR WORLD 17/03/2024
My prayer for you today is that the goodness of God in your life will continually overflow to your world in an unhindered manner in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Now, as you face the new day, I want to remind you of the need to watch your life and conduct among men. And that is because the things you do or do not do always affect others, that is, directly or indirectly, positively or negatively, greatly or slightly. Don’t forget that you are not the only one in this world. So, your actions and inactions are not affecting you only. They are also affecting every other person in the world. And somehow, they will equally affect those that will come into this world later.
For example, the disobedience of Adam in the Garden of Eden did not only affect him; it affected the whole human race. According to the Scriptures, it was through him that sin and death came into the world (Rom 5:12-14). And look at how people still battle with the dominion of sin and death today. Everything started with just one man.
Likewise, through the obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ, life, righteousness and immortality are now available for all men (Rom 5:17-19; 2Tim 1:10). And you can look today and see the results of the life He lived, the death He died and the resurrection He experienced in the lives of many people all around the world. Yet He is just one man.
So, don’t ever think that how you live your life does not matter at all; it matters a lot. And whether you know it or not, there are things that are entering the world or leaving the world through you. You should, then, be asking yourself, “What is entering or leaving the world through me? Are they good things or bad things?”
Now I can give you several examples of how this works from the bible. For instance, we are told in the Scriptures that murder and fratricide entered the world through Cain. I mean that he allowed these things to come into the world through him. (Cf. Gen 4:1-6) Also, there was a man called Lamech, who, according to the bible, introduced polygamy into the world. While other people in his day, including some of his own descendants, introduced things that would benefit mankind like music and musical instruments, animal husbandry, blacksmithing and so forth into the world, he made himself the pioneer of polygamy (Gen 4:19-22). And you know what sort of tool polygamy is in Satan’s hand. He has used it to fuel all kinds of jealousy, bitterness, rivalry and wars in different homes and for generations. And everything started with one man.
So, you may want to ask yourself again, “What is entering or leaving the world through me?” Are you someone that is introducing peace, love, joy, faithfulness, purity and contentment into the world around you? Or are you someone that is taking whatever peace that is left in your world away from it? Could it just be that the only things that are flowing into the world through you are trouble, impurity, chaos, bitterness, division, jealousy and murder?
Well, my point is this: you are affecting your world in very significant ways, whether you know it or not. So, watch your life and conduct very closely, to the end that they may be a blessing to your world. Don’t be like Achan, who troubled the whole nation of Israel through his greed and brought defeat, disgrace and death to his people (Josh 7). Instead, be like Abraham, the man through whom all the nations of the earth are being blessed (Gen 12:3; Gal 3:8).
Do have a joyous day.
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THE LORD HAS GIVEN US ROOM 16/03/2024
As we are told in the bible, there was a time that Isaac, the son of Abraham, wanted to leave the place he was, which was Gerar, for Egypt because there was a severe famine in the land. But the Lord appeared to him and told him not to leave Gerar but to stay there for a while. And why? It was because He intended to bless and prosper him there. So, the man stayed. (Cf. Gen 26:1-6)
What is that telling us? It is telling us that a change of location is not always the solution to adversity. The solution to it is in God's revelation to our heart. As we are equally told in the bible, when Abraham found himself in a similar situation and decided to move to Egypt, God did not stop him. Instead, He prospered him in Egypt so much so that he left there with great riches. (Cf. Gen 12:10-20)
So, there are indeed times in which God may require a person to change their location or even vocation in order to prosper them or make them flourish in a time of adversity. But we have to seek His face in prayer and through the study of His word to know His will for us at such times. Otherwise, a change of location or vocation may not bring us the joy or delight we expect. Instead, it may end up turning our Naomi (pleasantness) to Mara (bitterness). (Cf. Ruth 1)
Well, in Isaac's case, God did not require him to leave Gerah, though there was a severe famine there, in order to prosper him. Instead, He wanted him to stay there. And he did stay there. But that God wanted him to stay in Gerah at that time did not mean that his prosperity would just happen overnight or automatically or that he would not experience any challenge there at all. He would have to work hard and diligently for him to experience the prosperity God had destined for him in Gerah. Also, he would have to be ready to trust God to deal with whatever challenges he was faced with while staying and working there. Otherwise, the fear of challenges may keep him in poverty for life.
Unfortunately, many don't understand these things. They think once God says that a place is good for them or that He will prosper them in a place, it means that they will not encounter any challenge there or that they will not be required to work hard and diligently for their prosperity to happen. But that line of reasoning is wrong and contrary to biblical truths. And anyone functioning accordingly will most likely find himself poor, wretched and unhappy, even though he is in a land flowing with milk and honey.
According to what we are told about Isaac, he did not just sit down and wait for prosperity to come, just because God had told him that He would prosper him in Gerah. Instead, he got himself working. His family business had always been livestock rearing. But he added crop farming to it. And God blessed this in his hands so much so that he became great and mighty in the land through it. (Cf. Gen 26:12-15)
Then, as we are also told in the story, the Philistines in Gerah did not relate to him kindly at all, as they saw him grow in prosperity (Gen 26:16-21). They were continually fighting him and his men and taking over the wells they were digging. But at some point, they all realised that they could not successfully fight against him and win or stop his growing prosperity. Why? It was because the Lord was with him. So, they stopped fighting him and decided to make friends with him instead. (Cf. Gen 26:17-33)
Now that is in agreement with the words of the Scriptures that say, “When a man's ways are pleasing to the LORD, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.” (Prov 16:7NIV) Isaac was a man of God. That, however, did not stop him from having enemies. But because God was solidly with and behind him, his enemies eventually gave up fighting him and began to live at peace with him. That was why, in testifying to God's goodness to him in Gerah, he said, "Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land." (Gen 26:22NIV)
In like manner, inasmuch as you are where God wants you to be, He will make room for you to flourish there, regardless of the circumstances of the place or the hostility of those there with you. But you, like Isaac, must be ready to work hard and diligently. You must also be ready to adapt, change your vocation or add another line of business to what you are doing, if need be, and to trust God to deal with any challenge that may come your way. And will you be willing to do these things? Will you be willing to trust God for where you should be, to trust Him for what you should be doing with your life and to rely on Him to make room for you to flourish and be safe?
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ON ACCOUNT OF HIM 15/03/2024
“Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.” (John 12:9-11NIV)
From what we see in Scriptures, every day is not only a day of troubles and God's judgment; every day is also a day of God's mercies and love (Lamentations 3:22-23; Zeph 3:5; Matt 6:34). And because every day is a day of God's mercies and love, we are able to experience His miraculous power in our lives every day. For instance, our waking up every morning, having slept for hours, is a miracle, even though we take this for granted all the time. Also, for us to move from one place to another, even within our neighbourhood, only God can tell the number of miracles He has to perform so that we may be safe.
But then, even though our daily lives are marked with all kinds of miracles from God, there are some miracles that are able to change our lives and experiences forever, miracles that will make people take God our Father more seriously through us. For instance, as we are shown in our opening text, there was a time that a large crowd of people left their houses and businesses to go and see Jesus and a man called Lazarus. Why? It was because Jesus had raised this man from the dead.
As the account goes in John 11, Lazarus had been dead for four days before Jesus got to the town where he was living. In fact, there was already a bad odour coming out from his dead body at that time. Nevertheless, He demanded that He be taken to the tomb where he was laid. And He was taken there, for the dead man was an intimate friend of His. But what He did when He got there beat everyone's imagination. They had been expecting Him to just weep and sorrow there like all the others who knew the dead man had been doing. And He did weep, showing that He was human too. But beyond that, He brought the man back to life, right before everybody there. What a miracle!
Well, as to be expected, the news of this spread fast and wide. So, people everywhere that got wind of it started coming around not just to see Jesus but to also see Lazarus, the man who was raised to life, having been dead for four days. This, of course, got the religious leaders of the Jews upset. And they began to seek ways to kill this man. But why? As we are told in our opening text, it was because on account of him many were going over to Jesus and were expressing their faith in Him. In other words, the miracle this man received was so great that many people could not ignore it. They just had to go and verify it by themselves. And when they found out that it was authentic, they put their trust in the Lord Jesus.
Now don't you too want to receive that kind of miracle in your life? Don't you want to receive miracles so great that almost everyone who hears about it will want to meet Jesus? I want such miracles, as a living person, of course, and not as a dead person. And I want to believe that you too want them. But what will make us receive them? It is our faith in God to solve those great problems of our lives for us.
When the Lord instructed that the stone that was used to seal Lazarus's tomb be rolled away, so that He could bring him back from the dead, the dead man's sister, Martha, expressed her concerns about the fact that doing so was going to be an effort in futility. It would only be emphasising the deadness of her brother, whose body would be bringing forth bad odour already at the time. Yet the Lord said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” And did she eventually see the glory of God or not? She did! (Cf. John 11:38-40)
In like manner, if we too will trust God to handle our problems or challenges for us, we and others around us will certainly see His glory. And see, the greater the problem or challenge, the greater the miracle or miracles God will perform in solving them will be. So, in a sense, if you want great miracles, then, hope for great problems. Then, however great those problems may seem, don't allow them to make you lose your mind. Instead, see them as your opportunity to experience some astonishing miracles from God, miracles that will make those in your world turn to Him for help and salvation. And as you cast those problems on Him by faith and through prayers, you will experience His glory.
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DON’T ACCEPT PARTIAL LIBERTY 14/03/2024
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Gal 5:1NIV)
Look at that. Why has Christ set us free? It is so that we may enjoy freedom in our lives. It is so that we will no longer be slaves to sin, sicknesses, diseases, poverty, barrenness, stagnation, superstitious beliefs and any other thing that is capable of making a mess of our lives.
However, as Paul equally points out in that bible text, we too must be determined not to be enslaved by anything again. And what that means is that the things that our Lord set us free from will not just let us be and never attempt to enslave us again. I am saying that, as long as we are here in the world, sin, sicknesses, diseases, failure, barrenness, death, fear, confusion and all kinds of terrible things that Satan and his hosts bring about won't just let us be, all because we now say that we are Christians and have obtained freedom from them. They will keep trying to come back into our lives to make a mess of them. We are the ones that must refuse to let them gain access into our lives to make us slaves again.
Why do you think the bible tells us to resist the devil? It is because he is bound to show up at our door any time. He can show up in sicknesses, diseases, failures or temptations to do wrong things. But we can resist him. And we should resist him and refuse to be his slave in any way. I mean that we must not settle for partial liberty from anything that is from the domain of darkness, which is Satan's. Don't embrace or accommodate any kind of slavery in your life. What the Lord obtained for you is total liberty. So don't accept anything short of it.
When Moses went to confront Pharaoh with God's word to let the nation of Israel go, he was very clear in telling him that their liberty from Egypt was going to be a total one. And even though that wicked king, on a number of occasions, tried to talk Moses into accepting partial freedom, he would not give in to his tricks. Instead, he kept on fearlessly confronting him with the word of God, which, of course, was confirmed with all manners of signs and wonders, until he eventually gave the nation of Israel total liberty. (Ex 9:25-28, 10:8-10, 10:24-29 & 12:31-33)
Similarly, we too must continually and boldly confront anything that is trying to enslave us again with what God has said about our liberty, knowing that He will confirm His word with signs and wonders. But how are we going to do that, if we don't know what He has said about our liberty?
So, if you and I want to succeed in standing firm in the liberty that is ours in Christ Jesus, we must make the studying of the word of God a priority in our lives. And as we do so, the Holy Spirit Himself will open the Scriptures to us and also strengthen us to appropriately and adequately apply them to the different situations of our lives.
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YOUR PRAYER DUTY 13/03/2024
“As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.” (1Sam 12:23NIV)
Those were Samuel’s words to the children of Israel. He wanted them to know that he would be sinning against God by not praying for them, even though they were rebellious. And that was because praying for them was his responsibility as their leader.
In like manner, there are people that we have a duty to pray for, as we are shown in the bible. For instance, it is our duty to pray for all our leaders, whether they are directly over us or otherwise, so that they may lead according to the will of God (Eph 6:19-20; Col 4:3; 1Tim 2:1-4). Also, it is our duty to pray to God for those that we are leading, whether at home, in our workplace, in the church or in our society, so that their lives may be what God wants them to be (Num 6:23-27; 2Chro 6:12-42; Eph 1:15-16; Col 4:12).
It is equally our duty to pray for the prosperity and peace of our country, remembering the different categories of people in the land in our prayers (Ps 123:6-9; Jer 29:7). Then it is our duty to pray all kinds of prayers for all the people of God, as we are led by the Spirit, according to their requests and according to our knowledge of their circumstances (Acts 12:5; Rom 15:30-32; Eph 6:18-20; Col 4:2; James 5:14-16).
So, it is never God's design that our praying will be about us alone. There are all kinds of people that He expects us to continually support with our prayers. And if, having been made aware of this, we will still not pray for them, we will be sinning against Him. This, of course, will not be without consequences. And some of us that are discerning can already see some of the consequences of our sin of not praying for the people God wants us to pray for. We can see them in the instability, insecurity, poverty, rebellion, oppression and many other terrible things that are threatening our existence today. And if we will not repent of this sin, we may never witness in our lifetime the kind of peaceful, stable, sane and prosperous society we daily long for.
In addition, there may be times that God will want us to offer specific prayers for certain individuals or groups of people. For example, there was a time He wanted Abraham to pray for the household of King Abimelech of Gerar, so that his people would be healed of barrenness (Gen 20). And he was to pray for them, even though they had hurt him. Also, we see that He wanted Job to pray for his friends that had terribly hurt him with their words of judgment, so that His wrath would not come upon them (Job 42:7-9). Then we see how God showed Prophet Amos certain visions of what He intended to do to the nation of Israel, so that the man would have the privilege of interceding for her (Amos 7:1-6). Therefore, there are times that God shows us things about people in order that we may pray for them and save them from whatever trouble that is coming upon them or that they are in (Luke 22:31-32).
If God, then, wants us to pray specific prayers for certain people, just as I showed you above, and we will not do so, do you think He will hold us guiltless in such matters? If people that are supposed to live through our prayers die because we won't pray for them, how do you think God will judge such matters? Even if such individuals have hurt us or harmed us in some ways before, as long as God is asking us to pray to Him for them, we must do so. Otherwise, we will be sinning against Him and may even be shutting some door of His favour against ourselves.
Abraham and his wife Sarah had no son of their own, though they were advanced in age. Yet, having prayed for the barren house of Abimelech so they could have children again, God visited their family too, and they had a son of their own. (Cf. Gen 20&21) Job's case was also similar to that. The moment he forgave his friends and prayed for them, God visited him with healing and restoration. (Cf. Job 42:7-17) And I am showing you this to let you know that it is not every time that what we need in life will come to us through our prayers for ourselves. There are times that the things we need in life will only come to us through our prayers for others. And as long as we are selfish in matters of prayers, we may never enjoy certain things God wants us to have and enjoy in this life.
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THE SHIPS THAT NEVER SET SAIL- 12/03/2024
“Later, Jehoshaphat king of Judah made an alliance with Ahaziah king of Israel, who was guilty of wickedness. He agreed with him to construct a fleet of trading ships. After these were built at Ezion Geber, Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, "Because you have made an alliance with Ahaziah, the LORD will destroy what you have made." The ships were wrecked and were not able to set sail to trade.” (2Chron 20:35-37NIV).
We have very clear accounts in the bible that show us that carrying out investments or projects that will be successful in life is not all about having the resources and people to do so. It is equally about being led or guided by the Spirit of God. Otherwise, apart from the fact that we may end up losing our investments or projects or paying very invaluable prices for them, we may also never enjoy their fruit.
For example, in our opening text, we are told about how Jehoshaphat, who was a godly king, got involved in some project with Ahaziah king of Israel, who was nothing but a wicked man. What was this project about? It was about building some fleet of trading ships that they could both use to enhance their maritime business. And did they succeed in carrying out this project or not? They did.
However, God sent a prophet to tell Jehoshaphat that He was going to destroy this project and make sure he did not profit from it. And that was exactly what happened. The ships never left their shores, for they all got damaged right where they were. How this happened no one can tell. But it did happen, and Jehoshaphat lost everything he had invested in the project.
But why? Was it because God did not want Jehoshaphat to get better in his maritime business and increase in wealth that He allowed his project to fail? No! Rather, it was because he did that project with the wrong person; he did the project with someone that was operating under certain evil influences that were bound to make him fail. And if God had not predicted what was going to happen by the mouth of His prophet, Jehoshaphat and His people may never have known what was responsible for the failure of that project and the loss of their investment.
What is the lesson, then? It is that God is not just concerned about our lives but also about our relationships. So, it is not enough for our lives to be right before Him; it is also important that the lives of those we get into close relationships with are right before Him. Otherwise, they may continually be the reason our ships of progress or advancement will never set sail, not to talk of bring us great rewards.
Is this, then, to say that we, as children of God, must not associate with those who are not children of God at all. No! In fact, the bible tells us that it is impossible for us not to associate with those of this world at all (1Cor 5:9-10). As long as we are in this world, we will always have one thing or the other to do with those of the world, who do not know God. So, we cannot totally excuse them from our lives. By the way, this is not just about those who do not know God but also about those who claim to know God but who are still living in wickedness, openly or secretly.
At any rate, as long as we are in this world, there are things we cannot get done without those who do not know God and even those who claim to know Him but are living contrary to His will. But then, there are things we cannot and must not do with them, if we do not want to fail miserably or be polluted. Some of these things are obvious because we are warned about them in Scriptures. For instance, we already know from Scriptures that anything we will do with an unbeliever or even a so-called Christian that will make us sin against God or become irresponsible in our lives must be totally avoided.
However, there are certain things that may seem totally harmless to do with unbelievers or erring Christians. For example, building a fleet of trading ships with King Ahaziah seemed like a totally harmless thing for Jehoshaphat. But it ended up being a disaster. In like manner, doing certain things that seem harmless with some people may end up putting us in trouble because of their sins or certain evil influences at work in their lives. How, then, do we avoid that? It is by developing a culture of always committing everything, little or great, we want to do into the hands of God. That way, we can trust Him to always guide us into what is best for us and away from those things that will ruin us, even if they have an appearance of being the very best for us.
So, learn to always commit everything you want to do to God, instead of making your decisions solely on the basis of what you see or hear or your understanding of things. This will definitely keep you from facing problems that are never meant for you.
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LABOUR LOSS IS NOT HIS WILL FOR YOU 11/03/2024
“They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands. They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” (Isa 65:21-24NIV)
We know what it means to give ourselves, our time, our skills and our devotion to something and not receive any profit in it. We also know what it means to put so much into gaining something and eventually losing it to some unexpected circumstances or not enjoying it at all. That is what is called labouring in vain or labour loss.
Now there are many who are experiencing this in almost every area of their lives. They are working hard every day, so that they may increase in resources or influence and be able to make life better and more enjoyable for themselves and maybe their family. Yet, through some twist of circumstances, there has not been much to show for their years of hard labour. It is not improving the quality of life they are living or the quality of enjoyment of life they are having. And this has brought frustration and depression into their lives. It has even led some to run away from their responsibilities or to take their own lives.
Perhaps you too have observed that your labour of many years has not brought much visible or tangible improvement to the quality of life you are living. You need to know that it is not the will of God for things to be so with you. So, don’t accept it as normal or ignore it, even if that is the case with many around you. And don’t allow it to ruin your character, destroy your relationship with God or people or drive you crazy. Instead, take the situation up with God in prayers, and He will answer you and put an end to every form of labour loss you may be experiencing.
Look at our opening Scripture. What is there is a revelation of God’s will for us in all our legitimate labour. And as He clearly shows us, it is not His will for us to labour over anything and not enjoy it at all, neither is it His will for us to labour over something and it is some other people that will be enjoying the fruit of it. In fact, it is not His will for us to have children that we will not enjoy or to even pray in vain and not receive answers.
Since that, then, is the case, we must no longer accept any form of labour loss in our lives, beginning from today. Instead, we must continually ask God to fulfil His promise to make us fruitful with our labour and to also make us enjoy the fruit of our labour for as long as we are here on earth. And as we learn to do this, we will begin to see a mighty release of His power for true enjoyment in every area of our lives.
Cheers!
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YOU ARE MEANT TO FLOURISH 10/03/2024
It is a fact that these are difficult times for people all around the world. These are times in which insecurity is a major threat to the existence of mankind. They are also times in which many are struggling to feed and to take care of several basic needs of life. Even among those that appear to be living fine and large are many that have already mortgaged their future and that of their children through different kinds of loans they have taken from various financial institutions.
Nevertheless, God’s promise to His people is to make them flourish, regardless of how hard or hostile the conditions of living in this world may become. So, as you journey through this month and through the remaining part of this year, I want you to hold on to His word that says:
“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, "The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him."” (Ps 92:12-15NIV)
Look at that. God says that His righteous ones will flourish like palm trees and like cedars of Lebanon. Now you can do some personal studies on these trees, and you will find that they are special among all trees. They are evergreen. They are strong and are able to thrive in the face of adverse conditions. Also, they, especially palm trees, are useful in many ways. And in many cases, they are able to survive a number of generations of men, if we do not remove them.
Now God says His righteous ones can be likened to these trees. They too will flourish before Him, regardless of what circumstances they are faced with in this life. Also, He says they will stay fresh, green and fruitful, even when they are old. Don’t you like this? Well, I love it. I love to stay fresh, green, fruitful and useful, even when I am old. And, if Jesus tarries, I am going to, for I am God’s righteousness in Christ Jesus. So, this promise is for me and for my household.
What about you? Are you God’s righteous man or woman? Are you one of those who have by faith obtained the righteousness of God that is in Christ Jesus? If you are, then, this promise of God is for you too. And you can lay claim to it. Yes, you can daily declare in the name of Jesus, “I flourish in this land everyday like a palm tree and grow stronger and stronger like a cedar of Lebanon. And regardless of the conditions I am confronted with in life, I will remain fresh, green, productive, useful and relevant, as a member of the family of God in this world.” And may God’s power to flourish in the face of adversity continually be released in your life and through your life, in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Have a fabulous day.
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LIVE A LIFE OF THANKSGIVING 09/03/2024
“But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.” (Deut 8:18NIV)
Who said those words? It was Moses the man of God. Why did he say them? He said them because he knew that it was possible for the Israelites to forget God and what He meant to them. He knew that it was possible for them to enter the Promised Land and, after a while, begin to think their strength, righteousness or wisdom was responsible for their success and wealth. So, he said, “Don't ever forget that the one responsible for whatever good thing you end up having or accomplishing is God.” And he said that to them so that they would learn to acknowledge God and be thankful to Him.
Now, in order for us to cultivate a heart of thankfulness to God, it is important that we identify for ourselves the things that often keep us from thanking Him. We can understand it if those who don't know God do not see any reason to thank Him at all. But I am not addressing those who don't know or believe God here; rather, I am addressing everyone who claims to know God and to have a relationship with Him. And I am saying that it is important that he identify what those things are that are keeping him from being thankful to God as it is expected of him, so that he may deal with them.
One of those things that often keep us from being thankful to God is lack of contentment. When all that we are concerned about is what we don't have and how we are going to have them at all cost, there is every tendency that we may not see any need to thank God for what we already have.
Another thing that can also keep us from being thankful to God is lack of thoughtfulness. It takes thoughtfulness to be thankful to God or to men. If we can regularly consider where we are and where we are coming from and also consider what we are, what we used to be and what we have passed through, there is no way we will fail to see great reasons to thank God.
There will always be greater heights for us to attain in this life, as long as there is breath in us. And there also will always be people that seem to be ahead of us or to be doing better than us. But instead of griping or complaining to God about those things we are yet to have or accomplish, we should first learn to thank Him for the ones we already have and are.
Furthermore, we can get so excited about what God has done for us or is doing for us and what we are going to do with it that we totally forget to thank Him. That was what happened to nine of those ten lepers that the Lord healed of their leprosy. They got so excited about their healing and what life would henceforth mean for them that they totally forgot to return to thank the Lord immediately for what He had done for them. Only one of them returned immediately to thank Him. And to say the least, their ingratitude displeased Him. (Cf. Luke 17:11-19)
We all know how most animals act when we give them food. Out of excitement, they will just jump on it and start eating, especially when they are very hungry. They will not thank us or commend us for anything. And that is because they are unintelligent. But we are intelligent beings. We can consider things and think about them. So, even though we can thank God anytime for His goodness to us, as intelligent people, the right thing for us to do is to first thank Him immediately we receive anything from Him. And we are always receiving from Him. There is no moment that passes that we don't receive something good for our lives from Him, even though we are not often aware of this. This is why we are admonished in the Scriptures to give God thanks always and in everything (Eph 5:20; Col 3:17; 1Thess 5:18; Heb 13:15). In other words, we are to live a life of thanksgiving to God, for that is His will for us.
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YET I WILL REJOICE IN THE LORD 08/03/2024
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” (Hab 3:17-18NIV)
Do you know that there are people who are still loaded with pains and grieves because of their failures, miseries and misfortunes in the years that were gone? Yes, there are people who are still totally disappointed and distressed because they really have nothing to show for all their hard labour and devotion of the years gone. And such people may be wondering now if there is anything at all for them this year; they may be wondering if there is any need for them to devote themselves to any kind of honest labour again this year.
Well, if you are one of such people, the words of Prophet Habakkuk, which we have in our opening scripture, are for you. And as we can deduce from what he says, this man, at the time he said these words, was battling with very obvious failure and lack, which had come upon him as a result of the insecurity problems that his land was facing. I mean that he said these words at a time nothing seemed to be working or going on well for him or anybody in his country. Their crops were not doing well. So their food stores were empty, and they were all living in hunger. Also, their animals were all gone. So there was no milk, cheese or meat for anybody to refresh himself with. It was indeed a time of depression and agony for them.
Nevertheless, this man of God said to himself, “I refuse to pay attention to the ugliness of our conditions. I refuse to allow our failures, misfortunes, miseries and pains to take away my joy. And that is why I am going to rejoice in the Lord. Yes, I will be joyful in God my saviour.” Look at that. Habakkuk would not allow the ugly situations he found himself in to rob him of joy. He would not allow the seemingly horrible circumstances of his life to keep him down or render him useless. Instead, he chose to rejoice.
But, then, you must understand that this man's rejoicing is not baseless. His rejoicing is not the foolish rejoicing of a drunkard, who thinks he can drink away his sorrows and pains, when he is in fact multiplying them. And his rejoicing is not the rejoicing of some optimistic dreamer, who is just hoping that all things will turn around for his good by themselves, when the truth is that bad things don't become good by themselves, just as good things don't become bad by themselves – there are forces that make these things happen. Instead, his rejoicing is in the Lord, the God of the heavens and the earth. Yes, his rejoicing is in the Lord, the only one with the power to turn the ugliest of situations around for man's good. And that is why he goes on to say, “The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.” (Hab 3:19NIV)
Look at that. Habakkuk recognised God as his strength. He recognised Him as his ability to walk in victory over all the difficult situations he and his people were confronted with. No wonder he chose to praise Him instead of allowing those bad situations to make him weak, useless and redundant.
In like manner, you also must not allow the failures, miseries, misfortunes and pains of the year or years that are gone reduce you to a weak, useless and redundant person this year. And you must not allow them to turn your eyes away from God or lead you to follow dishonest or diabolical ways to get your life straightened out. That will never be to your advantage. Instead, fix your eyes on God and, like Habakkuk, keep on rejoicing in Him, in spite of your ugly circumstances. Yes, keep on rejoicing in Him like Paul, who, though was in the prison, wrote to the Philippian-Christians and said, “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy…” (Phil 1:4NIV) In addition, he said, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Phil 4:4NIV)
Now, as you begin to rejoice in the Lord this year, regardless of how bad things are for you at the moment, I assure you that you will certainly find in Him the strength, wisdom, courage, favour and support you require to walk in victory over all your challenges and be freed from every kind of depression. It is well with your soul.
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UNLIMITED ACCESS TO GOD 07/03/2024
“…I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6NIV)
Now this is a statement that many have had trouble accepting. They just don't think it is right for anybody to make bold to say such things. “How can you say that it is only through you that people can access God?” they will say. “What about the other ways that people are taking to access God? Are you saying that those ways are no ways at all or that they are nothing?”
Well, that is exactly what the Lord Jesus is saying. He is saying that unless you come through Him, you cannot truly and fully access God. Yes, without Him, you may be able to approach and access God in some ways. But if what you want is unlimited, unrestricted and real access to God and all that He represents, you have to go through the Lord Jesus Christ. And why is that? It is because He is the only one that knows God truly, fully and thoroughly. So, He is the only one that can fully and truly make God and His will known to us. (Cf. Matt 11:27, John 17:1-3)
In any case, my point is that through Jesus Christ we can now enjoy unlimited and unrestricted access to God (Eph 3:12; Heb 4:14-16). But someone may say, “If what you are saying is true, if truly I now have unlimited and unrestricted access to God, through Jesus Christ, how come I am still unable to see God face to face and pour out my heart to Him?” Good question! And the answer is this: the fact that you are unable to see God physically or face to face does not mean that you do not have unlimited and unrestricted access to Him through Christ Jesus.
See, whether we see God physically or not, He is ever present with us. His words to us are: “I will never ever leave you nor forsake you.” (Cf. Heb 13:5) So, He is always with us, in us and all around us. Actually, I can compare His presence with us to that of the air we breathe in. Though 'air' is invisible, yet it is with us, in us and all around us. So, we do have unrestricted and unlimited access to it. And that, in fact, is why we are still alive.
I have pointed this out to you so that you will never again doubt the quality of access to God that is available to us in Christ Jesus. The question, then, is, “What are we to do with the access we now have to God?” We are to take advantage of this access to become all that we can be in Him and have all that we can have in Him.
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LEARNING TO PRAY FOR OUR LAND 06/03/2024
“May our sons be like full-grown, young plants. May our daughters be like stately columns that adorn the corners of a palace. May our barns be filled with all kinds of crops. May our sheep give birth to thousands of lambs, tens of thousands in our fields. May our cattle have many calves. May no one break in, and may no one be dragged out. May there be no cries of distress in our streets.” (Ps 144:12-14GW)
As citizens of this country, it is important that we look beyond our problems and predicaments and begin to talk to God about what we want to see in our land. And when I am talking about praying to God about our nation, we must learn to be specific, as we pray. What I am saying is that our prayers for the country must go beyond saying things like, “God bless Nigeria!” Yes, of course, I want God to bless Nigeria. But in what areas should He bless Nigeria? And what kinds of blessings should He bring upon Nigeria?
In our opening text, for instance, we find King David praying for his nation, Israel. And when you look at the contents of his prayers for his land, you will see that he is very specific about what he wants God to do for them. First, he prays for their sons and young men. He prays that they will flourish in the land, that is, they will excel in all their honest endeavours. Second, he prays for their daughters and young women. And that is interesting to note. This king does not want their girls and young women to become liabilities in the land, as it is the case in many places, even today. So, he prays that God will make them pillars that will support and beautify the land. That means they will not be redundant or useless in the land but will be a vital and integral part of the growth, development and establishment of the land.
Third, David prays for their farms and livestock. He prays that God's blessings will be on their farms so that their stores will overflow with all kinds of crops. That way, there will be more than enough food for the people to eat and to export. And he prays that their livestock will be fruitful and productive, so that there will be an overflow of milk for the people to drink and abundance of meat for them to eat and to export.
Fourth, David prays against theft, robbery, terrorism, war, invasion of the land and anything (accidents, fire incidents, floods, outbreak of diseases, earthquakes and so on) that could lead to cries of distress in the country. That is what he means when he says, “May no one break in, and may no one be dragged out. May there be no cries of distress in our streets.”
Now the things David prays about here are not the only things we can pray about for our land—there are many more things we can pray about. But these ones have been written down as examples for us that we may learn from them and begin to practise them. (Cf. Rom 15:4)
Shall we then begin to practise these things? Shall we begin to tell God specific things that we want Him to do for specific groups of people in our midst and about specific things in our land? If we will start doing this, I tell you, not only are we going to begin to experience tremendous operations of God in our land, we will also begin to have our eyes opened by the Spirit of God to see several other things we can change in our land through our prayers.
My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will awaken our hearts to the practice of these truths, in Jesus' name. Amen.
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HE WILL HEAL OUR LAND 05/03/2024
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2Chron 7:14NIV)
The situation of our country today is a clear proof that it is possible for one to be in a land of plenty and still experience lack and that it is possible to be in land that is flowing with milk and honey and still live in hunger. Or why exactly have we had government after government, administration after administration and leaders after leaders, and most of our problems still remain unsolved, despite the blessedness of our land?
Now, growing up, there was a time I was made to believe that the military was the main source of our problems in this country and that, if we could just get them out of the way, it would be heaven on earth for us. And by the help of God, we did get the military out of the way and install a new civilian government. However, in the last twenty four years or so, it has not been heaven on earth for us at all, that is, as nation. On the contrary, things have gone from bad to worse for us. And we are now beginning to see that the military was not really our problem after all; we ourselves, as a people, are our own problem.
Unfortunately, we have not yet recognised or seen that. So, all we have done was to move away a little from blaming the military for our plight to blaming political parties, political leaders, administrative styles, regional leaders, sectional leaders, religious leaders and even our colonial masters. Only God knows who we are going to blame next – perhaps our unborn babies.
In any case, the truth is that the blame game we are playing is not going to get us anywhere. I am saying this blame game is not going to get us out of the current recession we are in or pull us out of our national bankruptcy. We all are to be held responsible for our present predicament; we all are to blame for the illness of our nation. And if we do not want to see the death of this nation in the next few years, we all, especially those of us who know the living and true God, must lay aside our pride and seek His face, so that we may obtain His mercy and find His immeasurable grace to help us in this time of need. (Cf. Heb 4:16)
Now He (God) Himself is waiting for us to realise our folly and our inadequacy in solving our own problems and then turn to Him. That is why, in our opening text, He lovingly and mercifully instructs us on what we need to do in order for Him to heal our land. And what are those things that we need to do? First, we are to humble ourselves before God. That means we are to let go of our pride and confidence in the flesh and submit ourselves to God's authority. We must understand that no human being, no matter how smart, sound, intelligent and well-meaning he may be, can take our nation out of this misery, if God does not aid him. So, enough of all our small talks and our boasting in human beings! The only one we should boast in is the Lord. (Cf. Ps 127:1, 146:3-4, Prov 3:5-8, Jer 9:23-24, 1Cor 1:31, 3:19-21, Phil 3:3, James 4:6-7, 1Pet 5:5-6)
Second, we are to pray to God. That means, instead of complaining and murmuring, we are to tell God exactly what we want Him to do for our nation. Do we have any beautiful picture of what our country should look like in mind? Then let us begin to show that picture to God in prayers. He is able to do for us immeasurably more than we can ever ask for or think of. (Cf. Eph 3:20, Phil 4:6)
Third, we are to seek God's face and turn from our wicked ways. It is good and important that we keep on praying to God about the situation of our country. But that is not sufficient. We must also seek to please God in all that we do and turn from our wicked ways. That means I must desist from all my acts of wickedness and begin to pursue and do only those things that make God happy. And you too must do likewise. Otherwise, no matter how much we pray and fast for our country or our own homes, we will not experience much good.
Well then, God tells us that when we have done these things, He also will do two major things for us. First, He will forgive us our sins. Second, He will heal our land, that is, He will end our barrenness and unfruitfulness and put an end to our miseries and woes. And may these things be our experience, even as we obey the voice of the Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen.
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WHEN WISDOM IS NOT ENOUGH 04/03/2024
“Here is another bit of wisdom that has impressed me as I have watched the way our world works. There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it. A poor, wise man knew how to save the town, and so it was rescued. But afterward no one thought to thank him. So even though wisdom is better than strength, those who are wise will be despised if they are poor. What they say will not be appreciated for long.” (Eccl 9:13-16NLT)
When you read the writings of Solomon, that is, with the mind of the Spirit of God, you will not fail to see that he understood how this world works. Without doubt, he was a very wise man. In fact, the bible says that the wisdom God blessed him with was as measureless as the sand on the seashore (1Kings 4:29-34). And having tasted the reward of being wise, he counsels all men to price wisdom above all things, saying “Wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore, get wisdom. And though it costs you everything you have, get understanding.” (Cf. Prov 4:7)
So, if you sense that wisdom is lacking in your life or in the way you are handling certain matters of your life, do not hesitate to seek it. And the only place to find it is in God. Yes, the only way to be wise in life is to take God seriously and to also count on Him to make our hearts wise. (Cf. Job 28:28; Ps 111:10; 1Cor 1:30; James 1:5-8)
But then, this man, Solomon, as he investigates life and how to make sense out of it, discovers that wisdom is not sufficient for us to win people’s respect or attention. There are some others things we must have as well, if we want the people of this world to take us seriously. And one of them is wealth.
Now is wealth better or greater than wisdom? No! Yes, as Solomon equally points out elsewhere in his writings, both money and wisdom can shelter us from all kinds of life’s problems. However, wisdom is better because it is able to preserve the life of the one who has it, even where money has failed. (Cf. Ecc 7:12)
Nevertheless, as we see in our opening text, Solomon counsels us not to desire wisdom alone but to desire money along with it. Why? It is because, as far this world is concerned, people often take more seriously rich foolish people than poor wise people. And he gives us an illustration to support this. He speaks of a situation that he personally witnessed. It was that of a poor man that used his wisdom to save a town from a mighty king that had come to attack it. But after that incident, nobody remembered that poor man. They just totally forgot about him and all that he did for them.
Therefore, Solomon says, “Even though wisdom is better than strength, those who are wise will be despised if they are poor. What they say will not be appreciated for long.” And is this not the reality? Well, I myself can confirm that it is the reality, not just in the world but even in the church of God. See, I have been in assemblies where brethren that are full of the Spirit of God and wisdom to edify God’s people don’t have a voice at all. Nobody listens to them or takes them seriously. Why? It is because they don’t have money.
I am saying that I have been in assemblies of God’s people where your money has to speak for you before you can even book an appointment with your pastors. And I have also been in assemblies where people who have no character whatsoever can become anything, even a pastor, as long as they are rich and are willing to use their money for the church. Is this supposed to be happening in the church? No! However, that is the way the world works. And as long as the church keeps trying to function according to the ways of the world, such things will not stop happening among us.
Now then, if in the church of God, we see many taking money more seriously than wisdom or righteous living, what do you think the case will be among those of this world? Even worse! And this explains why we have many rich fools in leadership positions all around the world today. See, people are not going to listen to you or accept you as their leader just because you are wise; rather, they are going to do so because you have enough money to do things that will get their attention and make them believe you can deliver, even where you lack the capacity to do so.
Why did many come from different parts of the world to listen to Solomon? Was it just because he was wise? No! It was also because he was exceedingly wealthy. He had the money to entertain them and capture their attention. He had the money to do things that made them wonder what manner of man he was. So, they had no choice but to take him seriously.
In like manner, if we too want men to take always take us seriously wherever we are, we need to understand that we need more than wisdom, knowledge, education, ideas, character or creativity. We also need to be rich in earthly things. But our wisdom, knowledge, education, ideas, character or creativity on its own cannot make us rich. Otherwise, it would have made us rich already. The only one that can make us rich, truly rich, is God Himself. And not only can He make us rich, He is also interested in doing so. (Cf. Ecc 9:11)
At least, He made Solomon rich, that is, besides the fact that He made him wise. If we too will put Him first in all things in our lives and take His instructions for living seriously, He will make us not only wise but also rich, so rich that we can be generous on every occasion. That way, there is nowhere we go or find ourselves, that people will not take us seriously. (Cf. Matt 6:33; 2Cor 8:8-11)
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WISDOM TO HANDLE HAPPINESS 03/03/2024
“…Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.” (James 5:13NIV)
There is a Yoruba adage which, when translated, says, “Poverty does not kill; it is unrestrained merriment that kills.” This, of course, does not mean that people don’t die or can’t die as a result of poverty, for many all around the world die every day as a result of poverty. Rather, it means that much more people die as a result of unrestrained merriment than as a result of poverty. And this, sadly, is the bitter truth.
So, it is not only our moments of trials that we must learn to handle; we must also learn to handle our moments of happiness. That is because moments of happiness can also be moments of vulnerability. They can be moments in which we let down our guards to rejoice or celebrate. And if we are not careful, those moments could end in pains, terrible losses, regrets or destruction for us.
For example, as bible accounts show us, on a particular birthday of the Herod ruling in Galilee during the time of our Lord Jesus, he became so happy with the dance presentation of Herodias’ daughter that he did not know when he swore an oath to give the girl anything she wanted, up to half of his kingdom. What was he thinking? Why would he make that kind of reckless promise? Let us even suppose that the girl did ask for half of his kingdom, would she be able to manage it? Did she have the wisdom, understanding and character that would be needed to handle such a great responsibility? I doubt it. (Cf. Mark 6:16-23)
Nevertheless, because this Herod was unusually excited, he made a reckless oath that eventually led him to killing a man of God. And that was because Herodias’ daughter did not ask for gold, silver, mansions, lands or cities. Instead, following her mother’s counsel, she asked for the head of John the Baptist, a man that Jesus referred to as one that is more than a prophet. And because of his oaths and his dinner guests, this king had to consent, even though he was greatly distressed about the matter. (Cf. Mark 6:24-28)
Now only God could tell the number of those who ended up killing or hurting themselves or others in some big ways because they failed to wisely handle their happiness or excitement. Only He also could tell the number of those that fell into the traps of their enemies because they were not wise or cautious enough in handling their moments of happiness or celebration. Perhaps you too have at some point in life gotten into trouble because you did not manage certain moments of happiness or celebration of yours wisely. And if you still would not learn wisdom from God, there is no guarantee that similar things would not happen in the future.
What, then, is God’s wisdom saying? First, as we see in our opening bible text, it says, “Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.” Did you see that? The wisdom of God says if anyone is happy, let him praise God. Notice that it does not say let him get drunk with his friends or let him get inside his car and drive crazily around town or let him go and waste himself on some call girls. Rather, it says let him praise God.
Why is he to praise God? It is because God is the source of all true forms of happiness (Ecc 2:24-25). And if anyone would acknowledge this and praise Him on its basis, He will surely keep him from doing anything or taking any step that would turn his joy into mourning or open the door for the devil to use his moments of happiness against him. So, next time God brings about circumstances that make you happy, remember to praise Him for your happiness. That way, you are opening the door for Him to perfect your happiness and keep it from being polluted by the devil.
Second, the wisdom of God is saying do not make life complicated for yourself, just because you want to express your happiness. Solomon says this to us: “This is all that I have learned: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.” (Eccl 7:29GNT) Did you see that? It is not God that is making life hard for us; rather, we are the ones that often do things that Satan uses to make life hard for us. As I pointed out before, you can endanger others’ lives, get into debt, hurt or kill yourself, or expose yourself to the attacks of your enemies while expressing your happiness. And what good will that do you? None!
So, don’t create problems for yourself all in the name of expressing your happiness. Yes, praise God for your happiness and also rejoice with those who love you and care about you. But don’t do anything that will give the enemy an opportunity to strike you and turn your joy into sorrow. And may God fill your heart with His wisdom to always remember to act according to these words when you need to, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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THE BELT OF TRUTH 02/03/2024
“Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist…” (Eph 6:14NIV)
When Paul was writing this part of his letter to the Ephesians, he was most probably looking at one of the Roman Soldiers that were guarding him in prison, reflecting on how the elements of his armour related to Christian living. So, when he speaks to us of 'the belt of truth', he does not mean that truth is a belt, in a literal sense. No! This is all figurative, and we must always remember that when interpreting Paul's thoughts about this matter.
What I am saying, in essence, is that when Paul tells us to fasten the belt of truth around our waist, he is simply telling us that what a belt is to a soldier is what truth must be to us. That is why I love the translation of the bible that says, “…Fasten truth around your waist like a belt…” (Eph 6:14GW) So, the point being made here is that, for the Christian, truth is a defence against his enemies.
What then is truth? That was the question Pilate asked the Lord Jesus, just before he gave the sentence that led to his crucifixion. Unfortunately, he did not wait to receive an answer from the Lord. And we have no record that he got an answer to this important question before he died. (Cf. John 18:38)
Now, before the Lord's crucifixion, He had told His Apostles in a discussion that He was the way, the truth and the life. (Cf. John 14:6) And by calling Himself 'the truth', the Lord is simply showing us that 'truth' goes beyond a statement of fact made by someone; 'truth' is a person, and He is that person.
All this means that none of us can know the truth about life, ourselves or God without knowing the person of Jesus Christ. In short, we cannot know the truth about anything else without knowing the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the truth. The life He lived is the true life God wants every man to live. And the words He spoke revealed the truth about the life God wants every man to live.
So, when Paul tells us to fasten truth around our waist like a belt, he is simply telling us to let Jesus do to our lives what a belt does for a soldier. And a soldier, especially in the day in which Paul wrote this letter, did not wear a belt for decorative purposes. Rather, he wore a belt to hold all the pieces of his armour and weapons together; he wore a belt to keep all the pieces of his armour and weapons from falling apart.
Now that is exactly what truth is meant to do for the Christian. It is meant to keep his defence intact; it is meant to keep his defence from crumbling. And without the belt of truth in place in a believer's life, it will be hard for him to use all the other items of his armour effectively against the devil; it will be hard for him to keep his life from collapsing in the face of life's trials and challenges.
So, everything must begin with knowing the truth and practising it. But if we ignore the truth, as many are doing today, we will soon enough realise that we are carried away by the lies of the devil and plunged into gross darkness and overwhelming confusion.
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WALK BY FAITH 01/03/2024
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2Cor 5:7NKJV)
The child of God walks by faith, not by what he sees, hears or feels. That means he walks by taking God more seriously than what the situations and circumstances of his life are saying.
But what satan wants is for us to take those attacks that he is launching at us more seriously than God Himself. He wants to so pressurise us that all that we will see is what he is doing and saying instead of what God is doing and saying. His desire always is to force us to that spot where, instead of seeing God, all that we will see is how intense his wicked acts are and how hopeless we are except we accept his miserable solutions, which are no solutions at all.
Now we know that whatever satan says or does is to the end that he might ruin or destroy us. But whatever God says and does is to the end that we might enjoy life abundantly. That is why the Lord Jesus says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10NKJV)
It follows, then, that if we want to frustrate satan's plots and wicked schemes to kill or mess us up, we have to turn our eyes away from what he is doing to what God is doing, and our ears away from what he is saying to what God is saying. And that is not a choice anybody can make for us. Each of us has to choose for himself who he wants to stand with. Are we going to stand with God, or are we going to take sides with the devil?
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WALK BY FAITH 01/03/2024
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2Cor 5:7NKJV)
The child of God walks by faith, not by what he sees, hears or feels. That means he walks by taking God more seriously than what the situations and circumstances of his life are saying.
But what satan wants is for us to take those attacks that he is launching at us more seriously than God Himself. He wants to so pressurise us that all that we will see is what he is doing and saying instead of what God is doing and saying. His desire always is to force us to that spot where, instead of seeing God, all that we will see is how intense his wicked acts are and how hopeless we are except we accept his miserable solutions, which are no solutions at all.
Now we know that whatever satan says or does is to the end that he might ruin or destroy us. But whatever God says and does is to the end that we might enjoy life abundantly. That is why the Lord Jesus says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10NKJV)
It follows, then, that if we want to frustrate satan's plots and wicked schemes to kill or mess us up, we have to turn our eyes away from what he is doing to what God is doing, and our ears away from what he is saying to what God is saying. And that is not a choice anybody can make for us. Each of us has to choose for himself who he wants to stand with. Are we going to stand with God, or are we going to take sides with the devil?
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THE GOOD NEWS 29/02/2024
““For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."” (Rom 1:16-17NKJV)
The gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ carries in it God's power to save anybody who believes it from any kind of problem. I am saying the gospel is capable of placing anybody who believes it in a position to experience God's divine ability for his salvation from sin, bad habits, health problems, marital issues and any sort of trouble.
See, when Paul was writing this letter to the Romans, he had in mind the fact that the Romans believed so much in their military power. They were the world power of that day. Therefore, even though they had many enemies all around them, the good news for them was that their army was up to the task.
Unfortunately, as every one of these Romans would agree, military power can only, at its best, solve war problems; it cannot solve the problems that people are facing in their lives, homes, bodies, jobs and so on. And in fact, military power does not even solve war problems always or permanently. It cannot solve war problems always or permanently; it can only suppress them for a while or create more of them.
In any case, people want their marital problems, health challenges and financial troubles dealt with. People want to have peace, not just around the borders of their land, but also in their lives, homes, jobs and so on. But military power cannot deliver on that. Military power cannot cure any of the illnesses of our homes, lives or society. And the Romans knew all these things very well, and that was no good news to them.
Now that was where Paul came in and began to share with them where the real power was lying. According to him, the real power, which is of God, lies in the message brought by our Lord Jesus Christ. And anyone who believes this message has access to this real power, for his salvation and deliverance from any and every kind of trouble. I mean that anyone who believes this message can access God's power for his salvation from those problems that are as close to him as the very air he breathes in. And that is good news.
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GUARD YOUR HEART 28/02/2024
“Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it.” (Prov 4:23GW)
Can you see that? Since the source of a man's life flows from his heart, he is admonished to protect it more than anything else.
As we all know, the moment the heart of a man stops beating, the life of that man is gone. A man may lose any other part of his body in a fight, in an accident or through an illness and still continue to live. However, the moment that same man loses his heart, his end has come.
Today, we speak of heart failures, heart attacks and other similar ailments. We even talk about hypertension, hypotension and so on. These things attack the heart, making it sick and unwilling to live on. That is why people who have them usually don't live long.
But, you know, all such things only affect the physical heart. If you, for example, will check the diagram of the circulatory system of the human body, you will see the physical heart clearly depicted. But that is not the heart we are talking about here. I mean, that is not the heart that Solomon is asking us to guard with all diligence. And don't get me wrong. I am not saying that it is not important at all that you guard your physical heart, for it is important. In short, if you, for any reason, begin to toy with your physical heart, you will soon enough lose the opportunity you have to read things like these.
In any case, when we are talking about 'the heart,' we are actually talking about the invisible but real part of man; we are talking about the human spirit. Yes, we are talking about the unseen real person that is within us. And that is what Solomon says that every man should guard or protect.
Now why should we protect our heart? It is because it is the main thing satan is after. Truly, he may attack a man's body, and he may attack his mind, but unless he has his heart, he doesn't have the man. So, satan's main aim is for the heart. He wants to fill it with fear, jealousy, rage, anger, filthy and immoral thoughts, greed, selfishness and all other kinds of evil. He wants to so possess man's heart that it becomes utterly unfit for the worship of God. And that is why you must protect your heart.
Originally, man's heart was made for the worship of God. So true worship can only come from the heart; it can only come from the human spirit. And any worship that does not come from the heart is insincere; it has to be rejected by God. That is why the Lord Jesus says, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4:23-24NIV)
What the Lord is saying, in essence, in this scripture is that those who are truly worshipping God are those who give Him heart-worship. These don't just bring stuffs to God to appease Him, and they don't just say sweat words to impress Him. Rather, they give Him their hearts first, before giving Him any other thing.
Why did the Lord complain about the worship of the Israelites of His days? It was because it was not coming from their hearts. (Cf. Mark 7:6-7) They were more concerned about the rites, rules, regulations, styles and protocols of worship than the implications of those things.
Yes, they were bringing to God all the things that they were required by the law, and they were holding all kinds of meetings and having all kinds of festivals. But none of those things affected their hearts. None of those things made any impact on the way they related to one another. They were still filled with wickedness and sold out to all kinds of evil. So they could not live the kind of life God wanted them to live. They could not be at peace within themselves and among themselves. Satan had their hearts, because they did not protect them.
If we also, like them, will not guard our hearts, if we will not protect our hearts against the attacks of the devil, he will occupy them with things that will make our lives and the lives of those close to us miserable. So, guard your heart with all seriousness. Protect it against pride, greed, bitterness, jealousy, hypocrisy, lust and any other evil thing. Then the enemy will not be able to pollute your worship of God or turn you into an instrument of wickedness.
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OFFER THE BEST 27/02/2024
"So give orders that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. My men will work with yours, and I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set. You know that we have no one so skilled in felling timber as the Sidonians."” (1Kings 5:6NIV)
Those were the words of King Solomon to King Hiram of Tyre in his letter to him, in which he expressed his desire to build a temple for the Lord. And one thing that is clear from what he said to that king is that he recognised the skills of his men in handling timber. According to him, no one at that time was as skilled as the Sidonians in felling timbers. So, if anyone wanted the best of timbers and was willing to pay for them, they were the ones he must consult and engage.
What is the point of this? First, it is that if you are the best at what you do, even the wisest of men will consult and engage your services. And they will not mind coming from the ends of the earth to find you, simply because you have what they want. So, if people are ignoring your work or trade, it may just be that your skills in handling it are not sharp enough to attract them to you.
Then, if you are the best at what you do, people will be willing to pay handsomely for your services. As we see in our opening text, Solomon was willing to pay Hiram any amount for the services of his men. That, of course, does not mean that he may not bargain at all or ask for discounts. He may do that. But it means that he recognised that those people would be offering him the best of timber services he could get anywhere. So, the power of setting the price to pay did not lie with him but with them.
In like manner, if you are the best at what you do, the power of bargain is with you and not with those engaging your services. So, they will be the ones begging or persuading you for discounts on the goods or services you are providing them. And because they want nothing but the best, because they do not want an alternative to the best, they will not go away from you but stick with you.
For example, I have observed that there are some brands of items that people keep buying from our family shop, regardless of how costly they get. Why? Those buying these items believe that they are the best around. And since they want the best, they are willing to pay the price for it.
So, if people are ignoring your work or business, it may not be because your price is too high. Yes, overpricing is one of the things killing some people’s businesses or trade. But truth be told, if you offer the best, those dying to have the best will not mind paying whatever it may cost them to have it.
If you, then, are looking forward to earning more, then, the secret is in offering the best of whatever you do. And why can you not offer the best of what you do? Why can’t you be the best? It is all about renewing your mind. If you renew your mind to be the best at what you do, then, you will give yourself to whatever training or discipline you will need to be the best. But as long as you continue to think that being the best is not necessary or achievable, you will not aim for it.
Now what you don’t aim for may never be yours. And what is not yours you cannot give. So, if you want to be the best or be offering the best, renew your mind to always aim and go for the best. And may God’s grace overflow over your life to make this happen, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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EQUIP THE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE 26/02/2024
“So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.” (1Sam 13:22NIV)
When the word of God tells us not to look to our own interests alone but also to the interests of others, it is for our own good. Of course, we may not know exactly when or how or to what extent we will benefit from doing so. But there will surely be times in our lives when we will reap the fruit of genuinely taking interest in the welfare, growth and development of the people in our lives, be it our spouses, children, family members, neighbours, colleagues at work or church brethren. (Cf. Phil 2:4)
As we see in our opening bible text, there was a time during the reign of King Saul that none of the soldiers with him had a sword or spear to defend themselves or their country. Only he and his son Jonathan had them. What that means is that all the soldiers with him, whatever their number may be, were useless to him and to their country at the time. They were useless because they had nothing to offer for the safety of the land when their enemies came to battle against them.
But who was to blame for that? Saul was to blame for it. He was their leader. He was their king. And he must have known that there would surely be days in which their enemies would rise up to fight against them. Why, then, did he not labour hard to see to it that all his soldiers were adequately equipped with quality weapons to defend themselves and their beloved country? Or what exactly did he think he was going to do with soldiers that had no real weapons but farming tools? Could he even call those ones soldiers? Definitely not!
Now, of course, as are equally shown in the passage where this matter is recorded in the bible, it was the Philistines that orchestrated the whole thing. They were the ones that made sure there was no blacksmith in all of Israel. So, all the people had to go down to them to make or sharpen their farm tools. You can see, then, that these Philistines did what they did to keep the Israelites dependent on them for as long as possible. They wanted to make sure they would never be strong enough to liberate themselves or defend themselves against their hostility and oppression. And they succeeded. (Cf. 1Sam 13:19-21)
But why did they succeed? They succeeded because the king of Israel did not take the training and equipping of his own people very seriously. Even if the Philistines would not teach their blacksmithing skills to the Israelites, he could have sent spies to other countries around them to learn these skills and to come back and teach them to their country people. But he did not do that because he was not passionate enough about the equipping of his fighting men. And because he failed in this matter, on the day of battle, when he needed these men to stand with him in fighting their enemies, they were useless to him, for they had no weapon to fight with.
Unfortunately, similar things are happening in our country today and, in fact, in many other countries of Africa. Most of our leaders do not take the education, training and equipping of their people seriously. And though there are developed countries, here and there, that are willing to share their knowledge in various fields with anyone willing to learn, these leaders are not doing much to sponsor their people to go and learn and become well-equipped enough in various fields of life to be able to give back to their countries.
Therefore, many of our African countries have been depending on the developed nations of the world for almost everything modern we want or need. And we may forever remain dependent on these developed nations for our sustenance in this modern world, if we don’t change our ways. And God forbid, if any of them should decide to wage war against us, the outcome would have been decided even before the war started.
What is my point? It is that we should be concerned not just about our own personal development and usefulness in life but also about the education, training and equipping of the people in our lives, especially our spouses, children, siblings, workers and brethren in church. Yes, sometimes, this may not be convenient and may even cost us some things that are very dear to us. But if we equip the people in our lives or support them in whatever way we can to become adequately equipped and fit to handle life by themselves, a day may come when they will be the ones supporting us to win some battles of life that we can’t win alone or to expand our sphere of influence in life in very significant ways.
So, don’t let life be about you alone. Be concerned about others too. Be concerned about those in your life and see how you can help them get fit for life, spiritually, academically and financially, according to the grace God has given you. And a day will come when you will be glad you contributed to their fitness or readiness to handle life.
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TAKE YOUR STAND ON HIS WORD FOR YOUR HEALTH 25/02/2024
“He certainly has taken upon himself our suffering and carried our sorrows, but we thought that God had wounded him, beat him, and punished him. He was wounded for our rebellious acts. He was crushed for our sins. He was punished so that we could have peace, and we received healing from his wounds.” (Isa 53:4-5GW)
That is interesting! Jesus not only bore our sins, He also bore our weaknesses, sicknesses, sorrows and diseases. He bore them all so that we would not have to bear them again.
Now that is not to say that Satan will still not try to place these things on us. He definitely will. But whenever he tries that, the scripture says that we are to resist him. (Cf. James 4:7)
How do we resist him? It is by calling his attention to the reality about our healing. You say, “Look satan, Jesus already bore all my sicknesses and diseases. So you have no right to place any sickness or disease on me. Not only that, my body no longer belongs to you; it is now the temple of the living God. That is the truth, and you yourself know it. Therefore, I command you to take your hands off my body—God's property—in the name of Jesus. I am well now by the power of the Spirit of God.”
But the trouble is this: how many of God's people usually react like that when any sickness or disease tries to make its home in their bodies? Then for some of those who have at one time or the other tried it, their most frequent comment is, “I tried it, but it did not work. The sickness did not go away.”
What made them think it did not work? It was the fact that the symptoms did not immediately go away. But you cannot be acting on God's word and still be paying attention to sensory evidences. That is walking by sight. See, the moment you speak God's word to your body, it begins to respond. You may not feel like anything is happening, but you can be certain that something is happening; for God's word never fails.
Remember how Jesus once addressed a fig tree, saying, “You shall never bear fruit again.” His disciples heard Him when He said so, but there was no immediate physical evidence that what He said had actually taken place. However, to their utmost surprise the following day, the tree had withered from its roots. (Cf. Mark 11:12-14 & 20-21)
Now that is what we are talking about. We are talking about situations in which once you speak to your challenges, in accordance with the word of God, you will know in your heart that they have responded, regardless of what you feel, see or hear. Therefore, you continue to praise God for the victory that is already yours. And as you act like that, sooner or later, those situations will agree in appearance with the word of God that you have spoken to them.
So, regardless of what you feel or see in your body, take your stand on what His word says about your health. And His word will not fail you. Instead, it will bring about the fulfilment of His purpose in your life.
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JUST CRY OUT TO HIM 24/02/2024
“Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains, for they had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.” (Ps 107:10-16NIV)
Look at this group of people. They had gotten into the bondage of the devil because of their rebellion against God's word. And it was so bad that nobody was going to help them out. But then, instead of giving up on life and on God in the deepest darkness that they found themselves, they humbled themselves and cried out to God for help. And their testimony was that He saved them from their distress, when they cried out to Him.
In other words, God did not abandon them to be destroyed by the enemy, even though they got into trouble because of their own foolishness. Instead, He had mercy on them, forgave them and saved them from their distress. Yes, He destroyed their chains, set them free and brought them out of the darkness of fear and shame.
Now can He still do the same, similar or greater things for you? Yes, He can, for the bible says He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb 13:8). Also, the bible says He is able to do immeasurably more than we can ever ask or imagine, according to His power that is working in us (Eph 3:20-21). So, if you too have gotten into trouble, any kind of trouble, because of your rebellion against God's word, don't allow it to destroy you.
I am saying if Satan has succeeded in putting you, your family, your business or anything that is yours in bondage because you would not take God seriously or pay attention to divine counsel, don't allow the situation to destroy you. Instead, since there is still breath in you, call out to God, and He will save you.
Mind you, it does not matter whether it is the darkness of immorality, poverty, sickness or barrenness that you have found yourself in, know that it is not the will of God for you to perish in it. So, cry out to Him for mercy and salvation, and He will show you mercy, break down your prison gates and set you free so that you can soar and laugh again.
Of course, Satan will do everything he can to keep you from doing this. He will condemn you in your heart and fill you with all kinds of evil thoughts to make you think God will never look your way again or help you at all, seeing that you have greatly disappointed Him. But don't listen to Him. There is absolute and pure forgiveness in God through Christ Jesus. And anyone that wants it can freely approach His throne of God grace for it and find it (Heb 4:14-16; 1John 2:1-2).
What, then, are you waiting for? Go for yours now, and you will find rest for your soul.
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HOW SATAN USES PEOPLE 23/02/2024
“The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus.” (John 13:2NIV)
Paul, writing to the Ephesian brethren, says, “Don't give the devil any opportunity to work.” (Eph 4:27GW) Why? It is because he is always looking for an opportunity to work in and through people's lives. And once he has an opportunity to work, he will certainly use it to steal, kill or destroy. This is why we need to be watchful, so that we do not use our own hands to open the door for the devil to come into our lives and afflict us or use us to afflict others.
But then, if we do not know what things we may do or entertain in our lives that will result in an opening of the door of our lives for the devil to work, there is no guarantee that we will not, from time to time, open the door of our lives for him to work. That is why we need to pay attention to what Scriptures teach about his ways and the things he uses to gain entrance to work in people's lives.
For instance, in Ephesians 4, where Paul tells us not to give the devil any opportunity to work, he says this in connection with getting angry (Eph 4:27 ). In other words, he is saying that through anger Satan can gain entrance into our lives and work. And only God knows how many people he has used some moments of their anger to destroy their lives, homes, relationships or businesses. But if we are walking with the consciousness that he can use anger to ruin our lives or the lives of those that we love, each time we are angry, we will watch what things we say or what steps we take and, in fact, find ways to quickly calm ourselves down.
But it is not only anger that Satan may use as a door to gain entrance into our lives; he can also use any act of the flesh that we permit in our lives. He can use greed, lust, impatience, selfishness, drunkenness, jealousy and so forth as a means to work in our lives or through our lives. And where do all these acts of the flesh come from? According to the Lord Jesus Christ, they all spring from the heart (Matt 15:19). In fact, James, in his epistle, paints for us a very vivid picture of how every kind of evil humans may do is birthed. He says, “…but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (James 1:14-15NIV)
Did you see that? Every act of sin starts from a seed of thought. And the one who always plants these seeds of thought is the devil. He is always the one that brings to the people the desire to do something wrong or destructive. And once we give room to any of these thoughts to take root in our hearts and grow, Satan will seize the opportunity and use it to work in our lives or through our lives.
Look, for example, at what is said about Judas Iscariot in our opening text. It is said that Satan prompted him to betray Jesus. That means the one who planted in him the thought to betray the Lord was Satan. And because he entertained that thought long enough and did not reject it, Satan eventually took hold of him and led him to betray His master and to also destroy himself.
In like manner, every day Satan is taking hold of people through the evil thoughts he is planting in them and using them to do all kinds of evil. And if we will not lie to ourselves, we too will agree that every day we are being confronted with evil thoughts that can open the doors of our lives for the devil to come in and work through us. In fact, Peter, in his epistle, says these thoughts war against our souls (1Pet 2:11). In other words, every evil thought that comes to us is an enemy that is seeking to take us captive and destroy us. If we, then, do not want to end up yielding to them and giving Satan an opportunity to use us to do evil, we must do to them what Paul says.
Now what does Paul say along this line? He says, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2Cor 10:5NIV) Did you see that? Paul says we are to bring all our thoughts under the authority of Christ. That means any thought, idea or philosophy that comes to us that is not in agreement with the truth that is in Christ Jesus, as revealed in the Scriptures, must be demolished by us. We must not allow it in our hearts or entertain it. Yes, these thoughts will come to us. But we must always remember that they are not originally our thoughts but Satan's thoughts. And since that is the case, we must say 'No' to them in our hearts. Otherwise they will make up the doors through which Satan will gain an opportunity to work in our lives or through our lives and destroy things.
Apart from that, we must also learn to always pray that God will strengthen us by His Holy Spirit in us to reject and bring down any thought, idea or philosophy that is contrary to His will. Paul, for instance, prays for the Ephesians in his letter to them that God will strengthen them with power in their inner man, so that Christ will be at home in them, fully expressing Himself all the time (Eph 3:16-17). We too need to learn to offer this kind of prayers for ourselves. That is because the fact that we recognise a desire as evil does not mean we have the strength to say 'No' to it. Many today are giving in to wrong thoughts and having their lives ruined through them. And that is not because they do not know that these thoughts are bad but because they do not have the strength to say 'No' to them.
Now remember that Satan once planted a suicidal thought in our Lord Jesus Christ, prompting Him to jump down from the highest point of the temple, all in the name of illustrating angelic protection with His life. But because the Lord had the strength to say 'No' to him, He eventually did not yield to that thought. Sadly, many have yielded to such suicidal thoughts and ended their lives because they just could not resist the urge to do so. (Cf. Matt 4:5-6)
So, we need strength from God to be able to reject and resist evil thoughts, even when our hearts are right. Remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, which say, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” That means it is possible for our hearts to be right and to want to do right but for the strength to do so not to be there. And what solution does the Lord proffer to this kind of problem? Prayer! So, learn to pray that God will not only enable you to always recognise evil thoughts and inspirations but will also continually strengthen your heart to always say 'No' to them. That way, you will never give Satan any opportunity to work in your life or through your life. (Cf. Matt 26:40-41)
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WHEN HE BEGINS TO JUDGE 22/02/2024
“Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim, where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the LORD called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side and said to him, "Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it." As I listened, he said to the others, "Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary." So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.” (Ezek 9:3-6NIV)
Who were the ones that God said must be spared when He was going to judge the city of Jerusalem? Those who were grieving and lamenting over the wicked things going on in her! In other words, it was those who separated themselves from the wickedness in the land and who also lamented over it that were marked by God for safety.
Now remember that all the people in that city were His chosen and anointed people. But when He was going to judge the land, it was only those who were against the wickedness being done there that were specially marked out for salvation.
Then where did God say that the judgment should start from, at least, judgment has to start from somewhere? He said that the judgment should begin right at His sanctuary. So, those sent out to judge the land started with the elders who were in front of the temple. And is that not in agreement with Peter’s words that say, “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” It is! (Cf. 1Peter 4:17)
Therefore, those of us who are asking God to stretch forth His hand in judgment against the wickedness in our country need to understand that we are the ones He will start with, when He begins to answer our prayers. He will start with our various Christian assemblies and with our various church leaders. Yes, He will start with our various families and also with our various family heads. Are we then ready for Him? What exactly will be our fate when He begins to judge?
Well, the only way to make certain that we are not punished along with the wicked is for us to put our lives in order now that we can. So, begin to put your life and affairs in order. Begin to turn away from all forms of wickedness, especially the ones that you are judging and condemning others for. Also, encourage those in your life to do likewise and to do so without delay. Then when God moves in judgment to cleanse our land, you and all that is yours will be safe, regardless of how He judges.
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ARE YOU NOT STEALING FROM GOD? 21/02/2024
Apart from praying, another major way to move God to keep opening doors of favour for us is not to steal from Him but to give to Him everything He is asking of us. But can we really steal from God? Is that even possible? Yes, it is possible.
For example, God accuses the Jews of Malachi’s day of stealing from Him by not being faithful in giving their tithes and offerings. But who were those tithes and offerings meant for? Was it God? No! Rather, they were meant for His priests that were serving the people, the Levites scattered everywhere in the land, the widows, the fatherless, the aliens and other poor people in the land. (Cf. Deut 14:28-29&26:12-15; Malachi 3:8-9)
Yet, when these Jews would not be faithful in giving all their tithes and offerings to those God had commanded them to give them to, He called them robbers. And because they were stealing from Him in this manner, certain doors of His blessings remained shut against them. Not only that, devourers were eating up the fruit of their labour and causing them to experience labour loss. And as He told them, the only way out was for them to repent and begin to do the right thing (Malachi 3:10-12).
Furthermore, in addressing the Jews of Haggai’s day, God told them that one major reason all of them were experiencing labour loss, in spite of their hard and diligent labour, was that they were neglecting the building of His temple. These people had the time and resources to build their own fine houses. But they kept on postponing the building of God’s temple to some unspecified time. So, He got angry with them and shut several doors of prosperity against them. And as He pointed out to them through Haggai, unless they repented and began to do the right thing, they would not come out of financial stagnation. (Cf. Haggai 1)
In like manner, though we, who are now in Christ Jesus, do not have the same commandments about giving as the Jews under the old covenant, we also do have very clear instructions on giving to support those feeding us with the word of God, their ministry and the poor believers among us (Rom 12:13&15:16; 1Cor 9:14; Gal 6:6). Of course, whatever we give to them must be given willingly, cheerfully and in keeping with our income (1Cor 16:2; 2Cor 8:12&9:7). But we must not fail to be RESPONSIBLE, FAITHFUL, DELIBERATE AND CONSISTENT in doing this. Otherwise, we too will be stealing from God.
Now we cannot be stealing from God in any way and still expect His blessings to freely flow in our lives. Yes, we may have all kinds of excuses for stealing from Him. We may say it is because we really do not have or it is because we are jobless or it is because the responsibilities we are taking care of are just too much for us to bear or it is because we are still students and young. But one thing is clear, which is that, as long as we are stealing from God, we will never experience the measure of prosperity we are meant to experience in life.
See, even if what we are doing is to give Him less than we are capable of giving, we are still stealing from Him and will certainly face the consequences of doing so. And perhaps the reason your financial status has not changed or improved much in years is that you have been stealing from God. Or perhaps the reason certain doors you have been knocking on for years have not been opened to you is that you are using what is meant for God for yourself. You need to repent today and begin to do the right thing. Otherwise, God forbid, your condition may just go from bad to worse.
Do have a very pleasant day.
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HE IS ABLE AND WILLING – REACH OUT FOR HIM 20/02/2024
“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” (Jude 24-25NIV)
There is a big difference between being able to do something and doing it. One may have the capacity to do something and yet be unwilling to do it. And one may have the willingness to do something but lack the capacity to do it. It will be wise, then, if we need help, any kind of help, to approach one who not only has the capacity to help us but who is also willing to help us.
Now in these last days, days that are filled with all kinds of wickedness, immorality, deception, poverty and madness, there is only one person who possesses not only the capacity to keep our lives from being ruined but also the willingness to do so. And that person is God Almighty. How do I know this? It is through the Scriptures.
For example, in our opening text, Jude tells us that God is able to keep us from falling and to present us before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy. Think about that. God has the ability to do what none of us can do for ourselves. None of us is wise, smart or powerful enough to protect himself from the devil and his evil schemes and activities. And none of us has what it takes to bring himself safely into God’s eternal kingdom, without blemish and with joy. These things are just beyond us. But they are not beyond God at all. He has what it takes to protect us from anything that may want to destroy us in this world and to also safely bring us into His eternal presence with hearts full of joy and lives free of corruption.
But then, is God willing to do these things for us? Is He willing to protect us from all the evils and corruption of these last days and bring us safely and with joy into His eternal presence, when the time is ripe? If He is unwilling to do these things for us, then, He is useless to us – His power is useless to us. That means we are to look elsewhere for help or surrender to those things that are seeking to destroy us.
Thankfully, we don’t have to look for help where there is none or surrender to the devil and his evil plans for us. And that is because God is more than willing to take care of us, protect us from everything seeking to destroy us in this world and also lead us safely into His eternal presence. In short, it is His pleasure to do these things for us, for the bible says, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you.” (1Peter 5:7)
Think about that. We are told to cast all our worries and troubles on God. Why? It is because He cares about us. Maybe you did not know before that God cares about you. The bible wants you to know now that He cares about you. The people around you may have proved that they do not care about you. But God does. He cares about your success, safety, purity and peace of mind. In short, He cares about everything that concerns you.
Now because God cares about you, He is willing to use His power to take care of you and keep your life from being messed up or ruined. Yes, He is willing to use everything He has to keep you safe in this world and to bring you with a heart that is full of joy into His eternal kingdom. You, however, must allow Him to take care of you. Otherwise, you may end up having your life totally ruined right before Him, if you are not shown mercy. Remember that, right in the presence of Jesus, Peter was drowning in the waters of a sea. And if he had not cried out to the Lord to save him, maybe that would have been the end of his life and ministry. Who knows? (Cf. Matt 14:23-33)
Is that to say that the Lord would not have saved Peter, if he had not cried out for his help on that occasion? No! The Lord does not always wait for us to call out to Him for help before He helps or saves us. On the contrary, in most cases, He saves and helps us even before we know we are in danger. But He also wants us to learn to call out to Him in our moments of need. He wants to learn to show, by calling out to Him, that we know that He is the only one that can save us and that cares enough for us to save us, regardless of what our problems may be. So, instead of allowing yourself to be destroyed by the wickedness, pollution or disasters of this world, reach out for the help and protection of God, knowing that He is not only able to keep you but also willing to do so.
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HE WILL PROVIDE SOMEONE 19/02/2024
“May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me.” (2Tim 1:16-17NIV)
One of the things that troubled apostle Paul the most when he was under lock up as a prisoner of Christ was the fact that many of the brethren abandoned him. That was not to say that they abandoned the Christian faith and went back to their old ways. They did not do that. But they would not identify with this man of God in his chains because doing so might exposed them to danger as well. And they knew it.
Now what they did was so bad and disturbing that he went on to say to Timothy, “You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.” (2Tim 1:15NIV) He also said to him, “At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.” (2Tim 4:16NIV)
Did you see that? Every believer that Paul knew and loved in the province of Asia at that time forsook him. Even certain individuals that he mentioned their names, Phygelus and Hermogenes, also forsook him. They were not there for him when he needed them the most. They would not even show up in the court room to show their support for him and for the cause of the gospel when he was being tried. Instead, they all left him to face the music alone.
That, however, did not make Paul lose his mind or become bitter against them. Instead, he prayed for them that God would not hold what they did to him against them. That means what they did was wrong. It was so wrong that God could punish them for it. He punished such sins in the past, and He is still able to punish them now. (Cf. Ps 82; Prov 24:11-12; Obadiah 8-14)
So, we need to be careful never to abandon our brethren to destruction, shame or disgrace, regardless of what might be responsible for their challenges and especially when their hearts are yearning for our help or support. Yes, sometimes, standing by others in their moments of shame, failure or destruction could expose us too to danger. But as long as we are not doing so according to the wisdom of the world but on the basis of faith in God, He will not only show us what we need to do but also protect us from every evil attack. And who knows? We might just be that one person that He is counting on to save, lift or comfort our brethren in those moments of their lives. (Cf. Prov 24:11-12; Gal 6:1-2)
For instance, as we see in our opening text, even though everybody in the province of Asia abandoned Paul, God was still able to provide a man that would stand by him and comfort him. And that man, Onesiphorus, made sure that he searched for this apostle until he found him and comforted him. Could that have been easy for him? No! But he did it anyway. He did what others were afraid and unwilling to do. He risked his life to do the will of God. And he succeeded through God's enablement. So, Paul prays for his household that God would be merciful to them as well, as their man had been merciful to him.
Also, in the day that Jezebel, that wicked wife of King Ahab, began to kill off all the Lord's prophets in Israel, God provided a man, Obadiah, Ahab's own palace administrator to protect and preserve one hundred prophets of His. How was he able to do that, given the fact that Jezebel must have had all kinds of spies both in the palace and outside it? It was by the wisdom of God. But the man had to be willing first for God to be able to use him in that manner. (Cf. 1Kings 18:2-4)
Therefore, if we too are willing to stand by our brethren, comfort them or even rescue them in their moments of trial, God is able to show us how to go about it. Then, regardless of what we are going through in life at the moment, regardless of how difficult it may be for anybody to help us there, God is able to provide someone that will be willing to risk everything to give us the support or encouragement we need to stand strong to the very end.
However, we, like Paul, must keep in mind the fact that God will never abandon us, even if all men do. Instead, He will stand by us and see to it that we walk in victory over whatever our trials may be, as long as our hearts are fully devoted to Him. Then we also must not allow any form of bitterness or resentment in our hearts against anyone that will not give us support in our moments of need. Otherwise, we may just shut against ourselves whatever door of help God may intend to open for us. And may He keep us from doing this to ourselves, in Jesus' name. Amen.
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GO AND TAKE IT 18/02/2024
As we are shown in the Scriptures, God is the source of everything we need in this life. It is from Him everything has come and it is for Him everything exists (Rom 11:26; 1Cor 8:6). Therefore, He is the one we are to look up to for anything we need or want. And thankfully, He Himself wants all our needs met. That is why Paul instructs us to put our hope in Him, for He richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment (1Tim 6:17).
Think about that. God richly or abundantly provides us with everything we need for our enjoyment in this life. Not only that, Solomon tells us that God also gives His people the ability to enjoy whatever He provides for them (Ecc 5:19). So, if we are not enjoying our lives, it is not because there is a shortage of God's provisions. Rather, it is either because we are ignorant of His provisions for us or because we will not go for what He has provided for us, so that we can make it ours to enjoy.
Paul, in his letter to the Corinthians, tells us this: “We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.” (1Cor 2:12-13NIV) Did you see that? One of the reasons God gave us His Holy Spirit is that He may lead us to fully know and understand His provisions for us to live meaningful and excellent lives in this world. Therefore, one of the prayers we must continually offer is that God will see to it that His Spirit in us instruct and educate us fully in the knowledge of His provisions for us in every area of our lives.
But it is not enough for us to know what God has provided for us. It is also important that we go for what He has provided for us. Otherwise, what He has provided for us, which is legitimately ours, may never be ours to possess or enjoy. See, it is not every provision of God for us that will come to us right where we are. There are provisions of His for us that we must seek out or go out to possess for ourselves. Otherwise, they will never be ours. Or why do you think Jesus says, “Seek and you shall find?” It is because of things like this. (Cf. Matt 7:7-8)
For example, when God brought the nation of Israel out of Egypt in order to lead them into the Promised land, He rained down food for them everyday in the wilderness. But they all had to go out everyday to gather the food. Yes, by faith, they all had to go out everyday expecting to find God's provision of food for them. And each time they went out, they found His provision of food for them. But what if they would not go out to take hold of what God had provided for them? They would most likely die of hunger. (Cf. Exodus 16)
Furthermore, even though God had already provided the Promised Land for these people, they still had to go in and take possession of it. That was their own job to do and not God's. God's job was to provide a place for them to settle and enjoy His goodness. Theirs was to go to the place, drive out those occupying it and take it for themselves. Unfortunately, when Moses was still their leader, fear and unbelief would not allow the grown-up ones among them to go into the land and take possession of God's provisions for them. Therefore, they were judged by God with stagnation, aimless wandering and death. (Cf. Num 13&14)
In like manner, if we too will not move out in faith to seek and take hold of God's provisions for the enjoyment, fruitfulness and usefulness of our lives, hunger, stagnation, aimless wandering, barrenness and death are the only things we can hope for in life. So, first, make it a business to keep talking to God about filling your heart with revelations of His provisions for you in every area of your life.
Then, as He reveals to you the things He has provided for you or the places His provisions are kept for you, take the necessary steps to possess and begin to enjoy what is yours. Put your mind to work. Use your gifts, spiritual and natural. Use your acquired skills and education. Meet the people you believe God wants you to meet. Go to the places He wants you to go. Start that business. Open that shop. Apply for that job or contract. Deploy all that He has endowed you with to seek out and to lay hold of that which He has already made yours. Then even if there are giants standing over the land that is yours, confront them with the authority He has given you in Christ Jesus. And you will find that He will honour all your steps of faith by making sure that you fully possess and enjoy what is yours.
Do have a great July 2022
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MORE THAN A MIRACLE 17/02/2024
“But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go.” (Ex 3:19-20NIV)
Did you see that? God had already announced to Moses before he left for Egypt that He would need to perform all kinds of wonders before the Israelites would experience permanent freedom from Egypt. In other words, they would need more than a miracle for Pharaoh to release them. So, each time Pharaoh offered him partial liberty instead of complete liberty, having witnessed a destructive sign from God, Moses knew that there must be yet another miracle.
In like manner, each time we sense that our joy is not full over a matter or that our experience of the liberty that is ours in Christ Jesus in a situation is not absolute, we should know that there may yet be a need for another miracle or move of God in that situation. So, we should not give up or accept anything less than fullness of joy in it.
Instead, we should continue to pray to God, to declare His word and to take all the steps of faith that are within our power to take about the situation. And as we continue to patiently trust God and to do His will about the matter, those miracles or divine moves that need to happen will happen, and our joy will be made full.
What is the point I am making? It is that there are times we need more than a miracle or an experience of victory to enjoy the full liberty and joy that are already ours in Christ Jesus. And for us to know such times and respond to them accordingly, we need our hearts and minds to be overwhelmed with divine revelations of the nature of the challenges we are faced with it. That way, we will not underestimate them, get content with little experiences of victory over them or underestimate the power of God to make us experience total victory over them.
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YOUR DESTINY 16/02/2024
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” (Romans 8:29NIV)
Those God foreknew He also predestined. That is what Paul tells us in our opening bible text. And it is showing us that God knew us before we came. He knew we would come. Before you were formed in your mother’s womb, He knew you would come. He knew you would not be aborted. He knew you would not die prematurely. He knew you would come. And because He knew that you would come, He had a purpose for you.
So then, your being in Christ today is not a mistake. Your being in Christ today is not an afterthought on God’s part. He had always known you would come to be in Him someday. And He has a destiny for you.
Now people often ask, “What is my destiny?” And we have those who go from place to place, trying to find out what their destiny is. They want to know whether it is their destiny to be a doctor, a lawyer, an engineer or an accountant. They are always seeking to associate with prestigious professions. And very rarely will you see individuals who will say it is their destiny to be a cobbler, especially in this part of the world, even though nothing is wrong with being a cobbler.
But from what we see in our opening bible text, what is God’s destiny for us? It is that we might be conformed to the likeness of His Son Jesus Christ. He wants you to be like His Son, Jesus Christ, in every way. That is His destiny for you.
So, it does not matter whether you are a doctor or a lawyer or a farmer or a cobbler or an engineer or a fashion designer or a plumber. You can be any of those things. It does not matter to God. You can be a fisherman, if you like. Peter was a fisherman. Andrew was a fisherman. John was a fisherman. James was a fisherman. Matthew was a tax collector. So, it is not about your earthly profession. You can be any of those things you choose to be, as long as you have the ability for it. You can be an artist, as long as you have the ability for it. You can be a nurse, if you the ability for it.
But as far as God is concerned, none of these professions is His destiny for you. That is just something you need to do while you are here on earth. His destiny for you is that you may be conformed to the likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ. That is His goal for you. That is the reason He saved you. That is the reason He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, for you. He wants you to stop being like Adam. He wants you to be like His Son, Jesus Christ. And once you are like Jesus and are living everyday like Him, it will not matter to God whether you are a doctor or an engineer or a barber. What will matter to Him is that your life is daily bringing Him glory. That is your destiny. And may it be completely fulfilled, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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TERRIBLE TIMES IN THE LAST DAYS 15/02/2024
“But mark this: there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” (2Timothy 3:1-5NIV)
Pay attention to what Paul says here. He says, “Mark this: there will be terrible times in the last days.” He does not say, “Mark this: there may be terrible times in the last days.” Rather, he says there will be certainly be terrible times in the last days. In other words, you can expect this to be the case; you can expect the last days to be terrible days. What, then, will be the effect of this on people? Paul says they will change and become lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud and so forth.
Now, often, when we read or quote this passage, we assume that Paul is referring to unbelievers. We assume that he is saying unbelievers will become lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant and so forth. But he is not talking about unbelievers here. That is because they are already these things. They are already boastful, arrogant, wicked, disobedient to parents and so on. So, the apostle is not referring to them here. Rather, he is referring to believers. And he is saying that they will change in the last days, for there will be terrible times and wickedness will increase. In fact, he goes on to say that they are going to have a form of godliness, an appearance of godliness. But there will be nothing to it.
This explains why we have many people in this country today that attend church meetings and yet little of the impact of righteousness is felt in the country. Go to our work places, schools and so forth, and you will find there a lot of people who profess to be Christians. Yet the impact of righteousness is hardly felt around them. If believers are concentrated in a particular place, one should feel the impact of righteousness there. We should see the fruit of righteousness in such a place. In fact, it should continually be on the increase. There should be a greater expression of love, a greater demonstration of patience and self-control in such a place.
But is that what we see in our world today, a world in which many claim to be believers in Christ Jesus? No! And why is that so? It is because what many people call godliness today is simply a form, an appearance of it that has no substance in it. Do you know there are ways someone will dress today, and you will know that this one belongs in the church? I mean that when you consider how certain individuals dress, talk and comport themselves, you will most likely be able to say that these ones are Christians. Such people have a form, an appearance of godliness. But having such a form does not mean that you are godly. You can appear to be godly or to be a good person, when you are in fact not a good person. And Paul warns Timothy not to have anything to do with such individuals.
However, before things will get to that point in which we will not want to have anything to do with a brother or sister again, we need to watch them. The fact is that there is a point someone will get to in his immorality or fall in which it will not be healthy for you as a believer to continue to fellowship with him. And we must not allow any one of us to get to that point, a point in which we may have to hand them over to the devil. This is why we need to understand the times in which we are living. We need to understand that these are times in which believers can be corrupted or polluted, in which believers can grow cold in the expression of their love.
So, we must watch ourselves. That way, when we begin to see symptoms of these things in any one of us, we can quickly step in and prevent them from falling away before it is too late. But if we are self-conscious, right before our eyes, our brethren will collapse in their faith.
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KEEP YOUR LIFE OPEN 14/02/2024
“Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one.” (2Corinthians 7:2NIV)
Can you see the basis on which Paul is telling these brethren to make room for them in their hearts? He says we have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. That is like saying, “We have proved that we are trustworthy. We have proved that we are not going to hurt you or exploit you or corrupt you, if you open your lives to freely fellowship with us.”
Well, this also shows us that there are brethren who will hurt you, if you are careless in the way you deal with them. There are brethren who will exploit or swindle you, if you open your life for them without much thoughtfulness. And there are brethren that can corrupt you through your fellowship with them. So, you should not freely open your life to those that you don’t know what they are doing with their lives or what they are up to. That may prove injurious to your life.
But then, there are true children of God like that will not wrong you, corrupt you or exploit you, if you should open your life to them. And you need to identify such people and begin to share your life with theirs, so that you can be mutually edified. Here is what Paul has to say along this line in his first letter to the Thessalonian brethren:
“We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority. Instead, we were like young children among you. Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.” (1Thessalonians 2:6-8NIV)
Can you see that? Paul and his colleagues shared their lives with these brethren, that is, besides sharing the gospel with them. That is why he goes on to say in verse 10, “You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.” (1Thessalonians 2:10NIV)
That is fellowship. You keep your life open to the brethren. That way, they can see what is going on there. If new people come into your life, they can see them. If you get a new job, they can see it. When you start a new business, they can see it. And when you are going to have a wife or a husband, they can see for themselves who it is you are going to marry.
Now when this is the case, there won’t be any rumours about you in the church of God. Everybody knows what is going on in your life. So, nobody is going to peddle any rumour about you, for there is nothing to peddle. And when things are this way, you can be helped, if you are missing it. I am not saying you must miss it. But when your life is open to God’s people, you can be helped, if you are going in the wrong direction or taking the wrong steps.
So, take your fellowship with God’s people seriously, if you want to consistently walk in victory over sin. Take advantage of their presence in your life. You know there are times that we may come in contact with challenges that are proving to be bigger than what we can handle in our offices, businesses, neighbourhoods or schools. And when such things are made known to the brethren, they are able to support us with their prayers, counselling and so forth.
But when you will not open your life to God’s people freely, and they have to start pursuing you from place to place, something is wrong. And the truth is that you are already hurting yourself. When you are saying things like, “I don’t want people visiting me or coming into my house for anything,” you are making a mistake. You are denying yourself of the blessings of fellowship. And you know, it is the degree to which you open your life to the brethren that you will enjoy the blessings of fellowshipping with them.
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PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE TOP 13/02/2024
“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training…” (1Cor 9:25NIV)
Most people start out in life desiring to be at the top. And nothing is wrong with that. That is because even God wants all His people to be at the top in life (Deut 28:13). That, of course, means there is enough room for everyone at the top. This, however, is not to say that all of us have to occupy the same office in life or be dignified in the same way. Rather, it means that each of us can distinguish himself from others in this life as unique through the things he does and by the way he does them.
But will everyone end up at the top in life? No! Why? It is because it is not everyone that develops or trains himself for the top. As Paul shows us in our opening bible text, there is a measure of discipline that we must strictly put ourselves through in life in order to accomplish certain things or attain certain heights. Of course, accomplishing anything at all in this life goes beyond the amount of effort or skills we put into it. God Himself, the creator and ruler of all things, must also permit or enable us to accomplish what we set our hearts on accomplishing. Otherwise, whatever we do to get it done will not work. (Cf. Ps 127:1-2; Ecc 9:11)
However, even if God wants us to get something done or attain some position in life, if we do not possess the discipline or character needed to be there, we won’t get there. And even if by virtue of our relationship with some people we do get there, it won’t be long before we drive ourselves out of there through our lack of fitness or character.
So, if you desire to be at the top in any field of life, identify the discipline you require and strictly give yourself to getting it. Also, identify what discipline or skills you will need to stay at the top and begin to develop or acquire them. That is because one may possess what it takes to get to the top and not possess what it takes to stay there. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, had all the natural advantages he needed to be at the top of the kingdom his father left behind for him. But he did not possess the character to remain at the top of it. Thus, he lost a very large part of it. What about King Saul? He had all the natural attributes needed to become king. But he lacked the qualities needed to retain the kingdom for himself and his descendants after him. (Cf. 1Sam 9-16; 1Kings 12)
If you, then, do not want to end up like any of these men, don’t just trust in God to lift you to the top, also begin to train yourself for the top. Remember Joseph. He not only trusted God to take him to the top in life; he also developed himself for the top. He used every opportunity he had to serve in life to train himself and to prove himself as someone that could be trusted with people and resources at any level and in any place, even in the prison. And when the time came for him to be set above a whole nation, nobody thought it was a bad idea to do so. (Cf. Gen 39-41)
Remember David too. Yes, he trusted God to take him to that high place He had anointed him for. But before that time came, he developed himself for it. First, he so mastered his skills of playing the harp and of relating to people that when the king of the land needed someone to play for him, he was the best hand that could be found around. Also, he used the opportunity he had to directly serve the king during that period to learn all he could learn about the palace life and how to be royal and majestic. In addition, he used his time in the army to learn and show all the people that he could lead them well, from victory to victory. So, when he was given a high rank in the army, all the troops and their officers as well were pleased with it. And when he eventually became king, the whole nation had no problem following him. (Cf. 1Sam 16:14-25; 1Sam 18:5)
So, again, I am saying that if you desire to be at the top someday in life and to also stay there, then, prepare yourself for it. Get the skills and the discipline you need to be there and to stay there. Also, drop whatever attitude or mentality you have that does not belong at the top. And may the good Lord Himself give you wings to rise to that place at the top that He has prepared for you in this life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE TOP 13/02/2024
“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training…” (1Cor 9:25NIV)
Most people start out in life desiring to be at the top. And nothing is wrong with that. That is because even God wants all His people to be at the top in life (Deut 28:13). That, of course, means there is enough room for everyone at the top. This, however, is not to say that all of us have to occupy the same office in life or be dignified in the same way. Rather, it means that each of us can distinguish himself from others in this life as unique through the things he does and by the way he does them.
But will everyone end up at the top in life? No! Why? It is because it is not everyone that develops or trains himself for the top. As Paul shows us in our opening bible text, there is a measure of discipline that we must strictly put ourselves through in life in order to accomplish certain things or attain certain heights. Of course, accomplishing anything at all in this life goes beyond the amount of effort or skills we put into it. God Himself, the creator and ruler of all things, must also permit or enable us to accomplish what we set our hearts on accomplishing. Otherwise, whatever we do to get it done will not work. (Cf. Ps 127:1-2; Ecc 9:11)
However, even if God wants us to get something done or attain some position in life, if we do not possess the discipline or character needed to be there, we won’t get there. And even if by virtue of our relationship with some people we do get there, it won’t be long before we drive ourselves out of there through our lack of fitness or character.
So, if you desire to be at the top in any field of life, identify the discipline you require and strictly give yourself to getting it. Also, identify what discipline or skills you will need to stay at the top and begin to develop or acquire them. That is because one may possess what it takes to get to the top and not possess what it takes to stay there. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, had all the natural advantages he needed to be at the top of the kingdom his father left behind for him. But he did not possess the character to remain at the top of it. Thus, he lost a very large part of it. What about King Saul? He had all the natural attributes needed to become king. But he lacked the qualities needed to retain the kingdom for himself and his descendants after him. (Cf. 1Sam 9-16; 1Kings 12)
If you, then, do not want to end up like any of these men, don’t just trust in God to lift you to the top, also begin to train yourself for the top. Remember Joseph. He not only trusted God to take him to the top in life; he also developed himself for the top. He used every opportunity he had to serve in life to train himself and to prove himself as someone that could be trusted with people and resources at any level and in any place, even in the prison. And when the time came for him to be set above a whole nation, nobody thought it was a bad idea to do so. (Cf. Gen 39-41)
Remember David too. Yes, he trusted God to take him to that high place He had anointed him for. But before that time came, he developed himself for it. First, he so mastered his skills of playing the harp and of relating to people that when the king of the land needed someone to play for him, he was the best hand that could be found around. Also, he used the opportunity he had to directly serve the king during that period to learn all he could learn about the palace life and how to be royal and majestic. In addition, he used his time in the army to learn and show all the people that he could lead them well, from victory to victory. So, when he was given a high rank in the army, all the troops and their officers as well were pleased with it. And when he eventually became king, the whole nation had no problem following him. (Cf. 1Sam 16:14-25; 1Sam 18:5)
So, again, I am saying that if you desire to be at the top someday in life and to also stay there, then, prepare yourself for it. Get the skills and the discipline you need to be there and to stay there. Also, drop whatever attitude or mentality you have that does not belong at the top. And may the good Lord Himself give you wings to rise to that place at the top that He has prepared for you in this life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE TOP 13/02/2024
“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training…” (1Cor 9:25NIV)
Most people start out in life desiring to be at the top. And nothing is wrong with that. That is because even God wants all His people to be at the top in life (Deut 28:13). That, of course, means there is enough room for everyone at the top. This, however, is not to say that all of us have to occupy the same office in life or be dignified in the same way. Rather, it means that each of us can distinguish himself from others in this life as unique through the things he does and by the way he does them.
But will everyone end up at the top in life? No! Why? It is because it is not everyone that develops or trains himself for the top. As Paul shows us in our opening bible text, there is a measure of discipline that we must strictly put ourselves through in life in order to accomplish certain things or attain certain heights. Of course, accomplishing anything at all in this life goes beyond the amount of effort or skills we put into it. God Himself, the creator and ruler of all things, must also permit or enable us to accomplish what we set our hearts on accomplishing. Otherwise, whatever we do to get it done will not work. (Cf. Ps 127:1-2; Ecc 9:11)
However, even if God wants us to get something done or attain some position in life, if we do not possess the discipline or character needed to be there, we won’t get there. And even if by virtue of our relationship with some people we do get there, it won’t be long before we drive ourselves out of there through our lack of fitness or character.
So, if you desire to be at the top in any field of life, identify the discipline you require and strictly give yourself to getting it. Also, identify what discipline or skills you will need to stay at the top and begin to develop or acquire them. That is because one may possess what it takes to get to the top and not possess what it takes to stay there. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, had all the natural advantages he needed to be at the top of the kingdom his father left behind for him. But he did not possess the character to remain at the top of it. Thus, he lost a very large part of it. What about King Saul? He had all the natural attributes needed to become king. But he lacked the qualities needed to retain the kingdom for himself and his descendants after him. (Cf. 1Sam 9-16; 1Kings 12)
If you, then, do not want to end up like any of these men, don’t just trust in God to lift you to the top, also begin to train yourself for the top. Remember Joseph. He not only trusted God to take him to the top in life; he also developed himself for the top. He used every opportunity he had to serve in life to train himself and to prove himself as someone that could be trusted with people and resources at any level and in any place, even in the prison. And when the time came for him to be set above a whole nation, nobody thought it was a bad idea to do so. (Cf. Gen 39-41)
Remember David too. Yes, he trusted God to take him to that high place He had anointed him for. But before that time came, he developed himself for it. First, he so mastered his skills of playing the harp and of relating to people that when the king of the land needed someone to play for him, he was the best hand that could be found around. Also, he used the opportunity he had to directly serve the king during that period to learn all he could learn about the palace life and how to be royal and majestic. In addition, he used his time in the army to learn and show all the people that he could lead them well, from victory to victory. So, when he was given a high rank in the army, all the troops and their officers as well were pleased with it. And when he eventually became king, the whole nation had no problem following him. (Cf. 1Sam 16:14-25; 1Sam 18:5)
So, again, I am saying that if you desire to be at the top someday in life and to also stay there, then, prepare yourself for it. Get the skills and the discipline you need to be there and to stay there. Also, drop whatever attitude or mentality you have that does not belong at the top. And may the good Lord Himself give you wings to rise to that place at the top that He has prepared for you in this life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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IT'S NOT ABOUT WHAT IS RIGHT IN YOUR EYES 12/02/2024
“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judg 21:25NKJV)
Why was everyone in Israel doing what was right in his own eyes, as we are shown in our opening bible text? It was because there was no king in the land. In other words, there was no leadership for the people. So, everyone was his own king – everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Now observe that these people were not consciously trying to do wrong or to be wicked. Rather, they were trying to do what was right. But what was their yardstick for determining what was right or wrong? Individuals' thoughts and philosophies! So, if someone thought it was alright to forcefully take another man's wife because the man was not rich enough to take care of her, then, so be it.
But is it right to take another man's wife, whether forcefully or otherwise, even if the man is the poorest person on the face of the earth? No! How do we know that is not right? We know through God's revelation of what is right and what is wrong. Therefore, the reason it is wrong to do such a thing is that God, the author of life Himself, says that it is wrong and contrary to His purpose for creating us.
What is this telling us? It is telling us that life is not to be lived on the basis of what we think or believe to be right or wrong. Rather, it is to be lived on the basis of God's revelation. The Israelites at that time had God's revelation, even though they did not have any king over them. They had the book of God's law, which contained His revelation of what was right and what was wrong for them. So, they had no excuse for doing what was right in their own eyes.
What we are saying is that the reason the Israelites of that time were all doing what was right in their own eyes was that they were ignoring God's revelation of how to live that had been given to them. And because they ignored His revelation, anarchy took over their land. So, it became a very dangerous place to live in or travel through. In fact, at some point, they almost annihilated themselves during a civil war over rape and homosexuality cases. (Cf. Judges 17-21)
In like manner, one major reason human relationships are not working in most places and our world is becoming more and more dangerous to live in is that people are rejecting or ignoring God's revelation of how to live, His revelation of what is right and what is wrong. In other words, they are living on the basis of what they think or believe is right for them. But as I said before, life is not to be lived on the basis of what we think is right for us but on the basis of what God says is right and what He says is wrong.
As long as we are living on the basis of what is right in our own eyes, lawlessness is bound to take over our lives at some point. Then we will find ourselves ruining our own lives and the lives of others and also destroying the same world we are seeking to make beautiful and enjoyable for ourselves. Perhaps this is already the case with you. Perhaps you are already ruining your life, your home and the lives of others around you because of your rejection of God's revelation for you. The only way out is to drop your ideas and philosophies about how to live and embrace God's way for you. That is because it is only His way that leads to life, joy and peace.
But will you do that? Will you humble yourself and accept that God's way is not only better than yours but is also the only way? You know whether you will do this and God also knows. My prayer, at any rate, is that you will accept His way as your way in every situation of your life, so that you can experience absolute peace and rest in life.
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IT'S NOT ABOUT WHAT IS RIGHT IN YOUR EYES 12/02/2024
“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judg 21:25NKJV)
Why was everyone in Israel doing what was right in his own eyes, as we are shown in our opening bible text? It was because there was no king in the land. In other words, there was no leadership for the people. So, everyone was his own king – everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
Now observe that these people were not consciously trying to do wrong or to be wicked. Rather, they were trying to do what was right. But what was their yardstick for determining what was right or wrong? Individuals' thoughts and philosophies! So, if someone thought it was alright to forcefully take another man's wife because the man was not rich enough to take care of her, then, so be it.
But is it right to take another man's wife, whether forcefully or otherwise, even if the man is the poorest person on the face of the earth? No! How do we know that is not right? We know through God's revelation of what is right and what is wrong. Therefore, the reason it is wrong to do such a thing is that God, the author of life Himself, says that it is wrong and contrary to His purpose for creating us.
What is this telling us? It is telling us that life is not to be lived on the basis of what we think or believe to be right or wrong. Rather, it is to be lived on the basis of God's revelation. The Israelites at that time had God's revelation, even though they did not have any king over them. They had the book of God's law, which contained His revelation of what was right and what was wrong for them. So, they had no excuse for doing what was right in their own eyes.
What we are saying is that the reason the Israelites of that time were all doing what was right in their own eyes was that they were ignoring God's revelation of how to live that had been given to them. And because they ignored His revelation, anarchy took over their land. So, it became a very dangerous place to live in or travel through. In fact, at some point, they almost annihilated themselves during a civil war over rape and homosexuality cases. (Cf. Judges 17-21)
In like manner, one major reason human relationships are not working in most places and our world is becoming more and more dangerous to live in is that people are rejecting or ignoring God's revelation of how to live, His revelation of what is right and what is wrong. In other words, they are living on the basis of what they think or believe is right for them. But as I said before, life is not to be lived on the basis of what we think is right for us but on the basis of what God says is right and what He says is wrong.
As long as we are living on the basis of what is right in our own eyes, lawlessness is bound to take over our lives at some point. Then we will find ourselves ruining our own lives and the lives of others and also destroying the same world we are seeking to make beautiful and enjoyable for ourselves. Perhaps this is already the case with you. Perhaps you are already ruining your life, your home and the lives of others around you because of your rejection of God's revelation for you. The only way out is to drop your ideas and philosophies about how to live and embrace God's way for you. That is because it is only His way that leads to life, joy and peace.
But will you do that? Will you humble yourself and accept that God's way is not only better than yours but is also the only way? You know whether you will do this and God also knows. My prayer, at any rate, is that you will accept His way as your way in every situation of your life, so that you can experience absolute peace and rest in life.
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BENEFICIARIES OF ANGELIC MINISTRIES 11/02/2024
“At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.” (Mark 1:12-13NIV)
In different parts of the Scriptures are different accounts of angelic visitations and manifestations. And this is showing us that angels are real. But who are these angels? Well, as the bible tells us, they are ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation. (Cf. Heb 1:14)
So, first, angels are spirit beings. That explains why they are invisible and cannot be seen by men unless they are authorised by God to show themselves to us. Second, they are ministers or servants of God. That means they are not under man's authority but under God's. Yes, I have heard certain preachers say that they can instruct their angels to do certain things for them, especially when they are speaking in tongues. And they base this on what Paul says to the Corinthians about the possibility of believers speaking in the tongues of angels (1Cor 13:1).
But Paul is not saying that if a believer is gifted to speak even in the tongues of the angels, he definitely can control or instruct God's angels. He is merely speaking about the uselessness of our ability to speak divinely enabled words if the love of God is not the basis for doing so. So, angels are not beings that we can control at will or by merely speaking in tongues. Rather, they are God's servants that function only on the basis of His instructions.
For example, once when Satan tempted Jesus, he quoted a Scripture to Him, saying, “For it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'” (Matt 4:6NIV) Who will command His angels concerning Jesus? God! Even Satan knew this – he knew that the commander of the angels is God Himself. That was why he did not ask Jesus to command the angels to protect Him but to test God to see if He would command His angels to protect Him, if He should jump from the highest point of the temple. (Cf. Matt 4:5-7)
Also, when our Lord Jesus was about to be arrested, He said this to His disciples that were trying to fight for Him, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt 26:53NIV) Did you see that? He did not say I will command twelve legions of angels to do what I want. Instead, He said I will call on my Father, and He will at once put His angels at my disposal. And if the Lord did not see Himself as in a position to order God's angels around at will, when He was here on earth, we also should not see ourselves as being in that position.
The third thing we see in the bible about angels is that all of them are sent to serve those of us who are heirs of God and of His salvation. So, even though it is not in our place to command them to do anything, we are still ultimately the beneficiaries of their ministries. That is why we can ask God to give them command to minister to us in our moment of need.
For example, in the case of Jesus' arrest, which I mentioned above, the Lord made it clear that He could ask God for angelic support and He would get it. But He did not ask for it on that occasion for it would be contrary to the will of God, as revealed in Scriptures (Matt 26:52-54). But in our opening bible text we see that He received angelic support and ministration during His forty days and forty nights of fasting in the desert, when He was about to start His public ministry. And though He was being tempted by the devil then and also surrounded by wild animals, the angels around Him strengthened Him and equally protected Him.
In like manner, even if we too are surrounded by wild animals, dangerous people or wicked evil spirits that are trying to discourage us, pull us down or destroy us, we can get angelic support and ministration. That is because we are God's children and entitled to angelic support and ministration. All we need is to ask for it. Of course, God does not always wait for us to specifically ask for angelic support or ministration before He commands them on our behalf. He does this a lot of times without our knowledge or notice. But it will be a good thing if we can learn to consciously ask for angelic support and ministration anytime we are feeling the pressure or weight of life's challenges and circumstances and we feel abandoned or all alone.
Remember how Daniel was saved by an angel of God from those deadly lions when he was thrown into their den (Dan 6:22). Remember also how Peter was rescued by an angel from the claws of that ruthless king, Herod (Acts 12:6-11). Also, remember how an angel of God came to strengthen Jesus during those last dark hours that He spent praying in anguish before He went to the cross (Luke 22:41-44). So, regardless of how dangerous the trials or temptations may be, we too can get ministered to or supported by God's holy angels because we are ordained to enjoy their ministry. All we need is to just ask for it.
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YOU CAN LIVE AN EFFECTIVE CHRISTIAN LIFE 10/02/2024
“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” (2Peter 1:3-4NIV)
Peter says God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness. God Himself has done this. So, all that you need to live the kind of life God wants you to live has already been made available by Him. The same thing goes for me. Notice that Peter does not say that God will provide these things; rather, he says that God has already provided them – He has already made them available.
Now I may not know these things that He has provided. I may not be enjoying them. I may not know how to take advantage of them. But they are already there for me. This is why Peter further says from verse 5 of that chapter:
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2Peter 1:5-8NIV)
So, we can actually live effective and productive lives. Think about that. You can live an effective Christian life. You can live a productive Christian life. You can live a life that is meaningful and that will attract people to God.
Again, Peter says the grace to do these things has already been made available. His words are: “God’s divine power has given to us everything we need for life and godliness.” All the necessary qualities for you to live an effective and productive life have been made available to you.
Perhaps you say, “Where am I going to get them from?” They are already there in you. So, don’t say, “I can’t be patient.” Just be patient. Don’t say, “I can’t be humble.” Just be humble. Don’t say, “I cannot love.” Just love, for the ability to love is there already in you. You are, then, the one to decide and say, “I am going to love. I am going to be patient. I am going to be knowledgeable in the things of God and in the things of life.” And if you, as Peter points out, possess these qualities in increasing measure, you will not be ineffective or unproductive in life.
My point, all along, is that the grace for us to live the kind of life God wants us to live here in this world has already been made available. But someone may say, “I can’t do these things myself.” No, you cannot. That is why you have the Spirit of God in you. Do you know that the presence of the Spirit of God in you is a manifestation of His grace? God knows that we cannot do anything by ourselves. He knows that we cannot please Him by ourselves. Pleasing Him is far beyond us. But with His Spirit in us, we can do so. And since you have His Spirit in you, go ahead and live a fruitful, productive and effective Christian life.
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IS IT OF ANY VALUE TO US? 09/02/2024
“Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did, but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.” (Hebrews 4:1-3NIV)
The writer of the book of Hebrews is speaking to us here about the people Moses brought out of Egypt. He led them out of Egypt in order to bring them into the land God had promised to give them. Unfortunately, most of them could not enter the land. Why could they not enter? It was because of unbelief. We are told in the last verse of the third chapter of this book that they could not enter God’s rest because of unbelief. They wandered in the wilderness for forty years and perished there, never arriving at where God had wanted them to be.
Therefore, we are told to watch ourselves so that we do not experience what they experienced, so that things do not end up for us the way they ended up for them. What happened to them, according to Scriptures, happened to serve as an example to us. And it is showing us that it is not enough for us to start walking with God; we must also finish. True faith in God is always from start to finish. It is not something that quits or that gets tired on the way. It is always from start to finish.
Well, we are told here what is responsible for the failure of these people to enter God’s rest. They heard the word of God. But the message, the good news, they heard was of no value to them. The word did not profit them. Why? It was because they did not combine it with faith; they did not mix it with faith. And we are told this because the word of God has come to us as well, just as it came to them. In fact, His word has kept coming to us, showing us how to live, walk and please God. But is this word of any value to us? Is this word producing in us the results God wants it to produce in our lives?
The word of God will not produce in us the results God wants it to produce in our lives, if we do not combine it with faith or accept it in faith. We have to see His word as He sees it. We have to take His word as He takes it. Whatever He says to us about Himself is what we must accept as the reality. Whatever He says to us about ourselves is what we must accept as the reality. Whatever He says to us about life is what we must accept as the reality about it. We must accept anything He says to us about anything as the reality, the only truth we are to act on. Otherwise, what He says to us will be of no value to us.
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ALWAYS BE HUNGRY AND THIRSTY FOR HIS FULLNESS 08/02/2024
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (NIV)
Can you see that? Our Lord Jesus came so that we may experience fullness of life. And if you are complacent, you cannot experience life to the full. If you are complacent, you cannot be all that God wants you to be in life or accomplish all that He wants you to accomplish. The moment you are complacent, the moment you think that your life is okay as it is and that you do not need to be a better man, woman, husband, wife, child, Christian or citizen, you are already on your way out of relevance and out of this world. You are already dead, even though you are alive, and your life has begun to decompose and decay.
You need to understand that as long as you are alive in this world, you cannot have any false sense of self-satisfaction. It will keep you from looking ahead to becoming the person God wants you to be and to having what He wants you to have. It will make you crest. And once you crest in that sense, you can only depreciate in character and usefulness.
God, however, does not want us to crest in life. What He wants is for us to continually hunger and thirst for fullness of Him and of the life that He purchased for us in Christ. So, we must always look forward to what can be instead of fixing our gaze on what is. Of course, we must be thankful for what we are and what we have. And we must not get ourselves involved in anything that is contrary to the will of God in order to be where we want to be or have what we want to have. But we must always be hungry and thirsty for more of God and more of life. Otherwise, our lives will stagnate.
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FOLLOW THEM AS THEY FOLLOW CHRIST 07/02/2024
“Follow me, as I follow Christ.” (Cf. 1Cor 11:1)
Those are Paul’s words to us. So, if a leader is not following Christ, you don’t follow him. You don’t follow him in his error or wickedness. But as long as you are under his leadership, you must obey his instructions that are not contrary to the will of God. If you are not comfortable with his leadership, you can get out of his space of authority.
For example, if you are not comfortable with the leadership of your boss and cannot submit to him, resign. Also, if you cannot submit to the laws of your country, you can leave for another country. I am saying this because God is never going to take sides with a rebel.
Mind you, there are relationships in which it is not easy to just leave our leaders because they are not living right or because we are not comfortable with their leadership. For instance, you cannot easily change your parents. Yes, you may disown your parents by words of mouth. But that is not going to change the fact that they gave birth to you and are your blood. So, you are stuck with them forever. And you will have to learn to deal with them, if they are often asking you to do things that are contrary to the will of God.
What about the relationship between the husband and his wife? Can that easily be changed? No! You cannot change your husband at will. So, you have to learn to live with him and cope with his errors or excesses. Am I saying it is compulsory you remain in a marriage with anybody? No! That is not what I am saying. But you must understand that God hates divorce, even though it cannot be avoided in some situations (Malachi 2:16). And as long as your husband is not asking you to do anything that is contrary to the will of God, you have to obey him. He may not be living right. But that won’t be an excuse that is acceptable in the sight of God for disobeying him.
Then we also have the relationship between soldiers and their commanders as one of those relationships in which you cannot easily disengage yourself. In fact, Solomon tells us that no soldier, if not injured or incapacitated, is discharged in time of war (Ecclesiastes 8:8). So, leaving the army or leaving a leader in the army that is not walking in the will of God may not be an easy thing for a soldier. That being the case, it is on him to learn how to relate to him and not allow his feelings to rob him of his responsibility to carefully obey his commands, as long as they are not contrary to the will of God.
Mind you, even if the command of your leader in the army is contrary to the will of God and the principles of engagement in the military, you may not be able to easily walk away from it without some consequences. So, you have to be sure that your disobedience to a direct order from your military leader is because that order is contrary to the will of God. Otherwise, and unless you are shown mercy, you will not have God’s protection.
For example, there was a time that King Saul commanded his guards to execute the all the priests of God in a place called Nob. And he did that because of his hot jealousy for David and his determination to destroy him. But his guards, as the bible points out, were not willing to raise their hands against the Lord’s anointed priests, especially when they had not done anything wrong. Yes, he eventually got a foolish man to do his dirty job that day. But the men with him would not obey his order. (Cf. 1Samuel 22:6-23)
Now what did Saul do to those men who refused to obey his order to kill God’s priests? Nothing! He just allowed them to be. Why? I guess that was a miracle. A cruel and demonised king like Saul would naturally treat such disobedience as treason. But as far as the information we have in the bible is concerned, he did not do anything to those men. And as I said, that must have been because God was protecting them.
What about the midwives of the Hebrew women when they were still in Egypt, Shiphrah and Puah? Did they obey Pharoah when he ordered them to kill at birth every male child of the Hebrew women? No! Why? The bible says that it was because they feared God. And did Pharoah touch them for disobeying him in this manner? No! Why? God was protecting them! In fact, God went on to reward those women by giving them families of their own. So, God is able to protect us from any leader, however cruel the leader may be, even if it is in the army, as long as we are walking in His will. (Cf. Exodus 1:15-22)
So, in following any leader, be sure you follow them to the degree that they are walking in the will of God.
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IF ANYONE DESTROYS GOD’S TEMPLE 06/02/2024
“Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” (1Cor 3:16-17NIV)
There is this erroneous belief among many all around the world that the temple of God is a physical structure. This explains why so much money goes into the building and the care of church auditoriums every year and in many places in the world. It also explains why enemies of the Christian faith often think once they destroy a church meeting place, they have destroyed a temple of God.
But while it is true that magnificent temples had been built for God in the past, temples that He Himself put His blessings on, it does not change the fact that no earthly structure is fit to house Him. So, He says this to us: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” (Isa 66:1-2NIV) In addition, He says, “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.” (Isa 57:15NIV)
Can you relate to that? God does not live in physical buildings, however grand or magnificent they may be. That is because His hand made everything. Nevertheless, as He Himself has pointed out, He does live in people, in human beings. And this is why Paul, in our opening bible text, tells us that people are God’s temple. Every child of God is the temple of God; he is the house in which God resides. So then, when Paul goes on to say that anyone who destroys God’s temple, God will destroy, he is implying that anyone who destroys a child of God, God will destroy.
Now that is remarkable. Paul does not say, “If anyone destroys a church meeting place, God will destroy him.” Why? Is it because God is not concerned about the place in which His people meet? No! He is concerned about anything that concerns His people. However, He is much more concerned about people’s lives than any other thing. All the things we see in this world and use are bound to perish someday; they will not be forever. But people are spirit beings and so are going to live forever, even though they all have to shed their mortal bodies. This is why God is more interested in them and their eternity than anything else.
Therefore, we need to be careful how we treat people, especially children of God who have Him living in them. We need to be careful that we do not consciously or unconsciously do anything that will ruin their lives or make them unfit for God to live in and use to accomplish His purpose. That is because anyone who gets careless in this matter and becomes responsible for the pollution or destruction or fall of any child of God, as Paul tells us in our opening bible text, will be not be held guiltless by Him. Such a person will surely be destroyed.
Think about this: if God was willing to kill people for merely looking inside the Ark of His Covenant with Israel or for taking hold of it, an ark that was just a symbol of His presence among the Israelites, can you imagine how He will judge anyone that harms any one of His children, who are His real dwelling place? That is beyond contemplation. (Cf. 1Sam 6:19-20; 2Sam 6:6-7)
So, watch yourself very carefully in relating to the children of God in your life, so that you do not foolishly do to them something that will make God destroy you. And if there is anything you know that you are doing that is hurting, polluting or misleading any of them at the moment, lose no time to repent of it. That is because the time given for your repentance may just be close to its expiration. And if you don’t do the right thing before it expires, you may not just live to tell the story.
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A VICTIM OF DRUNKENNESS 05/02/2024
“On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him — Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carcas — to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. But when the attendants delivered the king's command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger.” (Est 1:10-12NIV)
Why, as we see in our opening bible text, did King Xerxes order Queen Vashti to be brought before him to display her beauty? It was because he was drunk. Yes, we are told that he was in high spirits from wine that day. But that is just a euphemism for being drunk. The man was actually drunk, drunk and excited. And it was because he was drunk and excited and could not think clearly that he ordered his wife, the queen, to come and parade her beauty before his drunk officials and friends.
But the queen would not do that. Why? Was it because she was proud? No! There is nothing in the account to suggest that she was a proud woman. To say the fact, if she had been a proud woman, she would most likely not have been made queen. But when we consider the fact that the king and all his officials were already drunk when he asked her to show up, we can safely assume that it was for her honour and safety that she did not show up.
We are talking about her majesty here, someone that most people could not freely see or interact with at the time. Even all the men that would attend to her had to be castrated, so that there wouldn’t be stories in the palace. Yet it was this same woman that the king commanded to show up before his drunk friends and officials to parade her beauty.
Now would showing up to parade her beauty in that manner not require that she wear something revealing or dance seductively? It would most likely require that. Also, would that not give the drunk officials of this king an opportunity to insult her or molest her? It would most likely give room for that to happen.
So, even though disobeying the king’s command was not something Vashti would naturally want to do, she must have felt that the best thing for her to do on that occasion was to disobey him and later face the consequences. But did she think the consequences of disobeying that foolish order would be as terrible as it later was? I don’t think so.
Well, King Xerxes, as we are further told in the account, got so angry with this woman because of her disobedience that he lost no time in getting his counsellors together to decide on the matter. And when they were done, she was deposed and forbidden from showing up before the king forever. (Cf. Esther 1:13-22)
But was it this woman’s fault that she fell from grace to grass? No! She was just a victim of circumstances, a victim of the drunkenness of a very powerful man. I know there are preachers that have taught that God deliberately brought down Vashti in order to lift Esther up to her position. But that is erroneous. It is actually like saying that God brought down Joseph and sent him to prison in order to lift up whoever took over his position as the manager of Potiphar’s house. Do you know how ridiculous that would sound?
Did Joseph do anything wrong to find himself in the prison? No! The only reason he found himself in that prison was that he stood his ground against infidelity. In like manner, the only reason Vashti was deposed was that she would not allow her womanhood to be defiled or ridiculed. Yes, she had to suffer for it, as Joseph also had to suffer for standing for purity. But that was not God at work at all but the devil.
For us to know that it was not God that did that but the devil, we are further shown in the account that when Xerxes later became sober and was free from the influence of alcohol, he began to think about his wife and what he had done to her in his moment of drunkenness and anger. He was so disturbed with her thought that his personal assistants could tell that something was wrong. But it was already too late. There was nothing he could do to restore her to grace again, for the law that was used in judging her was irrevocable. (Cf. Esther 2:1-2)
So, Vashti was just a victim of the error of her powerful husband. And there are many like her today who are simply victims of the errors of certain people in their lives or world. There have, for instance, been people who have lost their jobs because their bosses quarrelled with their spouses before coming to work and transferred the aggression to them. And there have been people that died in the hands of some drunk or depressed or sleepy drivers.
Such things happen from time to time. And the only one that can keep us from becoming their victims is God. So, as often as you pray, remember to tell God to keep you and all the people that are dear to you from becoming victims of human errors or flaws.
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A VICTIM OF DRUNKENNESS 05/02/2024
“On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him — Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carcas — to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. But when the attendants delivered the king's command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger.” (Est 1:10-12NIV)
Why, as we see in our opening bible text, did King Xerxes order Queen Vashti to be brought before him to display her beauty? It was because he was drunk. Yes, we are told that he was in high spirits from wine that day. But that is just a euphemism for being drunk. The man was actually drunk, drunk and excited. And it was because he was drunk and excited and could not think clearly that he ordered his wife, the queen, to come and parade her beauty before his drunk officials and friends.
But the queen would not do that. Why? Was it because she was proud? No! There is nothing in the account to suggest that she was a proud woman. To say the fact, if she had been a proud woman, she would most likely not have been made queen. But when we consider the fact that the king and all his officials were already drunk when he asked her to show up, we can safely assume that it was for her honour and safety that she did not show up.
We are talking about her majesty here, someone that most people could not freely see or interact with at the time. Even all the men that would attend to her had to be castrated, so that there wouldn’t be stories in the palace. Yet it was this same woman that the king commanded to show up before his drunk friends and officials to parade her beauty.
Now would showing up to parade her beauty in that manner not require that she wear something revealing or dance seductively? It would most likely require that. Also, would that not give the drunk officials of this king an opportunity to insult her or molest her? It would most likely give room for that to happen.
So, even though disobeying the king’s command was not something Vashti would naturally want to do, she must have felt that the best thing for her to do on that occasion was to disobey him and later face the consequences. But did she think the consequences of disobeying that foolish order would be as terrible as it later was? I don’t think so.
Well, King Xerxes, as we are further told in the account, got so angry with this woman because of her disobedience that he lost no time in getting his counsellors together to decide on the matter. And when they were done, she was deposed and forbidden from showing up before the king forever. (Cf. Esther 1:13-22)
But was it this woman’s fault that she fell from grace to grass? No! She was just a victim of circumstances, a victim of the drunkenness of a very powerful man. I know there are preachers that have taught that God deliberately brought down Vashti in order to lift Esther up to her position. But that is erroneous. It is actually like saying that God brought down Joseph and sent him to prison in order to lift up whoever took over his position as the manager of Potiphar’s house. Do you know how ridiculous that would sound?
Did Joseph do anything wrong to find himself in the prison? No! The only reason he found himself in that prison was that he stood his ground against infidelity. In like manner, the only reason Vashti was deposed was that she would not allow her womanhood to be defiled or ridiculed. Yes, she had to suffer for it, as Joseph also had to suffer for standing for purity. But that was not God at work at all but the devil.
For us to know that it was not God that did that but the devil, we are further shown in the account that when Xerxes later became sober and was free from the influence of alcohol, he began to think about his wife and what he had done to her in his moment of drunkenness and anger. He was so disturbed with her thought that his personal assistants could tell that something was wrong. But it was already too late. There was nothing he could do to restore her to grace again, for the law that was used in judging her was irrevocable. (Cf. Esther 2:1-2)
So, Vashti was just a victim of the error of her powerful husband. And there are many like her today who are simply victims of the errors of certain people in their lives or world. There have, for instance, been people who have lost their jobs because their bosses quarrelled with their spouses before coming to work and transferred the aggression to them. And there have been people that died in the hands of some drunk or depressed or sleepy drivers.
Such things happen from time to time. And the only one that can keep us from becoming their victims is God. So, as often as you pray, remember to tell God to keep you and all the people that are dear to you from becoming victims of human errors or flaws.
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A VICTIM OF DRUNKENNESS 05/02/2024
“On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him — Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carcas — to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. But when the attendants delivered the king's command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger.” (Est 1:10-12NIV)
Why, as we see in our opening bible text, did King Xerxes order Queen Vashti to be brought before him to display her beauty? It was because he was drunk. Yes, we are told that he was in high spirits from wine that day. But that is just a euphemism for being drunk. The man was actually drunk, drunk and excited. And it was because he was drunk and excited and could not think clearly that he ordered his wife, the queen, to come and parade her beauty before his drunk officials and friends.
But the queen would not do that. Why? Was it because she was proud? No! There is nothing in the account to suggest that she was a proud woman. To say the fact, if she had been a proud woman, she would most likely not have been made queen. But when we consider the fact that the king and all his officials were already drunk when he asked her to show up, we can safely assume that it was for her honour and safety that she did not show up.
We are talking about her majesty here, someone that most people could not freely see or interact with at the time. Even all the men that would attend to her had to be castrated, so that there wouldn’t be stories in the palace. Yet it was this same woman that the king commanded to show up before his drunk friends and officials to parade her beauty.
Now would showing up to parade her beauty in that manner not require that she wear something revealing or dance seductively? It would most likely require that. Also, would that not give the drunk officials of this king an opportunity to insult her or molest her? It would most likely give room for that to happen.
So, even though disobeying the king’s command was not something Vashti would naturally want to do, she must have felt that the best thing for her to do on that occasion was to disobey him and later face the consequences. But did she think the consequences of disobeying that foolish order would be as terrible as it later was? I don’t think so.
Well, King Xerxes, as we are further told in the account, got so angry with this woman because of her disobedience that he lost no time in getting his counsellors together to decide on the matter. And when they were done, she was deposed and forbidden from showing up before the king forever. (Cf. Esther 1:13-22)
But was it this woman’s fault that she fell from grace to grass? No! She was just a victim of circumstances, a victim of the drunkenness of a very powerful man. I know there are preachers that have taught that God deliberately brought down Vashti in order to lift Esther up to her position. But that is erroneous. It is actually like saying that God brought down Joseph and sent him to prison in order to lift up whoever took over his position as the manager of Potiphar’s house. Do you know how ridiculous that would sound?
Did Joseph do anything wrong to find himself in the prison? No! The only reason he found himself in that prison was that he stood his ground against infidelity. In like manner, the only reason Vashti was deposed was that she would not allow her womanhood to be defiled or ridiculed. Yes, she had to suffer for it, as Joseph also had to suffer for standing for purity. But that was not God at work at all but the devil.
For us to know that it was not God that did that but the devil, we are further shown in the account that when Xerxes later became sober and was free from the influence of alcohol, he began to think about his wife and what he had done to her in his moment of drunkenness and anger. He was so disturbed with her thought that his personal assistants could tell that something was wrong. But it was already too late. There was nothing he could do to restore her to grace again, for the law that was used in judging her was irrevocable. (Cf. Esther 2:1-2)
So, Vashti was just a victim of the error of her powerful husband. And there are many like her today who are simply victims of the errors of certain people in their lives or world. There have, for instance, been people who have lost their jobs because their bosses quarrelled with their spouses before coming to work and transferred the aggression to them. And there have been people that died in the hands of some drunk or depressed or sleepy drivers.
Such things happen from time to time. And the only one that can keep us from becoming their victims is God. So, as often as you pray, remember to tell God to keep you and all the people that are dear to you from becoming victims of human errors or flaws.
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A VICTIM OF DRUNKENNESS 05/02/2024
“On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him — Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carcas — to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. But when the attendants delivered the king's command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger.” (Est 1:10-12NIV)
Why, as we see in our opening bible text, did King Xerxes order Queen Vashti to be brought before him to display her beauty? It was because he was drunk. Yes, we are told that he was in high spirits from wine that day. But that is just a euphemism for being drunk. The man was actually drunk, drunk and excited. And it was because he was drunk and excited and could not think clearly that he ordered his wife, the queen, to come and parade her beauty before his drunk officials and friends.
But the queen would not do that. Why? Was it because she was proud? No! There is nothing in the account to suggest that she was a proud woman. To say the fact, if she had been a proud woman, she would most likely not have been made queen. But when we consider the fact that the king and all his officials were already drunk when he asked her to show up, we can safely assume that it was for her honour and safety that she did not show up.
We are talking about her majesty here, someone that most people could not freely see or interact with at the time. Even all the men that would attend to her had to be castrated, so that there wouldn’t be stories in the palace. Yet it was this same woman that the king commanded to show up before his drunk friends and officials to parade her beauty.
Now would showing up to parade her beauty in that manner not require that she wear something revealing or dance seductively? It would most likely require that. Also, would that not give the drunk officials of this king an opportunity to insult her or molest her? It would most likely give room for that to happen.
So, even though disobeying the king’s command was not something Vashti would naturally want to do, she must have felt that the best thing for her to do on that occasion was to disobey him and later face the consequences. But did she think the consequences of disobeying that foolish order would be as terrible as it later was? I don’t think so.
Well, King Xerxes, as we are further told in the account, got so angry with this woman because of her disobedience that he lost no time in getting his counsellors together to decide on the matter. And when they were done, she was deposed and forbidden from showing up before the king forever. (Cf. Esther 1:13-22)
But was it this woman’s fault that she fell from grace to grass? No! She was just a victim of circumstances, a victim of the drunkenness of a very powerful man. I know there are preachers that have taught that God deliberately brought down Vashti in order to lift Esther up to her position. But that is erroneous. It is actually like saying that God brought down Joseph and sent him to prison in order to lift up whoever took over his position as the manager of Potiphar’s house. Do you know how ridiculous that would sound?
Did Joseph do anything wrong to find himself in the prison? No! The only reason he found himself in that prison was that he stood his ground against infidelity. In like manner, the only reason Vashti was deposed was that she would not allow her womanhood to be defiled or ridiculed. Yes, she had to suffer for it, as Joseph also had to suffer for standing for purity. But that was not God at work at all but the devil.
For us to know that it was not God that did that but the devil, we are further shown in the account that when Xerxes later became sober and was free from the influence of alcohol, he began to think about his wife and what he had done to her in his moment of drunkenness and anger. He was so disturbed with her thought that his personal assistants could tell that something was wrong. But it was already too late. There was nothing he could do to restore her to grace again, for the law that was used in judging her was irrevocable. (Cf. Esther 2:1-2)
So, Vashti was just a victim of the error of her powerful husband. And there are many like her today who are simply victims of the errors of certain people in their lives or world. There have, for instance, been people who have lost their jobs because their bosses quarrelled with their spouses before coming to work and transferred the aggression to them. And there have been people that died in the hands of some drunk or depressed or sleepy drivers.
Such things happen from time to time. And the only one that can keep us from becoming their victims is God. So, as often as you pray, remember to tell God to keep you and all the people that are dear to you from becoming victims of human errors or flaws.
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IT'S BEYOND MAKING YOU FEEL GOOD 04/02/2024
“And David realized that the LORD had confirmed him as king over Israel and had greatly blessed his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.” (1Chron 14:2NLT)
As we are told in the bible, Jesus has been highly exalted by God to the highest place in His whole creation and given the name that is above all names. And why did God do this for Him? It was because of His humility. And we are told that if we want Him to exalt us too, we must learn to humble ourselves. (Cf. Phil 2:5-11)
But of what use is Jesus' exaltation to anyone? Or did God just exalt Him to make Him feel good and on top of everything? No! The bible further shows us that God exalted Jesus and placed Him at the highest place in all creation for the benefit of His people. Look at how this is put in the bible: “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” (Eph 1:22-23NIV)
Did you see that? It is because of those of us who are now God's children that God exalted Jesus Christ and put everything under His feet. He does not want us to be victims in this life. He does not want us to ever be at the mercy of the devil. So, He exalted our brother and representative to the highest place in His creation and made Him Lord over everyone and everything. That way, we are now able to sit together with Him where He is at the right hand of God and utilise His authority to frustrate the devil and his works here in the world.
Why am I sharing this with you? It is to let you know that God does not exalt people just to make them feel good. Instead, He always exalts them for the benefit of others. That is what we see in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that is also what we see in the case of David.
As we are shown in our opening bible text, David, at some point during his reign, came to the realisation that the reason God confirmed him as king over Israel and made his kingdom great was his people. In other words, God established this man as king and gave him great honour and wealth so that he would use all these to make life better, easier and safer for his people. And he had to see things in this manner in order for him to live accordingly.
We too need to realise the reasons God has exalted us to those positions we are now occupying in life. Until we realise the reasons He has put us where we are, we will most likely abuse or misuse our positions, influence and resources. And once we begin to misuse or abuse what God has given us, we, like King Belshazzar, are preparing ourselves to lose it to someone else. (Cf. Dan 5)
So, it is not enough to be praying to God for exaltation, it also important that we are praying to Him to show and teach us His main reasons for exalting us each time He does so. It took Mordecai to let Esther see one main reason God exalted her to be queen. It may also take some other people to let us see God's main reasons for exalting us. Whatever the case may be, we need to know what these reasons are so that we may handle whatever positions we are now occupying accordingly. Otherwise, we may end up losing what we think is already ours. And may you be guided not to lose any of the good things that God has already freely given to you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a pleasant day.
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IT'S BEYOND MAKING YOU FEEL GOOD 04/02/2024
“And David realized that the LORD had confirmed him as king over Israel and had greatly blessed his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.” (1Chron 14:2NLT)
As we are told in the bible, Jesus has been highly exalted by God to the highest place in His whole creation and given the name that is above all names. And why did God do this for Him? It was because of His humility. And we are told that if we want Him to exalt us too, we must learn to humble ourselves. (Cf. Phil 2:5-11)
But of what use is Jesus' exaltation to anyone? Or did God just exalt Him to make Him feel good and on top of everything? No! The bible further shows us that God exalted Jesus and placed Him at the highest place in all creation for the benefit of His people. Look at how this is put in the bible: “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” (Eph 1:22-23NIV)
Did you see that? It is because of those of us who are now God's children that God exalted Jesus Christ and put everything under His feet. He does not want us to be victims in this life. He does not want us to ever be at the mercy of the devil. So, He exalted our brother and representative to the highest place in His creation and made Him Lord over everyone and everything. That way, we are now able to sit together with Him where He is at the right hand of God and utilise His authority to frustrate the devil and his works here in the world.
Why am I sharing this with you? It is to let you know that God does not exalt people just to make them feel good. Instead, He always exalts them for the benefit of others. That is what we see in the case of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that is also what we see in the case of David.
As we are shown in our opening bible text, David, at some point during his reign, came to the realisation that the reason God confirmed him as king over Israel and made his kingdom great was his people. In other words, God established this man as king and gave him great honour and wealth so that he would use all these to make life better, easier and safer for his people. And he had to see things in this manner in order for him to live accordingly.
We too need to realise the reasons God has exalted us to those positions we are now occupying in life. Until we realise the reasons He has put us where we are, we will most likely abuse or misuse our positions, influence and resources. And once we begin to misuse or abuse what God has given us, we, like King Belshazzar, are preparing ourselves to lose it to someone else. (Cf. Dan 5)
So, it is not enough to be praying to God for exaltation, it also important that we are praying to Him to show and teach us His main reasons for exalting us each time He does so. It took Mordecai to let Esther see one main reason God exalted her to be queen. It may also take some other people to let us see God's main reasons for exalting us. Whatever the case may be, we need to know what these reasons are so that we may handle whatever positions we are now occupying accordingly. Otherwise, we may end up losing what we think is already ours. And may you be guided not to lose any of the good things that God has already freely given to you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a pleasant day.
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DON’T MAKE YOURSELF A LIABILITY 03/02/2024
“And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, "Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favor." Naomi said to her, "Go ahead, my daughter." So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.” (Ruth 2:2-3NIV)
Did you see that? It was Ruth herself that proposed to go out and work, so that she and Naomi would have food to eat. That means she had a sense of duty. Also, it means that she was willing to work. She was not a lazy woman.
As a young woman, she could have been on the look out for a man that would marry her and begin to take responsibility for her and perhaps for her mother-in-law as well. And that is the way of many young women and even some men today. They are continually looking for someone that would bear their lives’ burdens for them. But while it is alright to get married and to expect those that we marry to care for us, God never wants us to make ourselves a liability to anybody.
Here is what the bible says concerning this:
“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” (1Thess 4:11-12NIV)
Is that clear to you? Though none of us can entirely do without depending on others for one thing or the other in life, there is such a thing as undue dependence on others. That is a situation in which you are relying on others to do for you what you can and ought to do for yourself. And it must be your ambition in life not put yourself in that condition. It must be your ambition not to be unduly dependent on anyone.
But how will you not be unduly dependent on others? One way for that not to happen is for you to begin to do something legitimate with your hand that will earn you a living. It may not be something that will fetch you a lot of money yet. But you have to get something legitimate to do and be devoted to handling it diligently. And if you are diligent in handling whatever you are handling now, at the right time, God will lead you to something bigger and better. That is because it is the one who proves himself faithful in what is little or insignificant that God entrusts with what is much and significant.
Have a lovely day.
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BE STRENGTHENED THROUGH PRAYER 02/02/2024
“Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation.’ He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. ‘Why are you sleeping?’ he asked them. ‘Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.’” (Luke 22:39-46NIV)
What do we see here? We see the Lord praying to be strengthened by God. He was faced with the death on the cross. So, His heart was in anguish because of the things He would experience. He knew what the things He would experience would do to Him. He knew that He would become sin for humanity. And His heart was in anguish because He knew that He was soon going to be separated from His Father because of our sins.
Now there was a part of Him that desired an alternative to that. So, He asked God if there was an alternative to dying. And even as He did that, He still maintained that He wanted the will of the Father to be done. As He prayed about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to strengthen Him. We too have access to the ministry of angels. And as we pray, God’s power can be released for us to do what is right. More so, His angels can be released to strengthen us to do the will of God.
Well, the Lord went on from that place to do the will of God. That is why we are enjoying the salvation He obtained for us today. So, instead of allowing sin to mess up your life or to allow the circumstances around you to keep you from doing the will of God, you should pray to Him to release into your life the power to do His will. How this will work for you is not what I can explain. But I know that His power is dynamic in its working. So, when we pray, it will work for us.
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HAVE THE RIGHT ATTITUDE 01/02/2024
“He called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food; and he sent a man before them – Joseph, sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles, his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true.” (Psalm 105:16-19NIV)
Joseph’s feet were bruised with shackles and his neck was put in irons. So, he was sold out into slavery like a common criminal, like a beast of burden. That was how he was handled by his brethren – he was shamefully treated.
Read the history about how slave owners and handlers treated them back in those days and you might get some insight into what Joseph must have experienced. Slavery in those days was sometimes worse than death. Slaves were harassed, molested and treated like animals. Some animals, in fact, enjoyed their lives better than slaves. And Joseph went through all of that.
But then, in our opening bible text, we are told something about who sent Joseph into slavery in Egypt. And who was it? It was God. Look at the part where this is stated again from the Psalm: “…and he sent a man before them – Joseph, sold as a slave…” But his brothers thought they were the ones sending him into slavery. And he also initially thought that it was his brothers that sent him away into that land of slavery. But the word of God is showing us here that it was actually God that sent him. God was working in that situation. And what his brethren meant for evil, what they orchestrated for evil was being used by Him to fulfil His good purpose in the life of the young man. He was using their wickedness, hatred and jealousy to work in favour of the man.
Did it appear like that in the beginning? No! When his feet were put in shackles and his neck in irons, it did not look like God was doing anything about him or for him at all. Instead, it looked like his enemies had eventually gotten him. And there are times that things may seem like that for us too, times in which it may look like our enemies have finally gotten us. But our attitude in such situations will play a great role in determining whether what God is doing for us will eventually materialise or not.
Joseph functioned with the right attitude in all the situations he found himself. In fact, he is one of those bible characters that we all have a lot to learn from. He went into slavery as a boy. But he went into it with the right attitude. He did not go into slavery complaining, grumbling or griping. The word of God is clear about the fact that we must not live a life of grumbling – we are told to do nothing with murmuring. You don’t murmur against God. You don’t murmur against people. Certain situations may be against you. But don’t murmur. Murmuring, grumbling or griping is not going to solve your problem. Looking sad all the time and bowing your head around in depression is not going to solve your problem.
One of the things that will solve your problem is to pray to God about it. Then continue to do what is right. That was how Joseph functioned all through those years of trials and pains. He did not resign to a life of murmuring or complaining. He did not surrender to irresponsible living. Instead, he kept on trusting God for his salvation and elevation and also kept on doing well whatever his hand found to do. And in the course of time, God vindicated him and used everything he went through to make him one of the greatest men that ever lived here on earth.
If you too will function with the same attitude, trusting God and living right, there is no situation in which you may have found yourself that He won’t turn around for your good. So, cheer up and begin to do the right thing with your time and life.
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PRAYER IS A DUTY 31/01/2024
“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” (Colossians 4:2NIV)
Why would you devote yourself to prayer? It is because it is a duty. We devote ourselves to our families, for we know that we are responsible for them. We devote ourselves as students to our studies, for we know it is our duty to do so. Otherwise, we will not do well. Also, in business, we devote ourselves to those things that will make our businesses flourish. Why? It is our duty to do so. And if we do not do it, no one else will do it for us. Then, if you want to do well in your workplace and rise there, you devote yourself to doing the right thing there – you handle every task diligently.
In like manner, we must see prayer as a duty. Therefore, our attitude towards it must be that of devotion. And it is those who devote themselves to prayer in this sense that we can refer to as men and women of prayer. In Psalm 109, verse 4, David refers to himself as a man of prayer. Can you also refer to yourself as a man of prayer? Can you refer to yourself as a woman of prayer?
I can refer to myself as a man of prayer. That is because I take my prayer duties very seriously. I take my prayer duties for my family, the church of God and my country very seriously. That is because I have come to know that it will be a sin for me not to do so.
You too must take your prayer duties seriously. You must understand that it is a sin for you not to take them seriously. God is going to hold you responsible for those you are supposed to pray for that you will not pray for and who fail because of this. He will hold you and me responsible for things that fail or get ruined under our watch because we will not pray.
I know we don’t usually think like this. This is why we hardly take prayer seriously, even in our church meetings. Here is someone who has come for a prayer meeting. Yet he is sleeping all the time. Or he is wandering in his mind. He is not excited or serious about it because he thinks it is the exclusive duty of the preacher to do all the praying or most of the praying.
But it is your duty to pray. And you must be faithful in doing so. God is not going to reward your irresponsibility in handling prayer. That is why a lot of things are not in place in the lives of many of us. We are irresponsible as far as prayer matters are concerned. And the word of God is telling us today to wake up and be faithful in prayer.
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DON’T CONDEMN ANYBODY 30/01/2024
“God presented him (Jesus) as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” (Rom 3:25-26NIV – emphasis added)
Did you see that? God presented Jesus Christ as the payment sacrifice for all our sins. That means He offered Him as the payment for all the sins of humanity, all of the sins we have committed and all the sins we are going to commit till He will bring this present world to its end. And it is on this basis that He does not count the sins of those who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord against them anymore. Their sins have been paid for. So, there is no way they can be made to pay for them again.
Unfortunately, there are people who find this hard to believe or accept. They are the sanctimonious ones, who think sinners must surely be punished by God for their sins, even if they repent. But there is no Scripture that supports that view or notion. All Scriptures point to the fact that once sinners turn to God for salvation in Christ Jesus, He forgives them and never holds them accountable for whatever horrible things they have done in the past.
But then, this is not to say that people may not at all suffer for certain natural consequences of their sins. If someone, for instance, has been an armed robber. The fact that he has accepted Jesus as his Lord and Saviour and begun to live a new life in Him does not mean that he cannot be prosecuted and sent to jail. And if he is already in jail, that he has become a Christian does not mean that he must be released or will be released from jail.
Yes, God is able to bring about circumstances that will take care of the consequences of this man’s past and lead him safely out of jail or prevent him from going to jail. But He may not do that at all. Will He be unfair for not doing that? No! What we must understand in the first place is that God is not the one punishing this person for his sins. God has already punished Jesus for his sins. So, He is not going to punish him again for sins that have already been punished and paid for.
Whatever punishment he is experiencing, then, is a natural consequence of his sins. When Esau came out against Jacob years after the latter had robbed him of his blessings, he did not blame God for it. Why? It was not God that wanted to punish him. It was his brother that wanted to punish him for his sins. So, instead of blaming God for what was about to happen to him, he cried out to Him for help and salvation. And did God answer him or not? He did. (Cf. Gen 32&33)
So, anyone who is suffering from the hands of men or human government because of their past sins can turn to God to rescue them from such sufferings. But they must never think it is God that is punishing them or judging them. God has paid for their sins and forgiven them. And nothing will ever change that before Him.
In like manner, we too should relate to our Christian brothers and sisters and their past on this basis. Whatever God has forgiven, we too should forgive. And whatever He has forgotten, we also should forget. Don’t forget that there is none of us who does not have a sinful past. Yes, our own lives before we came to Jesus may not have been as messed up as the lives of some other people before they came to Him. But that does not mean that we are better than them before God.
The bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” ‘All’ in this text means ‘All’. So, none of us is exempted. None of us has any form of righteousness or holiness that qualifies us for salvation before God. All of us must be saved by Him. Otherwise, we will not be saved at all.
Remember the story of that woman that was caught in the very act of adultery and brought to Jesus. Remember also how the Lord judged her case. He asked those who brought her and who wanted her to be stoned, according to the law, to go ahead and stone her, if they had never committed any sin. And realising that none of them was without one form or sin or the other, they all dropped the stones in their hands and, one after the other, left the scene. (Cf. John 8:1-11)
Interestingly, even our Lord Jesus Christ, who happened to be the only one qualified to stone this woman and end her life of misery, did not condemn her or stone her. Instead, He told her to go and sin no more. That is to show you that what God wants is genuine repentance, genuine willingness to turn to Him and be saved. And where this has happened, there is no condemnation whatsoever for the person involved.
So, don’t condemn anybody because of their past is worse than yours. Yours could as well have been worse than theirs. Therefore, accept them just as God accepted you in Christ Jesus.
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DON’T CONDEMN ANYBODY 30/01/2024
“God presented him (Jesus) as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” (Rom 3:25-26NIV – emphasis added)
Did you see that? God presented Jesus Christ as the payment sacrifice for all our sins. That means He offered Him as the payment for all the sins of humanity, all of the sins we have committed and all the sins we are going to commit till He will bring this present world to its end. And it is on this basis that He does not count the sins of those who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord against them anymore. Their sins have been paid for. So, there is no way they can be made to pay for them again.
Unfortunately, there are people who find this hard to believe or accept. They are the sanctimonious ones, who think sinners must surely be punished by God for their sins, even if they repent. But there is no Scripture that supports that view or notion. All Scriptures point to the fact that once sinners turn to God for salvation in Christ Jesus, He forgives them and never holds them accountable for whatever horrible things they have done in the past.
But then, this is not to say that people may not at all suffer for certain natural consequences of their sins. If someone, for instance, has been an armed robber. The fact that he has accepted Jesus as his Lord and Saviour and begun to live a new life in Him does not mean that he cannot be prosecuted and sent to jail. And if he is already in jail, that he has become a Christian does not mean that he must be released or will be released from jail.
Yes, God is able to bring about circumstances that will take care of the consequences of this man’s past and lead him safely out of jail or prevent him from going to jail. But He may not do that at all. Will He be unfair for not doing that? No! What we must understand in the first place is that God is not the one punishing this person for his sins. God has already punished Jesus for his sins. So, He is not going to punish him again for sins that have already been punished and paid for.
Whatever punishment he is experiencing, then, is a natural consequence of his sins. When Esau came out against Jacob years after the latter had robbed him of his blessings, he did not blame God for it. Why? It was not God that wanted to punish him. It was his brother that wanted to punish him for his sins. So, instead of blaming God for what was about to happen to him, he cried out to Him for help and salvation. And did God answer him or not? He did. (Cf. Gen 32&33)
So, anyone who is suffering from the hands of men or human government because of their past sins can turn to God to rescue them from such sufferings. But they must never think it is God that is punishing them or judging them. God has paid for their sins and forgiven them. And nothing will ever change that before Him.
In like manner, we too should relate to our Christian brothers and sisters and their past on this basis. Whatever God has forgiven, we too should forgive. And whatever He has forgotten, we also should forget. Don’t forget that there is none of us who does not have a sinful past. Yes, our own lives before we came to Jesus may not have been as messed up as the lives of some other people before they came to Him. But that does not mean that we are better than them before God.
The bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” ‘All’ in this text means ‘All’. So, none of us is exempted. None of us has any form of righteousness or holiness that qualifies us for salvation before God. All of us must be saved by Him. Otherwise, we will not be saved at all.
Remember the story of that woman that was caught in the very act of adultery and brought to Jesus. Remember also how the Lord judged her case. He asked those who brought her and who wanted her to be stoned, according to the law, to go ahead and stone her, if they had never committed any sin. And realising that none of them was without one form or sin or the other, they all dropped the stones in their hands and, one after the other, left the scene. (Cf. John 8:1-11)
Interestingly, even our Lord Jesus Christ, who happened to be the only one qualified to stone this woman and end her life of misery, did not condemn her or stone her. Instead, He told her to go and sin no more. That is to show you that what God wants is genuine repentance, genuine willingness to turn to Him and be saved. And where this has happened, there is no condemnation whatsoever for the person involved.
So, don’t condemn anybody because of their past is worse than yours. Yours could as well have been worse than theirs. Therefore, accept them just as God accepted you in Christ Jesus.
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THEY SPEND THEIR TIME DOING NOTHING 29/01/2024
“All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.” (Acts 17:21NIV)
That was Luke’s remark about the Athenians of Paul’s time. They spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas in town or from around the world. In other words, these people were not serious about being productive with their lives. They were not serious about doing things that would result in the development of their lives, homes or city. Instead, all they were ever serious about was discussing the latest ideas in the world.
Unfortunately, the culture of the Athenians of that time is still very much alive in the world today. It is the reason millions all around the world waste their precious time and lives everyday on social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and so forth, doing nothing but entertaining themselves. Am I saying it is wrong for us to be on these platforms or to use them? No, not at all.
Look, these platforms are great platforms created to make the world and what is going on in it almost immediately available and accessible to everyone. And those who are wise among us are daily making utmost use of them to increase in learning, increase their earnings or increase their influence and usefulness in life. But the majority who use them are only wasting their time, energy and even money on them, doing things that are not in any way moving their lives forward or making their lives better. That is besides the fact that many of them are also getting their lives corrupted, ruined or unduly exposed to danger through them. And that is a shame.
Now, of course, it is not only by spending time on some online social media platforms that one can waste his life. There are other ways through which we can waste ourselves in unproductive living. For example, there are employees who, every blessed day, go from office to office peddling useless news with the time they ought to be using to move the business or organisation they work for forward. And there are those who, every new day, use the time and energy they should be using to build their own businesses, careers, lives or homes in some friends’ shops, just to gist and talk about irrelevancies and nonsense.
What about those who spend hours everyday in beer parlours, game houses or motor parks, doing nothing but talking, laughing and making ridiculous jokes and comments about others that are busy moving their lives forward? All such people are not just wasting their lives but are also hindering the growth and development of whatever family, business, organisation or society they belong in. They are idle minds and hands.
So, as Solomon tells us, individuals like such are not different from destroyers of good things (Prov 18:9). In other words, since they are not building up themselves, their families and their society, they are simply destroying them. And seriously, we should start having very strong laws from the government and our various private businesses that will fix them, keep them from wasting our common resources and get them busy doing what is right and profitable with their lives and for everyone.
If you, then, are one of them, if you are one of those who do nothing but waste their lives on irrelevancies and rubbish, you need to change your ways. That is because you are not just hurting yourself; you are also hurting all of us by wasting the space, time and resources God could have given to others to build up of our world and make it a better and more enjoyable place for everyone.
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THEY SPEND THEIR TIME DOING NOTHING 29/01/2024
“All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas.” (Acts 17:21NIV)
That was Luke’s remark about the Athenians of Paul’s time. They spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas in town or from around the world. In other words, these people were not serious about being productive with their lives. They were not serious about doing things that would result in the development of their lives, homes or city. Instead, all they were ever serious about was discussing the latest ideas in the world.
Unfortunately, the culture of the Athenians of that time is still very much alive in the world today. It is the reason millions all around the world waste their precious time and lives everyday on social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and so forth, doing nothing but entertaining themselves. Am I saying it is wrong for us to be on these platforms or to use them? No, not at all.
Look, these platforms are great platforms created to make the world and what is going on in it almost immediately available and accessible to everyone. And those who are wise among us are daily making utmost use of them to increase in learning, increase their earnings or increase their influence and usefulness in life. But the majority who use them are only wasting their time, energy and even money on them, doing things that are not in any way moving their lives forward or making their lives better. That is besides the fact that many of them are also getting their lives corrupted, ruined or unduly exposed to danger through them. And that is a shame.
Now, of course, it is not only by spending time on some online social media platforms that one can waste his life. There are other ways through which we can waste ourselves in unproductive living. For example, there are employees who, every blessed day, go from office to office peddling useless news with the time they ought to be using to move the business or organisation they work for forward. And there are those who, every new day, use the time and energy they should be using to build their own businesses, careers, lives or homes in some friends’ shops, just to gist and talk about irrelevancies and nonsense.
What about those who spend hours everyday in beer parlours, game houses or motor parks, doing nothing but talking, laughing and making ridiculous jokes and comments about others that are busy moving their lives forward? All such people are not just wasting their lives but are also hindering the growth and development of whatever family, business, organisation or society they belong in. They are idle minds and hands.
So, as Solomon tells us, individuals like such are not different from destroyers of good things (Prov 18:9). In other words, since they are not building up themselves, their families and their society, they are simply destroying them. And seriously, we should start having very strong laws from the government and our various private businesses that will fix them, keep them from wasting our common resources and get them busy doing what is right and profitable with their lives and for everyone.
If you, then, are one of them, if you are one of those who do nothing but waste their lives on irrelevancies and rubbish, you need to change your ways. That is because you are not just hurting yourself; you are also hurting all of us by wasting the space, time and resources God could have given to others to build up of our world and make it a better and more enjoyable place for everyone.
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IF YOU WANT MORE 28/01/2024
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give property of your own?” (Luke 16:10-12NIV)
The Lord is showing us here what God considers in promoting or elevating people. He considers how they handle the things He has already delivered to them. And it does not matter whether they are spiritual things or material things, how they handle them is what is most important to Him.
In fact, from what we see here, how we handle material things can determine what sort of spiritual revelations or duties God is going to entrust to us. So, those who are not handling the things of this life well shouldn’t expect God to commit much revelations of the kingdom to them.
We have, for example, people today who think becoming a preacher is an easy job. And since there are always vacancies for preachers in the kingdom of God, such people, having nothing else to do, will freely apply. But what they do not understand is that they will most likely be preaching without revelations, that is, for the most part. That is because the diligence and discipline required in handling the word of God will not be exhibited by them. How, then, will God commit His spiritual truths to them?
Well, the point is that if you are not handling well what has been entrusted to you, God is not going to give you more. People may give you more. But God won’t. People may promote mediocrity or sponsor irresponsibility. But God is never going to do that. It is those who prove themselves worthy of what He has given to them that He will give more to. If you, then, want more from Him, prove yourself worthy of it.
(Adapted from ‘Make yourself ready’, a Sunday 22nd October 2023 sermon by J.O. Lawal)
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HOW LONG WILL YOU WAIT? 27/01/2024
“How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?” (Josh 18:3NIV)
Evidently, at the time Joshua said these words to the children of Israel, some part of the Promised land had been taken over by the people. In fact, records show that he had already led them to conquer thirty-one kings and their lands (Josh 12:7-24). Yet there were still very large areas of land for them to take over (Josh 13:1-5).
Unfortunately, it seemed at that time that the people were already comfortable with what they had. So, they were not making any move to take over the remaining lands and begin to enjoy them, as God expected. And this was displeasing to Joshua, who had patiently laboured for years to see that they fully came into what God had promised them.
Therefore, he charged them with these words: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?” In other words, he was saying to them, “God has already given you this land to possess and enjoy. What, then, are you waiting for? Why are you not yet taking it over to possess and enjoy? Or are you expecting God to force you to do so?”
In like manner, there are things that God has already made available for every one of His children to possess and enjoy in Christ Jesus. And it is on each of them to find out what these things are and to embrace them for their enjoyment. God is not going to force us to take hold of His provisions for us. We are the ones that must want what He has provided for us enough to go for them.
For instance, we know that He has already made provisions for us in Christ Jesus to walk in victory over sin, sicknesses, diseases, failure, poverty and every work of darkness. And it is now on us to go for a life of victory over these things. But if we ourselves don’t seriously want to experience them in our lives, it may take us forever before we begin to take steps of faith towards enjoying them.
Also, there are works God wants every one of His children to be doing for the advancement of His purpose here on earth. And He has already provided all that we are going to need to do these works. But if we are distracted, lazy or afraid, it may take us ages before we start doing them, that is, if we ever make any move to do them at all. This explains why there are many highly gifted children of God that are redundant in the kingdom.
In any case, the Lord is asking us right now, “How long will you wait before you start taking hold of all my blessings for you to be the persons you are supposed to be? And how long will you wait before you begin to do those good works I have appointed and gifted you to do?” Now nobody can answer these questions for any of us. Each of us must answer them for himself. But we must remember that we don’t have forever to enjoy those blessings of God that are meant for us to enjoy here on earth. What I mean is that there is not going to be a carry-over of the things that are meant for us here on earth to heaven. If we fail to use what is provided for us here, when we have the opportunity to do so, then, that is our own loss. We won’t be needing any of those things in the kingdom we are being led into.
In addition, we don’t have forever to do those works God wants us to do here on earth. A time is coming when all such works must cease (John 9:4). And whatever we fail to do right here and right now is lost; it cannot be credited to our account. This is why we must wake up and begin to take advantage of God’s grace for us to do the things He wants to do and to live fully the life He has designed for us to live. And my prayer is that our hearts will be strengthened and encouraged not to waste God’s provisions for us to live excellent and meaningful lives right here on earth. Amen.
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HOW TO BECOME AN ENEMY OF GOD 26/01/2024
“Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Gal 1:10NIV)
Those are Paul’s words to us. And is he saying that it is totally wrong to gain people’s approval or to please them? No! To say the fact, it is important that we learn to please people, especially those in our lives. That is because it will promote love, peace and unity in our relationship with them.
And what does God want among men? Love, peace and unity! So, when we work to please people and accomplish these things, He is pleased. And anyone who will not study and work towards pleasing men in this manner will unlikely give himself to the discipline that pleasing God requires.
However, we need to be careful that we do not displease God while we are trying to please men. And that is the point that Paul is setting before us in that bible text. He wants us to know that while it is true that God wants us to labour to please men, so that our dealings with them may be smooth and peaceful, He does not want us to do this at the expense of our relationship with Him.
What does this mean? Well, it means that God is the one that must define for us how we please people. Yes, people may desire that we act in certain ways in order for them to be pleased or happy with us. But they are not our creator, neither are they the ones that will judge and reward us for the things we do in this life, whether good or evil. So, while it is alright for them to desire that we please them in one way or the other, we must only do what they want if it pleases God. If what they want does not please Him or is not in agreement with His will, we must refuse to do it for them or give it to them.
Will this make them happy? Will doing things that displease people make them happy? No! But as children that are responsible to God, our most important goal in life is to please Him and make Him happy and not to please men and make them happy (2Cor 5:9). Yes, in most cases, when we please God and make Him happy, people will be pleased and made happy too. But there are times that pleasing Him will set us against men. And that will be because of their hatred for His righteousness and truth (John 3:19-21).
Nevertheless, even if, in pleasing God, we find ourselves at variance with men, we should not lose heart or feel bad. That is because it is far better to be an enemy of men and suffer their temporary rejection, abuse or persecution than to be an enemy of God and be forever lost. If you have men as your enemies, God is able to save you from their hands. But if you have God as your eternal enemy, who is going to save you from His hand? Nobody!
James says, “You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (James 4:4-5NIV) Did you see that? If, for any reason, whether it is fear, money, pleasure, position or a desire for men’s reward, you choose to be a friend of the world, you automatically become an enemy of God. And the consequences of that will never be good or enjoyable for you, whether in this life or in the one to come.
Remember Pilate. Why did he release a criminal to go and continue his life of sin but condemn an innocent man to death? It was because he wanted to please men (Mark 15:15). So, he became an enemy of God and of truth and justice just because he wanted to satisfy men. I wonder what he would say to Him on the day of judgment, if he did not receive salvation through faith in Christ Jesus before his death. And I wonder what you too will say to Him on the day He visits you, if you should allow yourself to become His enemy just to remain friends with adulterers, prostitutes, thieves, swindlers, sorcerers or any other kind of wicked person. Well, my prayer is that nothing will succeed in setting you against Him, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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IF YOU CAN HANDLE IT 25/01/2024
“But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.” (1Cor 7:28NIV)
Did you see that? Paul says it is not a sin to marry. So, go ahead and marry, if you have what it takes to do so. However, this apostle also goes on to say that those who marry will face many troubles in this life. So, the reason he is counselling them not to marry is to spare them the troubles and challenges that come with getting married. And there are many of them, ranging from problems with in-laws, family finances, childbirth, barrenness, the education and care of the children to health issues.
Anyone, then, who is not ready to tackle these problems or bear love responsibilities is not fit for any kind of love life. And if you see yourself as not ready for them, wait. Don’t force yourself into a love life you are not ready for because your family members, friends or church people are pressuring you to go into one. Don’t bend your neck to carry a burden that will break you. Wait until you are ready. Then pray and work hard to be ready on time.
When David was told that Saul wanted to give his first daughter, Merab, to him in marriage, how did he respond? Here is what we are told:
“But David said to Saul, "Who am I, and what is my family or my father's clan in Israel, that I should become the king's son-in-law?" So when the time came for Merab, Saul's daughter, to be given to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah.” (1Sam 18:18-19NIV)
Did you see that? Even though it was a great privilege and honour at that time to be the king’s son-in-law, David did not foolishly commit to marrying Saul’s daughter. Why? He knew that he did not have the resources or class to manage that kind of love affair. He knew the kind of burden that marrying a king’s daughter would place on him and his poor family. So, he just passed and allowed the woman to be given to another man.
Did he die because of that? No! He just went on to living fine. And much later, when another opportunity came for him to become the king’s son-in-law, he took it. He took it because he knew that he had what it would take to pay the bride price of the young lady involved. (Cf. 1Sam 18:20-27)
So, if you think a love affair with someone will be too expensive for you to manage, don’t start it. It is not compulsory. If you think you and your family cannot handle the social class of someone, don’t start any love affair with the person. Instead, find someone that is living in the will of God and that fits your circumstances and stick with them. But don’t start something you cannot finish all in the name of love. Otherwise, love snakes may bite and poison you at some point.
And may the God of all grace keep you in all your ways and prevent you from making any love blunder that will ruin your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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OUT OF REVERENCE FOR CHRIST 24/01/2024
“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Eph 5:21NIV)
Because of who are we to submit to one another in the church? It is because of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is out to reverence for him that we are to yield ourselves to be led by whoever is over us in the church. Those over us in the church may not be as educated as we are, as exposed as we are, as rich as we are, as influential as we are or as old as we are. But not to yield to their leadership is to dishonour our Lord Jesus Christ.
How, then, can someone say that he is a child of God and still be able to freely dishonour our Lord Jesus Christ by dishonouring the one He has appointed over him in the church? Such a person’s Christianity is questionable.
Also, the bible says this to us about submission in the church:
“Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” (Heb 13:17NIV)
Did you see that? Each of us is commanded by God to obey our leaders in the church and to submit to their authority. Of course, this has boundaries and exceptions. Wherever a church leader or any leader anywhere is asking us to do something contrary to the will of God, we are not to do it.
Peter and John, once while defending the gospel before the leaders of the Jews, said this to them: “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God.” (Acts 4:19NIV) That means even if someone is in a position of authority over you, if they are asking to disobey God, you are not under any obligation to listen to them.
But inasmuch as your church leader is not asking you to do things that are contrary to the will of God, you must obey them. Even if their life is not right or consistent with the will of God, something that we sometimes see in our Christian assemblies, you must still submit to them. The only thing is that you are not walk with them in the path of unrighteousness. And look at what Matthew reports Jesus to have said about this:
“Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.”” (Matt 23:1-3NIV)
Did you see that? Even though our Lord Jesus was clearly against the wrong lifestyles of the religious leaders of the Jews of His earthly days, He never taught or encouraged the people to disobey or disrespect them. Why? It was because they were authorised by God to lead the people. So, to teach the people to disobey them would be to teach them rebellion against God. And that would not be to their profit.
Therefore, the Lord always taught the people to take the words of these leaders seriously but not to walk in their footsteps. In like manner, even if your church leader is not living in the will of God, you have no right to disrespect them or disobey their instructions that are not contrary to the will of God. The only thing you have a right to do is not to walk in their footsteps. And when you function like this, you are showing reverence for the Lord Jesus Christ.
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THE WAR AGAINST YOUR SOUL 23/01/2024
Today, I pray that your heart will always be strengthened by God to walk in victory over everything seeking to pollute and destroy your soul, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Now I offered that prayer for you because the world we live in is an utterly corrupt one. Yes, it is a world that is loaded with all kinds of activities that can pollute us, even before we know it. This is why we need to watch ourselves, if we truly care about our eternity with God, and not allow ourselves to be polluted. Our Lord Jesus once said this to His disciples:
“Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves...” (Luke 17:1-3NIV)
Did you see that? There are enough things to cause us to stumble and fall in this world. Yes, there are enough things to pollute and destroy us in this world. And these things, as the Lord points out, are bound to come to us. That means we are bound to be confronted by people or things that will put pressure on us to give up on righteousness and surrender to the immorality, wickedness and greed in our world. It is on each of us, then, to watch himself, so that he will not be a victim of these things and ruin his precious soul.
Just walk through any of the streets of our towns or cities today, and you are guaranteed to see some corrupt individuals, shamelessly doing something corrupt to entice and corrupt others. Or connect to the internet to do anything, and you are guaranteed to see unsolicited messages from unknown corrupt people, asking you to get involved in some dirty relationships with them. Some of them will even send you certain pictures or videos of their private parts just to entice and convince you to be involved with them. And they are always shameless about this.
For example, sometimes ago, a horrible sex tape of a young Nigerian university student that was ruining her life with some young men was leaked on the internet for the world to see. And instead for her to find a place to hide herself in shame for some months and seek help, she released a video to tell the world that she didn’t care. In other words, anyone that wants to go crazy or kill himself because of what he saw about her is welcome to do so. Just think about that kind of shameless attitude, which anyone that is not possessed by some demons is unlikely to manifest.
Unfortunately, that is even what most of our movie and song artistes now encourage with their movies, songs and lifestyles. They encourage homosexuality, stripteases, thuggery, cohabitation, use of hard drugs and other kinds of evil that can only destroy humanity. And every day we are confronted with these things. Yes, every day, as Peter says, these things and the desire to do them war against our souls (1Pet 2:11). In short, many of us are now like Lot and his family in the city of Sodom. Every day their souls were tormented by the lawlessness of the people of this city. And there was no rest for them until the city was destroyed by God. (Cf. 2Pet 2:6-8)
In like manner, there won’t be an end to the war our souls are fighting against the corruption of this world until our time is up here and we sleep or until Jesus comes for us and ends everything. So, first, we need to determine, as Daniel did in Babylon, that we will not be corrupted, regardless of what we are confronted with or how long we have to be confronted with it (Dan 1:8). Second, we need to cast ourselves utterly on God for safe keeping, for only He can keep us from stumbling and falling (Jude 24-25). Third, we need to be very careful of the association we keep, the places we go and the things we see.
My prayer is that, as we do these things, God Himself will keep our spirits, souls and bodies pure and blameless till the very end. But supposing you, child of God, have already been polluted, now is the time to run back to the saviour of your soul, so that He may cleanse you of your mess and restore you before it is too late.
Do have a splendid day.
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DO IT WILLINGLY 22/01/2024
“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2Corinthians 9:6-7NIV) .
One of the attitudes we must have towards giving, as Paul shows us in our opening bible text, is willingness. Look at some of his words again: Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. So, it is what you have decided in your heart to give that you should give. Nobody should force you to give what you do not want to give.
I know there are times we want people to give the same amount in our Christian assemblies. And occasionally, that may be okay. For instance, if we are making a trip somewhere, everybody may be asked to pay the same amount for the trip. That may be fine and fair. But if we have a project to handle in the church, it will not be right for us to ask everybody to give equally. That may result in murmuring. And where people murmur when giving, their giving will surely be rejected by God.
The will of God is that everybody will decide in his heart what he wants to give to Him or to others. Yes, we can present to everyone the needs of the church and how much we will need to handle them. But everyone must be allowed to determine in his own heart what he will be giving.
Now, of course, people may not give enough, if we adopt this approach. But it is God’s approach to giving. And if people will not give enough, He will surely find a way to make up for it. This truly may reduce the pace of the work we are doing. But it is better we experience a reduction in our pace in handling God’s work than to go against His will in doing His work. Otherwise, we may end up leading God’s people to give what He will not accept from their hands. That is besides the fact that what we have done may be utterly rejected by Him.
As Paul already makes very clear to us, whatever we are giving to God has to be what we have decided in our hearts. It must not be what we are pressured, coerced, threatened or manipulated to give. Why was God not reluctant to judge Ananias and Sapphira for their giving? It was because they were not forced or pressured by anybody to sell their land and bring the money to Him. It was their decision to sell their land and bring the money to the apostles. So, they have no excuse for trying to cheat God in bringing what they had pledged to give to Him. They wanted to give others the impression that they were giving more than they were actually giving. So, He judged them. And as I said, He judged them in that manner because, all along, it was their choice to give to Him – no one pressured, threatened or manipulated them to give to Him.
What this is showing us is that when we do not allow people to decide in their hearts what they are going to give to God, when we pressure, threaten or manipulate them to give to God what is not coming from their hearts, we make it difficult for God to deal with the errors associated with their giving. God dealt with Ananias and Sapphira for the error associated with their giving because it was all their fault. And I am not saying this because I want to see God take people’s lives for giving contrary to His will. Rather, I am saying it to let us know that we will make it easier for God to set people right in their giving, if we will stop interfering with the processes involved.
In any case, it is on you not to allow anyone to pressure or manipulate or threaten you to give to God anything you don’t want to give to Him. Otherwise, you will just be wasting your giving – there will be no reward from Him for it.
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FRAudulent REPUTATION 21/01/2024
“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. 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 found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.” (Revelation 3:1-2NIV).
How do people succeed in gaining a reputation that they do not have before God among men? How do Christians succeed in gaining a reputation of being holy, righteous, kind, gentle or generous before men, when, in fact, they do not have the same reputation before God? It is through deceit. It is through hypocrisy. Someone is fraudulent here and is misleading others to believe he is what he is not.
For instance, there are Christians that are immoral and who have succeeded in covering it up. We also have Christians that are greedy and who have succeeded in covering it up. We even have preachers that are involved in idolatry with witchcraft and sorcery and have succeeded in covering it up. They are using the name of Jesus, religious activities, religious attires and so forth to cover these things up. But the truth is that it is only men that can be deceived and fooled like that – God cannot be fooled. And you will be deceiving yourself, if you think God can be fooled.
Yes, you may have a reputation as a child of God before the world. But God does not see you as one living like His child. And because He does not see you as one living for Him, there will not be any praise from Him for what you are doing.
By the way, a day may come when God will expose you to the world, so that they will see you for what you really are. And that could be very discouraging to the people of God and even to others who have been considering turning to Jesus. We really have had those who totally turned away from the Lord because they were disappointed in some people that they thought they were true children of God, when they found out that they were actually not what they had thought they were.
These ones were misled to see those people as children of God. But they ended up messing them up. Some were trusted with money because they were Christians but ended up abusing that privilege. Some others were trusted with other people’s daughters but ended up defiling them. Why? They misled those who trusted them. They gave them a fraudulent representation of themselves.
Now if you are living like that, the word of God is coming to you at this moment and saying, “Wake up! Strengthen what is about to die in you, for I have found your works unfinished in the sight of my God.” That is the Lord’s message to the church in Sardis, as we see in our opening bible text. He says to this church, “You are dead – you are spiritually dead. Yes, you have a reputation for being alive before men. But before God you are dead. The life you are living does not show you as being connected to God at all.”
In like manner, those around you may see you as being connected to God. They think you are in fellowship with Him and that He is the one leading you. But the truth is that God cannot reach you. He cannot talk to you or make you live as He wants you to live. That is because you cannot hear Him or see Him or feel Him. You are dead to Him. And if you are dead to God, who are you alive to? Evidently, it is the devil you are alive to. There is no middle ground here. If you are not alive to God, you are dead to Him. And if you are dead to Him, you are alive to the devil. That is how it is. And if you don’t want that condition to become eternal or permanent, you need to wake up now and allow your maker to cleanse you of your deceit and hypocrisy before it is too late.
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PRAY THAT YOU MAY DO NO WRONG THING. 20/01/2024
“We pray to God that you won't do anything wrong…” (2Cor 13:7GW)
The first time I consciously read the prayer above I was like, “This is rather short and simple. It is not catchy at all.” And indeed, looking at it on the surface, it is easy to view it as short, simple and not worthy of much attention. I guess that was why I had passed over it severally, while reading that chapter of the book of 2Corinthians, without giving it much attention.
But the mistake I was making then, which a lot of us still make now, was to think that prayers were powerful and effective only to the extent that they were catchy. That is one of the reasons you see people today seeking some very outrageous prayer points to pray, all because they think the power is in the letters.
Make no mistakes about this: prayers are powerful and effective not because their words are lengthy, shocking, mind blowing or outrageous; prayers are powerful and effective only because they are offered according to the will of God. (Cf. James 5:16, 1John 5:14) So no matter how simple the words of a prayer are, inasmuch as they are offered according to the will of God, they will produce wonders. But if we refuse to offer spiritual prayers, all because they don't sound catchy to us or give us goose pimples, then, we will be robbed of whatever blessing and salvation that our offering of such prayers could have made available to us.
For instance, when our Lord Jesus said to His disciples, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation”, it did not seem like He was asking them to do something serious. They must have thought, “What does He mean by saying we should pray that we would not fall into temptation? What kind of temptation can we fall into here?”
Well, since they did not understand the import of what He said to them, they ended up sleeping off. And the consequence of failing to offer that simple pray was their falling into temptation. For when they were tempted to deny and abandon him, they all failed. And it was actually His own prayers for them, which God answered, that led to their restoration. (Cf. Matt 26:31-56&69-75, Luke 22:31-32)
So, though the prayer that Paul offers for the Corinthian Christians in our opening text appears rather plain and simple, it is one that every one of us ought to consistently offer for himself and for others that are dear to him. That means we ought to constantly pray that we won't do anything wrong or say anything wrong.
Personally, I don't want to get involved in any more wrong things. I don't want to take any wrong step or invest in any wrong enterprise again. In addition, I don't want to say anything again that will achieve a wrong result for me or for others that are around me. Rather, I want it to be said of me that, like Jesus, I have done all things well (Mark 7:37). And that is why I am going to commit myself to offering this prayer, as often as I can remember it.
Now I hope that you also will do likewise. May the Lord keep your life from all kinds of wrong things this month and throughout this year. Stay blessed.
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SUBMIT YOURSELF TO HIM 19/01/2024
“So place yourselves under God's authority. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you.” (James 4:7GW)
Notice that James does not begin by saying, “Resist the devil”; instead, he begins by saying, “So place yourselves under God's authority.” If we are ever going to be able to resist the devil, we must learn to submit ourselves to the authority of God. That means we must recognise the fact that God has the right to direct our lives and affairs. He has the right to tell us what to do and what not to do. And ours is to follow suit.
Look, God is not an uninvited guest in a Christian's life or home, as some have erroneously suggested; He is the owner of his life. Paul says to the Corinthians, “…So you do not belong to yourselves, because you were bought by God for a price…” (1Cor 6:19-20NCV) And that price, as Peter tells us, was the precious blood of Jesus Christ. (Cf. 1Pet 1:18-19)
Now since the Christian belongs to God, it is important for him to function in that consciousness. For it is as he functions in that consciousness that he will learn to appropriate the resources God has made available for him to live the life He has planned for him to live and handle whatever opposition that may come his way.
See, God did not bring forth the Christian to be a victim of the devil. What I am saying is that God's intention was not only to rescue man from satan's dominion; it was also to give man dominion over satan and his works. God knew that any kind of freedom that would not give man the ability to take his stand against satan would be insufficient. He knew that any kind of freedom that still left man helpless in the face of the devil was not worth it.
Think about it yourself. Of what use is our liberty from the devil, if he can still show up before us anytime and whip us, without our being able to do anything about it? Will you call that perfect liberty? No! But what the Lord said that He brought to us was perfect liberty. As He puts it, “…if the Son sets you free, you will be absolutely free.” (John 8:36GW)
Therefore, all of us who have faith in Jesus Christ are absolutely free from Satan and his dominion and can say ‘No’ to his works in our lives and around us. However, if we will yield ourselves to God’s authority, so that He can guide us through life, we will often find ourselves unable to resist the devil and his works in our lives.
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THE GROUND FOR CONGREGATIONAL PRAYERS 18/01/2024
“Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (Matt 18:19-20NIV)
What our Lord Jesus says here, in our opening text, is the major ground for congregational prayer meetings. And the minimum number of those who can be involved is two. As our Lord points out, if at least two believers will come together in His name and agree to talk to God about a matter, God will do it for them.
Observe that two major things are involved in this kind of prayer. The first thing is that the coming together of those involved must be in the name of Jesus. In other words, they are approaching God on the merits of Jesus, not on their own merits. Otherwise, they are not going to receive anything from Him.
The second thing is agreement. In other words, those involved must talk to one another and agree about the exact things they want God to do for them. They must be open and honest with themselves about the matter at hand. See, I have in the past offered prayers of agreement with certain people, only to find out later that most of the things we prayed about were founded on lies. Could God have answered such prayers? No!
Not only that, the hearts of those praying like this must be one and right with one another. They, as Paul warns in a letter of his, should not come together to pray and still be bitter against one another (1Tim 2:8). If there are issues that need to be resolved in order for us to be able to pray together as one, then, we should first resolve them before we start praying. And if we are still unhappy about someone that is seeking our forgiveness and prayers over a matter, then, we should not lie about how we feel. Instead, we should deal with the matter clearly and thoroughly, so that our prayers can be offered from sincere and pure hearts. Otherwise, whatever prayers we offer on such grounds can only be treated by God as ‘dead on arrival’.
So, it is not just about the number of those praying to God about a matter but also about their hearts and the ground on which they are praying to Him. And once these things are taken care of, there is no telling what we can accomplish with God through our prayers for one another and with one another. I mean that if the heartfelt prayer of one person can accomplish tremendous results, how much more the heartfelt prayers of two or more righteous persons? No wonder Paul speaks of God's gracious favour that is granted through the prayers of many (2Cor 1:10-11).
Therefore, learn to make the most of congregational prayer meetings, for through them you can enjoy the prayer support of other believers and also give your prayer support to them. Yet don't let this be a replacement for your own personal prayers and communion with God. And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the participation of the Holy Spirit be with you both now and forever. Amen.
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HOW TO EXPERIENCE RESTORATION 17/01/2024
“Though I sent my great army against you — those swarming locusts and hopping locusts, the destroying locusts and the cutting locusts that ate your crops — I will pay you back for those years of trouble. Then you will have plenty to eat and be full. You will praise the name of the LORD your God, who has done miracles for you. My people will never again be shamed.” (Joel 2:25-26NCV)
Did you see that? God said that He was going to pay back His people for their years of trouble and hardship. That means He was going to take care of their losses of many years and see to it that times of refreshing came to them. How He was going to do this nobody could tell. But by considering the way He enriched the nation of Israel when they were coming out of Egypt, we can assure our hearts that He is more than able to restore any person, family or nation. As the bible shows us, in one day, He made sure the Egyptians paid these Israelites for their several years of hard labour. So, they left Egypt as a very rich nation. (Cf. Ex 12:35-36)
Also, consider the way He restored Job. Job had lost all his children and everything else he had acquired through God's favour and years of diligent labour in one day (Job 1). Not only that, he himself got so sick that his friends could hardly recognise him, when they came to sympathize with him and comfort him (Job 2). In fact, at some point, he began to wish that he had not been born at all or that he were dead. It was as bad as that (Job 3). Nevertheless, when the time appointed for his restoration came, God made sure the latter part of his life was more blessed and enjoyable than the first. In other words, he was so restored and comforted that he forgot about the miseries, misfortunes and pains he once had. (Cf. Job 42:12-17)
In like manner, you too can be restored and comforted by God, regardless how messed up things may have been for you. And what you need to do is to first call on Him. The bible says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Cf. Rom 10:13) But why will anyone call on Him for salvation or restoration? It will be because the person has realised that he cannot save, help or restore himself and that only God can do these things and even much more for him.
You too need to realise that you or anybody else cannot save, help, restore or comfort you – only God can do these things for you. Once this is settled in your heart, you can call out to Him wherever you need salvation, restoration and comfort in your life, and He will certainly answer you. And you will be so restored and comforted that you will forget your days of pains and sorrows. He has done this several times before, and He will do it again in the same or similar circumstances.
But then, calling out to God in prayer may not be the only thing that we need in order to get restored in our lives. If there are wrong things we are doing that are directly or indirectly responsible for our misery or pains, we need to turn away from them. God once said this to Solomon about restoration: “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2Chron 7:13-14NIV)
Did you see that? When our sins are responsible for barrenness, famine or pains in our lives, we need to humble ourselves, admit our sins and turn away from them. Praying to God alone at such times will not bring the healing or restoration we desire -- we must also turn from our wicked ways. So, if you are seeking His face for healing, restoration and comfort in any area of your life, be absolutely sure that you too are not walking in the path of destruction.
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UNLESS THE LORD 16/01/2024
“Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat — for he grants sleep to those he loves.” (Ps 127:1-2NIV)
Can you see that? Unless the Lord makes our nation prosperous, no amount of effort on our part will make it prosperous. And unless the Lord keeps our nation safe and at peace, all our peace talks and all the labour of our security agencies will only amount to vanity. So, we must learn to pray to God about everything that concerns our country. Yes, we must learn to pray for its prosperity and peace. And we must also learn to pray against its failure, decay and death.
Why have so many good programmes and policies failed in the country? It was largely because we would not entrust them to God. You know that, usually, we assume that once we have a programme or policy that is designed to promote the welfare of the country, it will naturally work out fine or well. But things don't naturally work out well in this life; it is God that makes them work out well. Remember that there is no society that does not have its own share of saboteurs of good things. I am talking about individuals who, out of selfishness or sheer wickedness, often work against the success of programmes and policies that are meant to benefit many.
For instance, there were talks sometimes of how certain individuals were diverting funds and packages that were meant for the internally displaced persons (IDP) in the northern part of the country. Now what sort of person does that? I mean that how can someone in his right senses be involved in such practices? Is it that these displaced persons, among whom are many women, children and very old people, have not suffered enough? Yet, as I already mentioned, there are certain individuals who don't care at all whether these people suffer or not, as long as they have their own selfish and wicked desires gratified.
There are also many other areas in which saboteurs have deliberately sabotaged or are deliberately sabotaging programmes, policies, initiatives and systems that would have brought tremendous progress, development and peace to the country. And if we won't learn to pray to God for help in all these things, we won't experience any real progress in anything; we will just keep moving around in cycles.
Well, the bible says, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” (Prov 16:3NIV) So, if we want our good and honest labour for our beloved country to succeed or be established, then, we must learn to commit them to God. And if we want all our legitimate endeavours to prosper, and if we want all our people, especially our youths and our leaders, to turn out wonderful and great, then we must learn to commit them to God. (Cf. Ps 90:17 & 144:12-14; 1Tim 2:1-2)
By the way, don't forget that God Himself is the one asking us to pray to Him about our country. And what that means is that it pleases Him when we do so (1Tim 2:1-3). Also, it means that He is ever willing and ready to prosper us and keep us at peace. We only need to turn to Him in prayers, acknowledging that we don't have what it takes to build our nation and make it prosper or keep it safe all by ourselves. Yes, we must continually let Him know through our prayers that we are not counting on any vain god or ourselves – our intelligence, skills, cleverness or self-will – to make our nation become great; rather, we are counting on Him. And as we do this, He will do the impossible for us and see to it that our efforts in building our nation to be great does not amount to nothing.
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HE KNOWS THE TIME FOR YOUR ADVANCEMENT 15/01/2024
“The LORD our God said to us at Horeb, "You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates. See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore he would give to your fathers — to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — and to their descendants after them."” (Deut 1:6-8NIV)
As it is clearly revealed in the bible, the one who brought the children of Israel out of Egypt was God. And why did He bring them out? It was to take them into a land that was flowing with milk and honey, the land He had promised to give to their forefathers.
Now since He was the one that promised on oath to give this land to them, He took responsibility for leading them into it from the very first day He brought them out of Egypt. Look at what is said about this in the book of Exodus:
“When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, "If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt." So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle.” (Ex 13:17-18NIV)
Did you see that? God was the one responsible for leading the Israelites through every path that they took on their way into the Promised Land. Yes, there were times that He led them directly into the face of very hostile situations. But each time He did that, He always told them what to do to experience victory. So, they were never clueless or stranded in the face of any challenge.
In like manner, God is committed to leading all of us who are His children in the path we should follow in life. And as long as we yield ourselves to be led by Him, it does not matter where He leads us, we will never be stranded or clueless in the face of challenges. Instead, we will always have His generous supply to walk in victory over every situation of our lives.
Then, besides the fact that God was the one leading the Israelites in the way they ought to go in order to arrive at the Promised Land safe and sound, He was also the one determining when they moved from one spot to another, when they stayed and how long they stayed wherever He led them. Look at how this is revealed in the book of Numbers:
“At the LORD's command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the LORD's order and did not set out. Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the LORD's command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. At the LORD's command they encamped, and at the LORD's command they set out. They obeyed the LORD's order, in accordance with his command through Moses.” (Num 9:18-23NIV)
Did you see that? In order for the Israelites to enter the Promised Land and possess it, they were not just moving here and there as they liked. They moved from place to place and stayed wherever they stayed at God’s command. And observe that there were times that they stayed very long in some places before they were told by God to leave there, just as there were times that they stayed only for some days in some places before God told them to leave there. But in all cases, they moved or stayed based on His command.
Now this is graphically illustrated for us in our opening bible text. There we see that it was God that told these Israelites that they had stayed long enough at Horeb and that it was time for them to move in and possess the land of Canaan as their inheritance. Unfortunately, as we further see in the account, fear and unbelief would not allow them to go in and possess the land, as they had been commanded by God to do. So, they ended up wandering and perishing in the wilderness for the next forty years before their children after them could go in and possess the land.
In like manner, the Lord knows the right time for us to advance in our lives. He knows the right time for us to move from where we are to where we are supposed to be. Yes, in some areas of our lives, it may be plainly obvious that we need to move on and conquer more new grounds. But there are areas of our lives in which we may not know that we have stayed long enough in them or in which we are just too afraid to move on, even though we know that we need to move on. Then, sometimes, it is because we are just too comfortable with where we are that we refuse to move on and take the places God wants us to take in life.
Whatever the case may be, if we move to advance or promote ourselves before the time God has set for us, we can only end up regretting it. Remember that one of the reasons God changed His mind about Kiing Saul was that he was not patient with Him. Evidently, as we see in the bible, Saul was under tremendous pressure at that time to do something to save his country from their enemies. Otherwise, all his men would desert him and his enemies would have their way. But the man of God had already told him to wait until God was ready to move with him. And if he had waited, his dynasty would have remained forever. But he gave in to pressure, acted in impatience and eventually lost what he was trying to protect. (Cf. 1Sam 13)
We too can lose whatever we are trying to protect or possess, if we act before God is ready to work with us or for us. Then, if we refuse to move when we are supposed to be on our way to possessing what God has chosen for us or if we allow comfort or fear to make us settle down in places that are not the homes God has prepared for us, we may end up wandering for the rest of our lifetime and never possessing or enjoying all that could be ours.
All of this is why we need to continually ask God to fill our hearts with accurate and adequate knowledge of His will for our advancement in life. That way, we will clearly see those areas of our lives in which He wants us to advance and also wait for Him in patience to lead us to move at the right time, instead of allowing any form of dissatisfaction or pressure to lead us to go for advancement or expansion we are not ready to handle. We also need to be praying to Him for sufficient boldness and strength to move when He wants us to move, so that we will not waste our lives and all His blessings on them in places that are by far low and inferior to the places He has prepared for us to occupy in life. And since He loves us dearly and always wants the best for us, He will answer us and not leave us clueless.
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REGARDLESS OF HOW TIRED YOU ARE 14/01/2024
“Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us go! Here comes my betrayer!"” (Matt 26:36-46NIV)
Why were Peter, James and John sleeping on this occasion instead of praying? Tiredness! They had had a very long and busy day. So, their eyes were heavy that very night with sleep. Yes, the Lord told them to pray, so that they would not fall into temptation. But three times, within one hour, He came back to check them to see if they were praying and met them sleeping those three times. And that was because they were really tired.
But was the Lord Himself not tired? He was. Why, then, did He pull Himself together to pray? It was because He knew what was coming for Him. And He also knew that without praying to God to receive the strength and courage He needed to face what was coming, that dark hour of dying on the cross, He would fail. So, though He was tired, He put Himself in a prayer position that was suitable for Him in that hour. He fell with His face to the ground and prayed. And when He was done, He was ready to do the will of God and save humanity.
His disciples, however, were not ready when they finally woke up. So, they all ended up running away and abandoning Him when He needed them the most. Why was that? It was because they did not pray, as they had been told to do. And why did they not pray? Was it just because they were tired? No! Rather, it was also because they did not understand the magnitude of what was coming for them.
See, regardless of how tired you are, if you sense danger where you are, you will not sleep over it, if you are not a mentally or physically lazy person. Instead, you will take whatever steps you can take to keep yourself safe. In like manner, if the Spirit of God is warming your heart to pray in your moment of tiredness, even if you don't know why, you will be doing yourself much good to overcome your tiredness at such times and pray. How? Take a position that will make sleeping difficult or impossible for you. Then you will be able to pray and prevent what is coming or pray to receive from God what you need to make yourself ready for whatever is coming.
Mind you, it is not every time that the Lord will require us to pray in our moment of tiredness. Jesus once slept off in the boat because He was extremely tired. He did not use that time to pray but to sleep, even though an unexpected danger was coming for Him and the disciples. And when the trouble came and He was woken up to face it, He just spoke peace into the situation and it was settled. (Cf. Mark 4:35-41)
So, I am not saying that you should not sleep or rest at all when you are tired, just because you want to pray about some emergency problems you might encounter. Sleep and rest well when you are tired. But if the Spirit of God is moving your heart to pray about any matter, then, overcome your tiredness and pray. Then, if you can see for yourself that some trouble is coming for you, be sure to pray about it, regardless of how tired you may be.
Finally, let me give you a word of counsel, which is that you are to always do your best not to overwork yourself anytime you have a prayer schedule to keep. You know you are going to be having a church prayer meeting or a prayer moment for yourself. Then watch how you use your body, so that it will be ready for that moment. There is nothing praiseworthy in coming for a prayer meeting that you have always been aware of and dozing off in it. If you must come for it in your tiredness, then, come with a readiness to overcome your tiredness, so that you can actually pray.
And may God furnish you with sufficient strength and determination through His Spirit to always be faithful in prayer, in Jesus' name. Amen.
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COMMIT YOUR WAY TO HIM 13/01/2024
“Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” (Ps 37:5-6NIV)
All through the Scriptures, we are taught the significance of giving ourselves to the practice of righteousness and also the necessity of engaging ourselves only in honest and legitimate labour. But if God Himself does not make our devotion to these things pay off, they will not amount to anything. Remember that He once said this through Malachi: “And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” (Mal 3:18NIV)
Did you see that? It is God's intention that life will not be the same for both the righteous and the ungodly. It is His intention that when people look at both of them, they will be able to see a clear difference – they will see that it pays to walk in God's righteousness and to be doing only those things that please Him. But who will bring about this difference and also make it obvious for all to see? It is God Himself.
He once said to Pharaoh, “I will make a distinction between my people and your people.” (Cf. Ex 8:23) So, only He possesses the power to make a distinction between His righteous people and the ungodly. And if He does not make this distinction, it will not show, regardless of how devoted we are to righteous and holy living.
All of this is why we must not put our trust in our devotion to practising righteousness but in God Himself, who gives us righteousness as a gift and who alone is able to make our righteousness count in this godless world. And this exactly is what David is talking about in our opening bible text. He says commit your way to the Lord and trust in Him. In other words, don't rely on anybody or anything but God alone to make your way prosperous in life. Don't even rely on yourself, your righteousness, brilliance, hardwork or influence to make your way successful. Instead, rely on God alone.
Now when you rely on Him alone, as David further points out, He will do this: “He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” Did you see that? If we will entrust our lives and all that concerns them to God, He will make them shine brightly. Yes, He will see to it that all our righteous steps and legitimate activities are recognised, honoured and even rewarded in life. And isn't that what you want for your life? That is what I want for my life, especially this new year that we have just come into. So, I will give my all to Him and trust Him to make it count. I admonish you, my friend, to also do likewise, and you will be amazed at how men will be drawn to God through your life in the year.
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THE SOLUTION IS NOT IN SHILOH 12/01/2024
“Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the LORD's temple. In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD.” (1Sam 1:9-10NIV).
We are not told exactly how many years Hannah spent in her marriage as a barren woman. But since her mate, Peninnah, was said to have had children at the time, we would probably be counting at least six years, even if all Peninnah had were two kids. Now we know how crazy things could be today for a woman that has been married for some years, even if it is only two years, and is still without a child. Family members, friends, colleagues at work and neighbours would start having all kinds of thoughts about them and suggestions for them. And if the situation lingers for more years, hostilities of various kinds may set in against them from various people.
Let us, then, imagine how hard things must have been for Hannah at that time. Though we are not told whether her husband's family members were hostile to her nor not, we are, at least, told that Peninnah did not make things easy for her at all. She harassed her year after year, deliberately provoking her and irritating her because of her barrenness. She was, in fact, so shameless about it that she would even provoke this woman each time they went to the house of God in Shiloh until she would start weeping and refusing to eat. And there was nothing her husband or any man of God in Shiloh could do about it. (Cf. 1Sam 1:3-8)
Now Shiloh, at that time, was indeed a place of worship for the Israelites. That was because the Tabernacle, housing the Ark of God's covenant, was there. But Shiloh was not God. Therefore, going to Shiloh would not readily do anybody good or solve anybody's problem. What would do those who went to Shiloh at that time good, then, was their devotion to seeking the face of God.
As we see in Hannah's account, though she went with her husband to Shiloh every year for worship, her situation of barrenness did not change. On the contrary, she was yearly harassed there because of it. And that is to let us know that it is not new for people to be harassed in their places of worship and by those who ought to be their brethren. So, if you are being harassed by your brethren because of certain challenges you are faced with, don't lose heart. You will not be the first to experience that. And you surely will not be the last to experience it, if Jesus tarries.
In any case, a year came when Hannah realised that coming to Shiloh was not what would solve her problem but talking to the God that they were going to Shiloh to worship. So, that year, she decided to approach God herself and to talk to Him about her predicament. And did God answer her or not? He did. He answered her that same day. And in the course of year, she was already with her first baby.
What is this teaching us? It is that we are not to put our trust in any place of worship but in God, who is forever to be worshipped by us. Places of worship are places of worship and not God. And places of worship can change any time, based on life's circumstances. For example, Shiloh was the place where the Israelites went to worship God when they just got to the Promised Land. But later God abandoned the place and chose Jerusalem instead of it. Why? It was because of the wickedness of the people there. (Cf. Ps 78:60; Jer 7:12)
Also, centuries later, Jerusalem too and the temple there were abandoned by God (Jer 7:12-15). Why? It was because of the people there. And though God showed mercy to His people and allowed them to return to their land and to rebuild His temple there, when our Lord Jesus eventually came, He made it clear to His disciples that God was not someone that we could localise His worship. God is too great to be confined to any place of worship, which is something He has been saying to His people all along. He is a God that is everywhere and that fills everywhere. Therefore, anyone who will worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. In other words, they must be reaching out to Him with their heart and in their heart, regardless of where they may be. (Cf. 2Chro 6:18; Isaiah 66:1-2; John 4:21-24)
So, where we are or go to worship God now does not count at all. What count is the heart with which we are reaching out for Him. And remember that He has said that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He also said that if any two or three of us would come together in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, they will find Him actively present with His power among them.
If we, then, want to be receiving from Him, this is what we must keep in mind: God can be reached and His power accessed wherever we are. And if we will not reach out for Him in prayer for whatever we need, our going to Jerusalem or Shiloh won't do us much good. That is because the solution we need is neither in Shiloh nor in Jerusalem but in God, who is forever with us and instantly available to us.
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IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT TALKING TO GOD 11/01/2024
“And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” (Matt 6:7-8NIV)
Did you see that? There is nothing we want to ask of God that He does not know already. There is nothing that we need that He is not aware of. That is because He is omniscient – He is all-knowing. (Cf. Ps 147:5; Rom 11:33)
So, our prayer does not and cannot give God any new information about us or about our needs. He knows everything already. This is why our Lord Jesus warns against handling prayer like a mantra. God is not deaf or ignorant. Therefore, it is insulting to say the same words over and over again to Him when we are praying. That kind of prayer method will not produce the results we think it will produce.
See, prayer is a way of receiving what God has already provided. Therefore, what we need in order to be effective in prayer is to know what God has provided, which we can claim or receive through prayer. That being the case, we are the ones that need to be informed, as far as prayer matters are concerned, not God. Yes, we are the ones that need to be informed about the things we can pray to God for and how we are to pray for them and receive answers.
This, of course, makes prayer a communication thing. It is not just about talking to God but also about listening to God, having Him talk to us. Unfortunately, this is not the way many of us take prayer. We think we are the ones that should be doing all the talking. God only needs to keep quiet and wait for us to give Him every piece of our minds. Then He can now run ahead and begin to make happen whatever we want. And when He does not do this, and He never does, we get angry with Him and start threatening Him or we get sober and start begging Him.
But prayer is never meant to be like that. It is meant to be a dialogue between us and God. In fact, the one who always initiates this dialogue is God Himself. Everything always starts with Him. Remember that He created us. So, He knows us better than we know ourselves and also knows our needs better than we know them. Our job, then, is to give ourselves to learning from Him what our true needs are. That way, we will be able to always offer prayers that He will surely answer. And I pray that He will fill your heart every day of this new year with revelations of what you truly need, so that you will not give yourself to pursuing or seeking things that will not profit your life.
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HE WILL PERFECT ALL THAT CONCERNS YOU 10/01/2024
My prayer for you today is that the good Lord, who has safely brought you into this year, will perfect everything that concerns your life in the year, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
The bible shows us that our God is a God of perfection. So it is not in His nature to start something and not finish it. Once He lays His hands on a project, He will definitely bring it to completion without fail. And the moment He assures anybody of His commitment to a cause, He will certainly see that person through and give him good success.
For instance, when Jacob was leaving his father’s house for Padan Aram, the abode of Laban, his uncle, the Lord came to him and said, “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Gen 28:15NIV)
Just imagine that! First, God promised that young man that He would be with him and stick with him in all his endeavours. Second, He promised that He would not leave him until He had fulfilled His promises concerning him. And do you know that God kept His word? Yes, He did! He stuck with Jacob in all his ways, kept all the promises He had made to him and safely brought him back to his father’s house, a fulfilled man (Gen 32:10 & 35:2-3).
Now it is this same God that we are dealing with. He has been the one responsible for our joy, peace, progress, happiness and success in all the years we have gone through in life. And I want to assure you now that He will never leave or forsake us till He accomplishes every one of His plans for us for this year. We only need to keep walking in the light of His word, and everything that concerns our lives will be fully perfected (Ps 138:8).
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THE TRUE MEANING OF GLORY 09/01/2024
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” (Rom 8:29-30NIV)
Just imagine the series of gracious things that happened to us when we answered God’s call: we were justified and were also glorified. We are not going to be glorified, according to Paul; we have already been glorified by God. All we need now is to learn how to climb the ladder of glory.
Now I am aware there are Christians who go from one place to another, seeking their lost glory. Some have even been told that their glory has been caged by some wicked demons in some invisible and dangerous dungeons. So, they are labouring hard now to see such glory released.
But that is nothing but a product of terrible ignorance, ignorance of what the glory of a Christian is. See, God’s people need to understand that they do not have any glory of their own. According to the scriptures, the only glory the Christian has is the glory of our Lord Jesus Himself, the very glory that places us on the same platform He is before God the Father, the very glory that makes it possible for us to live our lives as He lived His own life here on earth. (John 17:22-23)
Now the glory of Jesus is simply an outward manifestation of the life of the Father that is in Him. In the same vein, our glory as Christians does not consist in the abundance of the things we have, but in the outward manifestation of the life of Jesus that is in us; for we no longer have any life of our own—Jesus is now our life. (Luke 12:15; Col 3:4)
Therefore, a glorious life, as far as God is concerned, is that life that is giving expression to the virtues of the Lord Jesus. And the more a life gives expression to the virtues of Jesus the more glorious that life is before God.
Armed with this understanding, then, you can see that our glory is not something that can be stolen by any witch or wizard; it is not something that can be caged by any demon of darkness. The only ones that can prevent the effulgence of this glory are you and me. We are the only ones that can prevent or limit the manifestation of the life of Jesus in us. And how do we do that? We do so by not fixing our gaze on Him; we do so by not fixing our eyes on His word.
If we truly want to keep moving up on the ladder of God’s glory in our lives, if we truly want to walk everyday in realms of greater glory, then, we must learn to fix our hearts and minds on the word of the Lord to practise it. As we do so, we will see our lives being transformed moment by moment by the Spirit of the Lord to give greater expressions to the virtues of Jesus. And that is the way we move from glory to glory (2Cor 3:18).
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VICTORY EVERY STEP OF THE WAY 08/01/2024
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ…” (2Cor 2:14NIV)
Two important truths are communicated to us in that statement. The first is that life in Christ is a life of Triumph from first to last. A life that is lived by itself, apart from Christ, may appear to be triumphant on the surface. But in the end, it will be clearly revealed as a life of defeat.
The second truth expressed to us in that statement is that God is the one responsible for this life of triumph in Christ. Paul says God leads us in a procession of triumph in Christ. And what does that mean?
First, it means that God is the one responsible for the victory we are now enjoying and celebrating; our procession is not a procession of an army going to battle but that of an army returning in victory. God, in Christ Jesus, has already won the victory over satan, sin and the world for us—ours is just to enjoy that victory now. Second, it means God is the one dictating the path we follow in this life of triumph and the pace at which we move in that path.
Therefore, for us to live everyday, enjoying the blessings of the victory God has won for us in Christ, we must all keep our position in the procession that He is leading; we must keep in step with Him and not break ranks. It is the measure to which we follow God and keep in step with Him that we will enjoy the victory He has obtained for us.
Well, there is already victory in Christ Jesus for us over all the evils of this new year. We only need to yield ourselves to the leading of the Spirit of God through the word, and we will see ourselves enjoying all the benefits of Christ’s victory every step of the way.
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I HAVE HEARD THAT BEFORE 07/01/2024
As we begin our journey through this new year, I want to warn you of the danger of treating the word of God with undue familiarity. What I am saying is that we must not treat anything God says to us with an attitude of ‘I have heard that before’, or ‘That is not new’, or ‘What is so special about that?’ That kind of attitude will only make ‘Sons of Eli’ of those that possess it.
Have you ever bothered to find out how Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, ended up being referred to by God as ‘Sons of Belial’? These young men were raised up within the premises of the Sanctuary of God to be priests in Israel. They were instructed in the laws of God and in instructions pertaining to God’s worship. Yet, concerning them, the bible says, “…they had no regard for the Lord.” (1Sam 2:12NIV)
That means they didn’t care at all about what God thought of what they were doing. And that was why it was convenient for them to treat the Lord’s offerings with contempt and sleep around with the women that were serving within the premises of God’s sanctuary among the people. And don’t we hear of very similar things today? We do! (Cf. 1Sam 2:12-17 & 22-25)
Well, the question is, “What went wrong with these men?” I will tell you. They got too familiar with the things of God. They heard God’s instructions so much that it stopped making sense to them. But these were the same instructions Samuel, who lived together with them in the same place, heard that gave him life. They were the same instructions that he had that enlightened him about the true nature of God and made him increase in favour with God and with men. (Cf. 1Sam 2:26 & 3:21)
What is my point? My point is that we must never treat the word of God as a common thing. Even if He brings us the same instructions again and again this year, we must never treat them with undue familiarity. That is the only way our lives will be truly and thoroughly cleansed of all forms of impurities, and we will be much fruitful and productive to the glory and praise of God.
Now I look forward to enjoying the blessings and goodness of God together with you this year. Let us just keep walking with Him, and we will keep walking without fear.
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BE FULLY AVAILABLE 06/01/2024
As we begin this new year, do not have any excuse for not being wherever God wants you to be and for not doing whatever He wants you to do. And what that simply means is that you must not have any excuse for not making yourself fully available to serve God’s righteous purposes, as far as this new year is concerned.
Now you know God is never going to force us to serve Him or to do His bidding. Yes, He has the power to force us to do as He wishes. But it is not in His character to do so. Look at the way He addressed men like Moses, Gideon and Jeremiah. Look at His patience and understanding in dealing with them and their excuses. And even though He had the power to force them to do what He wanted, He did not. Instead, He encouraged, inspired and emboldened them to get on His side and do His bidding. (Cf. Ex 3-4:17, Judges 6:1-24, Jer 1:4-19)
But someone may say, “Wait a minute. Haven’t you read about Jonah? Did God not force him to do His will?” No, God did not force Jonah to do anything. Read the book of Jonah carefully, and you will see that what God did was to teach Jonah and us that there was no way we could reject His will and not get into trouble. Yes, what He did was to teach us that any time spent away from doing His bidding could only produce fruitless labour or certain destruction for us. And Jonah learnt these lessons and repented. That was why he was given another chance to please God. (Cf. Jonah 1-3)
Now God still functions in this same way today. He still encourages, inspires and emboldens people to serve Him. He does not use the way of force to get them to do His bidding. And that is because He wants our acts of obedience to Him to arise out of our faith in Him and love for Him.
The point I am making is that God wants us to obey Him because we trust Him. He wants us to obey Him because we believe that whatever He tells us to do is righteous and good for us and humanity, even when we do not comprehend what He is doing.
Also, God wants us to obey Him because we love Him and want to bring Him pleasure, even when it is not convenient for us or when doing so might hurt us or others. And remember He is the first to love us, and He will never ask us to do anything that will not ultimately be for our good.
So, if you truly trust God and love Him, then, you will make yourself fully available to serve His purpose this year. And you will do this anytime, anywhere and in any place. This, of course, will be profitable for you, for God will not forget your works of faith or labour of love. He will surely reward you. (Cf. Heb 6:10)
And remember, as I earlier pointed out, any time spent away from doing God’s bidding can only produce fruitless labours and certain destruction (Is 55:2). Therefore, be wise, my friend; be wise. And may the Spirit of God strengthen you accordingly, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a lovely day.
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MAY IT NOT BE HIDDEN FROM YOU 05/01/2024
“As Jesus came near Jerusalem, he saw the city and cried for it, saying, "I wish you knew today what would bring you peace. But now it is hidden from you.” (Luke 19:41-43NCV)
As we begin a new year, it is normal for every sane person to desire, plan, labour and even pray to live a life of peace and prosperity. And I want to believe that you, my friend, are one of those sane persons that want to live a life of rest, peace and prosperity this year. The question, however, is, “Do you know what steps or things to do to live the kind of life you are dreaming to live this year? Do you know what things will bring you peace and prosperity in the year?”
The Lord Jesus, in our opening text, cried for the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem because they did not know what would bring them peace. Without doubt, at the time that the Lord said those words, the people of Jerusalem wanted peace for themselves. They wanted prosperity, progress and advancement for their land. And they definitely wanted to be free from the bondage of the Romans, who were their overlords at that time.
However, as the Lord pointed out, they did not know what to do to enjoy or experience the kind of life they wanted; it was hidden from them. And when a man does not know what will translate to peace and prosperity in his life, he will get himself involved in all kinds of things that will sap his strength and take away whatever little rest he has from him.
Now let me quickly give you an example. In the book of Genesis, chapter 20, we are told that the entire household of Abimelech, king of Gerar, was barren, for the Lord had shut down every womb in it. (Cf. Gen 20:18) And why did the Lord do that? It was because Abimelech had taken Sarah, Abraham's wife, for himself.
Actually, Abimelech did what he did because Abraham did not tell him the whole truth about his relationship with Sarah. Yet, that was not a valid excuse for him. He should have thoroughly investigated the authenticity of what he was told before taking Sarah in. Sarah at that time, according to the Scriptures, was already an old woman, who had in fact passed the age of childbearing, even though she still retained her beauty. (Cf. Gen 18:11) So, it was really impulsive and irresponsible of Abimelech to believe that she was without a husband. Unfortunately, many people today still make similar mistakes, as far as relationship matters are concerned.
In any case, barrenness settled upon this king's household, and he did not know that it was because of his own error of judgment that it was so. And I want to believe Abimelech and his people must have, for a while, sought and applied different kinds of remedies for their barrenness without getting any result. And if the Lord had not appeared to make known to him what the problem was and the solution to it, they all would have perished in their misery. (Cf. Gen 20:1-18)
It is on this basis, then, that I enjoin you to pray to God that the things that will make for peace and prosperity in your life will not be hidden from you this year. And pray that the things you need to do to get out of whatever rut, misery or misfortune you are in at the moment will be made known to you by God. That way, you will carry on this year in absolute rest and total freedom from everything that has troubled and plagued you. It is well with your soul.
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TAKE THE YEAR TO INCREASE IN FRUITFULNESS AND USEFULNESS 04/01/2024
Regardless of what circumstances or situations we brought with us into this New Year, there is a need for us to first be grateful to God for the privilege of being among the living at this moment. We are not alive because we are better than those who are not. The fact is that there are better men and women than us who are no longer alive today. So, being alive is a privilege we ought to be thankful to God for.
But then, being alive also confers some form of responsibility on us. That is because God has not kept us alive so that we can just exist and do with our lives as we please. Rather, He has kept us alive so that we can live for Him and make our lives available for Him to do more of His good works. This is what Paul means when he says, “If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me…” (Phil 1:22NIV)
Can you see that? Being alive should result in increase in fruitfulness, productiveness and usefulness for us. It is should not result in more fruitlessness or uselessness for us. And this is the mindset God wants us to have about living. He does not want us to waste the privilege He is giving us to live on activities that will ultimately result in emptiness. But that is exactly what will happen, if we will not take Him seriously in our lives, as we journey through the year. What our lives will eventually produce will be emptiness, something useless to God and unprofitable for mankind.
Now I am sure that is not what you want. You really don't want to find out any time during this New Year that you have been wasting the privilege of living on irrelevancies, non-essentials or barren activities. And this is why you need to hand your life over to God this year and allow Him to teach and guide you into fruitful, productive and profitable living.
David, in one of his Psalms, says, “Depend on the LORD; trust him, and he will take care of you. Then your goodness will shine like the sun, and your fairness like the noonday sun.” (Ps 37:5-6NCV) Look at that. If we will cast ourselves on God this year, He will certainly take care of us. And He will so take care of us that our goodness, usefulness, profitableness and beauty will increase and become evident to many more people in our world.
Which, then, is it going to be? Are you going to give yourself utterly to God, so that He can guide you into making the best and most profitable use of this new year? Or are you going to stick to your own ways and make a waste of everything? My prayer is that your heart will be inspired and strengthened by God to make the right decision on this matter.
Have a lovely day.
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HE WILL MAKE EVERYTHING RIGHT FOR YOU 03/01/2024
“And after you suffer for a short time, God, who gives all grace, will make everything right. He will make you strong and support you and keep you from falling. He called you to share in his glory in Christ, a glory that will continue forever. All power is his forever and ever. Amen.” (1Peter 5:10-11NCV)
We ought to thank God for the great kindness He has shown us by bringing us safely into a new year. But that we have been safely brought into a new year does not mean that we did not have our own share of the trials and challenges of the year that just ended. It is even possible that some of these trials and challenges have left some bruises, wounds, sores and scars in our lives, which could be in form of pains, bitter regrets, broken relationships, loss of things or persons and so forth.
Nevertheless, we don't have to start a new year with these bruises, wounds, sores or scars in our lives. And that is because we have a God who is capable of making everything right for us. Yes, we have a God who is able to heal us and turn all the negative experiences we have had in life around for our good (Neh 13:2; Rom 8:28). And this agrees well with what Apostle Peter speaks of in our opening text. His words are, “And after you suffer for a short time, God, who gives all grace, will make everything right. He will make you strong and support you and keep you from falling.”
Now look at that. First, he says that whatever suffering we experience in this life is only for a short time, that is, when you compare it to suffering throughout eternity. Then he goes on to tell us not to worry, even if we have to suffer, especially because of satanic attacks. And that is because God, the Father of all grace, will make everything right for us. That means He will perfect or mend everything that has gone out of place in our lives and restore us. And He will do that for us right here on earth.
Not only that, Peter tells us that God will bring strength to us where we have become weak, support us where we are already fainting and keep us from falling. That means He will rise to work on us, in us and for us, to the end that we are not destroyed by whatever failures, betrayals, losses and disappointments we may have experienced in life but are lifted above them and established in His rest.
But why will God do these things for us? Two reasons! The first is that He cares about us and is very much concerned about our welfare (1Pet 5:7). The bible tells us that we do not have a God who is out of touch with our reality; we do not have a God who cannot relate to our life's experiences. Rather, the God we have is one who knows everything about us, good or bad, and who has experienced all that we may ever experience in life. So, He is able to truly help us, care for us and comfort us in all our troubles. (Cf. 2Cor 1:3-4; Heb 2:17-18 & 4:15)
The second reason God is willing to make things right for us is that He has the power to do so. Notice that Peter in that text tells us that all power is God's forever and ever. Yes, all power, might and dominion are His. So, once He decides that He is going to do something, nothing can stop Him. Human beings may be stopped or prevented from helping us, even when they truly care about us. And that is because they are limited in power, wisdom and resources. But that is not so with God. He is not limited in any way, except we ourselves set limits for Him in our lives. And as I mentioned earlier, He is also willing to set right for us all the things that have gone out of place in our lives and settle us down in His love, joy and peace.
Remember Naomi and Ruth. Remember the way the Lord comforted, restored and settled them (Ruth 1-4). And remember that Samaritan woman whose life was nothing but a wreck, having being through five different marriages. Remember how her life began to receive healing, restoration, peace and vitality the same day she met the Lord (John 4:1-42). We also can experience the Lord in similar and even bigger ways. Let us, therefore, cast ourselves upon Him in prayer, as we come into this new year. I mean that we should cast all of our worries, agonies, pains and hurts upon Him, so that He can deal with them for us and put our lives back in order.
Not only that, let us let go of whatever anger, bitterness, jealousy, resentment and passion for vengeance we may have against others, especially those who have hurt us in one way or the other. Job had to do that at some point in his life in order to experience restoration (Job 42:7-17). We also must do so in order to experience God's perfection and restoration this new year. It is well with your soul.
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THEY ARE YOUR VERY LIFE 02/01/2024
“…Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you — they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess." (Deut 32:46-47NIV)
As we see in our opening bible text, all the things we have in the bible, the sermons we listen to and the Christian literature we read are not just some idle and meaningless words; they are our very life, and by them we will walk in victory over the devil and his cohorts and also reign in this life. Let us, then, learn to give attention to these words; let us learn to receive understanding from the Holy Spirit on how to apply these words to our lives and ways. And it will always be well with us.
Now that was how our Lord Jesus Christ related to God's word. So, satan was never able to successfully mislead, misguide or harass Him. For example, when the devil came to tempt Him after His baptism by John, He knew the specific word of God to use to protect Himself and shut him up. So, He would not misuse the power of God that was at work in Him or foolishly test God's commitment to protecting Him or place a higher value over all the kingdoms of the world than God. Not only that, He would not allow satan to continue to mess up with His mind – He drove him away, knowing also from the Scriptures that He had the authority to do so. (Cf. Matt 4:1-10)
In a nutshell, the Gospels are filled with accounts of how the Lord Jesus Christ applied the word of God under different circumstances of life to drive out satan and his demons and also to silence their human agents. He would not do anything that was contrary to the word of God; neither would He accept anything that is not consistent with the word or will of God.
We also must learn to function in like manner. Yes, we also must learn to treat our lives as ones that are designed to be a fulfilment of the word of God. That way, we will stop doing things that are not consistent with God's word and stop embracing things that are not in agreement with what He has said.
However, we must also understand that all this will never happen, if we are ignorant of what God's word says about specific issues of our lives. So, I am going to ask you, “How much do you know of what God says about the issues of your life? Do you know what He says about your new birth, holiness, salvation, deliverance, health, prosperity, protection, peace and joy? Do you know what He says about your relationship with men, the world, satan, demons and the angels?”
Well, I will tell you this: if you don't know what God says about these things and how to apply them to specific issues of your life, satan and his demons will rubbish your life and make it miserable every time they get a chance to do so. They will literally impose on you things that God never originally designed for your life, and you will accept them, thinking that you have no choice.
But, beloved, you can actually choose to live differently, for the word of God says so. Yes, you can choose to live a victorious life all the remaining days of your life. You can choose life instead of death. You can choose health instead of illness. You can choose good success instead of defeat. You can choose to walk in righteousness instead of sin. All you need is to look into God's word to see what has been said about your life, embrace it and then begin to apply it. And I pray that you will be daily loaded with sufficient strength and determination to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a blessed day.
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WATCH HOW YOU CELEBRATE 01/01/2024
Welcome to another year of your life. And my prayer for you is that the year will no pass and end without you taking hold of every beautiful thing God wants you to have in it, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Now I want to admonish you to be careful how you handle your happiness and joy this season of celebration. And I am saying this because many don’t really know how to celebrate God’s goodness and kindness to them; they don’t know how to celebrate their success, progress, accomplishments, length of days or soundness of body. This is why, all in the name of celebration, they get drunk, lose themselves in sexual impurity or gluttony or squander their hard-earned savings on irrelevancies and nonessentials.
But if you profess to know the Lord, you must not be like them. Instead, in this season of celebration, you must be careful to handle God’s kindness and goodness to you with a heart of gratitude, wisdom and generosity. This is so that you won’t get involved in any sort of celebration that may end in regrets and gnashing of teeth.
I am sure you remember the story of King Belshazzar of bible days. This man, along with wives and nobles, got so happy with himself one day that he got drunk, using articles sacred to the living God, and began to praise the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone. And that same night, he lost his life and kingdom because he would not acknowledge and praise God, who owned him and all that he had. (Cf. Dan 5)
Also, we are told in the bible of one Herod that got so happy that he ended up killing a man of God while celebrating. Of course, he was not happy to do what he did. He did it anyway and made himself an example of what can happen to people when they won’t learn to celebrate with wisdom, caution and consideration. (Cf. Matt 14:1-11) And how many have killed themselves or others or gotten into some big problems while celebrating? The number keeps rising every day. And my prayer is that none of us will add to it.
Nevertheless, we must be careful with ourselves and also be kind enough to warn all those who are close to us to mind themselves in their celebration this season. We should not get careless, reckless or irresponsible in any way. True celebration does not function in such ways. Rather, it functions with gratitude to God and with consideration for others and generosity to them.
In closing, let me leave you with the words of James, which say, “Is anyone happy, let him sing songs of praise.” (Cf. James 5:13) So, if you are happy this season, praise God for everything. And remember also that it is not everyone that is happy at this time. So, watch out for such unhappy individuals and see what you can do through the help of God to make them happy. May the Lord continue to keep you safe and happy.
Happy new year.
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BE READY FOR ACTION GOD 31/12/2023
Dear friend, I am pleased to welcome you to this Sunday, which is not just the last Sunday of the year but also the last day of the year. And my prayer is that you and all that is yours will be safely brought into the New Year we all have been looking forward to, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
As we are about to move into a New Year by the power of the Spirit of God, I want you to get yourself ready to walk with God more consistently and to serve Him more faithfully. Our Lord Jesus once said to His disciples, “Be ready for action, and have your lamps burning.” (Luke 12:35GW) Now I would not know what you are getting yourself ready to do in the New Year. Maybe you are getting yourself ready to marry, to get another certificate, to buy a new car, to build a new house, to start a new business or to get a new job. And there is nothing wrong in getting yourself ready for any of these things. But if you are not getting yourself ready to know God better and to serve Him more faithfully and diligently in the New Year, you are already missing the very thing you need to do in order to experience overflowing joy.
So, my admonition to you is this: before you start getting yourself ready for anything in the coming year, first of all focus on getting yourself ready to be all that God will want you to be and to do all that He will want you to do. Remember that the Lord says, “But first, be concerned about his kingdom and what has his approval. Then all these things will be provided for you.” (Matt 6:33GW) Can you see that? The first thing you should be busy about getting right is your relationship with God. And when you have done that, as you should, He Himself will take care of all of your concerns and interests, for He cares about you. (Cf. 1Pet 5:7)
Now, as you get yourself ready in the manner I have described above, be careful not to waste your time dwelling on the failures of this year or the successes of it, except in matters of thanksgiving to God or in matters of self-evaluation. That is because whatever you did this year or did not do is already history. It is time to move forward.
Paul, in one his letters, says, “I do not mean that I am already as God wants me to be. I have not yet reached that goal, but I continue trying to reach it and to make it mine. Christ wants me to do that, which is the reason he made me his. Brothers and sisters, I know that I have not yet reached that goal, but there is one thing I always do. Forgetting the past and straining toward what is ahead, I keep trying to reach the goal and get the prize for which God called me through Christ to the life above.” (Phil 3:12-14NCV) Look at that. Paul is not ready to dwell on the past, good or bad, for it is history already. His aim is to reach forward to take hold of that for which God called him. And he in fact goes on to say in this letter, “All of us who are spiritually mature should think this way, too…” (Phil 3:15NCV)
So, if you consider yourself mature in the things of God, you must not unduly occupy yourself with thoughts about the errors, failures or successes of the past. Instead, your main objective, as we come into a New Year, must be to be all that God wants you to be and to do all that He wants you to do. And that is not going to happen by accident. First, you have to desire to be all that He wants you to be and to do all that He wants you to do. Then you also have to strain yourself, that is, make extreme effort, as Paul says in the Scripture above, taking advantage of the grace of God, to be all that God wants you to be and to do all that He wants you to do.
Now I am confident that in the year we are moving into the Lord Himself is ready to work in us, for us and through us in ways He has never done before. All we need to do is to get ourselves ready to cooperate with Him all the way. And we will never be put to shame in any way.
Happy New Year in advance!
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TAKE TIME TO THINK AND THANK GOD 30/12/2023
As we near the end of this year, it is important that you carefully consider all the ways God has been good to you in the year, so that you may duly thank Him for them. I know that, in most cases, what people focus on in a period like this are those things they planned to do at the beginning of the year, which they have not been able to do. While nothing is wrong with evaluating your accomplishments and failures and considering what lessons you can learn from them, it is equally important that you take out time to appreciate God, your Creator and Father, who has made everything possible.
You know it is easy for us to complain and gripe because we couldn’t get in the year certain things that others who are not better than us were able to get or because we could not accomplish much in the year, in spite of our hard work and devotion. But the reason we are able to plan, succeed, fail or hope for anything better at all is that we are alive. Those who are not alive no longer have the opportunity for such things, for they have come to the end of their time here and the beginning of the eternity they used their time here to choose for themselves.
So, being alive gives us an advantage over those who are dead. And it is that we can look forward to a change of our circumstances, regardless of how horrible they may seem to us now. But if we are going to experience any change of our circumstances for the better, it is important that we first learn to appreciate God, the giver of life and of everything that is good and perfect in our lives, for how far He has brought us.
David, in one of his Psalms, shows us how to do this, when he says, “Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits — who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.” (Ps 103:1-5NIV) Look at that. David, here, praises the Lord with his whole being for His forgiveness, salvation, healing, love, compassion, goodness and fulfilment of desires. In fact, as he points out, he is not ready to overlook any of the Lord’s act of goodness or kindness to him.
Now is that to say that David, when he praises the Lord in this manner, does not have needs or things that he will want Him to do for him? No! As long as there is life in us, there will always be needs for us to meet and greater heights for us to attain. But if we have not shown any form of gratitude to God for those needs of ours that He has already met, what moral rights do we have to ask Him for other things? Consider how we too treat people have not been grateful to us for the things we have done for them. We usually don’t want to do more for them, regardless of how close or related they may be to us. And if we, with all our imperfections, can reason like that, how much more God?
In any case, God has said, “He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God." (Ps 50:23NIV) Did you see that? The one who thanks the Lord for what He has done for him prepares the way for himself to witness more and more of His glory. So, instead of spending all the time you have this year end to worry over your failures and lack, spend it to consider all the beautiful things you have had from God in the year and to thank Him for them. Then watch how He will turn things around for your good, even before the year ends, and cause you to witness His salvation and glory.
Do have a wonderful day.
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THE LORD'S COMMENDATION 29/12/2023
“For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.” (2Cor 10:18NIV)
As this year is about to come to its end, it is most likely that you are one of those who are taking stock to see how they have fared in the year. And that is a pretty good thing every right-thinking person ought to be doing. What I wouldn't know, however, is the measures you are using to rate or score yourself.
Now if you are not using God's measures or standards, which are clearly revealed in the Scriptures, to see how you have fared this year, you are missing it. And it does not matter what result you come up with, good or bad, it won't count for something.
In our opening text, Paul tells us that it isn't the man who commends himself who is approved; rather, it is the man whom the Lord Himself commends. That means it is not our judgment of how we have functioned this year that matters; it is the Lord's judgment. And it is not other people's judgment of how we have fared this year that counts; it is the Lord's judgment.
See, only the Lord can tell whether we have failed this year or have passed; only He can tell whether our lives have been a blessing or a waste. If we have lived this year, trusting God and taking Him seriously in everything, then, according to the Scriptures, we have His approval, even though it may seem to all men that we have failed. (Cf. Heb 11:1-2)
But if we have lived this year, functioning in self-dependence, self-sufficiency and self-centeredness, ignoring God at will or acting as though He never existed, then, we have totally missed it, even though all men think we have excelled. It means we don't have God's commendation, and we have wasted the year.
That may not mean much to you now. But I am sure it will when you come face to face with the Lord on that GREAT DAY. Then everything you have done will be laid plainly before you and before Him. I mean, you will see the worth of everything yourself, even without the Lord saying a word. And I tell you, my friend, you and I will not like to find out that everything we have done has been a waste at that time; for it will just be too late to make any changes, corrections, adjustments or amendments.
Now I am bringing this up because, if you are reading this piece, it means it is not yet too late for you to begin to live in such a way as to win God's approval, not just on a yearly basis, but also on a moment basis. And even if, on the basis of what the Scripture teaches, you realise that you have wasted this year and, perhaps, the ones before, it is still not too late to return to God and learn how to win His approval.
King Hezekiah said to the Israelites in the days that he was king over Judah, “…The LORD your God is kind and merciful. He will not turn away from you if you return to him.” (2Chron 30:9NCV) And I want you to know that these words are still true today. If you will return to the Lord right now, He will not turn away from you but receive you, regardless of how wasteful you have been with your life and years.
Remember that the father of the prodigal son did not turn away from him when he came back home; instead, he received him with joy and warmth. Why? It is because, all along, he had been praying and desiring that his boy would come back home. (Cf. Luke 15:11-24) In the same vein, all along, God has been desiring and wishing that you would return home to Him and put an end to your waste. You don't have to waste one more year, my friend; instead, recognise the one whose commendation truly matters now and return to Him.
Now if you are willing to do that right away, you can offer this prayer: “Heavenly Father, I realise that any life lived without your participation is a waste. And that is the kind of life I have been living. But now, I don't want to live that way anymore. I want you in my life from this moment on. I want you to take charge of everything and show me how to truly win. I have been told you will not turn me back or turn away from me, should I come to you. I have come now, Father. Please, take me in; for I have come in the name of your Holy Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.”
If you offered that prayer, I want you to know that God answered you and will do just as you have requested. And if you desire to know more about how to relate to Him, you can talk to a trusted Christian neighbour or friend, or you can reach us through our online channels.
It is well with your soul.
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A SEASON FOR EVALUATION 28/12/2023
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” (Eccl 3:1NIV)
Every December, being the last month of the year, presents all of us a season to examine and evaluate ourselves to see what we have done with the year. However, while it is perfectly alright for us to see this month as a season for evaluation, we need to be careful not to evaluate ourselves according to men's standards and purposes but according to God's standards and purposes
When we evaluate ourselves according to human standards, purposes, provisions and expectations, we will either end up thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought to or more lowly of ourselves than we ought to (Judges 6:11-16; Rom 12:3; 2Cor 10:18). But when we evaluate ourselves on the basis of God's standards, purposes, provisions and expectations, we can only end up seeing ourselves as God sees us. And that will propel us to be thankful where we should be thankful, to move forward where we ought to move forward and to retrace our steps where we have missed i
So, as you take out time to evaluate your life this month, just as several others are doing with their lives, businesses and so forth, be sure you are doing so in accordance with God's expectations on your life. That way, you will be able to discover the proper way to rejoice, reflect and prepare for the future, even when it does not seem that you have accomplished anything or muc
For example, look at the life and ministry of Moses among the children of Israel. He was sent to lead them out of Egypt into the Promised Land. But then, he ended up wandering with them for forty years in the wilderness because of their unbelief. Also, he ended up being set aside from leading them into the land because he, on one occasion, yielded to their provocation and dishonoured God
Nevertheless, God did not consider Moses a failure. Instead, He said of him, “Moses is faithful as a servant in all my house.” (Cf. Num 12:7; Heb 3:5) And God said that because, apart from the one occasion in which Moses allowed his anger to make him disobey God, he did everything that He wanted him to do. In fact, he did everything He commanded him to do in accordance with His will (Ex 40). But that is not to say that everything this man did, according to the will of God, accomplished the results that he or God wanted. No, it did not. Many times, the people's arrogance and unbelief frustrated his service among them. Yet, in the sight of God and Moses himself, he was an accomplished and faithful servan
So, even if the results of your evaluation of what you have done with your life this year are not pleasant to you, don't become discouraged or disheartened. What you should be more concerned about is how consistent your life and the things you have done with it are with the expectations of God on you for the year. If you have done everything in accordance with what He wants from you, then, you need not worry, even if the results you have gotten are showing that you have failed. But if you have done everything without any form of consideration for what God requires, then, even if it looks like you have accomplished much in your eyes or in the eyes of others, you have actually accomplished nothing (Luke 16:15). And you need to cast yourself before Him now and obtain forgiveness for wasting His gift of life and of every other beautiful thing He has put at your disposal this yea
In any case, how you handle this season of evaluation will go a long way in determining the direction your life will go in the coming years, that is, if Jesus tarries. So, do it with an honest heart and in submission to God. And may He restore and set us all right wherever we may have missed it this year, so that we can move into a new year with lives that are whole and healthy for increased fruitfulness and usefulness.r.t.. h.t.. nd usefulness.
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JOURNEY MERCIES 27/12/2023
“There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions.” (Ezra 8:21NIV)
The month of December, being the last month of the year, is one in which most people usually want to be with their families, aged parents, children, grandchildren and so forth. So we can expect many more people, from the different parts of the country, to be involved in travelling this December.
Now since December is usually characterised with heavy traffic on all our roads and increased criminal activities, let us commit everyone, including ourselves, that will be involved in one trip or the other into the hands of God. Let us pray that, regardless of how long or short the distance they may cover is, the Lord will clear the way for them and grant them journey mercies.
In our opening text, for example, we find Ezra calling on his people to fast and pray to God for a safe journey for them, their children and all their possessions. These people had received permission from King Artaxerxes to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Lord's temple (Ezra 7:11-26). And they knew how dangerous and difficult their journey may be. So they needed protection, the best kind of protection they could get.
But because they had already told the king that God was able to keep safe anyone that trusted in Him, they were too ashamed to ask him for soldiers and horsemen to protect them (Ezra 8:22). Therefore, they decided to entrust their journey to the Lord, and He answered them and brought them safely into their land (Ezra 8:23).
Now we also can act likewise. We can trust God to keep all of us safe in all our trips this year end. All we need is to call upon Him, and He will answer and grant us a safe trip each time we travel. I want you to know that we or any of our people does not have to die or be maimed in any kind of accident. And we don't have to fall into the traps of wicked and unreasonable men during our trips. We only need to commit ourselves and all our trips into the mighty hands of God, and we will be sustained and kept safe. (Cf. 2Thess 3:2)
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DON’T FOLLOW THEM 26/12/2023
We live in a world that is full of wicked people, male and female, old and young, that are continually sinning against God and against humanity. These are all around us. They are in our homes, neighbourhoods, communities, schools, offices, business centres, market centres and even religious groups. And they will continue to be used by the devil to harm or hurt us. So, we must learn to be very careful in life and to always rely on God for our safety.
But apart from the fact that the wicked will, from time to time, do things that may directly or indirectly hurt or harm us, they may also want to corrupt or pollute us. What I mean is that they may want to entice us into doing the evil and corrupt things that they are doing. But we must never give in to their pressure or lies; we must never follow them.
The bible says, “My child, if sinners try to lead you into sin, do not follow them.” (Prov 1:10NCV) Can you see that? But it is unfortunate that many have already followed sinners and have been polluted and destroyed. Many have been polluted in this way by parents, siblings, family members, neighbours, school friends, office colleagues, business partners, religious brethren and even spiritual leaders. Yes, many have been foolishly or unconsciously introduced to premarital sex, extra-marital affairs, homosexuality, lesbianism, stealing, robbery, smoking, use of hard drugs, sales of hard drugs, secret societies, thuggery, swindling, sorcery, witchcraft and so forth. And they have had their lives totally ruined.
Therefore, learn to watch your relationship with all people, including your relatives and friends. And you must do your best to report to those who can help you or to stay away from anybody that is often asking you to do something that is against the will of God or that is against what our society as a whole know to be proper. Do this, regardless of how kind or nice they may seem to be to you.
Look, some people will deliberately be nice to you, giving you gifts, buying things for you, paying your school fees or taking care of your house rent. And the major reason they are doing these things is that they may have an opportunity to introduce you to wrong and wicked practices that will eventually ruin your life. Yes, they may tell you that it is because they like you or because you are so beautiful or because you are so brilliant that they are helping you. But you must never listen to them.
They may even say to you, “You don’t have to join us in doing the bad things we are doing, if you don’t feel like. Just stay with us and make sure you don’t tell anybody. That is all.” You must still not listen to them. Instead, you must stay away from them and stop receiving their gifts and help the very moment you notice that they are involved in evil practices or that they are trying to get you involved directly or indirectly in their evil ways. In fact, if it is possible, return to them whatever gifts they have given to you. That way, you will be saving yourself by God’s help from destruction and sorrows that can be avoided.
God bless you!
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WHEN YOU NEED HELP 25/12/2023
“After Job had prayed for his friends, the LORD made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before. All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the LORD had brought upon him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.” (Job 42:10-11NIV)
The story of Job, the calamities that befell him and how God restored him is one of those bible stories that we have a lot to learn from. First, it teaches us that our safety in this life is not a function of our righteousness or holiness; rather, it is a function of the love and mercy of God. So, we should never think the reason all things are going well for us and we are not faced with certain trials that others are faced with in life is that we are so good to God. If we think and function like that, then, a day may come when God will allow certain circumstances to upend our false religious philosophy, so that we may see that it is all about His love and mercy and never about our righteousness.
Another lesson for us from Job’s story is that if things should go wrong with us in any way, we should pray to God about them instead of seeking to justify ourselves. As we clearly see in the book, we do not have to do anything wrong for things to go wrong with our lives, jobs, businesses, families and so forth. Then that something goes wrong with us does not mean that God is negligent or irresponsible. It just means that Satan, our enemy, has come for us and we need to resist him, taking advantage of the armour of God that He has given to us (Eph 6:10-18; James 4:7).
But when Satan came for Job, he did not resist him at all by praying to God to put an end to his work in his life and home. Instead, he held God responsible for everything. And that was because he thought that God was always the one responsible for anything that happens to man, whether good or bad. And if God had not shown him mercy and revealed Himself to him in ways he had never known Him, he would have perished in his sufferings. So, if you are going through a bad time, don’t look for who to blame, even if you are the one to blame. That is not going to solve your problem. Instead, take advantage of the grace of God to resist the devil and end his operation in your life and affairs.
Then there is another lesson for us in Job’s story, which is revealed to us in our opening text. And it is that when we need the help of others, we should take it and not despise or waste it. As the account goes, after Job had repented of all the wrong things he said against God and had also prayed for his friends that offended him, God made him prosperous again. In fact, the account says that God gave him twice as much as he had before.
How did that happen? As we are told in our opening bible text, God used his brothers, sisters and a number of other people who had known him before to support him. They all came to him with gifts of silver and gold. So, he must have started life again with the resources they gave to him.
But where was everyone in those days that he was suffering? At least, from what we are told in the bible, only three of his friends and another young man came to stay with him and to comfort him. And they also eventually ended up becoming worthless comforters to him. But apart from them, all the other people that later came to give him gifts did not show up when he lost everything and his body began to rot away. Instead, based on his own testimony, all of them were secretly abusing and condemning him (Job 19:13-20).
What, then, made these same people come back to comfort him and to bless him with gifts? It was the favour of God. It was God that moved their hearts in ways no one could explain to seek him out and comfort and support him, so that he may rise again. But what if Job had refused their help and gifts because of the way they had treated him before? He would most likely have remained poor for the rest of his life.
God, however, had earlier ministered to him to forgive and pray for his three friends that used all the time they spent with him to insult and falsely accuse him. And it was after he did so that his healing and restoration began. So, he must have reasoned that he needed to forgive others who abandoned him as well in order for His restoration to be total. And that was exactly what happened.
In like manner, there are times that we need the help of others in order to break away from certain situations that have held us bound. And we must recognise such times and embrace whoever God sends to help or support us, regardless of who they may be. Yes, some of them may be people who have hurt us or done us harm in the past. Yet we must drop our pride and freely forgive them. Otherwise, we may just miss the help God has sent them to give to us.
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ADD CONTENTMENT TO GODLINESS 24/12/2023
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."” (Heb 13:5NIV)
What is our instruction here? It is to keep our lives free of the love of money, which is also greed, and be satisfied with what we have. Being satisfied with what we have, of course, is not synonymous with being okay with a low life. Rather, it means we are grateful for what we have and where we are in life, even though we know that we can have something better. And being grateful for where we are or what we have right now does not stop us from asking for more or working towards having more. But it will keep us from doing just about anything to have more or to be more in life.
More so, there is a reason we are told to keep our lives free of greed. And it is that God has promised to never leave or abandon us. So, even if what we have now is not sufficient, as long as God is with us, He will sure make sure that we are led to that place in life where what is not enough today becomes more than enough. And though where we are today is small for us, as long as God is with us, He will surely lead us to that spacious place where we can grow and expand without measure.
But if we allow greed in our lives, we will most likely ruin everything for ourselves before God is able to bring about the fulfilment of His purpose for our lives. So, we are warned in this way:
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.” (1Tim 6:6-7NIV)
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1Tim 6:10NIV)
Did you see that? It is not enough for us to be godly people. We must also add contentment to it. Otherwise, our greed or lack of contentment will ruin all the fruit of godliness that is in us. And as Paul shows us, we brought nothing into this world and can take nothing out of it. So, all the things that men want for themselves and are willing to kill and die for are things that they will ultimately leave in this world, however long they live.
Is it, then, wise to allow something that you are abound to leave in this world to ruin your life, home, relationships, reputation or eternity? What profit will be yours, if you gain this whole world and lose your soul? And the truth is that you cannot even gain this world. This is a world that everybody will leave behind at some point. It is a world that will ultimately be destroyed by God. Why, then, should you allow your quest for it or anything in it to ruin your life, other people’s lives or your eternity?
See, greed does not build up anything but ruins everything it touches. That is why Paul says it is the root of all evil. And don’t miss the point. Paul does not say money is the root of all evil, for money is not the root of all evil. Rather, he says the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And the love of money is of the same origin as greed or covetousness. So, whether it is money you are in love with or anything else that is not yours to have, you have opened the door of your life for Satan to work all kinds of evil through you.
Remember David. Remember that he was a godly man. Remember also that God Himself testifies that he was a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22). Yet when this man allowed greed in his life, all kinds of evil things that he never thought he could do or tolerate in his life started finding expression through him. First, it was adultery that his greed produced. Second, it made him a manipulator. He did not know when he began to work very hard towards making Uriah, the man whose wife he committed adultery with, accept a bastard child. Third, it made him a murderer. And he murdered not only Uriah but also some of his own fighting men, men who were just trying to be faithful to him and their country. (2Sam 11)
So, if you are greedy, you are a dangerous person. And no one can tell what sort of evil you will do now or in the future. This, of course, is why the word of God tells us that godliness is not enough to keep our souls from being lost; we must also add contentment to it. My prayer, then, is that you will always find in you adequate strength and determination not only to live a godly life but to also live a life of contentment.
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WHERE ARE YOU? 23/12/2023
“But the Lord God called to man, “Where are you?”” (Gen 3:9NIV)
When God called out to Adam and Eve after their sin of disobedience to know where they were, He did not do so because He did not know where they were. On the contrary, He did so because He wanted them also to see if they knew where they were and if it was where they were supposed to be.
As we all know, if someone does not agree that he is lost or is in a wrong place, he will most likely not desire or seek to leave where he is. I mean that as long as we think where we are in life is the right place for us, we may not see any need to leave there. And that is the trouble with many. They are in the wrong place. But they don't even know. They are in a place in life where they will be utterly ruined or destroyed. Yet they do not know it.
And do not misrepresent what I am saying here. It goes beyond your geographical or physical location. It even goes beyond your social environment. It has more to do with your spiritual and mental locations. Where are you living mentally? Where are you living spiritually? Are you living with God and with His truth or away from Him and His truth? Are you living in His light in your spirit and soul or are you living in darkness? Until you know where you truly are in your dealings with God, you cannot tell whether you need help or not.
At what point do people consider themselves to be lost and in need of guidance? It is at the point that they realise that they are not where they are supposed to be. And until you too realise that you are in the wrong place or where you are not supposed to be, perhaps in your marriage, finances, education, health or ministry, you will not see the need to get out of there.
Therefore, you need to know where you are. God Himself wants you to know where you are. And He is calling out to you, “Where are you? Where are you in your life? Are you really where you are supposed to be? Are you where my love and favour can reach you? Are you where my hand of salvation and healing can set you free?” But can you hear His voice? Can you hear Him calling out to you to state where you are, so that He can meet you there and help you?
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PRAY AS JESUS DID 22/12/2023
“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray…” (James 5:13NIV)
One of the things we must understand is that just because we are utterly depending on God for everything about our lives and also expressing this dependence on Him through prayers does not mean that we will never encounter any trouble in life again. It is true that learning to pray to God at all times will guarantee that certain problems will never come into our lives. But that is not to say that no problem would ever come into our lives again.
Yes, the Lord tells us to cheer up because He has overcome the world for us and is at all times making His peace available for us to embrace and enjoy. However, He is still very much clear about the fact that in this world we will have trouble. Some will come because of our own errors. This is why we need to be careful to walk in the will and wisdom of God all the time, so that we don't end up making life complicated for ourselves. (Cf. John 16:33)
Then some problems will come to us because of other people's errors or hostility, something we may not be able to do anything about, while some others will come to us because Satan just wants to shake us up. Whatever the case is, we don't need to be afraid of what trouble may come our way in this world. What we need to know is how to take advantage of all that the Lord is to us to walk in victory over every one of them, as He walked in victory over ever one of the troubles that He was faced with in life.
As we are told in the bible, our Lord Jesus Himself was tried with all kinds of challenges and problems when He was here in the world. Yet He did not fail or sin or lose at any time (Heb 5:15). Do you even know that the bible refers to Him as 'a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief'? (Cf. Is 53:3) So, He understands clearly what it means to be in trouble or in pains or what it means to be depressed, for though He is fully God, He is also fully human like us.
How, then, did He deal with His own life's troubles, trials and challenges? He dealt with them by praying to God. Paul, in the book of Hebrews, says this to us about Him: “During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” (Heb 5:7NIV) Could this be true? Well, it is true. Those who were with Him knew this to be true. They saw Him weep, at least, on two occasions (Luke 19:41; John 11:35). And they saw how, in anguish, He prayed just before He faced the death on the cross. Luke says His sweat, as He prayed, was like drops of blood falling to the ground (Luke 22:41-44).
Now I am not showing you this to say that you to must always cry, shed tears and sweat profusely every time you are praying to God about something. Read the bible, and you will see that it was not every time that Jesus sweat or cried or shed tears while praying. And while nothing is wrong with all those, for they depend on the state of your heart at the time you are praying, they are no guarantee that your prayers will be answered. If you look at the Scripture above again and carefully, you will see that it does not say that Jesus' prayers and petitions were heard because He cried loudly and shed tears. Rather, it says He was heard because of His reverent submission. That means His prayers were answered because the heart with which He offered them was right with God.
In any case, the point I am making is that when you are faced with any kind of trouble, you too, like our Lord Jesus Christ, should pray to God. That is the way of victory over any kind and every kind of trouble. And this is also Apostle James' admonition to us in our opening bible text. He says, “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray.” That means he too acknowledges the fact that a child of God can be in trouble. He does not have to be in trouble. But he can be in trouble. And if he is in trouble, what he should do is pray.
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MAY THE WAY BE CLEARED FOR YOU 21/12/2023
“Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you.” (1Thess 3:11NIV)
In the second chapter of Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians he shares briefly with them of how Satan, more than once, prevented him from visiting them (1Thess 2:17-18). Think about that. The great Apostle Paul and his fellow preachers were hindered by the devil. But how did he hinder them? Paul does not say? And why did he hinder them? It was basically to prevent this apostle and his colleagues from carrying out the will of God among the Thessalonians.
Now remember that Daniel experienced something similar, as we are told in the bible. He had offered prayers to God for understanding about some matters, and God had answered him immediately. But for twenty-one days, the angel that was supposed to bring him answers to his prayers was prevented from doing so by Satan. And it took the support of another angel, Michael, for the way to be cleared for that angel to come to him. (Cf. Dan 10:1-14)
So, there are times that God's people are hindered or prevented by the devil from carrying out the will of God or from accessing God's provisions for them. And that is one of the reasons our Lord Jesus tells us that men ought always to pray and not to give up (Luke 18:1). You know it is possible for us to become so discouraged because of satanic hindrances and opposition that we give up on God or our dreams. And when we give up like that, we are acknowledging defeat and unconsciously saying that God is not powerful enough to help us. But is it true that God is not powerful enough to help us? Or is it true that Satan has enough ability to permanently hinder us from receiving from God or from fulfilling God's purpose for our lives? You know that the answer is 'No'.
What should we do, then, when we sense that Satan is hindering or preventing us from doing the will of God or from receiving His provisions for us? We should do exactly what the Lord tells us – we should keep on praying and not give up. And one of such prayers we should be offering at such times is that which Paul offers in our opening text. As I already pointed out, at some point, this Apostle and his partners discovered that the one preventing them from getting to the Thessalonians in order to encourage and build them up in their faith was the devil. So, they began to pray that God would clear the way for them to reach these brethren and fulfil His will among them (1Thess 3:11).
Now that may sound like a prayer too simple. But prayers are not answered because they are complex and filled with many words; rather, prayers are answered because they are offered to God in faith and according to His will. So, if you sense that the reason you have not been able to do certain things you are expected to do or receive certain things that you ought to have received is that Satan is hindering you, then, begin to pray that God will clear the way for you, and He will do so.
You know it is not every time we can place our hands on the specific things that Satan is using to hinder us. There are times he uses people, policies or circumstances that are totally unknown to us to stop or hinder us. Nevertheless, there is no scheme or plot of his that is unknown to God. So, if you will ask God to frustrate him and remove his hindrances from your way, He will certainly do so. Only do not give up, as Daniel did not give up until he received the manifestation of God's answers to his prayers.
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CONGREGATIONAL PRAYERS 20/12/2023
“Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (Matt 18:19-20NIV)
The Lord describes for us in those words the key elements of congregational prayers or prayer meetings. First, it involves more than one person, that is, at least two persons. Second, those involved must be in agreement. That means they must be one in heart and one in purpose. Third, their coming together must be in the name of Jesus. And once these conditions are met, the Lord Jesus Christ says those who come together to pray in this manner can expect Him to be in their midst and God to honour their prayers.
Examples of this, of course, abound in the Scriptures. For instance, we are told of how Peter and John, having been threatened by the leaders of the Jews for healing and teaching people in the name of Jesus, went back to other members of the church and reported everything that had happened to them. Then, as Luke reports, all of them raised their voices together in prayer to God and asked Him to give them boldness to keep proclaiming His word and to stretch forth His hands and performs signs and wonders in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. And He answered them. (Cf. Acts 4:23-31)
Also, we are told in the bible of how many people, members of the church, gathered together in a woman's house to earnestly pray for Peter to be rescued from the claws of King Herod, who was planning to execute him. And God answered them and delivered His apostle from the hands of that ruthless king. (Cf. Acts 12:1-19) In addition, we see from the Scriptures how Paul and Silas prayed and sang together in their prison room in Philippi. And God answered them in a very remarkable way and set them free. (Cf. Acts 16:16-40)
In short, it is clear from what we have in the Scriptures that it was the constant practice of the people of God in those days to pray together about matters of mutual interests. And that was because they had been brought up in the word of God to do so. They were, in fact, warned by the Apostles not to give up meeting together for prayers and the teaching of God's word. And that was because there was so much, in terms of encouragement, healing, protection, deliverance and so forth, they stood to benefit from doing so. (Cf. 2Cor 1:8-11; 1Tim 2:1-8; Heb 10:25; James 5:14-16)
So, any Christian that says, “I don't need to be in any prayer meeting in order for God to answer me. I can pray to Him by myself and receive answers to whatever prayers I offer,” is making a very big mistake. He is simply cheating himself of the blessings of receiving the prayer support of other believers for him to be all that God wants him to be.
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MORE THAN COMPETENCE 19/12/2023
“The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.” (Gen 39:2-5NIV)
Evidently, from what we see in Scriptures, Joseph was a highly competent young man when it comes to administration and management, whether of people or of things. But it was not his competence that took him to the top everywhere he found himself; it was God’s favour.
As we see in our opening bible text, when his master saw his competence and success in handling whatever was committed into his hands, Joseph found favour in his eyes. Therefore, he promoted him, made him his personal attendant and put him in charge of his whole household. But do you know that Joseph’s master may as well have ignored the competence he saw in him? Do you know that he could as well have considered his competence to be a threat to his own position as the master of that house?
See, it is not everyone that is comfortable with having competent people around them. There are people that feel threatened when they have a wise and competent subordinate or colleague around them. They see them as a threat to their current position or future position. So, they become jealous and start considering how they may pull them down or how they can show everyone that they are overrated.
Remember the story of King Saul and David. Remember that even though David killed Goliath and saved the nation of Israel on one occasion, King Saul never wholeheartedly accepted him as a loyal servant. Why? It was because he was not comfortable with his competence and the fact that God was with him everywhere he went. He was not comfortable at all with the fact that the young man might just become the next king, just by watching the way he was rising in the army and becoming more and more popular among the people. (Cf. 1Sam 17&18)
So, even though he promoted David and gave him a high rank in the army, he did it reluctantly. He did it because he had no choice, for the bible tells us that all his officers and the people of Israel loved the young man because of his competence and because he fought and won their battles for them. Then, even though he made him his in-law by giving him one of his daughters, it was not because he loved and cherished him as one of his loyal men. Rather, it was because he wanted the girl to be a trap that he would use in catching and killing him.
In any case, when he could no longer bear the thought of David becoming his successor, he, in his jealousy, began to deploy all the resources at his disposal to hunt him down at every given chance in order to kill him. If David, then, had not found favour in the sight of God, he would have perished at some point in the hands of this wicked and jealous king.
Therefore, the fact that you are competent does not mean that the people that matter where you are and who, to some extent, can decide how high you rise in life or how far you go in life will respect and appreciate you. They may not at all. Instead, they may be the ones that Satan will use to prey upon your very life. This is why you need to find favour in their eyes, even though they are wicked and unreasonable. And God can make that happen.
How reasonable and kind was Potiphar? We would not know, for we are not told in the bible. But we are told that Joseph found favour in his eyes. So, even though he was a total stranger to him and not an Egyptian, he kept on promoting him until he put him charge of his whole household. And how reasonable and kind was the prison warden that this young man met in the prison, having been shamefully treated by Potiphar’s wife? We are not told in the bible. But we are told that God caused Joseph to find favour in his eyes, so much so that the man recognised his abilities and put him in charge of the entire prison facility and all that was going on there. (Cf. Gen 39)
Also, we are not told how reasonable and kind the Pharaoh of Joseph’s days was. I suspect that he must have been a highly reasonable and kind man. But then, it would take more than being reasonable and kind to make a total stranger, one just coming out from the prison, your second-in-command and ruler over your entire nation. All the odds were against Joseph in that situation. But because God’s favour was working for him, Pharaoh and his officials did not see anything wrong with putting a man with such great competence over their entire nation, even though he was not a native. (Cf. Gen 41)
So, if there is anything you need more than competence to keep rising in life, it is God’s favour. It is good to be competent. And you should labour to be known and seen as a very competent person in whatever field you are working. But competence without God’s favour will never leave its prison room. So, crave His favour. Receive His favour. And whatever abilities you have will begin to shine forth and open doors of greatness for you.
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LOOKING BEYOND YOUR LIMITATIONS 18/12/2023
LOOKING BEYOND YOUR LIMITATIONS
“During that night the LORD said to Gideon, "Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp." So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore. Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. "I had a dream," he was saying. "A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed." His friend responded, "This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands." When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, "Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands."” (Judg 7:9-16NIV
One of the lessons that the bible story of Gideon teaches is that it is not enough for God to choose and equip someone for greatness; it is also important that the person’s heart be encouraged and emboldened to take those steps that will result in their greatness. Otherwise, they may just live and die without attaining the height meant for them in lif
As the story goes, God had appeared to Gideon and told him that he was the one He had chosen and prepared to deliver His people, the Israelites, from the hands of the Midianites. The Midianites had been oppressing them for seven years. And they were so oppressive that the Israelites had to start living in hiding and also taking care of whatever little farm produce they had in hiding. (Cf. Judges 6:1-
So, when the Lord told Gideon that he had what it would take to defeat the Midianites and rescue his people, he could not see the possibility. And that was because he was looking only at his natural circumstances; he was not considering at all the fact that God, who had chosen him for the job, was able to bring about circumstances that would give him success. (Cf. Judges 6:11-1
Therefore, to get his heart ready to embrace the job and do it, God gave him a number of undeniable proofs that He was the one sending him and that He would be with him to give him success. Nevertheless, even when this man had already gathered his fighting men for battle, he was still afraid to move. Why? He was looking at the size of the enemy-armies he had to lead his three hundred men to battle against. The bible says those people were as thick as locusts and their camels were like the sand on the seashore. So, going against them was a like suicide mission to Gideon. (Cf. Judges 7:1
But then, God would not give up on him, despite the fact that he was afraid and unbelieving. Therefore, as we see in our opening bible text, He told him to discreetly go down with his servant to the camp of their enemies and listen to what they were saying. And when he got there, to his surprise, two among the enemy soldiers were talking about him and how God had already delivered their armies into his hands. Imagine that. Those people had already admitted defeat even before the battle started. And that was all that Gideon needed to move and take his place in God’s scheme of thing
In like manner, as human beings, we all have our sense or feelings of limitations in life. These feelings may be real or apparent. But they are there, and it is important that we do not ignore them but deal with them in the light of the word of God. Otherwise, we may find ourselves going for things we have no strength or capacity for and injure ourselves
On a good day, Gideon had no capacity to handle the armies of their enemies. And if it had not been God that sent and empowered him against them, what he did would have indeed been nothing but a suicide mission. But because it was God that called and sent him, divine circumstances were created to eliminate all his limitations and give him success
What is my point? It is that even though our limitations are real, if God has already chosen a place for us in life, He is able to bring about circumstances that will eliminate those limitations for us and bring us to where He wants us to be. So, while it is important for us to recognise our limitations, we must not allow them to keep us from seeing or going for those heights God wants us to attain in life
See, many are stagnant or occupying the low places of life today not because they could not be great and mighty here on earth but because all they ever see are their natural limitations. They don’t ever see what God’s divine power could accomplish for them. But the bible says that God’s divine power is for those of us who believe (Eph 1:19). And we can expect Him to unleash this power to destroy our limitations, whatever they may be, and take us to where He wants us to be in life. What we need is to continually pray to Him to open our eyes to see what heights He wants to attain in life and to also bring about those circumstances that will enable us to count on His divine power to deal with our limitations for us and bring us to where He wants us to be.
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BE FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE TO YOURSELF 17/12/2023
“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” (1Thess 4:11-13NIV)
Can you see that God does not want you to be unduly dependent on anybody or to be pushing your responsibilities to them? On the contrary, He wants you to make it your ambition not to be unduly dependent on anybody, not to be pushing your responsibilities to anybody. And that is why He wants you to work with your hands and be involved in some legitimate business or enterprise.
Now, of course, that you are working with your hands does not mean that you are going to have enough resources to take care of your responsibilities. But as long as you know what your financial responsibilities are and accept them, what will be on your mind, as a child of God, is how to legitimately get more resources to handle them and not how to push them to some other people.
See, that certain people are handling some of your financial responsibilities for you now does not mean that those responsibilities are theirs or that they will forever be handling them for you. You need to wake up, then, to the reality of these responsibilities and begin to take steps towards accepting them as yours and handling them. Otherwise, you may never stop being an unnecessary liability to the people in your life.
There are, for example, that are complaining all the time of suffering or of not making progress ever since they got married. And they think their spouses are their problems. They think their spouses are the reasons the money they earn is no longer enough for them to spend. But the problem is that they were not financially responsible to themselves and to the people in their lives in any serious way before they got married. So, now that they are married and have to pay their rents themselves, pay their utilities themselves, fuel their cars themselves and so forth, they are finding it difficult to bear the burdens.
Do you know that there are also single brothers and sisters that still depend on others to recharge their phones for them? Will this continue forever? No! Look, certain supports you are getting now will at some point definitely stop.
For example, you may today have someone carrying you in their car to work every day. Do you think that will continue forever? No! What, then, will happen when you have to start paying for your transportation from your own wallet? Will you still be financially stable? You need to factor the future into what you are doing now.
So, if you are getting a free ride today, prepare for the day it will stop and you will have to pay for your ride. Yes, prepare for the day you will get your own car and start paying for its maintenance. And you can do that by deliberately setting aside some money to support the person assisting you, even if the person is your father, mother, brother or sister. Start getting some fuel for them every week or every month. It will not just show that you appreciate them but it will also build into you a sense of responsibility to yourself.
And once you are responsible in this manner, you will not be complaining when you get married or if your social status should change in some significant ways about rent, utility bills, fuelling of your family vehicle or any other thing people complain all the time about. But if you are not financially responsible to yourself in this manner, you cannot be trusted to be financially responsible to others in your life.
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GO BACK TO HIM IN PRAYERS 16/12/2023
"O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all." (Ex 5:22-23NIV)
Moses, in our opening text, told God to His face that the matter He was supposed to be handling had gotten worse. And why did he say that? He said it so that God would tell him the next line of action. At least, he knew that it was the will of God to save His people, Israel, out of Egypt. Also, he knew that it was the will of God for him to be there in Egypt, confronting Pharaoh with His instructions. In addition, he knew that God had the power to handle the matter. What he did not understand, however, was why he would be in the will of God and things would still be getting worse. And the only way to understand that was to return to God.
Maybe you too are troubled at the moment because things seem to be getting worse or out of hand for you, though you are certain that you are in the will of God. You don't need to lose heart or give up. You just need to do what Moses did. Return to God in prayers and in His word. Ask Him to show you what you are missing or what you need to do in order to experience His victory.
In Moses' case, he was not missing anything. He did everything that he was supposed to do. Yet things went out of hand. So, it is not every time that things go out of hand for us that we are missing something or that we are out of step with the will of God for us. We can be in step with His will and still have things go out of hand for us. But how we further respond is what will determine whether we experience the victory He wants us to experience or not.
Well, Moses responded the way God would have each of us respond when we are faced with similar circumstances. He returned to Him in prayers, telling Him exactly how he felt about the matter. And God answered him, saying, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.” (Ex 6:1NIV)
Interestingly, though He said that, it wasn't still that same day that He caused Pharaoh to release the people. Everything happened in stages. And Moses had to keep going back to Him to find out what next to do before the people were eventually set free.
Again, maybe that is what you too need to do about that problem you are faced with. Maybe it is of a kind that will only be permanently solved as you patiently walk with God through the different stages of its solution. So, don't get angry with God or give up on Him. Instead, keep on going back to Him in prayers, every step of the way.
Remember that Jesus tells us that God will never be slow or sluggish in answering His people or in dealing with their requests (Luke 18:7-8). So, if we are praying to Him and nothing seems to be happening or things seem to be getting worse, we must never take it as meaning that He is not doing anything about our case. We simply need to go back to Him in prayer and in the Scriptures to learn what next or what else we need to do to keep in step with Him and ultimately experience victory. And I pray that you will be daily strengthened by the Spirit of God to do this about every situation of your life that is stubbornly hurting you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a very pleasant day.
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DON'T LET IT GO ON UNCHECKED 15/12/2023
“But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.” (1Cor 11:31-32NIV)
The end of the year really ought to be a time of reflection for everyone. It ought to be a time in which we sit down, look over all that we have done in the year and see whether they have been done on the basis of faith in God or not. As we see in Scriptures, whatever it is that we do that is not done on the basis of faith in God is sin (Rom 14:23). In other words, anything that we do that does not show that we are conscious of God and conscious of His power and readiness to reward our every action is sin.
But how do we know whether the things we are doing or not doing are founded on the basis of faith in God? It is basically by examining or checking our lives in light of the word of God. This, of course, is not something we are to wait for a year to fully run its course before we do it; rather, it is something we are to do as regularly as it can get. But supposing we have not been doing this and have instead allowed our lives to go on unchecked all through the year, it is still not too late to do so now.
You may not know this: God is checking our lives all the time for fruit that shows that we belong to Him. For instance, the Lord Jesus says this in a parable:
“A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?' 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.'” (Luke 13:6-9NIV)
Now what is the point of this parable? It is to show us that God is continually checking our lives for fruit of righteousness. And only He can actually tell how long He has been checking our lives for this and how much of it He has been able to find. But then, as the parable shows, if our lives go on like that, year after year, enjoying His goodness and yet not bringing forth the kind of fruit He wants to see, at some point, He will be left with no other choice but to end them.
To say the fact, the reason some of us have not had our lives ended by God is the intercession of some of His people in our lives. But this will not go on forever. I mean that God will not continue to hold His hand back from judging us, if we will not do what is right with His goodness and favour that we enjoy moment after moment and year after year, even if the whole world were interceding for us. At some point, He will have to act in justice and deal with our barrenness or fruitlessness. And no one can say exactly how He will judge.
All of this is why Paul, in our opening bible text, tells us not to wait for God to judge us before we judge ourselves. According to him, if we judge ourselves and set right those things that we consider to be wrong in them, God will not have to judge us again. But if we fail to check our lives and deal with the wrong things in them, He will, at some point, have to deal with them for us, using whatever means He deems fit. And that will not be because He does not love us; rather, it will be because He loves us and does not want us to be condemned with the world.
So, as we come into the last month of this year and are about to move into another year, if Jesus tarries, let us take the moments to examine our lives in the light of God's word to see how consistent they are with His expectations for us. We must not allow them to go on unchecked, for that will never be to our advantage. And may the Spirit of God encourage and enable our hearts to act right in this matter, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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DON’T TAKE YOUR LIFE – PRAY 14/12/2023
“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray…” (James 5:13NIV)
Apostle James, here, by the Spirit of God, is acknowledging the fact that a child of God can be in trouble. He does not have to be in trouble. But he can be in trouble. And if he is in trouble, what should he do? James says he should pray.
Now notice that James does not say, “Is any one of you in trouble? Let kill himself.” In the first place, you have no right to deliberately take your life, for that life does not belong to you but to God (Ezek 18:4). You can see why even Judges, who have the powers to ask that people be executed according to the laws of the land, are often most careful before giving anybody a death sentence. And they can even jail you for attempting to kill yourself. That is because they are conscious of the fact that life is sacred, for it belongs to God.
Also, taking your life is a sign of faithlessness and hopelessness. It shows that you have given up on God – you don't believe that He has the power to deliver you from whatever trouble you are in. But is anything too hard for God to handle? No! Nothing is too hard or difficult for Him to handle, if we will give it to Him (Jer 32:27). That is why even in cases where people asked God to kill them, He did not answer them. Instead, He showed them that He had power to solve the problems they were trying to run away from. (Cf. Num 11; 1Kings 19:1-18)
In addition, while taking your life does not in any way solve your problem, it also creates more problems for those you are leaving behind. So, it simply shows that you are selfish. You are only thinking about yourself and not about others. Therefore, don't take your life, my friend, regardless of how frightening your trouble may be. Instead, pray to God, and He will deliver you from all your fears and save you out of all your troubles (Ps 34:4-6).
The bible says, “A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; he protects his bones, not one of them will be broken.” (Ps 34:19-20NIV) So, regardless of what trouble you are in or how frequently Satan seems to be charging at you with troubles, the Lord is able to rescue you. You just keep on praying to Him.
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DO YOU SEE HIM AS A TIME WASTER? 13/12/2023
“As Saul was speaking to the priest, the confusion in the Philistine camp kept getting worse, so Saul said to him, "There's no time to consult the LORD!" Then he and his men marched into battle against the Philistines, who were fighting each other in complete confusion.” (1Sam 14:19-21GNT)
Did Saul really say that? Did he really say that there's no time to consult the Lord? Well, he said it. He said that God would waste his time on that occasion, if He should wait for Him. So, he moved on to fight without hearing from Him – he gave in to the pressure of the circumstances.
Now did Saul get results on that occasion or not? Yes, he got results. He defeated his enemies. That, of course, is showing that people can be displeasing God and still be getting good results. I mean that we can ignore God in our lives or see waiting for Him or praying to Him as a waste of our time and yet get good results.
However, by functioning like that, we may simply be denying ourselves any future support we might hope to receive from God. That was what happened to Saul. Later that same day, when the priest eventually succeeded in persuading him to consult God before attacking the Philistines the second time, God was not going to say anything to him. Unfortunately, he did not see himself as the problem; rather, he saw his son, Jonathan, as the problem. What an insensitive man! (Cf. 1Sam 14:36-46)
Perhaps you too have been shut out of God's revelations because of your culture of treating Him as a time waster. Things may remain like that for you forever unless you humble yourself before Him and allow Him to take His rightful place in your life.
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YOU MAY NOT SEE THEM AGAIN 12/12/2023
“But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Pharaoh said to Moses, "Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die." "Just as you say," Moses replied, "I will never appear before you again."” (Ex 10:27-29NIV)
As the bible account of the deliverance of the nation of Israel from their Egyptian overlords shows, Moses, by the command of God, met with Pharaoh several times, asking him to let the Israelites go. But the man wouldn’t just listen. Yes, there were times that he begged Moses to plead with God on his behalf and on behalf of his people, so that He may remove His heavy hand of punishment from them. And Moses did, thinking that doing so would make the man repent of his stubbornness. Yet this man failed to keep his word each of those times.
Finally, as we see in our opening bible text, there came a time that he ordered Moses never to show up before him again. Otherwise, he would die. And Moses never went back to him again. Why? It was because the time for his destruction had come. And he was certainly destroyed.
What is the point of this, then? It is that it is God’s mercy that makes Him send people to warn us, correct us or rebuke us, whenever we are missing it. But He will not forever be sending them to warn or dissuade us from walking in the path of error, disgrace, failure or destruction, if we will not heed His word. At some point, He will stop those He is using to set us right from coming to us. And when He does so, when He gives us over to have our way, we should know that our disgrace or destruction is right at the door.
We have another similar example in the story of King Saul. He was the first anointed king of Israel and was loved by the Lord. But he had this wrong attitude towards spiritual authority and divine instructions, which Samuel, the prophet, had once openly rebuked him about. And did he take this man of God’s word of rebuke seriously? Evidently, he did not. So, when he failed to totally destroy the Amalekites and all that they had, as God had instructed him to do, Samuel came to him with a severe word of judgment from God. And that was the last time Samuel came to him. He never came to him again. Even when an evil spirit began to torment and hurt him, this man of God did not show up before him to pray for him or to counsel him. He just left him to himself. (Cf. 1Sam 13&15)
Therefore, this king went from bad to worse. He went on to become miserable, irresponsible, envious, dangerous and murderous. And towards the end of his life, he found himself looking for a witch to counsel him, even though he was the one that had driven all the witches in the land out of it when he became king. Why? It was because God had nothing to say to him again, even though he longed to hear from Him. So, he perished in battle as though he were not anointed at all. (Cf. 1Sam 28&31)
In like manner, if we keep refusing godly and wise counsel that God is bringing to us through His people that He has planted in our lives, a time may come when He will have nothing more to say to us. Where that is the case, we are not likely to see again all those wonderful people He has been using to say to us things that will lead us to salvation or elevation. And that will be because He has stopped them from coming to us. Then, like Saul, we too may end up seeking counsel or help from witches, wizards or some foolish individuals, whose counsel will ultimately send us to our destruction.
So, if you are one of those who often meet sound counsel with stubbornness, pride or resentment, you need to watch yourself and repent when you still can. Otherwise, a time may come when you will never again see good, honest, wise and righteous counsellors in your life again. And perhaps you are already there. Perhaps all those good people that God used to send to set you right have already been withdrawn by Him. It is not too late for you to humble yourself before Him and ask for His mercy, since you still have life in you. And He will show you mercy, if you do so. But if you insist on walking in your path of error, then, know that nothing but destruction is all you can expect, when all has been said and done.
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BE FINANCIALLY INDEPEDENT 11/12/2023
“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” (1Thess 4:11-12NIV)
One of the benefits of working and being financially independent is that it will earn you the daily respect of those in your life. I know that it often takes a while for those who have not come from very rich families to be financially independent. But it is something you must work towards, even as a woman, if you don’t want your family members imposing unnecessary wishes of theirs on you and if you don’t want the family of your lover or spouse to see you as a gold-digger.
You must have heard things like, “Is not our son’s money that she is spending? What did she come with when she was coming from her parents’ house?” or “Is it not our daughter that made him? Did he have anything when he met her?” It is a common thing for those in the world to say such things. And you don’t want to be a victim of them, for they can ruin your life or your home, however beautiful or lovely it may be.
So, as of first importance, labour to be financially independent. It is a worthy labour before God, as long as you are involved in only what is honourable and legitimate. And by being financially independent, even very imposing family members of yours will think carefully before insisting that you cannot do certain things or that you must do certain things.
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WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING TO APPLY HIS WORD 10/12/2023
“Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?” (Mark 12:24NIV)
Who said those words? Our Lord Jesus! To whom did He say them? To certain religious leaders of the Jews! Now the Jewish religious leaders that the Lord was talking to on that occasion were individuals who had devoted most of their lives to studying and interpreting Scriptures. Yet He said that they did not know the Scriptures or the power of God. Why? It was because they did not understand what they were studying or how to apply it. So, the word of God that they were studying could not benefit them much.
Furthermore, Paul once said this when he was preaching to some Jews in a synagogue: “The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath.” (Acts 13:27NIV) Did you see that? Even though the Jews were reading the Scriptures every Sabbath and preaching from them about their coming Messiah, they still could not recognise that Messiah, Jesus Christ, when He came to live and to minister among them. That, of course, was why they ended up killing Him, killing the person that they were living all their lives to see.
You too could do something similar in making decisions about your life, if you do not understand the Scriptures and how to apply them to your situation. You could end up driving away or totally ignoring the very people you need for your growth and advancement in life, even though they are all the time around you. And you will most likely do that, if you do not know how to process what the word of God says about life matters and apply it to your situation.
Well, all this is why you need to learn to pray to God about His word that you are reading, studying and learning from other people of God, so that He will fill your heart with the true knowledge of His will through it and also with wisdom and understanding in applying it.
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THE BOASTING THAT GOD DELIGHTS IN 09/12/2023
“Thus says the Lord, 'Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,' says the LORD.” (Jer 9:23-24NKJV)
The Scripture above shows us one of the things that God greatly detests. And that is pride. It says no wise man should glory (boast) in his wisdom; no mighty man should glory (boast) in his might; and no rich man should glory (boast) in his riches. Why? It is because there is nothing anyone of us can really achieve on his own without God (John 15:5).
All the things that we trust in for our achievements—wisdom, strength and wealth—are nothing in the sight of God. For the scripture tells us that even the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom and His weakness is stronger than man's strength (1Cor 1:25). It also tells us that it is God who gives us the power to make wealth (Deut. 8:18). So, what is there for us to boast about? Nothing!
The next thing our opening scripture does is to give us a contrast to what it first speaks of—it tells us a kind of boasting that God delights in, which is a boasting in the knowledge of who He is. We found David doing that as he faced Goliath, the giant. And we found our Lord Jesus doing the same as He always expressed His dependence on God in the face of His life' issues. (Cf. 1Sam 17; John 5:19-23 & 14:10)
We also are now being called upon to do likewise. We are being called to choose that which God has pleasure in — to boast about our knowledge of His ability to demonstrate His righteousness, loving-kindness and judgment on our behalf. And how will you respond to that? Are you going to boast before the world that God will take care of that which concerns you? Are you going to boast before the world that the God you serve will not fail you? God himself has said that He delights in that kind of boasting. That means He will welcome and honour all such boasting about Him.
So, for example, you can go ahead, like Paul, and say to the world, “…I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to safely guard all that I have given him until the day of his return.” (2 Tim 1:12TLB) What are you doing, when you talk like this? You are drawing the world’s attention to God’s power and faithfulness. And He will surely honour you as you keep this up, giving those in your world reasons to trust Him and live for Him.
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GOD IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR EXISTENCE 08/12/2023
“By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can't see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse.” (Rom 1:20MSG)
Can you see that? Just by looking around, you can tell, if you really want to be sincere with yourself, that the things you see, hear, feel and touch could not have come into being by themselves or by accident; somebody must be responsible for them, and that person is God.
Now I can understand why sometimes we refer to some occurrences as accidents. But the truth is that there are no such things as accidents. Nothing happens by accident; there is always a cause for everything that happens. If you have a car, for instance, you know that your car did not come into being by accident; some company manufactured it.
Also, if you ate this morning, you can tell that the food you ate did not make itself; it did not show up on your dining table by accident; someone was responsible for making it. What about the company or establishment in which you work or study, did it spring up on its own? Certainly not! Somebody or some group of persons were responsible for its existence.
Well, then, if it is difficult and, in fact, impossible, for us to believe that our foods, vehicles, machines, household utensils and industries sprang up on their own or came into being by sheer accident, should it not be even more difficult and, in fact, impossible for us to believe that the entire creation is a product of accident? In short, common sense will show anybody that this whole universe is too organised to be an accident. There is a great and all-powerful being that is responsible for the existence of all these things. And that great being, as I earlier mentioned, is God.
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ONLY BY FAITH IN HIM 07/12/2023
“O Lord Jehovah, what good are all your blessings when I have no son? For without a son, some other member of my household will inherit all my wealth." Then Jehovah told him, "No, no one else will be your heir, for you will have a son to inherit everything you own." Then God brought Abram outside beneath the nighttime sky and told him, "Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that-too many to count!" And Abram believed God; then God considered him righteous on account of his faith.” (Gen 15:2-6TLB)
Look at our opening bible text again and pay a more careful attention to the part that says, “And Abram believed God; then God considered him righteous on account of his faith.” Now notice that this scripture does not say, “…then God considered him (Abram) righteous on account of his many good works;” instead, it says, “…then God considered him righteous on account of his faith.”
But does that suggest that Abraham had no good works? Not at all! Abraham was a good man, according to the scriptures. But according to the scriptures also, Abraham's good works were nothing before God. (Cf. Rom 4:1-2)
See, no one ever becomes righteous before God because of his good or righteous works. In fact, according to the scriptures, before God “…all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…” (Is 60:6NIV) That is why Paul says, “Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.” (Rom 4:4-5NIV)
That is interesting, isn't it? Well, Paul's argument is that people who are working hard at doing good, thinking God is going to reward them with righteousness on that basis, don't ever get His approval. And they don't because God does not give righteousness as a reward; on the contrary, He gives it as a gift. That is why it is only those who express their faith in Him, as Abraham did, that He declares righteous.
Again, is that to say that God has no regard for good works? Not at all! God does have regard for good works. However, His regard is only for those good works that are done only on the basis of faith in Him.
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DON’T SURRENDER TO DEFEAT 06/12/2023
“This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon [Who carried them to exile? God, of course! And why? It was because of their sins]: ‘Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.” (Jeremiah 29:4-6NIV—emphasis added)
That is the Lord’s message through Jeremiah to the exiles of Judah in Babylon. And notice that He does not tell them to cry or wail because of their situation; neither does He tell them to become sorry for their condition. Instead, He tells them to live. He says, “You don’t have to surrender to defeat. Yes, you have found yourself in slavery. But you have to live and not just exist. This is not a time to brood over your sins and mistakes; rather, it is a time to live life anew.”
Then, in verse 7 of the same chapter, the Lord goes on to say, “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29:7NIV) Can you see that? God wants them to work for the good of the land they are in; He wants them to work for the fruitfulness of the place. God seems to be saying, “Even though you have been taken to where you are now because of your sins, you must still work for the peace and prosperity that place. And you must also pray for it. That is because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” In other words, if that land does not prosper, they too will not prosper.
Now that is what some people don’t understand about being prosperous, regardless of where we find ourselves or what takes us there. These ones have messed up indeed. And because they messed up, they found themselves where they should never have been life. But now that they are already where they are, what should they do? They should begin to live as God will expect them to live.
Unfortunately, instead for them to do that, they will surrender to defeat and give themselves to more and more iniquities or irresponsible living. But you are not supposed to do that. You are not supposed to surrender to what wants to destroy you. You are not supposed to allow an already bad situation get worse.
Some people will say, “I only made one mistake and it brought me into this mess.” Well, you are here now. So, stop complaining about the mistakes you made. Fine, you made a wrong choice, and that choice has brought you to where you are now. So, what should you do? Live! Yes, live life as God will expect you to. If you were living in sin before, then, stop living in sin and start living in righteousness. And if you have been irresponsible before, stop being irresponsible and start living responsibly.
Then begin to seek and pray for the peace and prosperity of where you are now, regardless of how hostile the place may be to you. That is what God is telling His people in our opening bible text. That is the way to come out of slavery.
See, God does not want them to live in slavery perpetually. He has intentions of bringing them out. But their attitude where they are now is what will determine whether God brings them out or not. Their attitude is what will determine the kind of experience they will have in that place. In like manner, regardless of how terrible where you are right now may be and regardless of how you found yourself there, God is able to take you from there to where you ought to be. But your attitude has to be right towards God and towards the place you are. Otherwise, the escape you want from them may not happen at all or anytime soon.
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WHEN YOUR SURVIVAL DEPENDS ON IT 05/12/2023
“Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to him: "Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food."” (1Kings 17:7-9NIV)
Why did Elijah go to the widow at Zarephath during the years of famine that the nation of Israel experienced in his time? It was because the Lord asked him to do so. The Lord had been supernaturally taking good care of this man during those days of famine, even though he was not working. He had been sending some birds to bring him food both in the morning and in the evening. (Cf. 1Kings 17:1-6)
So, here is our first lesson from this account: the Lord is able to take care of His people even in a time of famine, regardless of what sort of famine it may be, a famine of food and water or a famine of good jobs. He may not give them all they will need in a year at once. But He will make sure that they are well taken care of, according to every day’s need. And all He wants is for them to always put Him first and to always depend on Him absolutely for all that they need.
Our second lesson from the account is that we must learn to use our resources with an understanding of the times we are living in. God did not feed Elijah three times but two times a day during those years of famine, even though He had the power to do so. And did the man complain or grumble as a result of this? No! Instead, he received every meal, which was the same type all the time, with thanksgiving. That is contentment.
In like manner, we too must learn to be grateful for God’s provisions for us and also to be contented and wise in using them, however little they may be. So, instead of grumbling or complaining that what God is providing for you now is too small, first be thankful for it. Then, as you trust Him to supply you with more, use what He has provided with wisdom. For example, don’t consume in one day what you can actually use for three days, if well managed, and then start complaining that God is unfaithful. He is ever faithful. You are the one being foolish, not understanding how to administer God’s provisions according to life’s seasons.
Well, as the account we are considering goes, some time later, when the brook that Elijah had been drinking water from dried up, God told him to go to Zarephath because He had instructed a widow there to take care of him. So, he was not going to meet a woman that had no clue as to what God wanted her to do but one that had been well instructed by God to minister to him.
But why did God send him to this woman, when He could have kept the brook from drying up and when He could have continued to send birds to bring him food? It was because He wanted to preserve the woman and her son throughout those years of famine. Exactly what the woman did to attract God’s mercy and favour in this manner is what we are not told. But we are told that her survival and the survival of her son depended on her generosity to this man of God that was sent to her. It was up to her, then, to either do the will of God and be preserved or do her own thing and be destroyed.
Thankfully, she did the right thing. Therefore, she and her son were preserved throughout those years of famine. Not only that, her son was rescued from an unexpected death that would have taken him away from her, famine or no famine, if the man of God had not been living with them. (Cf. 1Kings 17:7-24)
In like manner, there are times in life that our survival, exaltation or fruitfulness in certain matters depends on our generosity to certain people. Some of these people, like our parents, church leaders, the poor around us and so forth, have already been revealed to us in the bible. AND WE SHOULD TAKE OUR GENEROSITY TO THEM VERY SERIOUSLY. But there are among them people that we can only recognise by divine revelations. So, our prayer should always be that God, in His kindness, will enable us to recognise such people on time and also strengthen us to do for them what He wants us to do for them, so that we can receive the reward of doing so.
However, we must not allow anybody to use this story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath as a tool for manipulating, threatening or pressuring us to do for them what we are not convinced in our hearts that we should be doing. Even if we are convinced in our hearts that it is the will of God for us to be generous to someone, our generosity to them has to come from a willing and cheerful heart. Otherwise, there will be no reward from God to us for doing so. (Cf. 2Cor 9:6-7)
The widow of Zarephath was not manipulated, coerced or threatened by Elijah to do what she did. Rather, she did what she did because God had already spoken to her about it. So, if God has not plainly revealed it in Scriptures or spoken to you through a revelation about giving to someone or supporting them, don’t give in to any manipulation, threat or pressure to do so. And may you be kept from any devourer that may want to prey on your life or soul on account of this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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DON’T ACT IN HASTE – GET SUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE 04/12/2023
“Desire without knowledge is not good – how much more will hasty feet miss the way!” (Proverbs 19:2NIV)
E.W. Kenyon once wrote about his success in selling pianos. But he did not start up in the business as a success but as a failure. Yes, he had great love and passion for selling pianos. Yet he first failed at it. Why? It was because when he first started selling them, he did not know much about what he was selling. So, he could not give those he was meeting much tangible reasons to buy his products, neither was he able to make good price bargains with them.
But when he got tired of failing, he went to the factory where pianos were manufactured and learnt almost everything a young man like himself could learn at the time about their production, usage and significance in life. Armed with this knowledge, he went back to the streets to sell again. And this time around, the story was different. In his own confession, he said that he was so successful in selling pianos that even those who had no music in them bought from him. Why? He had acquired so much knowledge about what he was selling that he was able to make those he met see that he was doing them good by bringing his products into their homes.
What, then, is the point of what I just shared with you about that man of God? It is that it is not enough to desire success at anything in life; it is equally important that we possess sufficient required knowledge for whatever form of success we want. Yes, it is good to desire or be zealous to be successful in life. That is because it is our desire or zeal that will drive us to work or labour hard to be successful.
However, desire for success without knowledge will, most times, only make us act hastily in getting involved in what we have no capacity to handle or make us fail in what might have been a huge success in our hands. This explains why many are not thriving in their businesses, jobs, vocations or academic pursuits. All that led them into whatever they got involved in was a burning desire for success in it, not adequate and appropriate knowledge of it.
Now that burning desire may have been fuelled by certain success stories of others that they heard or witnessed. But they did not labour to know enough about what they were getting involved in before getting involved in it. Therefore, their decision to get involved in it was not rational but impulsive or thoughtless. And now, having put in years or months of devotion and hard labour and resources into it, the success they originally thought they would have is nowhere to be found. So, they are depressed, confused and lost in sorrow. But who is to blame? They are to blame.
As Solomon shows us in our opening bible text, desire without knowledge is neither good nor profitable at all. It can only make us act in haste. And when we act in haste, without knowing where we are heading, what lies ahead of us or what we are up against, we can only miss the way and get ourselves in trouble.
So, before you get involved in any business, venture or project, be sure you get enough knowledge on what it is all about and what it will take from you. Don’t just hastily get involved in anything on the basis of someone’s smooth talk about it or your love for it or certain success stories you have heard or witnessed about it. Instead, get real and concrete knowledge and understanding about it. Doing that, of course, may cost you some money, time or energy. But it will pay off. Otherwise, you may end up wasting your time, energy, devotion and resources on what is never meant for you or on doing what is right the wrong way.
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RESIST HIM AS JESUS DID 03/12/2023
On a particular occasion, Jesus referred to the healing of a man that was born blind as the work of God, showing us that the man's blindness was not a result of God's activity at all. And He even went on to say, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day…” (John 9:4NKJV)
Just think about that. All the things that Jesus was doing during His earth-walk were God's works. That means the healing of the sick, the raising of the dead, the cleansing of lepers, the giving of deliverance to demon-possessed folks and the hushing of the wind and the waves were God's works. And that should tell you that sicknesses, diseases, failures, calamities, deaths and other evils like such are not of God but of the devil. If they were of God, as some want us to believe, then, it was wrong of Jesus to forbid them in people's lives. And it would also be wrong for anybody to forbid or try to get a relief from such things.
What I am saying is that if God were the one putting sicknesses and diseases on people's bodies, if He were the one bringing failures, deaths, confusions and sorrows into people's lives, then, whoever is trying to take them away would be acting against the will of God, regardless of what means he employs. Then it could even be said that Jesus Himself was acting directly against God's will when He took those things away from people's lives.
But Jesus never acted against God's wish once. Concerning Him, God Himself said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” So, God was pleased each time Jesus freed someone from such things. (Cf. Matt 3:17, 17:5, Luke 3:22, Luke 9:35)
Not only that, the bible clearly tells us that God anointed and sent Jesus to take away our sicknesses, diseases and infirmities and to heal all those who are being oppressed by the devil. And God was with Him in doing all these things. (Cf. Is 53:4-5, Matt 8:16-17, Acts 10:38) So, the reason Jesus was healing the sick, raising the dead and driving out demons wherever He went was that those things were simply visible results of Satan’s activities in people's lives. Satan, according to Jesus, has only three basic things in mind wherever he goes, and these have to do with killing, stealing and destroying people and things. (Cf. John 10:10)
But He (Jesus) has just one thing in mind wherever He goes, and that is to give people life. He has come to abolish every kind of death and barrenness in our lives and give us life and immortality. (Cf. John 10:10, 2Tim 1:10) You can now see why He would not permit satanic activities wherever He went during His earth-walk. He would not permit people to stay sick, diseased or dead when He came in contact with them. He would not even allow His disciples' boats to sink or capsize while He was with them. He resisted the activities of the devil at every point.
Just think about it. When the waves and the wind came against their boat, and the disciples came and woke Jesus up, He did not say, “Oh, why are you disturbing me? Don't you know that this is from God? Let us just accept it as fate and die.” No! He did not say that. Instead, He rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” And the wind and the waves obeyed Him. Also, when He met the widow of Nain, who had just lost her only Son, Jesus did not say, “Take heart, woman! The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Rather, He practically said to the woman, “Don't cry. Your Son lives!” And the woman's son lived. (Cf. Mark 4:35-41, Luke 7:11-15)
Now, since Jesus is the perfect example of how God wants us to live, it follows, then, that we must learn to resist the devil the way He did; we must learn not to permit the activities of the devil in our lives. And the only way we will be able to successfully do that is to first learn to distinguish God's works from Satan's works. And I pray that your heart will daily be loaded with divine revelations that will enable you to always tell the difference between God’s works and Satan’s works, so that you will never again permit any work of the devil in your life. Amen.
Have a great day.
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GRACE FOR GRACE 02/12/2023
“And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” (John 1:16NKJV)
There is nothing as pleasant as experiencing the grace of God in one's life. This is what separates a supernatural life from an ordinary life. Grace takes you to where abilities and efforts cannot take you. Grace is God-created condition for you to accomplish His purpose for your life.
Now you say, “Yes, that is what I need.” No, you are wrong! If you are a child of God, grace is not what you need; it is what you already have. Grace is not what you beg or pray for; it is what you put to work in your life. Paul, in Ephesians 4:7, says, “Yet to each of us individually grace was given, measured out with the munificence of Christ.” (WEY) Did you observe the tenses of that scripture while reading it? It says grace was given (not will be given) to each of us individually. In addition, it says this grace was given to us out of the generosity (Munificence) of God.
What does this mean to us? Well, it means that the grace we require to excel in life everyday has been given to each one of us. The grace you need for your promotion, prosperity, health and fruitfulness in your family has been given to you. The grace you need to walk in righteousness and in the will of God for your life has also been given to you. And I want you to know also that God has given it to you in an overflowing measure.
Now what you need to do is to receive this overflowing grace. Receive it in your heart and proclaim it with your mouth. That is what John means to show us in our opening scripture when he says, “And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” Notice he does not say from Christ's fullness we all have been given grace for grace; instead, he says from His fullness we all have received grace for grace. That means the experience of grace is in the receiving.
To crown it all, Paul says, “…All who receive God's abundant grace and are freely put right with him will rule in life through Christ.” (Rom 5:17GNT) I love that. Those who receive God's abundant grace will rule in this life. That means we don't have to wait until we get to heaven in order to rule over the works of darkness; we are able to do so now.
Consequently, as long as it is called ‘Today’, say, “I receive grace to excel in everything I do today in Jesus' name. I receive grace to stand out among the crowd. I receive grace to see opportunities and utilize them. I live a life of grace. I speak words of grace. I do works of grace. By grace I reign over sin, sicknesses, diseases and whatever challenges life may throw at me. I am a person of grace in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.”
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STAY AWAY FROM UNSOUND TEACHINGS 01/12/2023
“…be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather round them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” (2Timothy 4:2-3NIV)
Paul here intimates us that a time is coming—though it is here now—that people will gather round themselves a great number of teachers to tell them what they want to hear. Now if he had said, “They will gather round them some teachers,” we would have said, “That is okay. We should be able to cope with them.” But he does not say that at all. Instead, he says they will gather around them a great number of teachers.
What for? To teach them what their itching ears want to hear! Why will they do that? It is because they no longer want to put up with sound doctrine. They want something different, something that is convenient for them to accept. And they are going to do all they can to find teachers who will give it to them.
Now the teachers that will give them what their itching ears want to hear are not non-Christians. Rather, they are supposed teachers of the word of God. These are individuals who stand as ministers of the gospel. We are talking about those who call themselves Pastors, Evangelists, Prophets and so on. But these will not be committed to giving God’s people sound doctrine. And when God’s people are not given sound doctrine, there is no way they will grow up to maturity.
Look, any doctrine that is not consistently making a demand on you to conform to the likeness of the person of Jesus Christ is unsound. A lot of people today want to be entertained. They want to hear God’s word and laugh. They want to hear God’s word and scream. Nothing is wrong with that. Once in a while you may laugh; it all depends on why you are laughing. Once in a while you may scream; it also depends on why you are screaming. And, of course, once in a while you may jump, as you listen to God’s word; it all depends on why you are jumping.
But it is wrong to reduce everything about God’s word to entertainment. The word of God has not been given to entertain us—I always like to tell God’s people that. The word of God has given to build us up; it has been given to bring us to spiritual maturity. And for that to happen, it must consistently and constantly make a demand on us to conform to the likeness of the person of Jesus Christ.
If what you are hearing where you are, then, is not accomplishing this, if it is not making a demand on you to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ, it is unsound and you need to stay away from it. Yes, it may be what the majority want to hear. But you don’t have to be a part of the majority to be in the will of God. Noah was not with the majority in those days. But when the flood came, it was clear that he and the minority with him were the ones in the will of God. So, if moving away from the majority is what will keep you in the will of God, do it. And may you daily be strengthened by the Spirit of God to do His will, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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SEE TO IT 30/11/2023
“See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today’, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3:12-13NIV)
This is not a message to the pastors or preachers among the people of God. Rather, it is a message to every one of us in our various Christian assemblies. And what is the message? It is that we are to see to something. In other words, we are to watch out to take care of something. And what are we to watch out to take care of? We are to watch out for our brethren and make sure none of them has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.
Now what the writer of the book of Hebrews is saying here is that if we do not want any one of us to become sinful or unbelieving, we have to keep a close watch over one another. So, he says, “See to it…” Again, that means we are to make sure that what he says does not happen to anyone among us. So, as we interact with one another, we must watch the words that come out of our mouths. We must take note of each member’s disposition to issues of life. When we meet out there, we must not turn our eyes away from what is going on in our brethren’s lives. We must not act unconcerned. When we visit one another, what do we notice? Do we pay attention to the things that are happening in that environment? For that is how people slip away from the things of God.
See, we must know what kinds of friends our brethren keep. We must know the kinds of people they work with in their various workplaces. Some people are facing terrible challenges at work. And it will take someone who knows what is going on to bring it up with the body and say, “This person is facing serious challenges where he works. He needs help. He needs prayers. He needs counselling.” There are people that are being tempted to embezzle money where they work. Some others are being tempted to be involved in bribery and corruption. But if we don’t know what they are going through, how do we help them?
Such people may keep coming around for church meetings, giving their tithes and offerings, but their lives are already being ruined out there. One day they will abandon the faith, and then we will say it has happened so suddenly. What I want you to know is that things like that don’t happen suddenly.
Also, there are many believers whose growth has already been arrested; they are no longer growing. But nobody knows. Why? They still come around for church meetings and sing. They still come around for church meetings and usher people to their seats. But they have already stopped growing, and nobody is taking note of it. All this shows that we are being remiss in handling our spiritual duty.
Well, we are told, “See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called ‘Today’, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3:12-13NIV) How often are we to encourage and watch over one another? Everyday! In fact, the words are ‘as long as it is called ‘Today’’.
So, as you face this new day, keep your eyes on the people of God in your life and see to it that none of them develops a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. Then don’t make it hard for the believers in your own life to keep watch over you. It is for the health of the church. And may you be kept blameless and unashamed at the appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Have a great day.
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WHO SHOULD YOU MAKE ROOM FOR? 29/11/2023
“Make room for us in your hearts. [Why?] We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one.” (2Corinthians 7:2NIV – emphasis added)
Paul mentions three things in our opening bible text that you must look out for in the lives of other believers that you are fellowshipping with in order to know if should make room for them in your heart or not. First, he says we have wronged no one, that is, we have offended no one. When a believer has no history of consciously taking people lightly and offending them and is also not doing anything to deliberately hurt you, then you have no reason not to make room for him in your heart.
Then Paul says that they have corrupted no one. That means it is on record that they don’t corrupt those that they fellowship with. Instead, they edify them. And that is another thing to look out for in any so-called believer that you may want to allow into your life. What is their history with others? Do they have a history of corrupting people or of edifying them?
Well, when it is evident that a believer has no history of corrupting others and he is also not doing anything towards corrupting you, then you should make room for him in your heart. It is only believers that have a history of corrupting others that you should not or may not make room for in your heart.
From time to time, we hear of Pastors who sleep with their church ladies. And I don’t see why any member of their assemblies should make room for them in his or her heart. You can decide not to allow that kind of person to come into your life, for you know that he will, in the long run, corrupt you. But when a brother or sister does not have that kind of history, then you should make room for her in your heart.
And the last thing Paul says here is that they have exploited no one, that is, they have defrauded no one. Now once it is clear to you that your brethren are not after defrauding you, that they are not after cheating you and that do not have a history of cheating people, then you should make room for them in your heart. We know there are believers, false believers actually, who present themselves to other believers as God’s people but who are simply after financial gain. Such people are constantly looking out for ways to rob you or defraud you or cheat you. They will come around as good people, as people who want to help you or follow you up in the faith. but what they are really after is your money; what they are after is what they can gain from you.
Now when you come in contact with such individuals in the church, what should you do? Watch out for them. Don’t foolishly open the doors of your life to them. Otherwise, they may end up exploiting you too. But when dealing with church brethren who don’t have that kind of record or history, what should you do? Make room for them in your heart! That is what Paul is saying here. Allow such people’s ministries to bless you.
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WHAT DO YOU DO WITH WARNINGS? 28/11/2023
“A prudent man sees danger and takes refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it.” (Prov 22:3NIV)
One of the things that often baffle me is people’s attitude towards warnings. Here is someone that is about to get into trouble. And then, by the mercies of God, it is revealed to him that trouble is looming and that he needs to take some steps in order to avoid it. Yet he does nothing about the warnings he has received and ends up being ruined by the predicted trouble. How will you describe him? Foolish!
Sadly, the bible is filled with all kinds of stories of individuals who acted foolish in handling the warnings that came to them. For example, there is Eli, one of God’s priests in Israel in the days before the nation started having kings. This man, of course, was a good and upright man. But his sons, who were also priests like himself, were scoundrels. And at some point, when God could no longer tolerate their wickedness and utter disrespect for Him, He began to scold their father and to send warnings to him about the judgment that would come upon his children. (Cf. 1Sam 2&3)
Unfortunately, when Eli received the last recorded warning from God to him, his response was, “He is God. Let Him do whatever He thinks best.” (Cf. 1Sam 3:18) What! Did he really say that? Yes, he did! This man showed that he had no intention of doing anything at all about God’s final warning to him, even though it would spell death for his only two sons. So, in the course of time, what God had said would happen eventually happened. He lost his two sons in one day and, in the process of dealing with the news, lost his own life as well (1Sam 4). But did things really need to end like that for them? No! Had they done something meaningful with the warnings they received, things would not have ended as they did for them.
Also, we are told in the bible of a king, Belshazzar, who filled up the cup of his sins by using drinking vessels that had been dedicated to God for his own wild feast. To make matters worse, while using these vessels, he and his officials began to praise the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone. What a sacrilege! So, God, who had been watching this man all along, decided that it was time to end him and his nonsense. But then, as a merciful God, He decided to give him a little window of opportunity to seek forgiveness for his many sins and perhaps be saved. And He did this by shocking him and his officials with a real hand that came out of nowhere to write something on the wall. (Cf. Dan 5:1-6)
What happened, of course, troubled this king greatly and made him turn pale. And all attempts to know whose hand wrote what was written and the meaning of what was written proved abortive until Daniel, that great servant of God, was brought in to tell them what was going on. Unfortunately, when he was through telling this man that a death sentence, which would be carried out that same night, had been passed on him by God, what did he do about it? He did nothing! I mean that this man took no step at all to get God to have a change of mind about his matter and spare his life. Instead, he wasted the remaining part of the evening on celebrating and decorating Daniel with all kinds of awards and honours. (Cf. Dan 5:7-29)
But why did Belshazzar act like that? Did he not believe what Daniel told him about God’s judgment? He did! If he did not, he would not waste his time, energy and resources on celebrating this man of God. But why did he do nothing about the more important matter of his own life? It was because he was a foolish man. And that is exactly how Solomon, in our opening bible text, describes those who see danger coming and take no refuge. He says they are simple, that is, foolish. And they will definitely suffer for their foolishness.
Now I may not know anything about the kinds of warnings you have been getting from God and from other trustworthy people around you about certain things you are doing with your life or that you want to do. But if, having received all these warnings, you still refuse to do something sensible or meaningful about them, then, you are being foolish. And you will certainly pay for your foolishness. How much you will pay for it is not what I cannot tell. I pray you don’t pay with your life. But so that it does not come to that, I counsel that you discipline yourself never to ignore godly and wise warnings but to always do your best to take them seriously and to act on them. This will mean preservation and longevity for your life and works.
Stay blessed.
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PREPARE FOR OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES 27/11/2023
“Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, "Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears!" So all Israel went down to the Philistines to have their plowshares, mattocks, axes and sickles sharpened. The price was two thirds of a shekel for sharpening plowshares and mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening forks and axes and for repointing goads. So on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.” (1Sam 13:19-22NIV)
Paul, writing to the Ephesian brethren, gives them a very important counsel that every wise person will pay attention to. He says, “Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (Eph 5:15-17NIV) What is the first thing the apostle tells us here? It is that we are to be careful how we live. Why? It is because the main difficulty in life lies basically in how to live, not in where we live or when we live. So, if we are going to make sense out of life, we must know how to live.
How, then, are we to live? Paul says we are to live as wise people and not as foolish people. And how do wise people live? Wise people live in such a way that they are able to make the most of the opportunities of the day in which they live. As the apostle further makes clear to us in that text, though the days we live in are evil days, days of troubles and calamities of all kinds, they are also days of opportunities, opportunities to soar and do big things in life.
What is all this telling us? It is telling us that regardless of where you are now, there are more than enough opportunities for you to live a very meaningful and significant life. And your wisdom will be to recognise these opportunities, so that you can make the most of them. But can you recognise the opportunities around you to make your life count for something in this world? Are you making effort at all to recognise those legitimate opportunities around you that you need to take advantage of to rise above the common place of this life and dwell with the champions? If you are not, then, you are living as a fool and not as God would have you live. And you need to wake up before your time is up.
But then, recognising opportunities to become great or live significantly in this life is not sufficient; you also need to be able to make the most of them. And you won’t be able to make the most of them, if you do not have the necessary skills, abilities or education to do so, even if you are the most courageous person on earth. That is why you need to prepare yourself for opportunities. Yes, you need to prepare yourself with the necessary skills, education and abilities to be able to handle the opportunities or challenges that life will be throwing at you. Otherwise you will just find yourself wasting all the opportunities that God is bringing your way to lift you up and make your life count for something.
Look at our opening text again. What is the main lesson there? It is that we must not allow anybody to prevent us from acquiring the education or skills we need to make ourselves ready to take advantage of life’s opportunities or to handle their trials. The Philistines, at the time in question, made sure that there were no blacksmiths in Israel. In other words, they made sure that the people did not have access to the right kind of education they needed to be able to make tools to farm or weapons to defend themselves. Why? It was so that they would be able to keep them in slavery perpetually.
Now think about how stranded and impoverished those Israelites must have been. They could not farm well and provide enough food for themselves to eat and be strong enough to think well and get creative. Also, they could not make weapons available to train their men for soldiery. In fact, it was so bad that only their king and his son had weapons to fight. How, then, would they be able to fight for their freedom from those Philistines that were determined to keep them under? There was no way out, unless there was a miracle of deliverance for them. And that explains why, at that very time, many of them deserted their king, Saul, and went hiding. (Cf. 1Sam 13)
But why did these Israelites allow themselves to be deprived of the education they needed to fend for themselves and also protect themselves? Why did they not fight tooth and nail to see to it that, at least, a sizeable number of them had enough education in blacksmithing, so that they could train others? And why did they not pray to God to bless them with gifts and abilities in this matter, when they sensed that their enemies were determined to keep them uninformed and uneducated?
In Moses’ day things were not like that. The nation had people like Bezalel and Oholiab, who were highly skilled craftsmen and who also possessed great abilities to teach others. That was because God blessed them with those men. And since He did it then, He could do it again and again. Unfortunately, those Israelites did not reason like this and take their matter to God in prayer. Instead, they yielded themselves to be kept in ignorance, poverty and shame for years. And they would have long ago become history, if God had not, in His mercy, come to their aid. (Cf. Ex 31:1-11 & 35:30-35)
Now if we too don’t want to end up being impoverished and rendered useless in life like those Israelites, we must be determined to get quality education and also acquire skills that will put us in a position to make the most of life’s opportunities to take care of ourselves, protect ourselves and also live as free people in all ways. Truly, there may be all kinds of situations and people that Satan, the enemy of our souls, will want to use to prevent us from doing this. But we have God. Yes, you have God, my friend. And if you will sincerely call on Him to enable you to acquire the right quality and quantity of education you need to be able to make the most of life’s opportunities and also handle its challenges, He will answer you and make what you want happen.
But if you should allow the forces that want to render you redundant and useless in life to subdue you, when you could have gotten help from God, you will have only yourself to blame, when all has been said and done. I pray that your heart will be strengthened and emboldened not to let that happen. So, rise up from wherever you are and refuse to be cheated or robbed of the education you need to go from where you are in life to where you should be. Yes, wake up from your slumber and get rid of that lazy attitude that does not want you to learn, study or commit yourself to excellence. And remember that you have God with you, in you and on your side. Since this, then, is the case with you, nothing can successfully stand against you or stop you, if you don’t stand against yourself or stop yourself.
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MAKE CHRISTIANITY ATTRACTIVE 26/11/2023
“Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Saviour attractive.” (Titus 2:9-10NIV)
Paul, here, is telling Titus what to teach to the slaves in his church. He was the pastor of the church of God at Crete at this time. So, Paul wants him to know what to teach the slaves he was pastoring. And that was because it was a time in which there were many slaves all around the world and also in the various assemblies of God that were in existence.
Thank God for the measure of liberty we now enjoy all around the world today. So, we do not have in many places the slave-master relationship again. But we do have the employer-employee relationships and other kinds of relationships that put certain individuals above or ahead of others, in terms of hierarchy or social status. And in such relationships, we, as children of God, are expected to conduct ourselves in such a way that people will take Christianity seriously.
Paul, in our opening text, says we can live in such a way that people will find Christianity attractive. They may not become Christians yet. But when they look at our lives and see that they are upright and holy and that they are not twisted or enslaved by the things that have enslaved them, they will become attracted to Christianity. And who knows? God may just use that to change them.
Therefore, in order for us to be able to talk to people about Jesus and get to them to take us seriously, they need to see that our relationship with Him has changed us. They need to see what our relationship with Him is doing to our lives or has done to our lives. Our relationship with Him should attract them to Him. And is your relationship with Him attractive to those of the world? Is it inviting or sensational? Is it something that will make people want to find out what is so special about Christianity?
All around us in the world today are many so-called believers in Christ Jesus whose lives are not attracting anybody to the Lord Jesus Christ. How can such people be taken seriously in faith matters? Would they even have the boldness or effrontery to talk to anybody about the Lord Jesus and His salvation?
You can see why many of us are not doing anything at all, as far as evangelism and witnessing are concerned. We know that the kind of relationship we claim to have with the Lord Jesus Christ has not really made our lives better. Why? Is it because something is wrong with the Lord Jesus? No! We are the ones that things are wrong with. We are the ones that are not taking our relationship with Him seriously.
When we begin to take our relationship with Him seriously, our lives will begin to take the shape God wants them to take – our lives will begin to call men to the Christian faith. Then, when we talk to them about the Lord, they will take whatever we are saying seriously.
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EVEN IF IT IS GOING TO COST YOU SOMETHING 25/11/2023
“Amaziah asked the man of God, "But what about the hundred talents I paid for these Israelite troops?" The man of God replied, "The LORD can give you much more than that."”
(2Chron 25:9NIV)
One of the reasons people often don't want to turn away from doing wrong things and please God is that they consider what they might lose in the process. And to say the fact, it is not every time that turning away from evil comes with no price to pay. There are times that doing so may cost us things, in fact, a fortune or our very lives. But it is better to lose the whole world while doing the will of God than to gain the whole world while working against His will. That is because inasmuch as we are in His will, God will certainly take care of whatever losses we may suffer for staying true to Him. But if we reject His will in order to gain this world or anything in it, we are in danger of perishing along with whatever we think we have gained. (Cf. Matt 16:26)
And this is one of the things we learn from the account given in the bible about King Amaziah of Judah and his war against the people of Edom. This man, out of desperation, had hired a hundred thousand warriors from their sister nation, Israel, to join his own men for that war. But as they were about to set out, a man of God came to him and said, “O king, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the LORD is not with Israel — not with any of the people of Ephraim. Even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow." (2Chron 25:7-8NIV)
Just look at that. Amaziah meant well for his people. That was why he hired more hands to fight their battle. However, he hired the wrong people – he hired individuals who were at that time under God's wrath. Therefore, as pointed out by the prophet of God that was sent to him, he was doomed to lose that battle, regardless of how courageously he fought, what tactics he employed and what weapons of war he used.
Now what does that teach us? Well, it teaches me that it is not everyone I can work with. Yes, some individuals may be smart, intelligent, talented or result-oriented. And it may look like working with them or engaging them to do certain things for us will profit us greatly. But if they are under some curse or have put their hands into things that have brought the wrath of God on them, we will surely end up regretting working with them.
Perhaps you can recall situations in which you thought working with certain individuals or even organisations was going to be great and highly rewarding for you, only for everything to end up in a mess. That is what we are talking about. But what if you had received warnings from God before you got involved with such organisations, would things not have ended differently? They would have, depending on how you responded to such warnings.
For instance, when the man of God first told Amaziah the danger in working with those Israelite warriors and the need for him to send them away, he was reluctant to do so. Why was he reluctant? Was it because he did not believe the words of the man of God? No! Rather, it was because of the amount of money involved. Those people did not come to help him without a cost – he paid them a fortune. So, sending them away would mean losing his money. (Cf. 2Chro 25:6)
Yet the man of God told him, as we see in our opening text, “God is able to give you much more than that.” In other words, God was able to take care of whatever losses he might suffer by doing His will. So, the man obeyed and sent away those evil men, men who got so angry that they destroyed many things in the land on their way back (2Chro 25:10&13). But doing so resulted in victory for him and his nation. (Cf. 2Chro 25:11-12)
In like manner, doing the will of God will always certainly result in an experience of victory, rest and joy for you. So, learn to always seek to know His mind about everything that concerns your life through His word. Even in matters that His will is not expressly talked about in the bible, don't fail to pray to Him to show you His will. And once His will about a matter is made known to you, be determined to do it, even if it is going to cost you something – a relationship, a job, your reputation, your money or anything else. That is because as you long as you are given to doing His will, He will certainly take responsibility for whatever losses you suffer in the process.
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HE WILL HASTEN IT WHEN THE TIME IS UP 24/11/2023
A little one shall become a thousand, And a small one a strong nation. I, the LORD, will hasten it in its time." (Isa 60:22NKJV)
When it is time for what God desires for a man to come to pass, everything will start happening fast, so fast that it may be hard for even the recipient of His goodness to believe. Why? It is because of what He says in our opening text. And what does He say? He says, “When the time comes for me to fulfil my word concerning you, I will hasten my work for you to see.”
What does this tell us? Well, it tells us that when God promises to do something for us, He gets working on it immediately. Yes, what He is doing about it may not be immediately evident to us. But that is not to say He is not working at all on our case. He is working on it. The only reason the physical manifestation of what He is doing may not yet be seen by us is that the time for the full realisation of His promise has not yet come.
Look, for example, at the speed of Joseph's salvation from the prison and his promotion to be the head of state of Egypt. Who would ever believe that a man could go from prison to become the head of state of a great nation like Egypt in matters of hours? I am sure that day started out for Joseph and for most of the Egyptians of the time like any other day. Nothing spectacular or outrageous, may be an earthquake or a volcanic eruption or a sign in the sky, happened that morning that could make anybody think that a prisoner was about to be released and made a ruler over them.
Yet it did happen. Pharaoh had some dreams overnight that changed everything in the morning. And all the dreams of greatness Joseph had been having since he was but a boy in his father's house began to fully find expression. But it did not look like those dreams would be fulfilled some years before then, when his own brothers sold him into slavery. Also, it did not look like they would be fulfilled when he was framed by his Egyptian master's wife and imprisoned, to rot away for life. Why? The time for their fulfilment had not yet come. But when the time for their fulfilment came, God hastened all that He had been doing to lift this man up and with speed made him a father to both Pharoah and his people. (Cf. Gen 37-41)
In like manner, God will certainly fulfil all His good intentions concerning you, both the ones He has shown you and the ones He hasn't yet shown you. Yes, your heart may be burning at the moment to see full manifestations of these things. But do not worry. Instead, be patient with Him and don't do anything foolish, anything that will jeopardise or ruin what He is doing for you. That is because He will not bring about the manifestation of what He has promised until the time for it is ripe.
So, if you are not seeing physical manifestations of certain promises of God in your life yet, it may just be that the time for you to see them is not yet ripe. Remember that the bible says, “If clouds are full of water, they pour rain upon the earth…” (Eccl 11:3NIV) In other words, when the time is ripe for something, it will surely happen. Therefore, when the time is ripe in the sight of God for you to experience that promotion, enlargement or vindication, He will certainly make it happen.
In fact, in our opening bible text, He assures His people that He will hasten their salvation and multiplication in fruitfulness in its time, not before His time. We too can expect Him to hasten every one of His good works for us, in us and through us when the time is right. And He will surely hasten it and bring it to pass with speed at the right time. But are we going to patiently wait for Him to do this or are we going to resort to our own schemes and ruin everything?
In any case, I will leave you with this Scripture to meditate on:
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.” (Heb 10:35-39NIV)
Have a lovely day.
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IT SHALL BE UPROOTED 23/11/2023
"Any plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted.” (Matt 15:13GW)
Do you know that the words of the above scripture came right from the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ? According to Him, and contrary to the thinking of many, God is not always the one responsible for everything that is growing or happening in a man's life. So nobody should use God as an excuse for permitting any ugly or unpleasant situation in his life.
What does the scripture tell us about God? It tells us that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all (1John 1:5). In addition, it tells us that the Lord is good to everyone and has compassion on everything He has made (Ps 145:9). Therefore, if anything is out of place in your life, don't hold God responsible for it, for He is not an author of confusion, but a God of peace (1Cor 14:33).
Now since God is a God of peace, His desire is to fill your life with His peace; His desire is to set right everything in your life that is out of place. And that is one of the reasons our Lord Jesus says, “Any plant that my heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted.”
There may be things that are growing in your life now that God did not plant. And how will you recognise them? It is by the fruit they produce. Anything that produces bitterness, sorrow, anger, frustration and failure is not of God. So you must not permit it to be. The Word of God says, “Don't give the devil any opportunity to work.” (Eph 4:27GW) In addition, it says, “Whatever you permit on earth is what will be permitted in heaven, and whatever you forbid on earth is what will be forbidden in heaven.” (Matt 16:19 & 18:18 paraphrased)
Therefore, today, declare that every plant that God has not planted in your life that is growing in it will be uprooted in the name of Jesus. Whether it is sickness, disease, misfortune in business, barrenness, crises threatening your marriage, an individual that has become a pest to your life or wrong ideologies that are holding you captive, declare that the Lord will pull them out by the root. Pray also that your life, family, job and business will no longer produce thorns and briers for you; instead, they will produce fruits of satisfaction, joy and peace. And all this shall be so in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
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ACCEPT YOUR DELIVERANCE 22/11/2023
“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.” (Col 1:13NKJV)
Now that is a mighty statement. Paul is telling us expressly here that God has delivered us from the power or, to better put it, authority of darkness. And who is he referring to here as 'us'? Is he referring only to Christians? No! The Lord Jesus did not die on that cross to deliver Christians; He died to deliver the whole race of man. That is why John says, “He is the payment for our sins, and not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1John 2:2NIV)
So, all of our sins have been paid for by the Lord Jesus, regardless of who we are. What I am saying is that, just as the Lord paid for the sins of the most honourable among men, so also did He pay for the sins of the prostitutes, the armed robbers, the kidnappers, the terrorists, the witches and even the wizards. Therefore, as far as God is concerned, everything about our deliverance from the devil and his host has already been done and perfected.
However, even though the Lord has already perfected everything about our deliverance from the devil, it is only those who choose to accept what He has done and come under His Lordship that will experience this deliverance in a vital way. And everybody will have to choose for himself. In the Garden of Eden, man chose to serve the devil and so became his slave. And even now that the Lord Jesus has paid the price for man's freedom from this slavery, man still has to choose to either yield to Jesus as his Lord or remain with the devil.
All of this is why God is doing everything He can to get all men in every place to know that they don't have to be under the control of the devil anymore. He wants them to know that Satan does not have to run their lives and ruin them as he pleases anymore. Salvation from the devil is now available; deliverance from his grip has already been purchased. And the beauty of the whole thing is that nobody has to pay God anything for all these things—He has provided everything freely. As the Scripture says, “The payment for sin is death, but the gift that God freely gives is everlasting life found in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 6:23GW) And that is good news!
Now all that men need to do is to accept this free gift of God by accepting Jesus as their Lord. And, as the Scripture tells us, anyone who does so is given a new birth by God. He will no longer be condemned for his sins, since they have already been paid for. He is now a child of God and a citizen of a new kingdom, the kingdom of God. And as John tells us in his gospel, that person has crossed over from death to life. But anyone, who decides to reject the payment made by the Lord Jesus for his sins and to stay under the lordship of the devil, remains condemned and will never be able to enjoy the deliverance that has been purchased for him. (Cf. John 1:12, 3:16-18 & John 5:24)
You can now see why Satan still continues to have a free ride in the lives of many. Their salvation and redemption have already been secured, but they will not accept them. And perhaps that is the reason Satan is having a free ride in your life too. You have not accepted the free offer of salvation and redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ. But that is where everything must start; for until you accept the Lordship of Jesus Christ, you cannot come out of the control of the devil not to talk of stay out of his control.
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GUARD YOURSELF AGAINST THEM 21/11/2023
“Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.” (2Tim 4:14-15NIV)
God, as we see in Scriptures, is able to protect and safe His children from all kinds of wicked and unreasonable men. He is, in fact, able to protect them from all the traitors and saboteurs in their lives. But then, His children also must learn to be on their guard against individuals that have clearly revealed themselves as enemies or as having tendencies to become enemies. This is so that they will not foolishly walk into their traps or snares.
For example, in our opening bible text, Paul reminds his son in the faith, Timothy, of a man called Alexander and of how this man had shown himself to be his enemy. Why? It is so that Timothy will be on his guard against him. God, of course, is able to protect Timothy against all of this man’s wicked plans and works. However, it will be foolish of Timothy not to take whatever righteous measure that is in his power to take to protect himself against this man, seeing that God has already revealed him as his enemy.
See, we must understand that it is not everybody that their earthly life is meant to end the way our Lord’s earthly life ended. Our Lord surrendered Himself to be betrayed and killed because He knew that God was going to use His death and resurrection to save the world. So, even though He knew the traitor among His men and all that this traitor was doing to hand Him over to His enemies, He did not do anything to protect Himself against him. But since none of us has been chosen for that purpose, it will be unwise of us, then, to ignore any sign or revelation to us from God about what certain people may be planning to do to hurt us.
To say the fact, one of the ways God protects us against the wickedness of our enemies is by revealing who they really are, what they are capable of doing and what they are planning against us to us. Yes, of course, we will still need to function by His wisdom to make use of whatever information or knowledge He gives to us along this line. But we must surely make use of it. Otherwise, we may end us suffering or dying where He never intends us to die.
For example, there was a time that some Jews, more than forty men actually, bound themselves with an oath to kill Paul the apostle. And they told their religious leaders what to do in order to make this happen. But God, in His kindness, revealed their plot to Paul’s nephew. And he came and told him about it. Interestingly, the night before those people hatched their wicked plan, the Lord had appeared to Paul in a vision and assured him that he would certainly testify about him in Rome. That means it was not His intention for this man to die at that time. Yet He did not say anything to him about what those wicked Jews were planning. Instead, it was his sister’s son that He used to reveal it to him. (Cf. Acts 23:1-16)
Now why did the Lord not reveal that matter to Paul in that vision? Though we are not told the reason in the bible, I personally believe it was because the soldiers holding him at that time would most likely not have believed him. And if they did not believe him, they would not do anything to protect him. But when his nephew came with details of the plans of those wicked men and shared everything with the commander of those soldiers, he believed the young man and immediately made adequate and effective plans for Paul to be protected and taken away from that region. (Cf. Acts 23:17-35)
What is the point of all this? It is that it is not every time that God will use His angels or some supernatural acts to warn or protect us from our enemies. There are times that it is people or circumstances that He will use to reveal our enemies and their plots against us to us. And when this is the case, He expects us to take whatever legitimate steps we can take to frustrate them or guard ourselves against them. That is what we learn from Paul’s case. Though he may have prayed to God to protect him against his Jewish enemies, he also took advantage of the fact that he was in a military camp to protect himself against them.
So, when God’s has revealed your enemies or what they are doing to you, don’t stop only at praying for protection against them; instead, also take whatever honest or legitimate steps you can take to guard yourself against them. And may you continually be filled with the right measure of wisdom and boldness to make the most of God’s revelation to you in protecting yourself and all that is yours and that you love against all forms of wickedness and evil. Amen.
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DON’T LET IT SERVE WRONG PURPOSES 20/11/2023
“On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, "Is it not written: "'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it 'a den of robbers.'"” (Mark 11:15-17NIV)
Why did our Lord Jesus make a whip to drive out those buying and selling within the temple courts on the occasion mentioned in our opening bible text? It was because they were using that temple for wrong purposes. According to the Lord, the Scriptures are very clear about what God’s temple is meant for. For example, they tell us that His temple is meant to be a house of prayer for all nations. That means it is to be a place where hands would be lifted and voices raised in prayers to God by people from all the nations of the world, so that His glory may be seen by all.
Unfortunately, at the time in question, the place was not at all serving His purpose. Instead, it had become a den of robbers, a place where all kinds of sharp and wicked practices were taking place, a place where people could freely come together and plot evil things. And how did that happen? It happened through the negligence and irresponsibility of the spiritual leaders of the nation. They were the ones that allowed God’s temple to become what it was at the time. That was because they would not cleanse it of every form of ungodliness present and also teach the people the proper way to relate to it. (Cf. Ezekiel 44:23; Malachi 2:7-8)
When Hezekiah became king, the first thing he did was to lead the religious leaders of the land at that time to sanctify the Lord’s temple and rid it of every defilement, so that it may begin to serve God’s intended purpose (2Chro 29). But that was not the case during the time of our Lord Jesus Christ. The leaders of the land did not see anything wrong in having the temple desecrated and turned into a den of thieves and robbers. And that must have been because they were profiting from the situation.
Therefore, on the occasion mentioned in our opening bible text, our Lord would not just take it. He would not allow God’s temple to continue to be used for purposes contrary to His will. That was why, in His zeal for Him, He decided to do the needful. He drove out all those messing up this temple and began to teach the people what their proper attitude towards using it ought to be.
Now, as we see in Scriptures, the temple of God is no longer a symbol, that is, a physical building, but people. We, who have come to Him through Jesus Christ, are His temple (1Cor 3:16&6:19). Our lives and bodies are His Home. And like the priests of bible days, we too have a duty of seeing to it that our lives and bodies, which are God’s temple, are not used for purposes that are contrary to His will. We have a duty to regularly cleanse and rid our lives of those that are buying and selling in them, corrupting them and making them unprofitable to God.
But if we will not do this, at some point, the Lord, because of His love for us and His zeal to see God’s purpose realised in our lives, may have to step in, get a whip and drive out of our lives everything working against God’s purposes in them. This, of course, may come with pains, losses or even death. If we, then, do not want to have such experiences, we must continually shine the light of the word of God on our lives, so that we may identify those things making them function contrary to His will and deal with them appropriately.
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BE FAITHFUL IN PRAYERS 19/11/2023
“That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and foremen in charge of the people: "You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don't reduce the quota. They are lazy; that is why they are crying out, 'Let us go and sacrifice to our God.' Make the work harder for the men so that they keep working and pay no attention to lies."” (Ex 5:6-9NIV)
Moses went in to give God's word to Pharaoh, confident that the man would immediately obey, since it was God that was talking to him. But to his surprise, what he was expecting was not what he experienced. Pharaoh was upset and adamant. So upset was he that he decided to make things harder for the Israelites. He increased the load of oppression that was on them, so that they would not have any time again to think of obtaining liberty from him. (Cf. Ex 5:10-21) And God already told Moses to expect this. He already told him that Pharaoh would not willingly let the people go, unless he was compelled by a mighty hand (Ex 3:19-20).
But somehow, Moses did not initially take seriously what God had told him about how Pharaoh would respond to His demand. So, he was troubled and perplexed when, instead of getting relief for his people, he ended up adding to their grief by confronting their oppressor, according to the will of God. And what does that teach us? It is that doing the will of God or acting on the word of God may not immediately produce the results we expect to see. In fact, it may initially make matters worse for us. But if we stay faithful in our dependence on Him, we will eventually stand in victory over everything that seeks to keep us in slavery.
Now that is one main thing the ministry of Moses in bringing Israel out of Egypt teaches us. Yes, it teaches us what it means to be faithful in prayer. As I already pointed out, when this man of God first confronted Pharaoh with God's demand, things got worse for Israel. And that should have been a good excuse for him to abandon the cause and tell God to find someone else to deal with it. But he did not abandon the cause or give up on God. Instead, the bible says about him:
“Moses returned to the LORD and said, "O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all." Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."” Ex 5:22-6:1NIV)
What a challenge to my heart! Moses took the problem at hand back to God again and said to Him, “I have done what you commanded. But matters have gone from bad to worse for your people, for you have not done your part. So, what is going to happen?” And did God get angry with him for saying this? No, not at all! Instead, God told him not to worry but to watch how He would use His mighty hand to compel Pharaoh to literally drive the people out of his country.
Therefore, from that moment forward, Moses never again got furious with God because of the stubbornness of Pharaoh. Instead, he learnt to faithfully pray to Him every step of the way. And he continued to do that till the very day Israel got his independence from Egypt and till the very moment the host of Pharaoh was destroyed by God in the Red Sea (Ex 8:12&30, 9:33 & 10:18). You really need to read the whole account yourself in the book of Exodus. And you will see how adamant and ruthless Pharaoh was in keeping Israel in slavery and how faithful and patient Moses was in relying on God through the various stages that were involved in securing the total deliverance of his nation from Egypt.
In like manner, we too must learn to faithfully and patiently rely on God in dealing with the matters of our lives. Yes, there are situations that we will commit to God and see Him move on our behalf concerning them almost immediately we pray to Him about them. But there are also those that we will commit to Him and it may take a while before we see what He is doing for us concerning them. There are even situations that may seem to be going from bad to worse, despite the fact that we have prayed to Him about them.
Whatever the case may be, God requires us to be faithful in trusting Him instead of getting upset with Him that He does not care about us or that He is not doing anything about our situation. See, He will never leave the matters of our lives unattended to or be sluggish in dealing with them. Nonetheless, there are situations that will want to give us the impression that He cannot be trusted with our lives. And the one that is using such situations against us is Satan. His plan is to discredit God before us so that we can give up on Him and miss His wonderful plans and provisions for us (Jer 17:5-8). But we must not fall for his tricks. Instead, we must resist him steadfastly, standing firm in our faith in God. And we will see the glory of God. (Cf. 1Pet 5:8-9)
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NOT FOR A SHOW 18/11/2023
"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” (Matt 6:1NIV)
Those are the words of our Lord Jesus to us. And they are showing us that our good and righteous works must not be for a show. They must not be what we do to have the praise of men but what we do to have the praise of God. Also, we should not give ourselves to doing what is good and right only when men are looking at us. Rather, whether they are looking at us or not, we should always aim at doing what is good and righteous in the sight of God.
Unfortunately, many of us, including Christians, are not like that. We only want to do what is right and proper when men are looking at us. And when nobody is watching us, we think what we like, say what we like, look at what we like and act as we like. That is why many of the so-called good people today are nothing but little demons when they are away from the eyes of the public.
Such people, on the outside, have a reputation for being pure, kind, nice, honest, compassionate and considerate. But when they are away from public scrutiny, they are all kinds of things that no sane person wants to be associated with. They could be drunkards, addicts of dangerous drugs or pornography, wife-beaters, husband-cheaters, irresponsible parents, serial killers, robbers, adulterers, homosexuals, lesbians, paedophiles and so on.
Now that is the very kind of life God detests—a hypocritical life. He does not want us to live like a movie actor, who is one thing on the stage and another thing when he is away from the stage. His desire is that we will be true to Him, true to ourselves and true to others, wherever we are and regardless of the circumstances.
My point, at any rate, is that you should not live or function for the praise of men. Don't give, pray, fast, preach or do any act of your righteousness for a show, so that men will see you and praise you. Indeed, God Himself wants men to see your good works. And that is not so that they can praise you; it is so that they can praise Him. (Cf. Matt 5:14-16) But if what you are after is the reward of men, which, by the way, is nothing but dust and ashes, you can be sure that you are going to miss the reward and praise of God. (Cf. Matt 6:1-18)
All of this is why, personally, I have made up my mind never to live or function for the praise of men but for the praise of God. And I counsel you to make up your own mind too to begin to function in like manner. You will not lose what you have worked and toiled for, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Have a splendid day.
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UNLESS THE LORD 17/11/2023
“Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat — for he grants sleep to those he loves.” (Ps 127:1-2NIV)
Can you see that? Unless the Lord makes our nation prosperous, no amount of effort on our part will make it prosperous. And unless the Lord keeps our nation safe and at peace, all our peace talks and all the labour of our security agencies will only amount to vanity. So, we must learn to pray to God about everything that concerns our country. Yes, we must learn to pray for its prosperity and peace. And we must also learn to pray against its failure, decay and death.
Why have so many good programmes and policies failed in the country? It was largely because we would not entrust them to God. You know that, usually, we assume that once we have a programme or policy that is designed to promote the welfare of the country, it will naturally work out fine or well. But things don't naturally work out well in this life; it is God that makes them work out well. Remember that there is no society that does not have its own share of saboteurs of good things. I am talking about individuals who, out of selfishness or sheer wickedness, often work against the success of programmes and policies that are meant to benefit many.
For instance, there were talks sometimes of how certain individuals were diverting funds and packages that were meant for the internally displaced persons (IDP) in the northern part of the country. Now what sort of person does that? I mean that how can someone in his right senses be involved in such practices? Is it that these displaced persons, among whom are many women, children and very old people, have not suffered enough? Yet, as I already mentioned, there are certain individuals who don't care at all whether these people suffer or not, as long as they have their own selfish and wicked desires gratified.
There are also many other areas in which saboteurs have deliberately sabotaged or are deliberately sabotaging programmes, policies, initiatives and systems that would have brought tremendous progress, development and peace to the country. And if we won't learn to pray to God for help in all these things, we won't experience any real progress in anything; we will just keep moving around in cycles.
Well, the bible says, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.” (Prov 16:3NIV) So, if we want our good and honest labour for our beloved country to succeed or be established, then, we must learn to commit them to God. And if we want all our legitimate endeavours to prosper, and if we want all our people, especially our youths and our leaders, to turn out wonderful and great, then we must learn to commit them to God. (Cf. Ps 90:17 & 144:12-14; 1Tim 2:1-2)
By the way, don't forget that God Himself is the one asking us to pray to Him about our country. And what that means is that it pleases Him when we do so (1Tim 2:1-3). Also, it means that He is ever willing and ready to prosper us and keep us at peace. We only need to turn to Him in prayers, acknowledging that we don't have what it takes to build our nation and make it prosper or keep it safe all by ourselves. Yes, we must continually let Him know through our prayers that we are not counting on any vain god or ourselves – our intelligence, skills, cleverness or self-will – to make our nation become great; rather, we are counting on Him. And as we do this, He will do the impossible for us and see to it that our efforts in building our nation to be great does not amount to nothing.
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PUT AN END TO OPPRESSION 16/11/2023
"…If you put an end to oppression, to every gesture of contempt, and to every evil word; if you give food to the hungry and satisfy those who are in need, then the darkness around you will turn to the brightness of noon. And I will always guide you and satisfy you with good things. I will keep you strong and well. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water, like a spring of water that never goes dry. Your people will rebuild what has long been in ruins, building again on the old foundations. You will be known as the people who rebuilt the walls, who restored the ruined houses." (Isa 58:9-12GNT)
No nation in which most of its citizens are under one form of oppression or another can grow or develop to fully realise its potential. Such a nation cannot excel in the midst of other nations, no matter how hard it tries. And even if its people give themselves to decades of praying and fasting, as long as oppression is widespread in the land, they cannot have a major breakthrough. That is the consistent position of the Scriptures. And unfortunately, such is the case with Nigeria.
Everywhere you turn in this country you will see one form of oppression or the other going on unchallenged. I am saying that everywhere, even in our Christian assemblies, people use their position, influence, power and resources to oppress others or deprive them of what is rightfully theirs.
Now we don't need to look far in order to relate to what I am saying here. We only need to start with ourselves. Let us look at the way we use our own positions, relationships, intelligence and resources where we are – at home, in the neighbourhood, in our workplaces, in our schools, in our communities and in our religious assemblies. Can we candidly say that we have not been oppressive and overbearing?
The truth is that many of us have been oppressive. We have been oppressing our wives, children, siblings, relatives, house helps, neighbours, colleagues at work, fellow citizens, students and so forth. Yet we ourselves don't want to be oppressed. We are angry when others, especially our leaders, are oppressive in relating to us. We even pray and fast all the time, expecting God to step in and free us from every form of oppressive leadership. Our thought is that if others will just stop oppressing us, then, everything will be alright for us, our families and our nation as a whole.
But God is saying to us, “This is not going to work. It is not only some individuals that need to put an end to their oppressive behaviour or leadership; it is every one of you that needs to do so.” And that is actually the point He is communicating to His people, Israel, in our opening text. These people had been praying and fasting and hoping that God would do something about the horrible situation their nation was in. But He would not pay attention to them. (Cf. Is 58:1-3) And why would He not pay attention to them? It was because oppression was widespread in the land.
See, these people wanted God to stop other nations from oppressing them, but they themselves would not stop cheating, molesting, harassing and oppressing one another. And God said to them, “No, that will never work. First, you need to stop oppressing one another and start treating yourselves like real people. Then you can expect me to step in, beautify your lives and enable you to rebuild the ruins of your land. Otherwise, I won't do a thing, regardless of how hard you pray and fast.” (Cf. Is 58:1-12)
Now do you know that it is the same thing God is saying to us, especially those of us who are praying morning, night and noon that He should step in and save our country from every kind of oppressive rule? He is saying to us, “I really want to step in and save you all from those who are oppressing you. But you yourselves have to first end the oppression in your own domain. And once you do that, I will break the yokes on your shoulders, turn your mourning into dancing and enable you to rebuild this nation.”
The question, then, is, “Will you and I stop oppressing our own people, so that we may receive the breakthrough we have been praying for? Or are we going to continue in the path of arrogance and wickedness in our dealings with others?” May the Spirit of God bring our hearts to repentance, as far as this matter is concerned, in Jesus's name. Amen.
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IF YOU WANT TO GROW OUT OF CARNALITY 15/11/2023
“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.” (1Peter 2:1NIV)
Those are Peter’s words to us as God’s people And observe that he does not say that God will rid your life of the things he mentions. Rather, he says that you are the one to rid yourself of these things. Why? They are worldly traits, worldly attributes, and you are supposed to get them out of your life.
But how do you do that? He tells us from verse 2. He says, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1Peter 2:2-3NIV) What is Peter talking about here? The word of God! He is saying you are to desire the word of God, the milk of the word of God, for you need it in order to grow up spiritually.
If you, then, find someone who is born again or who has just become a Christian and who will not expose himself sufficiently to the word of God, you have seen someone who will not grow up spiritually. He will not grow out of worldliness; he will not grow out of carnality. And he may remain like that for years or till Jesus will return. (Cf. 1Corinthians 3:1-3)
Well, my point is that you need to feed on the word of God, if you want to grow out of carnality or worldliness. You need to consistently and constantly feed on the word of God. First, you do this by exposing yourself to the teachings of other mature members of the body of Christ. Then, you commit yourself to studying the word of God on your own. And it is not the one or the other; you have to be committed to both. You must expose yourself to the teachings of others and also take out time to study the word of God by yourself.
Now when I am talking about learning the word of God in this sense, I am not talking about learning the word of God to the end that you may preach it or minister with it. There is a great difference between studying the word of God in order to minister with it and studying the word of God to live. I understand this, for I have been there. There was a time I was more concerned about preaching than living. And I know that there are many ministers of the gospel and children of God that are like that. You are more concerned about ministering than living. So you are studying the word and searching it for revelations upon revelations. Why? You want to teach others; you want to proclaim the things you are learning to others.
Is anything wrong with that? No! It is good to minister to others. It is good to teach people God’s word. But your reason for studying the word of God, exposing yourself to it or feeding on it must not primarily be to preach to others but to learn to please God with your own life. Otherwise, you will still not grow out of carnality. Yes, you may be known as a fine preacher. But you will not grow out of carnality. And if you will not grow out of carnality, you will never be that child of God that He can use to do any kind of good work.
Why won’t God be able to use you to do any kind of good work, if you will not outgrow carnality? The reason is that your carnality will surely spoil to some extent whatever good works God wants to do through you. Of what point, then, is using you at all? Of what point is using you, if your daily life is corrupting what you are doing for God and causing people to blaspheme His glorious name? There may be no point to using you at all. So, if you want God to be able to freely use you to do anything, grow up. Give yourself to His word that will rid your life of every pollutant and make you fit for His use. And may your heart be daily strengthened to do this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a glorious day.
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IT CAN TAKE A WHILE 14/11/2023
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.” (Heb 10:35-37NIV)
How readily does God answer the prayers of His people and move on their behalf? Very readily! Immediately! Now, of course, there are people who think differently. And they think differently because they have been taught by some preachers that God does not always answer people readily. According to them, there are times that He may tell people to wait for a while before He answers them and times that He may tell them ‘No’ outright. But these ideas are not rooted in God’s word but in people’s imaginations.
From what we see in Scriptures, every prayer that is offered by God’s people that is in line with His will is answered by Him immediately (1John 5:14). In fact, our Lord Jesus says this about God’s attitude towards prayers offered to Him: “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"” (Luke 18:7-8NIV)
Did you see that? God never puts off His people who are praying to Him. Instead, He always attends to them quickly. The Lord’s concern, however, is that God’s people may not see things like this and maintain their faith in Him. That is why He asks whether He will still find faith here on earth when He returns. In other words, will people still be trusting in God when He returns or will they have thrown away their confidence in Him?
Yes, sometimes, it may look like God is not active or answering our prayers at all. And sometimes, He may appear too slow in handling what concerns us. But God, according to Scriptures, is never inactive or slow in relating to matters that concern His people. Rather, He is always immediate and quick to respond to them. Nevertheless, there are times that it may take a while for what He has done or doing on our behalf to manifest for us to see.
For example, when He sent Moses to lead the nation of Israel out of Egypt, it was not the very day that he arrived in Egypt that he led them out. It probably took him some months, though we are not given any specifics in the bible about this. But, at least, we are shown in the bible that Pharaoh was unwilling to let the people go. So, Moses had to perform waves of miracles, one after the other, to bring Pharaoh to his knees and let the people go.
Now all the time that this was going on, things were getting rougher and more difficult for the Israelites. Pharoah saw to it that they were frustrated and oppressed more than ever before. It was so bad that even Moses had to cry out to God at some point, saying, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all." (Ex 5:22-23NIV)
And who among us has never felt like that before? Who among us has never for once felt that God was not helping them at all? I have felt like that many times before. I have several times woken up to still find the same problems I have fervently prayed about staring me in the face, looking as though God had not even lifted any finger to address it. And that, of course, is exactly how Satan, the evil being behind all our problems and pains, always wants us to feel about God. He always wants us to feel that He in unconcerned or unmoved about what we are facing and praying to Him about.
But that is never true. God truly cares about us and is truly concerned about us. That is why He Himself is the one that has invited us to cast all our burdens on Him. All we need, then, is to cast them on Him and to maintain our faith in Him, knowing that He has gotten to work the moment we pass these burdens over to Him. (Cf. Ps 55:22; 1Peter 5:7)
In the case of these Israelites, the moment God heard their outcry in Egypt, He began to work for their deliverance. But first He had to wait for the man He was going to use to be ready. And He took him forty years to wait for the only person that was fit for the job to be ready. In fact, He almost literally dragged this man, Moses, out of his shell in order for him to go and save them. Perhaps that is also what He is doing at the moment to certain people that He has prepared to handle certain matters of your life. Perhaps He is dragging them out of their shells, so that they can attend to those situations. But would you know that, if your eyes were not open to see what He is doing? No! (Cf. Ex 3-4)
Then when Moses got to Egypt to work, he was met with very stiff opposition from Pharoah and his sorcerers. So, God had to send ten different plagues on the nation of Egypt before these Israelites could gain their independence. And that, as I pointed out before, took some time. So, you can see that it is not everything God is doing in response to our prayers that we can enjoy immediately or right at the instant that we pray. Some things can take a while before we begin to enjoy His works for us concerning them. And how long each situation of our lives that He is fixing will take before we witness a full manifestation of His works concerning it will depend on the nature of the situation.
Sometimes, we underestimate the nature of the problems we are dealing with, thinking that they should not take God a minute to fix. But what is behind those problems may be bigger than what our minds can handle. And God who knows this will not take half measures at all in dealing with such problems. Instead, He will do all that needs to be done for them to be permanently resolved. But this may take some time.
All of this is why we are told in our opening Scripture not to throw away our confidence in Him or give up on Him. Yes, it may look like nothing is happening or that things are getting worse. But that does not mean that God is not at work on our behalf. He is working and will not delay His works at all. We are the ones, then, that should continue to persevere in doing His will. That is because that is the only way we will receive a full manifestation of what He is doing for us and not miss His help or provisions.
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YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN 13/11/2023
“The life of every person belongs to me. Fathers and their children belong to me…” (Ezek 18:4GW)
Look at that. You are not your own. I am not my own. None of us belongs to himself or even to any man or institution. We all belong to God, and we belong to Him spirit, soul and body. And since we belong to God, we have no right to handle our lives as we please. I am saying none of us has a right to ruin or destroy his life in reckless or immoral living or with the use of hard drugs or strong drinks. In fact, none of us has a right to kill himself. That is because our lives don’t belong to us but to God.
It is unfortunate, however, that many people today, especially young ones, are destroying their lives, homes, bodies and other good relationships as they please. They are ruining themselves through sexual immorality, cultism, occultism, thuggery and illegal use of alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, codeine, heroin, marijuana, Indian hemp and other dangerous substances. And why are they doing so? It is largely because they think they are accountable to nobody.
But there is no existing being that is accountable to nobody. The only One that is accountable to no one is God. And that is because He is the Creator and Owner of all things (Ps 24:1; Rev 4:11). But all men, old and young, rich and poor, are accountable to Him. And a day is coming when He will make every one of us give a full account of what he has done with the gift of life He has given to him.
Now, concerning that day, the bible says:
“God will give to each person according to what he has done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.” (Rom 2:6-11NIV)
Did you see that? God is going pay each of us back according to what he has done with the opportunity He has given him to live. And while some will be in serious trouble and distress on that day, some others will experience honour and glory.
The question, then, is, “Which is it going to be for you, trouble and distress or glory and honour?” It all depends on what you are doing with your life at the moment. If you are living it with a consciousness that you are accountable to God in all things, then, you can expect His glory and honour. But if you are acting as the lord and master of your own life, then, trouble is coming for you, my friend. And I suggest that you turn yourself over to God before it is too late.
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DON’T MAKE LIFE DIFFICULT FOR YOURSELF 12/11/2023
“This is all that I have learned: God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.” (Eccl 7:29GNT)
Why is life so hard for some people? Why is it so difficult for them to take care of themselves and their immediate families? Is it because God is not at all concerned about them or because Satan is just too much for them to handle?
First, the bible makes it very clear to us that God is concerned about all men, whether they are good or bad, and always wants the best for them (Ezek 18:23; Matt 5:45). So, if life is hard for anyone, and he is unable to understand it or handle it, God is not to blame. But if such a person will truthfully reach out for His help, He will answer and save him, regardless of the enormousness of his troubles or afflictions (Ps 34:4-6&19-20; Rom 10:11-13).
Second, Satan can only be too much for those who do not know Christ and also those who know Christ but who won’t rely absolutely on Him in handling their lives’ issues. Our Lord Jesus makes it very clear to us that He has given us authority to trample on all the dangerous and wicked beings of this life and to overcome all the power of the enemy and that nothing shall by any means hurt us (Luke 10:19). And as long as we put on His whole armour and are using His weapons of righteousness, we will be able to resist the devil and frustrate his works, whatever they may be (Eph 6:10-13; James 4:7).
Now since God truly cares about us all and wants the best for us and Satan can never be too much for us to handle, as long as our trust is in God, life should never be complicated for us, regardless of its challenges and trials. And if it is complicated and difficult for us to handle, then, we need to search ourselves with the light of the word of God to know in what ways we have been our own enemies.
As Solomon tells us in our opening bible text, all the complications we see in our lives today are not God-made but man-made. It is true that Satan can make life hard and complicated for people. But as I already pointed out, as long as we are counting on God, there is nothing Satan throws at us that we won’t be able to walk in victory over. The problem, however, is that a lot of times we ourselves put our hands in things that will make life hard and difficult for us.
For instance, there are individuals who complaining bitterly every day because they lack resources to take care of their basic needs. And it is not because they are not working hard. They are working hard. But some of them have two or more wives and their children to care for. Also, some of them are carrying very expensive smart phones around, phones that are not making them any money but consuming the little they have in meaningless phone calls and internet browsing. In addition, some of them don’t know how to say ‘No’ to anything their eyes see – they must just have what others have, eat what others are eating, give their children what others are giving theirs, take from their spouses what others are giving their spouses or do their parties the ways others are doing theirs. How, then, will life not be complicated for them?
See, in order to fully enjoy the goodness and power of God to the full in your life, you must learn to keep your life simple. This does not mean that you are not to enjoy the good things of this life or use quality things. No! Rather, it means you are not to put any undue or unnecessary burden on your life or on the lives of those close to you. There are things we will do or get in this life that will not add anything to our fruitfulness or usefulness or to the overall quality of our lives, even though we give our arms for them. And there are also things that doing them or possessing them will only introduce greater troubles into our lives, even though they seem highly pleasurable or appealing. Those are the things, for the most part, that make our lives hard, unpleasant and complicated. And until we recognise these things for what they are and say ‘No’ to them in our lives, our lives may never be at peace till we leave this world, even if we are Christians.
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BE ON YOUR GUARD AGAINST EVIL MEN 11/11/2023
“Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.” (2Tim 4:14-15NIV)
Often, when people are told not to pray against their enemies but for them, they get the idea that they are being told to just surrender themselves to the enemies and allow them to do with them as they please. But that is never what the Scriptures teach us. Yes, it is true that Scriptures teach us not to curse our enemies but to pray for them and love them (Matt 5:43-48). And they also teach us not to repay evil with evil but with good (Rom 12:17-21). But they never say that we should not pray against the activities of our enemies or that we should not be watchful in dealing with them.
For example, when Ahithophel, that great counsellor of King David, deserted him and went to Absalom, David did not just say, “Well, it is okay, if that is what he wants.” No! He prayed that God would frustrate his counsel (2Sam 15:31). Of course, he did not ask God to kill him or to destroy him in any way, as many are doing today, even in the name of Jesus. He simply asked God to turn his counsel into foolishness. But was that all that David did? No! Apart from praying, he also took some precautions. Actually, he sent someone to monitor the situation of things in the camp of Absalom for him and to do all he could to mess up Ahithophel's counsel (2Sam 15:32-37). And God answered his prayer and used the man he sent to turn things around for his good.
Now I am bringing this up to let you understand that, just because we are told not to pray against our enemies, it does not mean that we are to fold our arms and let them ruin us or destroy the good that we are committed to doing. As revealed in the Scriptures, it is alright for us to pray against the activities of our enemies, just as it is alright for us to be on our guard against their evil works.
Look also at our opening text, and you will see what Paul has to say about a man that took his stand against him as an enemy. First, he said that the Lord would repay this man for what he had done. And someone may say, “Well, that was a curse.” But that was not a curse. It was something that would definitely happen, whether Paul said it or not. I mean that God will certainly repay every man for what he has done, good or bad (Rom 2:6). So, Paul was simply declaring something that would ultimately happen to this man – he was not placing a curse on him.
Then Paul went on to tell Timothy to be on his guard against this man. That means Timothy was to be careful around him and to be watchful of his activities. Why? It was so that he would not foolishly or carelessly fall into his traps. And does that not agree with what our Lord says to us about how to relate to our enemies and persecutors? It does!
Our Lord Jesus says, “Listen, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So be as smart as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be careful of people…” (Matt 10:16-17NCV) Is that clear to you? It is not enough to be praying for God's protection against evil men and their evil works; it is also important that you are smart and careful in relating to them. Otherwise you might just innocently end up like Abner and Amasa in the hands of Joab (2Sam 3:26-27 & 20:1-10). Yes, you will make it to heaven, but, God forbid, you will have died before your time.
So, don't ignore the promptings of the Spirit of God not to be alone with some people or not to eat their delicacies or not to take things from them or not to entrust your life, things or people to them. Remember that Cain murdered his brother Abel and Judas Iscariot betrayed His Lord. So, once God has revealed the identity of an enemy to you, always be on your guard against him, even when you are praying for him. May God's Spirit of holiness continue to keep you and all that is yours safe. Amen.
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NOTHING IS BEYOND GOD. 10/11/2023
““Tell the people: 'Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The LORD heard you when you wailed, "If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!" Now the LORD will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month — until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it — because you have rejected the LORD, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?"'" But Moses said, "Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!' Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?" The LORD answered Moses, "Is the LORD's arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you."” (Num 11:18-23NIV)
Moses, as we see in the bible, was once so frustrated that he prayed that God would take his life. He was frustrated like that because the children of Israel were crying to him for meat and he just did not know what to make of that. So, he did the only wise thing he could do. He turned to God in prayer.
But then, when God responded and told him what He would do about his problem, he did not believe that He had the power to do as He had said. Moses in the past had believed God for many things. But in this situation, he just could not see how God was going to make meat available for six hundred thousand men and their wives and children within that short notice and not just for one day but for a whole month.
God, then, had to show him that He had the ability to do anything He wanted to do and to solve any problem. He brought meat to those people, as He had promised, and they had so much of it to eat until it became a problem to them. (Cf. Num 11:31-34)
Now perhaps you too are wondering if there is really anything God can do about your problem and your frustration. You look at your situation and see nothing but hopelessness. So, you think it is beyond God. Well, I want you to know that nothing is beyond God or beyond His ability to handle. He once said to Jeremiah, “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” (Cf. Jer 32:26-27) So, He can handle anything. He can handle all of your life's worries, problems and frustrations. And it is not your business to think about how He will handle them. I mean that you don't need to do any worrying for God. Your job is simply to hand everything over to Him, and He will get the job done in His own way.
Remember that God cares very much about you. And because He cares about you, He is very much willing to use His power on your behalf every day. So, you don't need to wait until you are frustrated by life's challenges before you learn to commit everything about your life to Him. Begin to do so right away. Begin to teach yourself to place everything about your life and affairs into God's hands. And you will never again know frustration in life.
But supposing you, like Moses, have already come to a place of frustration. It is still not too late for God to help you out. All you need is to take your frustration to Him right away and tell Him how you feel about everything. Then watch how He will move on your behalf and give you a great testimony to share.
Hallelujah!
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MAY YOU BE KEPT FROM MAKING DESTRUCTIVE DECISIONS 09/11/2023
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” (Prov 16:25NIV)
When Lot chose to go and live near Sodom, he did not know that that choice would someday take away from him almost everything he cherished in his life and even the fruit of years of hard and diligent labour. According to Scriptures, having been given the privilege to choose any part of the land he wanted by his uncle Abraham, Lot chose the area that he considered to be good and suitable for his livestock business. But the place was close to Sodom, a city which people were sinning greatly against the Lord at that time. (Cf. Gen 13)
In any case, everything went fine for Lot and his family for a while. But sometimes later, there was an attack on Sodom, and he, his family and all his possessions were carried off into slavery, along with the rest of the people living in Sodom then. And it took the intervention of Abraham, his uncle, for him and all that belonged to him to be brought back. (Cf. Gen 14) That actually was meant to be a warning from God to Lot at the time, showing him that the path he had chosen to walk in may likely lead to his destruction someday. But for reasons best known to him, he stayed right there in Sodom and did not leave.
Then, one day, God decided He had taken enough of Sodom's sins – the time for her judgment had come. And on that very day, Lot lost his darling wife and all the things he had diligently worked for many years to acquire. (Cf. Gen 19) But remember that this man's choice to stay in Sodom seemed alright at the beginning. What, then, was the problem? Solomon answers that for us in our opening text, when he says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
Now I know that what Solomon says here is often used to warn people about walking in the way of sin, which leads to death. And it can indeed be applied in that sense. But what this wise man says here goes beyond matters of sin. He is actually talking about making choices according to our own wisdom instead of making them according to the wisdom of God. And he is saying that just because everything we have to consider about a particular matter seems to be right and flawless at the moment, it does not mean that everything will end well with the matter. The end of our choice may just be death, destruction, agony, pains or bitterness. And if you would ask around, you certainly would find individuals who would illustrate with their own lives how true this is.
Perhaps you too have experienced in the past situations that illustrate the trueness of what Solomon says here. You thought, at that time and considering the circumstances you were aware of, that you were making the very best choice. But then, days, weeks, months or years later, you realised that you have been duped by your own choice. And now you are wishing you never took the decision you took or walked in the path you chose. What went wrong? You chose according to your own wisdom, not according to the wisdom of God. And if you continue to make your life choices according to your wisdom and not according to God's wisdom, you are still likely to take a few more steps that may result in agony, pains, bitterness, death or destruction for you. God forbid!
Well, if you don't ever want to be a victim of your own choices again, you must learn to pray to God to keep you from making choices, small or great, that will end you, your joy or your peace. And I am saying this because, as I pointed out earlier, there are times that all the information that we have about a particular matter or person may be telling us that it is okay to make certain decisions about them. But unless God opens our eyes to see some hidden things about them, we may end up regretting our decisions. So, learn to pray that God Himself will guide you by the wisdom of His Spirit not to make any decision that will ruin you. Also, give yourself continually to the word of God, for His word is able to make you wise for salvation from bad choices (2Tim 3:14-15).
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MAY YOU BE KEPT FROM MAKING DESTRUCTIVE DECISIONS 09/11/2023
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” (Prov 16:25NIV)
When Lot chose to go and live near Sodom, he did not know that that choice would someday take away from him almost everything he cherished in his life and even the fruit of years of hard and diligent labour. According to Scriptures, having been given the privilege to choose any part of the land he wanted by his uncle Abraham, Lot chose the area that he considered to be good and suitable for his livestock business. But the place was close to Sodom, a city which people were sinning greatly against the Lord at that time. (Cf. Gen 13)
In any case, everything went fine for Lot and his family for a while. But sometimes later, there was an attack on Sodom, and he, his family and all his possessions were carried off into slavery, along with the rest of the people living in Sodom then. And it took the intervention of Abraham, his uncle, for him and all that belonged to him to be brought back. (Cf. Gen 14) That actually was meant to be a warning from God to Lot at the time, showing him that the path he had chosen to walk in may likely lead to his destruction someday. But for reasons best known to him, he stayed right there in Sodom and did not leave.
Then, one day, God decided He had taken enough of Sodom's sins – the time for her judgment had come. And on that very day, Lot lost his darling wife and all the things he had diligently worked for many years to acquire. (Cf. Gen 19) But remember that this man's choice to stay in Sodom seemed alright at the beginning. What, then, was the problem? Solomon answers that for us in our opening text, when he says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
Now I know that what Solomon says here is often used to warn people about walking in the way of sin, which leads to death. And it can indeed be applied in that sense. But what this wise man says here goes beyond matters of sin. He is actually talking about making choices according to our own wisdom instead of making them according to the wisdom of God. And he is saying that just because everything we have to consider about a particular matter seems to be right and flawless at the moment, it does not mean that everything will end well with the matter. The end of our choice may just be death, destruction, agony, pains or bitterness. And if you would ask around, you certainly would find individuals who would illustrate with their own lives how true this is.
Perhaps you too have experienced in the past situations that illustrate the trueness of what Solomon says here. You thought, at that time and considering the circumstances you were aware of, that you were making the very best choice. But then, days, weeks, months or years later, you realised that you have been duped by your own choice. And now you are wishing you never took the decision you took or walked in the path you chose. What went wrong? You chose according to your own wisdom, not according to the wisdom of God. And if you continue to make your life choices according to your wisdom and not according to God's wisdom, you are still likely to take a few more steps that may result in agony, pains, bitterness, death or destruction for you. God forbid!
Well, if you don't ever want to be a victim of your own choices again, you must learn to pray to God to keep you from making choices, small or great, that will end you, your joy or your peace. And I am saying this because, as I pointed out earlier, there are times that all the information that we have about a particular matter or person may be telling us that it is okay to make certain decisions about them. But unless God opens our eyes to see some hidden things about them, we may end up regretting our decisions. So, learn to pray that God Himself will guide you by the wisdom of His Spirit not to make any decision that will ruin you. Also, give yourself continually to the word of God, for His word is able to make you wise for salvation from bad choices (2Tim 3:14-15).
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BRAVERY IS NOT ENOUGH 08/11/2023
“Be brave. Be of good courage, for I have defeated the world.” (Cf. John 16:33)
Think about that. The Lord has already defeated the world with all the troubles it has to offer. He has already conquered it for us. So, we don't have to be afraid of what trouble the world may throw at us anymore. Yes, the world, as our Lord points out, will definitely keep throwing all kinds of troubles at us. What I am saying is that we will, from time to time, come face to face with financial troubles, marital troubles, academic troubles, health troubles, social troubles, religious troubles, political troubles and so forth, that is, as long as we are in this world. And the Lord's instruction to us is to be brave in the face of all of them.
However, being brave in the face of a problem is not synonymous to confronting the problem with the right kind of solution. Yes, it is important that we be brave. It is important that we do not allow our hearts to be overwhelmed by the challenges we are being faced with. If we are not brave, we will simply give up or run away every time we are faced with any kind of trouble.
So, we need to be brave in the face of whatever challenge we are faced with in this world. And our bravery is to arise out of what the Lord says to us; our bravery is to arise out of the fact that the Lord has already overcome the world for us.
Nevertheless, as I already pointed out, being brave is not the same thing as dealing with the troubles we are being faced with. Yes, the Lord tells us to be brave and to be of good courage, even though we are being faced with diverse tests, trials and temptations. But He does not say we are to do nothing about them.
Actually, if we do nothing about the troubles we are facing in this life, no amount of bravery will keep us from being destroyed by them. True bravery is that which prompts us to reject defeat. True bravery is that which propels us to take advantage of God's provisions to deal with whatever challenge we are faced with. And one of God's provisions for us in dealing with life's troubles and challenges is prayer.
Now prayer, according to the Scriptures, is a powerful and effective weapon in dealing with life's troubles. Remember that James says in his epistle, “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray…” (James 5:13NIV) Then he goes on to say, “…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16NIV)
Think about that. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective in solving life's problems and changing life's situations. And that is because such a prayer is being offered to the Almighty God. So, it is not the prayer itself that is solving problems or changing things; it is the God that the prayer is being offered to that is solving problems and changing things. Therefore, regardless of how enormous or mighty the trouble you are faced with is, pray to God. And He will surely bring you out of them.BRAVERY IS NOT ENOUGH
Think about that. The Lord has already defeated the world with all the troubles it has to offer. He has already conquered it for us. So, we don't have to be afraid of what trouble the world may throw at us anymore. Yes, the world, as our Lord points out, will definitely keep throwing all kinds of troubles at us. What I am saying is that we will, from time to time, come face to face with financial troubles, marital troubles, academic troubles, health troubles, social troubles, religious troubles, political troubles and so forth, that is, as long as we are in this world. And the Lord's instruction to us is to be brave in the face of all of them.
However, being brave in the face of a problem is not synonymous to confronting the problem with the right kind of solution. Yes, it is important that we be brave. It is important that we do not allow our hearts to be overwhelmed by the challenges we are being faced with. If we are not brave, we will simply give up or run away every time we are faced with any kind of trouble.
So, we need to be brave in the face of whatever challenge we are faced with in this world. And our bravery is to arise out of what the Lord says to us; our bravery is to arise out of the fact that the Lord has already overcome the world for us.
Nevertheless, as I already pointed out, being brave is not the same thing as dealing with the troubles we are being faced with. Yes, the Lord tells us to be brave and to be of good courage, even though we are being faced with diverse tests, trials and temptations. But He does not say we are to do nothing about them.
Actually, if we do nothing about the troubles we are facing in this life, no amount of bravery will keep us from being destroyed by them. True bravery is that which prompts us to reject defeat. True bravery is that which propels us to take advantage of God's provisions to deal with whatever challenge we are faced with. And one of God's provisions for us in dealing with life's troubles and challenges is prayer.
Now prayer, according to the Scriptures, is a powerful and effective weapon in dealing with life's troubles. Remember that James says in his epistle, “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray…” (James 5:13NIV) Then he goes on to say, “…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16NIV)
Think about that. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective in solving life's problems and changing life's situations. And that is because such a prayer is being offered to the Almighty God. So, it is not the prayer itself that is solving problems or changing things; it is the God that the prayer is being offered to that is solving problems and changing things. Therefore, regardless of how enormous or mighty the trouble you are faced with is, pray to God. And He will surely bring you out of them.
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DON’T LET THEM GET OUT OF CONTROL. 07/11/2023
Leadership is one of God’s major ways of fulfilling His purpose in people’s lives. What I mean is that God does not just make people leaders for the sake of giving them titles; rather, He makes them leaders in order to use them to accomplish His desires in the lives of others. And this is something everyone that is a leader in one capacity or the other must know and function by. Otherwise, he will become a hindrance to what God intends to accomplish in the lives of the people he is leading and bring them to their ruin.
We see an illustration of this in the story of the children of Israel and the golden calf. God had used Moses in leading these people out of Egypt in order to bring them into the land He had promised to their forefathers. And since it was important for them to be instructed on how to conduct themselves in the new place they were being taken to, God had to call Moses to Himself for some days (forty days) in order to deliver to him the laws and instructions that would guide them in their national life. (Cf. Ex 24:12-18) And this was the situation that threw up Aaron as an emergency leader for the people.
Now what was Aaron’s job? It was simply to make sure that the people remain sober and orderly, while waiting for Moses to bring their national laws to them from their God. But then, when the people saw that Moses was not returning after a few days, they grew impatient and began to demand for a new kind of leadership from Aaron. They asked him to make a new god for them that would lead them to some ‘only God knows’ place. (Cf. Ex 32:1)
Unfortunately, Aaron, who had been saddled with the responsibility of keeping these people in the purpose of God and was supposed to know better, succumbed to their pressure, gave them a golden calf as god and allowed them to go wild. Look at the way the bible puts it: “Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get completely out of control, much to the amusement of their enemies.” (Ex 32:25NLT) Did you see that? Aaron allowed the people to get out hands in just forty days. He allowed them to become like sheep without a shepherd and gave their enemies a reason to ridicule them. And if it had not been for the timely and heartfelt intercession of Moses, God would have destroyed all of them in His anger, something that would have been an end of all His good plans for them (Ex 32:11-14).
In the same manner, the purpose of God for many lives is being thwarted today because of the irresponsibility of those who are meant to be leading them. Their leaders have allowed them to go out of control and begin to destroy their lives in meaningless ventures. And if you are one of such leaders that have allowed the people (children, boys, girls, men, women, families, groups, communities and so forth) under them to go wild and lose their identities and purposes, you need to repent fast. That is because, someday, God is going to hold you responsible for all those lives that are being ruined under your watch (Ezek 33:7-9; Heb 13:17). And when He does that, I wonder what justification you will have. So, shape up now and make up your mind that by the grace of God your leadership will not thwart the purpose of God for the lives of those you are leading. God be with you!
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GOD’S PRINCIPLES FOR PEACE AND PROSPERITY 06/11/2023
“Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." (Jer 29:7NIV)
From what the Lord says in the bible text above to His people in exile, it is clear that He takes delight in our prosperity, regardless of where we are. In other words, whether we are living in our own town and among our own people or we are living as strangers in another land and among a people of another culture, He wants us to prosper. In like manner, whether it is our personal business we are handling or we are employees in another person’s business, God wants us to prosper. However, there are habits that result in prosperity, as God further shows us in the above text. And if we do not cultivate these habits, we may never experience the prosperity we desire and seek.
Now what are those habits we need to cultivate to experience prosperity, regardless of where we live or work? Two major ones are mentioned in the text above. The first is to seek the peace and prosperity of where we live and work. The second is to continually pray for the peace and prosperity of the place in which we live and work. And why is it important that we devote ourselves to doing these two things? It is important because our prosperity and peace are hinged on the prosperity and peace of that place where we live and work.
Remember that it is God Himself that is saying these things to us. It is God Himself that is telling us that we cannot rise in our experience of prosperity and peace above the experience of prosperity and peace that our land and places of work have. And can’t we see illustrations of this all around us today? We can. Why do many today want to go and live or study in countries like USA, Germany, Japan and so forth? It is because those countries are known as prosperous countries.
But why are they as prosperous as they are now? They are because the people living in them are working for their prosperity and peace. They all may not know God or believe in God. But they do not know that if they are going to prosper and enjoy peace in their individual lives, then, each of them must commit himself to working for the prosperity and peace of their land. So, they build businesses that will not just take care of them but that will also take care of others. Then when they are given any job to do, they do it in ways that it will not upset the peace of those who benefit from it or result in a waste of the money of the people paying them to do it. In addition, they keep thinking hard to come up with ways to simplify life for everybody. Therefore, though they may not know or honour God, He still causes them to enjoy prosperity and peace because they are practising His principles for prosperity and peace.
Unfortunately, the same things cannot be said of us in a country like Nigeria. Yes, we too desire prosperity and peace in our land. But many of us are not given to doing those things that will result in our experience of these things. What I mean is that we are selfish in the way we go about seeking prosperity and peace for ourselves. So, when we pray for peace and prosperity, it is for ourselves alone and not for our land and our places of work. And when we work, it is for our own peace and prosperity and not for the peace and prosperity of the place we live and the place we work.
But that will never work. For instance, we cannot be stealing from our workplace or handling our responsibilities there with levity and expect to truly prosper and experience peace in our lives. Our prosperity and peace are tied to the prosperity and peace of that place where we work. And as long as we are killing it or weakening its ability to be productive, effective and efficient, it is our own prosperity and peace we limiting.
Also, we cannot be running away from our duties to the community or town or state in which we live and expect to prosper and experience peace. When it is time to pay tax, we run. When it is time to pay for electricity in the house we live, we vanish or turn it into a fight or steal it. Or when it is time to pay for security or any developmental project in our neighbourhood, we just find a way to excuse ourselves. Yet we want to prosper and have peace and are also probably attending night vigils for this to happen. We are just joking. The kind of prosperity and peace we seek will never happen, as long as we continue like this.
See, if we truly want to prosper and enjoy a great measure of peace where we live and work, then, let us start working and praying to promote peace and prosperity there. Let us start putting our minds to work to see how we can make things better and easier for everyone where we live and work. Also, let us change the culture of allowing things to go bad or get ruined because we think they don’t belong to us but to the state or to our workplace. Then let us stop offering selfish and narrow prayers of prosperity that do not believe in our collective prosperity. And as we begin to take these things seriously, God will definitely show us mercy and cause us to enjoy the blessings that follow the practice of His principles for peace and prosperity.
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DON’T CONDEMN ANYBODY 05/11/2023
“God presented him (Jesus) as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” (Rom 3:25-26NIV – emphasis added)
Did you see that? God presented Jesus Christ as the payment sacrifice for all our sins. That means He offered Him as the payment for all the sins of humanity, all of the sins we have committed and all the sins we are going to commit till He will bring this present world to its end. And it is on this basis that He does not count the sins of those who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord against them anymore. Their sins have been paid for. So, there is no way they can be made to pay for them again.
Unfortunately, there are people who find this hard to believe or accept. They are the sanctimonious ones, who think sinners must surely be punished by God for their sins, even if they repent. But there is no Scripture that supports that view or notion. All Scriptures point to the fact that once sinners turn to God for salvation in Christ Jesus, He forgives them and never holds them accountable for whatever horrible things they have done in the past.
But then, this is not to say that people may not at all suffer for certain natural consequences of their sins. If someone, for instance, has been an armed robber. The fact that he has accepted Jesus as his Lord and Saviour and begun to live a new life in Him does not mean that he cannot be prosecuted and sent to jail. And if he is already in jail, that he has become a Christian does not mean that he must be released or will be released from jail.
Yes, God is able to bring about circumstances that will take care of the consequences of this man’s past and lead him safely out of jail or prevent him from going to jail. But He may not do that at all. Will He be unfair for not doing that? No! What we must understand in the first place is that God is not the one punishing this person for his sins. God has already punished Jesus for his sins. So, He is not going to punish him again for sins that have already been punished and paid for.
Whatever punishment he is experiencing, then, is a natural consequence of his sins. When Esau came out against Jacob years after the latter had robbed him of his blessings, he did not blame God for it. Why? It was not God that wanted to punish him. It was his brother that wanted to punish him for his sins. So, instead of blaming God for what was about to happen to him, he cried out to Him for help and salvation. And did God answer him or not? He did. (Cf. Gen 32&33)
So, anyone who is suffering from the hands of men or human government because of their past sins can turn to God to rescue them from such sufferings. But they must never think it is God that is punishing them or judging them. God has paid for their sins and forgiven them. And nothing will ever change that before Him.
In like manner, we too should relate to our Christian brothers and sisters and their past on this basis. Whatever God has forgiven, we too should forgive. And whatever He has forgotten, we also should forget. Don’t forget that there is none of us who does not have a sinful past. Yes, our own lives before we came to Jesus may not have been as messed up as the lives of some other people before they came to Him. But that does not mean that we are better than them before God.
The bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” ‘All’ in this text means ‘All’. So, none of us is exempted. None of us has any form of righteousness or holiness that qualifies us for salvation before God. All of us must be saved by Him. Otherwise, we will not be saved at all.
Remember the story of that woman that was caught in the very act of adultery and brought to Jesus. Remember also how the Lord judged her case. He asked those who brought her and who wanted her to be stoned, according to the law, to go ahead and stone her, if they had never committed any sin. And realising that none of them was without one form or sin or the other, they all dropped the stones in their hands and, one after the other, left the scene. (Cf. John 8:1-11)
Interestingly, even our Lord Jesus Christ, who happened to be the only one qualified to stone this woman and end her life of misery, did not condemn her or stone her. Instead, He told her to go and sin no more. That is to show you that what God wants is genuine repentance, genuine willingness to turn to Him and be saved. And where this has happened, there is no condemnation whatsoever for the person involved.
So, don’t condemn anybody because of their past is worse than yours. Yours could as well have been worse than theirs. Therefore, accept them just as God accepted you in Christ Jesus..d you in Christ Jesus..
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KEEP IN ME THE DESIRE TO SERVE WILLINGLY AND FAITHFULLY 04/11/2023
“I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you.” (1Chron 29:17-18NIV)
The word of prayer above was offered by King David after witnessing a great demonstration of love from his people to God in the way they gave in advance for the building of God's temple (1Chro 29:1-9). Initially, he had nursed the desire in his heart to build a magnificent temple for God. But God said to him, “No, you are not the one to build me a temple, for you have shed much blood on the earth. But your son Solomon will be the one that will build me that temple.” (Cf. 1Chro 22:7-10) And since that was the case, he felt that the least he could do was to provide as much materials as he could for Solomon to do the work. What a great heart!
But then, David felt it would not be right to deny other people of God the privilege of also partaking in this great blessedness. So, having given his own gifts for the work, he asked his people, “Who is willing to give himself to this work?” (Cf. 1Chro 29:1-5) And to his utter surprise, without pressuring or threatening or manipulating anybody to give, the people gave willing and generously to the Lord. The account in the bible reads: “The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly.” (1Chron 29:9NIV)
Look at that. The giving of the leaders of Israel made David and the entire nation rejoice. And that was because everyone gave willingly, generously, according to what he has and as he purposed in his heart. Therefore, David, being a man of discernment, took this occasion to pray to God, as we see in our opening text, to keep this kind of desire in the hearts of the people forever. In other words, he was saying to God, “Fill the hearts of your people with the desire to always serve you willingly and happily.”
We all also must learn to offer this kind of prayers for ourselves and other people of God around us. I mean that we need to learn to regularly pray that God will continually fill our hearts with the desire to serve him willingly and happily. This is important, especially today when, in many places all around the world, God's people are coerced, manipulated and threatened to do almost everything. But He does not want His people to do anything for Him or give anything to Him because they are pressured, manipulated or threatened to do so. Rather, He wants whatever comes from them to Him to come out of a willing, devoted and cheerful heart. For that is when what they have done or given will be acceptable in His eyes and receive His praise. (Cf. Gen 22:1-19; Ex 25:1 & 35:4-29; 2Cor 9:7)
So, if you find yourself often reluctant or unhappy to serve God in any way, you need this prayer. And if you find those you are leading unwilling or unhappy to serve God or do His will in any way, learn to offer this prayer for them, instead of manipulating, threatening or pressuring them. Then, even if your heart has always wanted to serve God willingly and cheerfully, you too need this prayer. Yes, you need to pray, as David did for his people, that God will keep in you this desire forever. And so shall it be. Amen.
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HE IS ABLE TO SAVE YOU FROM THE PENALTIES OF YOUR PAST ERRORS 03/11/2023
“Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children.” (Gen 32:11NIV)
I often hear people, even Christians, say things like, “No matter how repentant a sinner gets, God will still punish him for his past sins. No sinner will ever go unpunished.” But the truth is that, as modest as such statements may seem, they are not Scriptural they don't represent the mind of God.
Think about it – what is the point of forgiveness, if the offender still has to be punished? What I am saying is this: if God says that He has forgiven me and wiped away my sins, why then does He still have to punish me or make me pay for those sins? It does not make any form of sense.
See, the Scriptures are very clear about God's position concerning sin and repentance. And this is not something that is dealt with only in the New Testament portion of the bible but also in the Old Testament part of it. Indeed, God hates sin, any kind of sin. Nevertheless, He Himself has abundantly made it clear that He has no pleasure in the death of any sinner. And that is why He has always made room for repentance and for the remission or forgiveness of sins. It is also the reason He is no longer counting men's sins against them but reconciling them to Himself. (Cf. Ps 103:3-4; Ezk 18; 2Cor 5:19)
Nevertheless, even though God freely forgives men and forgets their sins and iniquities when they turn to Him in repentance, there are times that they may still have to face certain natural or legal consequences of their sins or errors. Take an armed robber, for instance. The fact that he has turned to God in repentance from his sins does not mean that he cannot be sentenced to death or life imprisonment, according to the laws of his land. And if that happens, will it be right to blame God for his death or to say that God is punishing him for his past sins? The answer is 'No'.
Also, consider a lady that has lost her womb as a result of sexual sins. If, having turned to the Lord and been saved from her sins, no man is still willing to marry her because of her condition, will it be okay to say that it is God that is punishing her or dealing with her because of her past sins? No, it will not be okay.
We cannot blame or hold God responsible for such things, because He is not the one responsible for them. But we can turn to God for help, even in such situations, and, as a merciful God, He knows how to step in and save us from the penalties of our past sins.
Now we see an illustration of this in the case of Jacob and his brother Esau. Jacob, with the help of his mother, Rebekah, had obviously offended and treated his brother treacherously (Gen 27). And after some years of successfully hiding from him, a time came when there was no longer a place for him to hide or run to – he must at last pay for his past sins and mischievousness.
But Jacob knew what the penalty of his sins would be – it was death. And he had no power of his own to stop it from coming. But there was something he could do about it. He could pray to God and seek His protection. And that was exactly what he did. In his fear and great distress, he called out to God and said, “Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children.” (Gen 32:11NIV) And you know what? God, in a very miraculous and unexplainable way, answered and saved him from his brother. In fact, instead for Esau to come against him in wrath, he came to him in peace and spoke tenderly to him. What a mighty God we serve! (Cf. Gen 32 & 33)
Now this same God is still alive and well and active today. And if you also will turn to Him for help about the consequences of your past sins, whatever they may be, He will not push you away; rather, He will answer you and bring you comfort in ways you can never imagine. However, you must not make any excuse for the wrong things you did in the past, for which you are now suffering; instead, you must acknowledge them and be willing to make necessary amends wherever you can. Jacob made no excuse for his sins against his brother. Rather, he acknowledged that he was wrong to cheat him the way he had done and was even ready to pacify him in whatever way he could. And that was why he obtained mercy. My prayer is that you too will obtain mercy today and be saved from whatever consequences of your past sins that are haunting you, in Jesus' precious name. Amen.
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IN THIS MANNER 02/11/2023
“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”” (Matt 6:9-13NKJV)
Now notice that the Lord does not say, “This is exactly the way you must pray.” Neither does He say, “This is the way you must always pray.” Instead, He says, “In this manner, therefore, pray...” In other words, the Lord is giving us an example of how to pray, that is, in keeping with what He already says against using repetitive words in our prayers. And you can see that there is no repetition in this prayer example of His. Rather, what we have are simple, honest and intelligent words of prayer.
Unfortunately, some have gone ahead to label this prayer example as 'The Lord's prayer'. And some others have gone ahead to analyse it and show how wrong it is for God's people to offer it now. But clearly, the Lord is not doing any praying here; He is simply teaching people how to pray.
So, to start with, this prayer example requires no analysing – it is us just an example. Then, when you check other records of where Jesus actually prayed, especially the one in John 17, He did not follow this format in praying. And why? It is just an example of what it means to communicate with God intelligently, honestly and very simply, using our own words and whatever language that is okay for us. So, we don't have to make it the standard we must follow each time we pray. Instead, we are expected to pray as occasions demand.
Look at all the recorded prayers of the brethren of old. They were full of simple, clear, honest and intelligent words. They never had to use the same words or follow the same pattern each time they prayed. They simply prayed as occasions demanded, and God heard them. (Cf. Acts 4:23-31, Eph 1:15-23, 3:17-19)
But what do we have today? We have people who now say these prayer verses every day. In short, for many, it does not matter what kinds of prayers and requests you have offered to God, if you do not end them with this so-called 'the Lord's prayer', you have not prayed at all. So, if we pray twenty times in a day, we have to say these prayer verses twenty times a day. Otherwise, we have not done any praying.
Now that is really ridiculous, for it is exactly what the Lord is teaching us not to do. He says we should not be repetitive with our words of prayer. But ignorantly, we are still being repetitive. And unless we deliberately unteach ourselves these things and start practising how to pray simply, honestly and intelligently, as occasions demand, we will not be getting any reward from God for our prayers.
But one may say, “I have been praying like this all my life, and I have been getting results and God's blessings. So why should I quit now?” The truth is that you have not been getting God's blessings for praying against His will; you have been getting His blessings because He always does for us infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts and even hopes. Besides, you will need to have God open your eyes for you to see how much you have missed by not praying according to His will and how much you could have gained by praying according to His will. (Cf. Eph 3:20)
In any case, the Lord's point by saying these things to us is that we should be concerned about praying according to the will of God whenever we pray. Otherwise, our prayers will only be a waste of time, energy and even resources before God—He will give us no reward for them. And may the Spirit of God set us right, as far as this matter is concerned, in Jesus' name. Amen.
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BRAVERY IS NOT ENOUGH 01/11/2023
“Be brave. Be of good courage, for I have defeated the world.” (Cf. John 16:33)
Think about that. The Lord has already defeated the world with all the troubles it has to offer. He has already conquered it for us. So, we don't have to be afraid of what trouble the world may throw at us anymore. Yes, the world, as our Lord points out, will definitely keep throwing all kinds of troubles at us. What I am saying is that we will, from time to time, come face to face with financial troubles, marital troubles, academic troubles, health troubles, social troubles, religious troubles, political troubles and so forth, that is, as long as we are in this world. And the Lord's instruction to us is to be brave in the face of all of them.
However, being brave in the face of a problem is not synonymous to confronting the problem with the right kind of solution. Yes, it is important that we be brave. It is important that we do not allow our hearts to be overwhelmed by the challenges we are being faced with. If we are not brave, we will simply give up or run away every time we are faced with any kind of trouble.
So, we need to be brave in the face of whatever challenge we are faced with in this world. And our bravery is to arise out of what the Lord says to us; our bravery is to arise out of the fact that the Lord has already overcome the world for us.
Nevertheless, as I already pointed out, being brave is not the same thing as dealing with the troubles we are being faced with. Yes, the Lord tells us to be brave and to be of good courage, even though we are being faced with diverse tests, trials and temptations. But He does not say we are to do nothing about them.
Actually, if we do nothing about the troubles we are facing in this life, no amount of bravery will keep us from being destroyed by them. True bravery is that which prompts us to reject defeat. True bravery is that which propels us to take advantage of God's provisions to deal with whatever challenge we are faced with. And one of God's provisions for us in dealing with life's troubles and challenges is prayer.
Now prayer, according to the Scriptures, is a powerful and effective weapon in dealing with life's troubles. Remember that James says in his epistle, “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray…” (James 5:13NIV) Then he goes on to say, “…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful an effective.” (James 5:16NIV)
Think about that. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective in solving life's problems and changing life's situations. And that is because such a prayer is being offered to the Almighty God. So, it is not the prayer itself that is solving problems or changing things; it is the God that the prayer is being offered to that is solving problems and changing things. Therefore, regardless of how enormous or mighty the trouble you are faced with is, pray to God. And He will surely bring you out of them.
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FOR PEACE AND PROSPERITY 31/10/2023
“Work for the good of the cities where I have made you go as prisoners. Pray to me on their behalf, because if they are prosperous, you will be prosperous too.” (Jer 29:7GNT)
God is talking to His people here about the land in which they are living as strangers. He is showing them two major principles behind experiencing prosperity and peace wherever we find ourselves, whether as natives of the place or as foreigners there. And the first of those two principles has to do with working for the prosperity and peace of wherever we are. If we will not faithfully work for the prosperity and peace of where we are, whatever our reasons may be, we too will not enjoy prosperity and peace in our lives, regardless of how rich, influential or powerful we may be. Somehow these things will just keep eluding us. It is a law that God has established.
So, be sure you are sincerely working for and not against the peace and prosperity of that city, house, school, organisation, community or church in which you have found yourself. That is because your own peace and prosperity are hinged on it, to one degree or the other. And perhaps the reason your life has been stagnant and full of chaos is that you have not taken these things seriously. You are not doing anything to promote the welfare and peace of the place you are; you are not doing something to make life easier or more enjoyable for those there. Or it may be that what you are doing is directly or indirectly against the prosperity and peace of the place you are. That too will ultimately lead to nothing but barrenness and restlessness in your life. So, you need to watch it.
The second principle to experiencing prosperity and peace where we are is to pray to God for it. God tells His people in that bible text above to ask Him to prosper and keep safe the land they are in as strangers. Why? It is because, as I earlier pointed out, if God does not make a life or place prosperous, there is nothing we do that will make it prosperous. But God wants our lives, homes, cities and countries to be prosperous. That is why He is even the one asking us to pray to Him about them. And He goes on to emphatically say to us, “If that land in which you are is prosperous, you too will be prosperous.” How true is this? Absolutely true! The poverty of our nation is our own poverty. And the insecurity of our nation is as well our insecurity.
Look, for example, at how poor and inadequate power supply is affecting all of us in the country. Can you think of the number of times you or your business has been grounded because of it? Or can you quantify the amount of money you have lost in goods or services because of it? Then think of how much trouble all of us have gone through and are still going through because of bad roads. The price we have paid for this and are still paying for it is quite unimaginable. So, the reason many of us in the country are living in extreme state of poverty is that our country is poor. Yes, we may say, “Our country is not poor but is being poorly managed.” It does not matter. We are still poor. At least, of what use are riches that cannot be truly enjoyed? Of no use!
Therefore, if we want many of our people that are poor and insecure today to come out of these things, then, our nation must come out of them. And God is saying for our nation to come out of poverty and whatever form of insecurity we are experiencing at the moment, we need to commit her to Him in prayers. So, let us give ourselves to praying for the prosperity and peace of our nation. And God, who has told us to do so, will be faithful to answer us.
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DON’T SUBJECT THEM TO PUBLIC DISGRACE 30/10/2023
“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.” (Matt 1:18-19NIV)
Mary, who had been pledged to marry Joseph, was discovered to be with a child before their wedding. And Joseph knew that he was not the one responsible for the pregnancy. So, he could have made the matter public and labelled her useless and irresponsible lady. Then the coming of our Lord into the world would have been immersed in a terrible scandal.
But the bible says that Joseph would not do that at all. He would not do anything that would subject Mary to public ridicule or disgrace, even though, looking at the situation from a human point of view, she was the one to blame – she was the one that got involved in immorality. Instead, he decided to end their relationship in secret. In other words, he decided not to discuss the matter with anyone that should not know about it and just end the whole thing as quietly as possible.
Why would Joseph act like that, even when God had not yet told him the truth about Mary’s matter and how he should handle it? According to the bible, it was because he was a righteous man. That means righteous people don’t seek to disgrace those that they love, even when they fail or disappoint them. A righteous person will not abuse the information you give them about you or about your family, however disappointing it may be. Yes, they may, because of certain wrong things you have done, end their association with you, if God does not step in to stop them, as He did in Joseph’s case. But they will do so with discretion. They will do so in such a way that nobody that should not know will get to know the real reason your relationship with them has to end.
Now if you are a child of God, that is how you should function in your love life. Function as a righteous person and not as a wicked and callous person, who cares only about themselves and not about others. Treat whatever information the people in your life give you about themselves or about their families with respect and wisdom, just the way you would expect them to treat whatever information you give them about yourself and your people. Don’t be vindictive with what they tell you. In other words, be careful never to use whatever truth they entrust to you about their lives or families to destroy them, whether now or in the future. That is the way of the world. And you should by all means avoid it.
Today, it is not an uncommon thing for ex-lovers to drag themselves in the mud, especially on the internet. We hear and read of things like this from time to time. And secrets and private matters that should have lived and died in their minds are brought out in the open for others to know, just because some foolish individuals want to score a point or win some word battles against one another.
But children of God must abstain from such things, for the word of God says:
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Eph 4:29-30NIV)
Did you see that? Anything unwholesome should not come out of your mouth to the people that are trusting you with their lives or secrets or about them. It is only what will build them up according to their needs that you should say to them or about them, even if you have to go your separate ways because you can no longer walk together intimately as friends, lovers, neighbours, business partners, family members or church members. Otherwise, you may just expose yourself to God’s judgment in ways you can’t ever imagine.
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DEAL WITH THAT DEVOURER 29/10/2023
“Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.'” (Luke 16:1-2NIV)
One of the things anyone who wants to continually enjoy God’s prosperity and elevation must pay attention to is how the resources under his control are being managed or used. That is because God Himself is paying attention to it. And what He sees is one of the things that will determine whether He entrusts more of the good things of this life to that person or not.
As we are shown in the bible, there is nothing good we have in this life that we have not received from God. At least, we all can relate to the fact that none of us brought anything into this world when we came. We simply came into the world to meet God’s provisions for us. So, naturally, we should know that whatever we are able to take for ourselves here does not originally belong to us but to God, the creator and owner of the heavens and the earth. That being the case, we should not be surprised that He is interested in knowing how we use our possessions. (Cf. Gen 1:1; Ps 24:1; 1Cor 4:7; 1Tim 6:6)
Now since God is interested in how we use our possessions and will judge us accordingly, we too should be interested in how others use our possessions, so that we may judge them accordingly. And we see our Lord placing His fingers on this in our opening bible text. There He tells a story about a man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. And how did this man respond to what he heard? Did he ignore it? No, he did not ignore it. Instead, he told the man to tidy up his desk because he was going to be sacked.
We are not told how long that manager served this man. But it did not matter to him. What mattered to him was putting an end to a waste of his resources. In like manner, we too must never allow sentiments to prevent us from putting an end to any waste or mismanagement of our resources. So, first, we need to pay attention to how whatever belongs to us or is entrusted to us is being used by those with us or under us. Then if we observe that they are wasting things, mismanaging things or stealing things, we should deal with them accordingly and not allow any kind of sentiments to prevent us from doing the needful. Otherwise, God will hold us responsible for their errors. And who knows how He will judge?
Why was Eli condemned and punished by God? The bible tells us that it was because he failed to restrain his sons. His sons were messing up with the offerings and sacrifices brought by the people to the Lord. And though he was not involved in their crimes, the Lord expected him, as the chief priest, to do more than merely rebuking them. He expected him to put them out of office, that is, sack them, even though they were his sons. And if he had done that, the sins of those young men would have been appropriately atoned for. But he did not do so. Instead, he allowed them to continue to serve and to mismanage what God entrusted to him. So, he was judged along with them. (Cf. 1Sam 2-4)
Under the old covenant, God said the following about how to handle anything entrusted to us by others:
"If a man gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep or any other animal to his neighbor for safekeeping and it dies or is injured or is taken away while no one is looking, the issue between them will be settled by the taking of an oath before the LORD that the neighbor did not lay hands on the other person's property. The owner is to accept this, and no restitution is required. But if the animal was stolen from the neighbor, he must make restitution to the owner. If it was torn to pieces by a wild animal, he shall bring in the remains as evidence and he will not be required to pay for the torn animal.” (Ex 22:10-13NIV)
Did you see that? God does not expect anybody to treat you with sentiments, if, as a result of your negligence, you lose what they have kept with you or entrusted to you. Instead, He demands that you pay back what has been lost under your care. And even if you claim that it is not your fault, He demands that you swear an oath before Him to that effect. Otherwise, you must fully settle the owner.
Similarly, under that covenant, if, as a result of your activities, another person suffers a loss of their properties or farm produce, you must settle them fully for what they have lost. And why did God give His people such laws? It was so that they would learn to operate with seriousness and carefulness in life and not take others and their properties for granted. (Cf. Ex 22:5-6)
Now since this is how God reasons, we must not only handle whatever belongs to others with a high sense of responsibility, we must also demand that others handle what belongs to us with a high sense of responsibility. Of course, as children of God, we must be forgiving and merciful in dealing with people’s errors or mistakes in handling our things. That is because there is none of us that does not make mistakes or commit blunders.
However, when we observe that someone using or managing our things or what has been entrusted to us has developed a culture of wastefulness or theft, we must not allow them to carry on with whatever nonsense they are doing, regardless of how close they may be to us. Instead, as the man in the story of our Lord did, we need to sack them. That does not necessary mean that we are to send them away from our lives, for there are people we can’t just send out of our lives as we please. But it means that we must take away from them whatever measure of access they have to what belongs to us or whatever system or set up that permits them to mismanage our properties or steal them.
This, of course, will require some measure of boldness from us. But it is the will of God for us. And if we won’t do it, such people will not stop being the door through which devourers will continue to devour our lives and prosperity. Will it be wise of God, then, to keep giving more resources to a man that is living or working with devourers and who will do nothing about them? No! If, as human beings, we will not give certain good things to those we love because we believe certain people with them will not allow them to enjoy those things, will God not even do better? I tell you, He will. So, do the needful about all those that you know Satan has been using to steal your prosperity, for it is your job to do so.
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BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU 27/10/2023
“However, the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.” (Deut 23:5NIV)
One of the facts we are confronted with in the bible, which we must allow to abide in us, is that God's love for us is great, incomparable and indescribable. And He demonstrated this love for us first by sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our redemption. He did this when we were cruel to Him and had nothing to offer Him. He did this for us when all that we deserved was eternal destruction and death.
So, the bible says, “"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16NIV) It also says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8NIV)
Now since God loved us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His Son for us, what else would He not be willing to give to us or do for us? Nothing! What we are saying is that since God would not withhold the most precious thing to Him from us – His Son – when He saw that we needed Him for our salvation, there is nothing that He will consider too big or great to do for us or give to us, inasmuch as that thing will bring about the fulfilment of His purpose in our lives. (Cf. Rom 8:31-32)
This is one of the reasons we should be bold and free to approach Him for anything we need. And as long as that thing is consistent with His purpose for us, He will graciously give it to us. Therefore, be free and bold to pray to Him for anything you need or want today, tomorrow or anytime. That is because the one you are praying to is your lover, a lover who is ever willing to do for you anything that will make your life what it is meant to be. (Cf. Heb 4:14-16)
Furthermore, because God loves us He will do whatever He needs to do to keep us safe from every attack of our invisible and visible enemies. In our opening Scripture, for instance, we are reminded of how He turned what would have been a curse on the lives of His people, Israel, into a blessing. As the account goes, Balak, one of the enemies that did not want to see them prosper, had hired a seer and sorcerer, Balaam, to curse them, so that life would grow hard and unprofitable for them. But God would not allow this man to curse them. Instead, He commanded him to bless them and proclaim to the world that they are blessed. (Cf. Num 22-24)
Why did He do that? As we are told in our opening Scripture, it was because He loved the Israelites. And does He love you and me too? Yes, He does. In fact, as Paul tells us, His love for us is so great that no man, woman, angel, demon, height, depth, trouble or difficulty can separate us from it. Therefore, we too can trust Him to turn whatever Satan or anybody is doing to hurt us into a blessing for us. Do you believe this? If you do, then, say, “Thank you, Father, for loving me the way you do. And thank you because you will surely make everything that is happening now around me and in my life work for my good, peace of mind, progress and advancement. Hallelujah!”
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BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU 27/10/2023
“However, the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.” (Deut 23:5NIV)
One of the facts we are confronted with in the bible, which we must allow to abide in us, is that God's love for us is great, incomparable and indescribable. And He demonstrated this love for us first by sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our redemption. He did this when we were cruel to Him and had nothing to offer Him. He did this for us when all that we deserved was eternal destruction and death.
So, the bible says, “"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16NIV) It also says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8NIV)
Now since God loved us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His Son for us, what else would He not be willing to give to us or do for us? Nothing! What we are saying is that since God would not withhold the most precious thing to Him from us – His Son – when He saw that we needed Him for our salvation, there is nothing that He will consider too big or great to do for us or give to us, inasmuch as that thing will bring about the fulfilment of His purpose in our lives. (Cf. Rom 8:31-32)
This is one of the reasons we should be bold and free to approach Him for anything we need. And as long as that thing is consistent with His purpose for us, He will graciously give it to us. Therefore, be free and bold to pray to Him for anything you need or want today, tomorrow or anytime. That is because the one you are praying to is your lover, a lover who is ever willing to do for you anything that will make your life what it is meant to be. (Cf. Heb 4:14-16)
Furthermore, because God loves us He will do whatever He needs to do to keep us safe from every attack of our invisible and visible enemies. In our opening Scripture, for instance, we are reminded of how He turned what would have been a curse on the lives of His people, Israel, into a blessing. As the account goes, Balak, one of the enemies that did not want to see them prosper, had hired a seer and sorcerer, Balaam, to curse them, so that life would grow hard and unprofitable for them. But God would not allow this man to curse them. Instead, He commanded him to bless them and proclaim to the world that they are blessed. (Cf. Num 22-24)
Why did He do that? As we are told in our opening Scripture, it was because He loved the Israelites. And does He love you and me too? Yes, He does. In fact, as Paul tells us, His love for us is so great that no man, woman, angel, demon, height, depth, trouble or difficulty can separate us from it. Therefore, we too can trust Him to turn whatever Satan or anybody is doing to hurt us into a blessing for us. Do you believe this? If you do, then, say, “Thank you, Father, for loving me the way you do. And thank you because you will surely make everything that is happening now around me and in my life work for my good, peace of mind, progress and advancement. Hallelujah!”
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THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS 26/10/2023
“He said: "Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.'”” (2Chron 20:15NIV)
Those are the words that King Jehoshaphat received from the Lord in response to his prayers to Him for salvation from the hands of the enemies that had come against him and his people. As the account goes, the Moabites, Ammonites and Edomites once mustered a vast army to invade the land of Judah, which Jehoshaphat was king over. Now this man could have responded to that by gathering his counsellors and generals together to brainstorm on what to do and how they would protect their country. But he did not do that at all? Instead,he led the whole nation to seek God's face by praying and fasting about the matter. (Cf. 2Chro 20:1-13)
In like manner, we too need to learn to respond to the challenges and trials of life by praying to God, who created all things and also has power over all things, instead of trying to deal with them according to our own understanding. It is a fact that, as long as we are in this world, we may not be able to choose what problems or challenges come our way. However, we can choose how we respond to each problem or trial or temptation we are faced with. And how we respond to each of these things, of course, will determine whether we are going to have real and permanent victory over them or be overcome by them.
In Jehoshaphat's case, he responded to the attack of his enemies by praying to God. And did God answer him or not? He answered him by the mouth of one of His prophets. He said to him, “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but mine.” Think about that. God told this man that though those who had come against him were many, he would not be the one fighting them. Rather, it was He, God Himself, that would be fighting them. And do you know what it means to have God fighting for you? That is beyond what anybody can contemplate.
But then, that was not all that God said to them. God also went on to say this to them:
“Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.” (2Chron 20:16-17NIV)
Did you see that? Even though God had plainly told these people that the battle was not theirs but His, He did not expect them to go and hide somewhere to watch the battle or sit down at home and await victory. Instead, He wanted them to go out there, take battle positions and face their enemies. Why? First, it was because that was something within their abilities to do. I mean that God did not have to dress them up for battle and carry them out into the battle ground before He showed them that He was fighting for them. Those were things they could do, for He had already given them the ability to do them.
The second reason God asked them to go out and face their enemies was to show those enemies that they were not afraid to face them, even though theirs was a vast army. In other words, He was building confidence in them, confidence to face the adversary with a consciousness of His presence. All of us also need the same confidence built into our lives, the confidence that comes from the presence of the God of all creation with us, in us and for us, the confidence that comes from knowing that since God is with us, no one can successfully stand against us and prosper (Rom 8:31). That way, irrespective of the enormousness of the challenges we may be faced with, we will not run into hiding but stand with God to experience the victory He has already given.
The third reason God wanted these Jews to go out and face those enemies was so that they would be available to claim the fruit of His victory over them. God was certainly going to defeat their enemies before them, as He eventually did. And that would leave spoils of war for them to plunder and carry away. Who, then, would do the carrying of these spoils for them? Was it God or His angels? Absolutely not! They would have to go into the camps of the enemies themselves after the battle and take the spoils of war home by themselves and for themselves.
Thus, when we are quoting the Scripture that says, “The battle is God's and not yours,” in the face of our challenges, we should also remember that God is not going to do everything for us, for He did not do everything for Jehoshaphat and his people. They had to do for themselves those things He had given them the abilities to do. So, the fact that you are praying and trusting God to handle your challenges for you does not mean you are to expect Him to do everything for you.
For instance, He would not write job application letters or check your mails for you, if you are trusting Him for a good job. And He would not be opening your shop early or advertise your products for you, if you are trusting Him for good sales in your business. Then He would not do your house chores for you or carry out your marital obligations for you, if you are trusting Him to deal with certain marital problems of yours. In short, there are things God will not do for us, even when He is fighting our battles for us. That we will because He has already given us the abilities to do them. It is on us, then, to identify those things and begin to diligently and faithfully do them. That way, we will always be able to witness and fully enjoy the fruit of the victory He is daily giving us.
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HOW WRONG THINGS BECOME NORMAL 25/10/2023
“When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong.” (Eccl 8:11NIV)
What is Solomon telling us here? It is that when the people in a place begin to get the feeling that the wickedness being done there may never be punished, many of them are likely to cast off restraints and start giving expression to the evil desires of their own hearts too. That is how wrong things soon become normal. And then when you punish people for them, everybody starts crying wolf.
Sometimes ago, I learnt that a number of internet fraudsters, popularly known as 'Yahoo boys', protested, along with some of their parents and friends, in the streets of two of our cities in Osun State. And what was the ground for their protests? It was that they were not happy about the way a certain Law enforcement agency has been harassing and arresting them.
While there may be a lot to debate about how the said agency should go about its job of dealing with criminals or accused persons, it is highly embarrassing that known criminals would publicly come out and protest that they should not be arrested or dealt with at all or in a certain manner. Yet there were people, including public office holders, that hailed them or tried to persuade them to carry out their protests peacefully. What do you call that? I don't even know.
At any rate, my point is that when those who are in a position to righteously judge and punish wickedness would not do so faithfully and impartially, wickedness is bound to multiply in the land. And when that is the case, at some point, God, the judge of all of creation, who is always righteous and never impartial, will have to step in and do the needful. Then we may see whole lives, families, communities, towns, cities or countries being submerged under the water of His judgment, as it was in the day of Noah, or being destroyed by some plagues, calamities or wars.
So, if you are in a position to identify and judge wickedness, make sure you do not fail to do so, that is, with all sense of duty, justice and mercy. Otherwise, you may just be inviting God Himself to do the needful. And you yourself may not be spared, when He does.
Why was Eli judged along with his two sons? Was it because he was an evil man? No! He was not a wicked but godly man. But because he would not use his position as the head priest in the land to judge the wickedness of his sons, God had to make him and his entirely family suffer for their sins. And since He acted like that then, He can still do so now under the same circumstances.
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ONE BAD DECISION 24/10/2023
Have you ever made a bad decision in life before, a decision that almost destroyed you? Well, there was a man in the bible who made a decision that ruined his entire life and took away greatness from his generation. His name was Reuben. And what did this man do? According to the bible, he had sexual intercourse with one of his father’s wives, and his father heard about it (Gen 35:22).
Now what was he thinking? What went wrong with him? Were there no other women or ladies or girls around that he could sleep with? Why did he choose to mess up with his father’s wife, of all people? Or could it be that the woman seduced or tricked him into doing so?
Well, we wouldn’t know. We just know that he slept with his daddy’s wife, and his daddy found out about it. So, when the day came for his daddy to bless all his children, he would not bless him. Instead, he cursed him. He said to him, “Reuben, you are my oldest, born at the peak of my powers; you were an honored leader. Uncontrollable as a flood, you slept with my wife and disgraced my bed. And so you no longer deserve the place of honor.” (Gen 49:3-4CEV)
Look at that. Reuben was born to occupy a place of honour and greatness in life. He was born to excel and occupy the most important place among his brothers. But because of one bad decision, because of one foolish decision, because of one careless decision, he lost the honour and greatness that God had prepared for him. What a shame!
In the same manner, many young people today are making bad decisions that are destroying their lives and making them to lose the places of honour and greatness that God has prepared for them in life. Are you also not making bad decisions that can destroy your life? Are you also not taking wrong steps that will put an end to your journey to greatness?
See, your decision to be involved in sexual immorality, stealing, robbery, thuggery, cheating, street fights, sorcery (the use of charms) or any other evil practice can be the end of your journey to greatness, honour and peace in life. So, watch your life and allow the Lord Jesus Christ to take charge of it, and you will never lose what God has in store for you.
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HE WILL MAKE A DISTINCTION23/10/2023
“Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, so that they may worship me." If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, the hand of the LORD will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field — on your horses and donkeys and camels and on your cattle and sheep and goats. But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.'" The LORD set a time and said, "Tomorrow the LORD will do this in the land." And the next day the LORD did it: All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died. Pharaoh sent men to investigate and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died. Yet his heart was unyielding and he would not let the people go.” (Ex 9:1-7NIV)
When you read the words of our Lord Jesus that say, “God causes His sun to shine on both the good and the bad and also sends His rain on the righteous and the unrighteous,” you may conclude that God makes no discrimination at all in the way He deals with those who belong to Him and those who do not belong to Him (Matt 5:44-45). But that is not true. Yes, there are situations in which God treats both those who belong to Him and those who do not belong to Him alike. But it is not every time that He does this. There are times that He makes a distinction in the way He treats those who love Him and those who do not.
For example, as we see in our opening text, He once made a distinction between what His people Israel experienced and what the nation of Egypt experienced. In fact, He announced in advance that He was going to treat these two nations differently, even though they were living together. And that was exactly what He did. The terrible plague that came on all the animals of the Egyptians and killed them did not at all go near the livestock of the Israelites. As the men that Pharaoh sent to investigate found out, not even one of the animals of the Israelites died.
So, under certain circumstances, God’s people can expect Him to treat them differently from the way He treats those who do not believe in Him. He Himself once said to His people through Prophet Malachi, “And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” (Mal 3:18NIV) And why did He say this to them? It was because they had been saying, “It is useless to serve God. It did no good to obey his laws and to show the LORD All-Powerful that we were sorry for what we did. So we say that proud people are happy. Evil people succeed. They challenge God and get away with it.” (Mal 3:14-15NCV)
Think about that. Those people were saying that there was no gain in serving God and living uprightly before Him. And that must have been because of their experiences in life. They had been seeing wicked people prospering in their wickedness, without God punishing them, and righteous people being pushed down, suppressed and despised, without God coming to their aid. So, they began to think that it would probably be better for them to give up on righteousness and join the wicked in lying, in stealing, in cheating and in doing other kinds of terrible things that they do to advance themselves. But God said to them, “No, you are mistaken. I don’t treat the righteous and the wicked alike the way you think. There are times that I make distinctions. It is just that you have not been paying attention. But now I am going to do things that will make you see for yourself the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve me and those who do not serve me.”
Now maybe you too have been reasoning like those Jews, who thought God never discriminates between the righteous and the wicked. And it is possible that this thought has been affecting your devotion to God and to the practice of righteousness where you are. So, you have started compromising bit by bit. Things that you would naturally not do before or that you would frown at before, you now do or tolerate. And this is all because you are envious of the prosperity of the wicked. You can see the liars, the swindlers and the immoral people around you thriving and doing big things, when you, despite your devotion to righteousness, do not seem to be advancing at all – everything just seems to be stagnant for you.
Well, the word of the Lord is coming to you at this moment, saying, “Do not pay attention to the prosperity of the wicked or become envious of them. That is because they are standing on slippery ground. So, their destruction will come when they least expect it. But if you will remain steadfast in my righteousness and stay true to me, I will make sure you experience prosperity where others are failing, joy where others are sad, peace where others are troubled and exaltation where others are brought down.” And how should you respond to this? First, respond with thanksgiving to God. Second, respond with prayers, asking God to bring to fulfilment His good word concerning you without delay. And He will do so.
BE CONTENT22/10/2023
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."” (Heb 13:5NIV)
What are we to keep our lives free from? It is the love of money or, better put, covetousness. And what is covetousness or greed? First, it is the desire to take for ourselves anything or anyone that belongs to another or that we have no right to have. Second, it is desiring to take for ourselves what we do not need or cannot handle at all. Third, it is wanting to take for ourselves more than what we need. Fourth, it is being willing to do just about anything to take for ourselves anything we want, whether we have a right to it or not.
Unfortunately, that we allow greed to be our motivation for going for something does not mean that we are going to have it. James speaks about this, saying, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.” (James 4:1-2NIV) This, sadly, was an address to certain believers in Christ Jesus. They were the ones fighting and quarrelling with one another. Also, they were the ones killing off one another.
What, then, was their problem? It was greed, covetousness. They wanted some things so badly that they were willing to quarrel, fight or even kill to have them. In other words, covetousness made killers of these brethren that once confessed Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. But did it give them what they wanted? No! As James points out, even though these brethren became so covetous that they were willing to do anything to have their desires met, their desires were still not being met. They were still not getting what they were killing and destroying one another for. How terrible!
So, that you are greedy does not mean that you are going to get satisfied. Greed cannot give you the satisfaction you think you are going to have in life. On the contrary, it may leave you empty-handed, even when you have destroyed much good. And if it does give you anything at all, you may at some point realise that it is not what you want. But lives may have been destroyed. Reputations may have been ruined. Homes may have been broken. Then all the excitement you think you are going to have just vanishes into nothingness. And you are left wondering, “Did I really make this mess?”
Well, my point is that if you don't want to ruin life for yourself, be content. And to be content does not mean to be satisfied with a low or poverty-stricken life. Rather, it means to be thankful to God for where you are and what you have, even though you know things can be better and are working towards making them better. If you are like that, there are things you will never go for or do in life. And as long as you do not go for what is never yours to have or do just about anything to have what is yours to have, you will experience much moments of peace in life.
So, I am saying this again: be content. Learn it, for it can be learnt (Phil 4:10-13). And stay away from anyone or group of people that are bound to drive you mad with discontentment or lure you to function in greed. Doing this will make life a lot easier, simpler and peaceful for you and your home.

WHY PRAY FOR YOUR ENEMIES?21/10/2023
“You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matt 5:43-45NIV)
Did you see that? The Jews had been taught through the Law of Moses that nothing was wrong with hating their enemies and cursing those who persecute them. But the Lord says that line of teaching is inferior to what God really wants from His people. What He wants is for them to love even their enemies and be praying for them. That, as the Lord further points out, is what will show they are truly children of God.
Is that to say that God's people should never pray to God to frustrate or end the activities of the wicked in their land? No! When Absalom started his rebellion and was joined by Ahithophel, David did not bless their rebellion. Instead, he prayed that God will frustrate their counsel. And God's answer to that prayer resulted in the death of Ahithophel. But was it his death that David asked for? No! It was God's choice to answer the prayer in that manner. (Cf. 2Sam 15:31)
Also, after Herod had killed James the son of Zebedee, he arrested and jailed Peter as well, so that he may kill him too. Did the church bless him for doing these things? No! Instead, they prayed earnestly to God to intervene in the matter. And God did and set Peter free. Soon after this, an angel of the Lord struck down this king because of his pride. But was it the church that asked that God should kill him? No! Or did the church rejoice at his death? No! That was God's own decision to make. (Cf. Acts 12)
See, the reason the Lord wants us to love our enemies and pray for even those who persecute us is that He loves them too and does not want them to perish. Therefore, our prayers of blessing for them must be geared towards their repentance and salvation. Blessing them like this, however, does not stop us from asking God to hinder, frustrate or destroy their wicked works. Otherwise, we ourselves may never experience the kind of peace and rest God wants us to experience in our land.
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HOW YOU RESPOND MATTERS 20/10/2023
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” (Acts 16:25NIV)
Paul and Silas, while in Philippi, were once shamefully and unjustly treated for doing something that was good and proper. Yet they would not bow down to the circumstances they had found themselves in. Instead, they prayed with thanksgiving to God that same night. And they did not pray reluctantly, just to fulfil all righteousness. Rather, they prayed wholeheartedly. So, others who were in prison with them heard them as they prayed.
Now is that not in agreement with what Paul himself says to us in the letter to those Philippian brethren? It is! He says we should not worry about any situation but pray about it to God, with thanksgiving (Phil 4:6-7). So, what he is telling us is what he himself practises. He and Silas had been put in prison unjustly. Yet they would not lose their mind or throw away their confidence in God. Instead, they decided to cast the matter on God, so that He would handle it for them and cause His peace to take charge.
And did God respond to their matter or not? He did. He responded beyond what they themselves could ever reason out. That same night, He visited the prison with a violent earthquake that shook it to its very foundation, threw open all its doors and loosed the chains of all the prisoners there. Think about that. Probably it was only Paul and Silas that were locked up in that prison unjustly. But when God came into the situation, He showed everyone that He had the power to set everybody, both good and bad, in that prison free. (Cf. Acts 16:26)
Well, God's intention, of course, was not to release all the wicked people that had been locked up in that prison to go back into the city and continue in their wickedness. Rather, His intention was to use the situation to turn everybody's heart to Himself, so that they may receive salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. And that was exactly what happened. Even the jailer and all the members of his household were saved on that occasion. And that was how peace was restored, not just to the hearts and minds of Paul, his companions and all the other people of God in Philippi that were in fellowship with them but also to their lives.
Now are you too in trouble? If you are in trouble, then, do what Paul and Silas did – pray. In fact, James expressly says this to us in his epistle, “Is any of you in trouble? He should pray…” (James 5:13) So, it does not matter how you found yourself in trouble, just pray. You may have found yourself in trouble because of your ignorance, foolishness or even acts of wickedness. And you may have found yourself in trouble because of certain good things you have done or because Satan just wanted to be on your case. It really does not matter. What matters is how you respond.
And how should you respond? You should respond by praying to God and praying to Him wholeheartedly and with thanksgiving. When you do this, He will answer you and release His peace into your heart and mind and into your situation. And don't expect Him to send earthquakes in your case, for that may not be what you need to experience His peace. Read about Jacob's prayer and how God delivered him from the trouble Esau his brother, whom he had seriously offended, was bringing to him. And you will see that God can solve people's problems and give them peace without their knowledge of how they are solved, something that I have personally experienced many times. (Cf. Gen 32&33)
Therefore, our own job is not to consider the size or the cause of our trouble or how God will solve it; rather, our own job is to pray about it. And as we pray about our problems like this, whatever they may be, God will do His own job of releasing His peace into our lives and over our situations.
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DON’T DECEIVE YOURSELF 19/10/2023
“Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison. When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, "I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way." This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. The LORD will never be willing to forgive him; his wrath and zeal will burn against that man. All the curses written in this book will fall upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven. The LORD will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.” (Deut 29:18-21NIV)
Did you see that? It is foolish for someone to walk in wickedness and assume that God's blessings will naturally work in his life. Even though God has blessed him, as long as he keeps walking in wickedness, he will not be experiencing the fruit of His blessings; instead, what he will be experiencing is the fruit of his own wickedness.
For example, the children of Israel that Moses brought out of Egypt could not be cursed by Balaam or anyone because they were blessed of God. But then, Balaam, as we are shown in scriptures, taught Balak what to do to get them. And what did he teach him? He taught him to send his beautiful ladies to entice the Israelites to engage in sexual immorality and idol worship, which he did. So, without anybody cursing them, a plague broke out in their midst, killing twenty-four thousand of them. (Cf. Num 25; Rev 2:14)
Now were those Israelites not blessed? They were blessed. But the moment they started sinning, they blocked the flow of God's blessings among them and began to experience death. And Paul warns us too, in the light of this, in a letter to the Corinthians. He says all the things that happened to these people occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil (1Cor 10:6-11).
What does that mean? Well, it means we are not to abuse the kindness of God that has made us recipients of His eternal blessings by giving ourselves to wickedness and ungodly practices. If we give ourselves to wickedness and yet are confessing or invoking the blessings of God, we are deceiving ourselves. And even though no one can curse us, we ourselves will be the ones opening the door for Satan to work in our lives and destroy us.
Perhaps all this is why certain works of the devil are currently happening in your life. Then you need to turn away from whatever wicked works you are involved in. Otherwise, regardless of how hard you pray or confess the word of God’s blessings, your devotion to wickedness will not stop preventing His blessings from working in your life to destroy the works of the devil that are manifesting in it.
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DON’T BE ANOTHER JUDAS 18/10/2023
“The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus.” (John 13:2NIV)
The church has not been in want of people like Judas Iscariot, people who want to use their leaders to build their own empires. That was what Judas was after. Now I am sure he was not like that when he was called. Otherwise, the Lord would not have called him. But at some point, greed entered his heart.
As John tells us in his gospel, Judas was the one in charge of the money bag for the whole group. So, he must have been exposed to a lot of money and be saying to himself, “Wow! There is a lot of money in ministry.” And being the one that the Lord used to send to give things to the poor and to handle other business matters of the ministry, he had the privilege of knowing their financial status from time to time. So, he began to help himself to what was in the bag. (Cf. John 12:1-6)
Well, it was John who tells us this. I am sure he was the only one that the Lord told this, seeing that he was the closest to him among all the other apostles. So, he tells us that Judas Iscariot was a thief. Think about that. An apostle of the Lord was a thief.
In like manner, there are prophets that are thieves today. Yes, there are pastors, teachers of the bible, evangelists, apostles, choir leaders and so forth that are thieves today. So, when you see them, don’t start saying, “What is becoming of the church?” These things are not new. Judas was an apostle. Yet he was also a thief. He saw godliness as a means to making money. So, he did all he could to use the Lord to make money. And when he suspected that his hope of doing so would soon be dashed, he sold Him out to His enemies – he betrayed Him.
Sadly, we still have such people in the church today, people who want to use their leaders. They may appear obedient to those around. But all that is in their minds is how to use their church leaders to make some money.
Look at most of the musicians in the church today, for example. Many of them see the church as a place where they could make money. They won’t touch your keyboard or guitar, if you are not going to pay them. They won’t play your drums or do anything similar, if you are not going to pay them. They may even say, “They don’t pay me well in that church. I have to move on to another church.”
So, when they come into your meetings, they come in only to play musical instruments. They will not partake in any other thing you are doing. They will not be there for prayers or for bible study. All they want to do is come around and play some musical instruments. In fact, they will make it clear to you that that is what they have come around to do. These are some of those who manipulate their leaders to act against the will of God.
Perhaps that is how you too are functioning in your church. You are seeking to use your church leadership to further your selfish interests. You are another Judas Iscariot. And the same fate that he met awaits you. But if you will repent now, God will show you mercy, forgive you and restore your life. Repent, then, before it is too late.
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DON’T USE LOVE AS YOUR EXCUSE 17/10/2023
“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” (Eph 4:15NIV)
As we see in the bible, walking in love is not an option for the child of God. Rather, it is a must for him. However, love that is not based on knowledge and insight can get us into trouble with men and even with God. And when people are saying that love is blind, they are speaking about situations in which people walk into trouble all in the name of love.
But there is nowhere we are told in the bible that love is blind. That is because love is not blind. For instance, the bible tells us that God is love (1John 4:8). But is God blind? No, He is not blind. On the contrary, He sees everything going on in life and also judges everything going on in it, appropriately and adequately. So, though He loves us and wants the best for all of us all the time, He does not ignore sins or iniquities but judges them.
He once said this to Moses about Himself: “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation." (Ex 34:6-7NIV) Did you see that? Even though God is always multiplying in love, He does not leave sins unpunished. Otherwise, human beings will not take Him seriously.
Why did He send Jesus Christ to die for us? It was to duly punish our sins, so that He would not have to punish us for them again. And those who will not accept His payment for their sins and His offer of the gift of righteousness will ultimately be made to pay for those sins, every one of them, at the right time.
So, you can see that though God is love, He does not accept just anything from anybody. He does not bend His standards of justice because of love. And that is how He wants us to be functioning in life as well. He does not want us to use love as our excuse for allowing anyone to ruin our lives or home, destroy our business or put our finances in jeopardy. Also, He does not want us to use love as our excuse for allowing our loved ones to ruin themselves or to create for us problems that we should have no business encountering at all in life. Instead, He wants us to confronting them with the truth in love.
As we are shown in our opening bible text, one of the things that aid Christian maturity is speaking the truth in love. That means we cannot mature in Christ, if there is no one telling us the truth we need to know in love. See, love does not deceive people. True love does not pretend that it is okay with what is unacceptable. True love does not suffer in silence, even though it is patient and persevering, giving room for bitterness. Instead, it always speaks the truth out in love.
Yes, of course, true love is not harsh or unfeeling. However, it always speaks the truth, for that is what will heal, build up and set free our lives and our relationships. And where people will not accept the truth spoken to them in love, love must judge them. Otherwise, they will take it lightly or even trample upon it, if they have a chance to do so.
As we see in the bible, Eli was judged by God not because he did not rebuke his sons at all for their sins but because he did not judge them. Out of love for them, he rebuked them for their many sins. But when they ignored the rebuke of his love, God expected him to judge them by putting them out of the priestly office. And by failing to do so, he was judged by God along with them and the priesthood was taken away from his family. (Cf. 1Sam 2-4)
If we too don’t want certain good things God has blessed us or our families with to be taken away from us, we must allow our love for people to confront them with the truth and to also judge their failures where necessary. In other words, we must not allow love to make us weak in rebuking, correcting or punishing those in our lives, as occasions demand. That kind of love that weakens righteousness is not the love of Christ. It is the love of men. And we must not allow it to dominate, subdue or replace the love of Christ in us. Otherwise, it may end up putting us in much trouble with God.
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MIND WHAT YOU SAY 16/10/2023
In the book of Joshua, we are told of how Joshua placed a curse on the people of Gibeon. They were among the people God had said that the nation of Israel must destroy. But because they feared for their lives, they came and deceived the Israelites about where they were living. And the deceit worked because the people did not consult the Lord about their matter.
In any case, when it became clear to the Israelites that they had been deceived and that there was nothing they could do about it, Joshua placed a curse on them. He said:
“You are now under a curse: You will never cease to serve as woodcutters and water carriers for the house of my God.” (Joshua 9:23NIV)
What was Joshua doing here? He was placing a limitation on them. And Satan would certainly work with it. Someone who had authority placed a limitation on them by his words. Think about it. That was a curse on a whole people, a whole nation. Therefore, it did not matter how hard the Gibeonites worked, they would remain woodcutters and water carriers for life. Yes, some among them may become rich while doing these jobs, but they had already been limited as a people and would remain slaves in the land.
This is why we sometimes see groups of people or even nations who may never rise in life, regardless of how hard they work or labour. A curse is working against them. And regardless of how hard they work, Satan will continue to use that curse as a reason to limit them. If it is a curse that says they will die young, then, Satan will come around and take their lives when they are still young. If there is a curse that says they will not be rich, the devil will see to it that they are frustrated for life. That is because he has been given permission to attack them.
Remember the case of Job. When Satan asked God to permit him to touch him and then see if he would not curse him to his face or not, God said, “Behold, he is in your hands.” And the bible says he went and afflicted Job. Why? Someone with authority gave him the right to afflict him. (Cf. Job 2:1-7)
In like manner, everyone has some measure of authority in his own rights and realm. And Satan will take note of everything you say about your life or others’ lives. For instance, you have authority over your children. So, Satan is able to work with whatever you say about them or against them. That means by saying negative things about them, you are giving him permission to work in their lives.
Also, as a spiritual leader, God has given you authority to build the lives of those under you. And you can misuse that authority by saying negative things about them or into their lives. Then Satan will work with your words, for you are putting them right in his hands.
Remember what Paul says about a man that was having sexual relations with his father’s wife. Remember that he said that the brethren in Corinth should hand him over to the devil. How? By words of mouth! We can place people right in the hands of the devil through the things we say about them or into their lives. This is why we must take seriously the word of God that says do not let any unwholesome word proceed from your mouth. For Satan can take advantage of any careless word we speak to operate in our lives or in others’ lives. (Cf. 1Corinthians 5)
The point I am making is that our words, our confession about our lives, world, nation and so forth can be utilised by the devil to work in our affairs and frustrate us, limit us or injure us. And we may not even know that we have unconsciously placed ourselves in his hand. So, we need to be mindful of what we say all the time.
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CHOOSE TO BE STRONG 15/10/2023
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s scheme.” (Ephesians 6:10-11NIV)
The first thing Paul says to us here is to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. And he actually says this by the leading of the Spirit of God. So, this is not a piece of advice or an appeal. Rather, it is a command. In other words, our instruction is to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
Now what does it mean to be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power? It means to take advantage of the power of God. It means to strengthen ourselves in the Lord and in His mighty power. You do not have to be a weak Christian. I do not have to be a weak Christian. I do not have to be a Christian whose life is being messed up by the devil and his angels. I do not have to be a Christian that is a victim in this life or that is confused or bewildered in this life. I do not have to be a Christian that does not know where to go or what to do in this life or that is helpless. That is because I can be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. I can take advantage of the power of God.
When Paul, then, says be strong in the Lord and His mighty power, he means we are to be strengthened in Him. So, take advantage of His power to strengthen yourself and make yourself strong in this life. Take advantage of it to make yourself strong to tackle any situation or circumstance and to walk in victory over anything that comes your way.
See, if I am weak in this life, it is my choice to be weak. If I am helpless in this life, it is my choice to be so. If my life is being messed up and ruined by Satan and his agents or the people around me, it is my choice to have it that way. That is because I can choose to live otherwise. I can choose to be strong. I can choose to be the one that is whipping the devil. I can choose to be the one that is walking in victory over life’s circumstances, moving mountains and changing situations. And Paul is telling me how I can do this. He is saying be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. That is the instruction of the Spirit to me and to all of us who are God’s children. And I pray that you will always find in you sufficient understanding and courage to take it seriously and apply to your life. Amen.
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HE ALWAYS BEGINS WITH HIS OWN 13/10/2023
We want justice for all the injustices we are experiencing in our country, states, cities, towns, villages, neighbourhoods, workplaces, schools and so forth, and rightly so. Some of us are even praying hard about this and asking God to do something fast about it before everything collapses on us. And we are right to be praying like this.
However, it is also important that we first put our own lives in order before asking God to move through the land and judge all forms of wickedness. That is because, as Peter points out to us, when God moves to judge a place, He always begins with His people there. Yes, He always starts among those who know Him and who also possess revelations of His will. Why? It is so that He may be just when dealing with sinners, who don't know Him or His will.
Think about it yourself. Why should God judge or punish those who do not know Him for their sins, when He has not yet punished those who know Him for the same or similar sins? What kind of God acts like that? Only an unjust god! But the God we serve, who is our Father, is a God of justice. He is the God who has said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And in repaying people for what they do, He will naturally start with those who know what is expected of them before going to those who don't know what is expected of them. (Cf. Deut 32:5; Rom 12:19)
For example, when He was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, who did His angels first go looking for? The righteous in those cities! Abraham had pleaded with God to spare them, if there were at least ten righteous people there. And God agreed to do so. So, when the angels sent got to Sodom, the first person they interacted with was Lot. Was it by accident or chance that they met with him first? No, not at all! They deliberately showed themselves to him first because he and his family members were the only ones truly distressed about the evil things going on in those two cities. Then they showed themselves to him to see how he would treat them. Thankfully, he did not fail that test, the test of showing hospitality to strangers. And that was what got him and his family saved. (Cf. Gen 18-19; 2Pet 3:7-9)
Now if there had been other righteous people in those cities, those angels would have patiently sought them out as well to find out what sort of righteous people they were, fake or genuine. At least, that was why they were there, to find out how bad things really were in those cities, looking at them with the eyes of men. Unfortunately, only Lot and his family stood out there as righteous people. So, they were the only ones that were sent out safely. But then, not all of them made it out to safety. Lot's wife did not make it out to safety. Why? It was because there was a part of her that did not want to leave Sodom. It was that part of her that made her turn back to look at the city when she was supposed to be on the run. So, she perished along with the ungodly there.
In like manner, righteous people can suffer along with wicked men, if God decides to judge or cleanse the place they are. And that may likely happen, if they refuse to set their lives right and separate themselves from the evil going on where they are. Therefore, all of us who are crying out to God for judgment and restoration in our country need to take note of this. We don't know how He will judge when He is set to judge. But we can be sure that when He is ready to judge and set things right, He will start among us. And if we too are found guilty of the very things we want Him to judge, then, we are likely to be the first to drink from the cup of His judgment.
I would not know whether Lot was praying for God's judgment to come on Sodom and Gomorrah because of the things happening there, distressing things that he saw and heard about every day. Even if he had been praying to Him about these things, he could not have thought that His judgment would involve setting the two cities on fire and destroying them and everything going on in them completely. Then he could not have thought that he would lose his wealth and, more importantly, his wife in the process. But he lost them.
So, while it is important for us as God's people to always pray to Him to cause justice to reign in our land, it is equally important for us to put our lives, homes and affairs in order. Otherwise, we may end up becoming victims of our own prayers for justice.
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WHAT WILL MAKE THEM TAKE YOU SERIOUSLY? 14/10/2023
Let me remind you, as we begin this new day, that the one who exalts people in life is God. And if He does not exalt you, it does not matter what you or others do to exalt you, it will not amount to anything. This explains why though some are occupying some seats of greatness and honour in life, people still despise them. Occupying an important position will not readily make you important to people. Carrying certain titles around will not readily make people honour you or take you seriously. God Himself has to honour and elevate you in the eyes of men. Otherwise, all you will possess are just your titles and positions – no real honour will follow.
For example, after the death of Moses, Joshua took his place as Israel's leader. And that was because he was the one God had chosen. There may be other people in the land who might have felt that they were more qualified than this man to lead the nation. But since he was the one chosen by God, everyone had to follow him, whether they liked him or not and whether they felt he deserved to lead them or not.
What, then, would make all the people, including those who may have felt that Joshua was overrated, eventually accept and honour him as their leader? The kind of works he did among them! The kind of leadership he offered! Moses had done all kinds of miracles before them and among them. So, they had no issue accepting him as their leader. But what had Joshua done to wear that man's shoes? Nothing worthy of note!
Therefore, God, in order to let the people know that this man was truly fit to lead them and also deserved to be highly honoured by them, gave him certain instructions that would keep the people from seeing him as a figure head. God told him what to do to open up the River Jordan for the Israelites to pass through on dry ground, just as He had done with Moses when they came to the Red Sea. And when he followed the instructions God had given him, the result shocked all the people. They all saw the River Jordan, which had flooded its banks at the time, split open for them to walk through on dry ground. (Cf. Joshua 3)
Now here is the commentary given in the bible about how the people began to look at Joshua from that day on: “That day the LORD exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they revered him all the days of his life, just as they had revered Moses.” (Josh 4:14NIV) Did you see that? What God did through Joshua that day made the people begin to give him the honour that he truly deserved as their leader. And they honoured and respected him in that manner all the days of his life, just as they had done with Moses.
Similarly, after David's death, Solomon became king in his stead. And that was because he was the one chosen by God. But did everyone think of him in that manner? Did everyone see him as fit to lead them? I don't think so. Don't forget that he was not the oldest of David's sons, neither was the most handsome or most popular? So, we cannot rule out the fact that certain officials of the king's court may have seen him as overrated or unduly privileged to become king. What, then, would make such people change their minds about him and begin to give him the honour he deserved from their hearts? The kind of leadership he gave to the land!
Therefore, in order to change whatever wrong view anybody may have had about him, God caused His wisdom to manifest in him when a very disturbing and tricky case involving certain two prostitutes was brought to him. And when he was done handling it, no one ever doubted his ability to lead the nation again, for the bible says, “When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.” (1Kings 3:28NIV)
In like manner, each of us also needs God to do in our lives and through our lives things that will make people take us seriously wherever we are. There are things that will make people honour us, promote us, respect us and want to wholeheartedly support us to great heights in life. And unless God does these things for us, we will remain insignificant in life, regardless of what title or position we hold where we are. So, let us learn to pray to Him that, in His favour and mercy, He will make people give us the kind of honour and attention we deserve in life by doing for us those things that will make them see us as they ought to see us. And I pray that this shall be so with your life, in Jesus' name. Amen.
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DON'T OVERLOOK HIS BLESSINGS 12/10/2023
“Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” (Ps 103:1-2NIV)
This man of God is talking to himself in this Psalm, reminding himself of how important it is for him to keep praising the Lord and not to forget any of his benefits. That means he never wants to forget to praise God for any of His acts of kindness, faithfulness and goodness towards him. And we too must be like that. What I am saying is that we too must study not to overlook any of God's acts of goodness towards us, so that we may praise Him for it.
But someone may say, “Is it really possible for anyone to overlook God's blessings or forget to praise Him for them?” Yes, it is possible. For example, Luke, in his gospel, gives us an account of how ten lepers called out to the Lord Jesus for mercy. And He had mercy on them. He told them to go and show themselves to the priests. And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. (Cf. Luke 17:11-14)
Now what was the normal and appropriate thing for them to do, when they saw that they had been cleansed of their leprosy? The normal and appropriate thing for them to do was to first go back to the One that had healed them and thank Him. And did they do that? No, they did not. Only one of them, a Samaritan, one without adequate knowledge of religious matters, did the right thing. Before doing anything else, this man first went back to thank the Lord Jesus, praising God in a loud voice. (Cf. Luke 17:15-16)
But where were the nine others? According to Luke, the Lord expected them to come back and praise God for what He had done for them (Luke 17:17-18). But they did not come back. Why? Could it be that they did not think Jesus was worthy to be praised and thanked for what He had done for them? I don't think so, and the Scripture also does not say so. What I think, as one having the Spirit of God, is that they got so excited and so absorbed in thoughts about how to start their lives all over again that they forgot to go back and thank the One that made everything possible for them. Of course, we cannot rule out the fact that they may have later thought about how foolish it was of them not to go back and thank Jesus. But they already made a great mistake, one that cost them the opportunity to receive wholeness from the Lord, an opportunity that the Samaritan man did not miss (Luke 17:19).
And how often this happens in our everyday life? For example, I can't remember the number of times I have sat down to eat and have taken like two or three spoons out of my meal before remembering that I have not given thanks to God for it. So, many times, because of our eagerness to enjoy certain blessings of God, we might overlook the need to praise Him for those blessings. And that is something we need to watch ourselves against.
Another reason we may overlook the need to praise God for His benefits is a lack of recognition of the fact that He is the one responsible for every good thing in our lives. God, according to the Scriptures, is the One responsible for all the beautiful things in our lives (Deut 8:18; Is 26:12; James 1:17). But the truth is that it is easier to recognise His involvement in our lives in some aspects of life than it is in many aspects of life. For example, it is easier to recognise God for giving us salvation in an accident than it is for us to recognise Him for giving us the ability to urinate freely and easily. But when you consider those people who are praying and longing for the day they will be able to urinate freely and easily again, you will agree that the ability to do this is a great gift and blessing from God. So, it is important that we train ourselves to recognise and praise God for those seemingly simple gifts of life that we daily enjoy, for there are many who will pay any price to have them.
In addition, we may overlook the need to praise God when we feel that we are worthy of what we are receiving from Him. Often, I hear people talk about how they deserve to have certain things from God or to have things go for them in certain ways, all because they give their tithes and offerings all the time. And what such people are consciously or unconsciously saying is that whatever they receive from God is simply a payment for their good works or loyalty to Him.
But are we actually worthy of receiving any good thing from God, or is He under an obligation to pay us for anything we have done for Him? No! (Cf. Job 41:11; Rom 11:35) The truth is that all that we are worthy of receiving from God's hand is eternal destruction. But because of His great love for us, He showed us mercy through His Son Jesus Christ and made us worthy and qualified to be heirs of His glorious kingdom (Eph 2:1-9; Col 1:12). That means we don't receive anything from God because of our worthiness; rather, we receive everything from Him because of His love for us and because of Christ's worthiness.
Now do I, by saying this, mean that God does not give to people when they give to Him? No! God gives to people when they give to Him in accordance with His will. And He does that because He Himself has promised to do so and not just because people give to Him (Mal 3:10; Luke 6:38; 2Cor 9:6-11). So, when He gives to those who give to Him, He is simply being faithful to His word. And as I mentioned before, even the ability and the opportunity to give to people or God comes from God Himself. It is not something that we can boast about, for there are many who will like to give to God or give to support men but who don't have the resources or the opportunities needed to do so. . (Cf.1Chro 29:1-18; Gal 6:10)
So, even for giving us the ability to give, we should continually praise Him. Otherwise, we will be overlooking His benefits and missing out on the blessings of praising Him. And my prayer is that, as you journey through the remaining years of your life, your eyes will not be blind to the goodness and kindness of God towards you, so that you may learn to properly appreciate Him for them. Amen.
Have a great day.
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DON'T LET ME WASTE MY LIFE 11/10/2023
I once heard a man of God share a brief discussion he had with a young man while they were together in a bus. He had asked the young man if he was ever afraid of dying. And he had responded by saying something like, “I have never been afraid of dying. What I have been afraid of is that I may waste my life.” That, of course, really got me thinking for some days.
At any rate, I shared that with you to let you know that we can actually waste our lives in this world. And we will waste our lives, if we do not embrace God's purpose for our lives. For example, most of the Israelites that Moses brought out of Egypt, so that he could lead them into the Land God wanted to give them, did not make it in. Instead, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years and perished there. I mean that those forty years they spent in the wilderness on their journey to the Promised Land was a total waste. Their hardships and struggles during those years, whatever they may be, did not amount to anything, for they never made it to their inheritance. (Cf. Num 14:26-35; 1Cor 10:1-5)
Why was that the case with those Israelites? It was because they rejected God's purpose and provision for them. God had promised to give the land of Canaan to them and had begun to fulfil that promise by bringing them out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Nevertheless, despite all the miraculous works He performed on their behalf, when they were just some days into entering Canaan and making it theirs, they allowed their senses to set them against God. They decided that they were no longer going to go in and possess the land. Instead, they would go back to Egypt and submit once again to slavery. That, of course, made God mad at them. And He decided that their punishment would be that they (all of them that were twenty years old or more at that time) would waste away in the wilderness and never receive what He had promised them, except Joshua and Caleb. (Cf. Num 13-14; Heb 3:17-19)
Now, according to the bible, what happened to those Israelites was to serve as an example to us, so that we too would not end up wasting our lives in this world, as they did (1Cor 10:6). And what can make us waste our lives in this world? First, a rejection of God's offer of salvation through Christ Jesus will certainly result in a waste of our lives and everything we are doing, regardless of how helpful we may be to humanity (John 3:16-18&36).
Also, if we will not live in His purpose or destiny for our lives, we are going to waste them, even though we have accepted His offer of salvation and become His children. And what is His purpose for us? Is that we all may become preachers or evangelists, as some would have us believe? No! His purpose is that our lives may demonstrate His character in this world and bring glory and praise to His name. And we don't need to be preachers in order for this happen; we just need to be His children.
In his letter to the Roman-brethren Paul says, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Rom 8:29NIV) Look at that. As far as God is concerned, our destiny is to be like His Son, Jesus Christ, in all things – in nature, words, and deeds. So, whether we are fishermen like Peter and Andrew or Tax collectors like Matthew and Zacchaeus or Cloth sellers like Lydia or Tent makers like Aquila and Prisca, all that matters to God is that our lives are reflecting the character of Jesus Christ (Luke 5:1-9 & 9:1-10; Acts 16:13-15 & 18:1-3). That is what He destined us for. And to live contrarily, then, is to waste our lives and have nothing to show for our stay here on earth, when we eventually go home to be with God. (Cf. 1Cor 3:10-15)
Well then, personally, I don't want to make a waste of my life here on earth. I don't want to wander and wander through this earth and not be all that God wants me to be, enjoy all that He wants me to enjoy and also do all that He wants me to do. So, I constantly pray to Him to guide and strengthen me not to waste my life. But besides that, I know that I also must embrace His word and daily commit myself to practising it. Otherwise, God is not going to force me not to waste my life, just because I am praying to Him.
Now my counsel to you is to begin to reason and act like me, if you are already His child. But if you are not yet His child, the right place to start is to embrace God's Son, Jesus Christ, as your Lord. Then He will step into your life and begin to lead you away from a life of waste into a life of overflowing and unending fruitfulness.
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NO EXCUSE NOT TO SUBMIT TO THEM 10/10/2023
“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” (Romans 13:1-2NIV)
What is said here, of course, is not applicable to our relationship with governing authorities alone; it is also applicable to our relationships with other forms of authorities among men. There is a general rule here that we need to pay attention to, which is that there is no authority except that which God has established. So, even if the one in a position of authority is wicked or ruthless, we must understand that he is in that position because God has permitted him to be there.
Yes, we may wonder why God will permit a wicked person to rule or lead. One of the reasons is that men love darkness instead of light (John 3:19). For example, when we have an opportunity to elect people as our leaders, who do we elect? When we are given the privilege of electing leaders for ourselves, do we elect righteous and godly people?
If we will not elect righteous people as our leaders, do you think God will prevent us from electing wicked people as our leaders? No! When He gives us the freedom to choose our own leaders, He is not going to stop us from electing wicked people as our leaders. Instead, He is going to let it be. Why? It is our choice to choose the wicked and we cannot blame Him or hold Him responsible for that.
Also, if we have created a failed system, a system that is throwing up bad and irresponsible leaders, we have to take responsibility for it and not blame God. That is what we want. And unless He decides to show us mercy, perhaps because of the prayers of certain people, what we want is what we are going to get.
That being the case, we have no excuse not to submit to any form of authority that is over us, as long as it is not demanding that we act against the will of God. Instead, we have to recognise it and relate to it appropriately.
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YOU MAY END UP REGRETTING IT 09/10/2023
“Then David sent messengers to Ish-Bosheth son of Saul, demanding, "Give me my wife Michal, whom I betrothed to myself for the price of a hundred Philistine foreskins." So Ish-Bosheth gave orders and had her taken away from her husband Paltiel son of Laish. Her husband, however, went with her, weeping behind her all the way to Bahurim. Then Abner said to him, "Go back home!" So he went back.” (2Sam 3:14-16NIV)
We read in the bible that King Saul, after David had run away from him, gave his wife, his first wife, Michal to another man called Paltiel son of Laish (1Sam 25:44). And one would think that should have been the end of David’s relationship with that woman. But that was not the case at all. For even though David had gotten other women for himself, he still demanded after the death of Saul that Michal be taken away from her new husband and brought to him.
Why? Well, at that time, he must have thought to himself, “After all I went through in order to have that woman, there is no way I will allow her to be another man’s wife.” Was it right of him to act like that or not? Only God can answer that question.
It is clear, however, that David did not care at all about how Michal’s new husband would feel about the situation. And the man, of course, did not feel good about it at all. In fact, from what we see in the account, Michal and that man must have been having a wonderful marital life before she was forcefully taken away from him. That was why, as we see in our opening text, he wept all the way after her to a place called Bahurim.
Unfortunately, there are still people like David in the world today, people who will never let you go, once you get involved in any vital relationship with them, especially a love relationship. These ones are ready to do anything just to make sure you stay in relationship with them. And if you won’t stay for any reason, whether it is legitimate or not, they will not mind hurting you in any way they can or hurting themselves just to ruin your reputation.
So, before you get yourself involved in any form of relationship, whether it is a love relationship, a business relationship or even a casual friendship, open your eyes well and let the word of God guide you. Don’t get carried away by beauty, wealth, affectionate care, influence or position and start a relationship that should never have happened. You may end up regretting it. That is because when you eventually find out that you have been involved with a wrong person, severing your relationship with them may not happen without someone getting seriously hurt or wounded. So, don’t let a wrong relationship happen at all in your life. That will be your wisdom.
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BE SAFETY CONSCIOUS 08/10/2023
“Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them; whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.” (Eccl 10:8-9NIV)
In everything we do there is a need for us to be cautious, careful and considerate. Yes, in everything we do we need to be safety conscious. That is because we may end up endangering ourselves or others through our carelessness or lack of caution or consideration. And that is the point Solomon seeks to communicate to us in our opening bible text, using various illustrations.
First, he says the one that digs a pit may fall into it. Why will anyone want to dig a pit? The reasons may be plenty. But when you dig a pit, make sure you cover it or leave a notice around it to warn others of the danger it may pose to them. In short, when you do anything, however good or beneficial it may be, that is capable of injuring you or someone else, one way or the other, make sure you do all you can to secure it. Otherwise, you yourself or one of your loved ones may end up being the one that will suffer for it. And there have been many victims of things like this, some of whom you too may know.
Second, Solomon says whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake. Why will someone want to break through a wall? There may be various legitimate reason for wanting to do so. It is not only thieves or burglars that may want to break through a wall. Anyone may want to break through a wall for various good reasons. It may not even be a physical wall that we need to break through. It may be the wall of a system or an organisation that we want to break through, for very good reasons.
At any rate, the point that Solomon is making is that inasmuch as we do not know what lies at the other side of whatever wall we are breaking through, we need to be cautious and also prepare ourselves for surprises. Otherwise, we may get bitten by a snake. And there have been many good people who became victims of such things. They meant well. But in trying to break through certain walls of oppression or injustice, they got bitten by snakes that were lying in wait for them. And that was because they did not work with caution and prepare for surprises or sudden attacks of the wicked.
Third, Solomon says whoever quarries stones may be injured by them, just as whoever splits logs may be endangered by them. Every job has its own level of risks. So, it will only be wise of each of us to know the level of risks our jobs may expose us to and do all that we can to protect ourselves from it. And that is what Solomon is saying here. Know the risks of your job and guard yourself against them. Know the risks of the tools you are using and protect yourself against being hurt by them. Take seriously all the safety precautions of your work place or environment. And don’t try to manage something that should be repaired or totally discarded, especially when it could endanger your life or health, even when someone is insisting or threatening you to do so. Otherwise, when the harm has already been done, no amount of compensation or apology may be sufficient to take care of it.
Now, of course, ultimately, it is only those that God keeps safe that will be safe (Psalm 127:1). So, regardless of how careful, cautious, considerate or safety conscious we may be, if He does not keep us safe, we won’t be safe. Therefore, don’t ever put your trust in whatever steps you are taking to keep yourself or others around you safe. Instead, put it in God. Otherwise, a day will come when you will see the folly of trusting in yourself instead of trusting in God.
All this, however, does not mean we are not to do all that is within our capability to stay safe from injuries, pains and hurts that could have been avoided. And interestingly, it is this same man (Solomon) that tells us that unless God keeps a city safe the watchmen lie awake in vain that is also telling us to be safety conscious. So, be safety conscious and also considerate in all that you do. That is because you may not be the only one that will be endangered through your carelessness or lack of caution or consideration; someone else may be. With what soap will you, then, wash your name clean, when people begin to hold you responsible for the harm that has come to others? So, watch yourself.
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BEWARD OF COVETOUSNESS 07/10/2023
“Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."” (Heb 13:5-6NKJV)
All through the Scriptures, we are warned not to allow covetousness in our lives. Why? First, it is because God has promised to never leave nor forsake us, regardless of the circumstances of our lives. And that being the case, there is nothing we need immediately or later that He will not make sure we have. So, there is no reason for us to be covetous. No, there is no reason for us to want to take for ourselves what belongs to others or to want to take for ourselves what we don’t need or to want to have anything for ourselves at any cost, even at the cost of our souls. God is enough for us and is always with us. And as long as we continue to trust in Him, we will never be put to shame.
The second reason we are warned not to be covetous is that covetousness, which is also the love of money or earthly riches, is a root of all kinds of evil (1Tim 6:10). In other words, once we are covetous, there is no telling how far we may be willing to go to have what we want.
For example, even though David was a man after God’s own heart, the moment he coveted Batsheba, Uriah’s wife, he opened the door of his life for all kinds of evil to come in. First, it was adultery that came in. Later, manipulation and deceit came in – he wanted to trick Uriah into accepting a pregnancy that was not his. Finally, murder crept in. David killed this good and honourable man to cover up his sins and to also take for himself a woman that was never meant to be his. And by so doing, he opened the door of his household for satanic afflictions. (Cf. 2Sam 11-20)
What about King Ahab? Why did God make a pronouncement of disaster on him and his entire household? Was it not because of the sin of covetousness? He coveted the inheritance of another man, Naboth. He coveted something that was never meant to be his. Yes, he had a logical reason for wanting it and was even willing to pay the man any amount his inheritance was worth or give him something better. But the man was not going to give away his inheritance for anything, for it was meant to be passed on to generations of his children after him.
Now, instead for Ahab to let the matter go, he gave in to depression, which his wife used as an excuse to orchestrate the murder of Naboth and the taking over of his inheritance. And did God sit still and allow the matter to die like that? No! He did not. On the contrary, He stepped in and sent His prophet, Elijah, to judge the wickedness of this evil king and his wife. (Cf. 1Kings 21)
In like manner, He will not sit still and allow us to continue to harass, cheat, molest or destroy others through our greed or covetousness. At some point, He will step in and judge our love of money, position, fame or any of these earthly things that is driving us crazy and making us to do all kinds of evil things. So, watch your life and make sure it is free of covetousness.
And maybe you are asking, “But how do I know if I am being covetous?” Well, you will know once you see that you are willing to do just about anything to have something, even if it is something legitimate. In other words, if you are willing to make your hands dirty or unclean just to have anything in this life, even if that thing is your right, you are covetous. And you should humble yourself before God right away and allow Him to cleanse you of this evil. Otherwise, it won’t be long before it destroys you and perhaps other good people and things in your life as well.
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HUMBLY RECEIVE HIS WORD 06/10/2023
““Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word that is planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:21-22NIV)
Listening to the word is not enough; we also need to do it. In other words, we must have the attitude of one that acts on what he hears, not that of one who merely listens. But we are not going to act on the word of God that we are hearing, if we do not first embrace it. So, before telling us to act on the word that we are receiving, the first thing James tells us is, “Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word that is planted in you, which can save you.”
James says the word of God is able to save us. And he is not talking about the initial salvation we had from our sins and from the devil; rather, he is talking about the ongoing salvation that we are now experiencing. As we see in Scriptures, when we came to the Lord Jesus, we were redeemed and saved from our sins and from the devil. We were saved the penalty and power of sin. We were also saved and delivered from the dominion of the devil and brought into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. This is what makes our eternal salvation secure.
But the salvation James is talking about in that text is the daily or moment by moment salvation that we experience from the works of the devil and from temptations to sin. And he is saying that our attitude towards the word of God is what will make us experience this salvation. Our attitude towards His word is what will save us from all the evil things Satan is doing in this world and from the corruption of sin.
Now what sort of attitude must we have towards the word of God, so that it will be able to save us every moment from the assaults of the devil and of sin? It is that of humility. James says we must humbly accept His word that has been planted in our hearts. So, as the word of God is coming to you, whether in your church meetings or as you read and study your bible, you must humbly accept it. If you do not humbly accept it, you will not act on it.
Can you now see how these things are connected? When James says do not merely listen to the word but also do what it says, he also wants us to know that we will not do what His word says until we have humbly accepted it as the final word. So, even if his word runs contrary to what you feel, you still have to humble yourself before it.
Unfortunately, there are many people who will not humble themselves before God’s word because they think they know better than Him or are smarter than Him. These ones keep arguing with Him. Therefore, their lives, homes, relationships, businesses and so forth cannot be what they ought to be.
Now the word of God tells us that the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom (1Corinthians 1:25). So, when He is talking to you, you must understand that it is your creator that is talking to you. What He is saying to you may not make sense. But that is the final word. His way is the only way. There is no other way. You can create your own way of doing things. But it is guaranteed to land you in trouble.
It is not every time what God says to us will make sense. But whatever He says to us is the final. For instance, what He says to us about our marriage is the final word on it. And what He says about our salvation is the final word on it. Then whatever He says about our jobs or businesses or relationships with those in our lives is the final word on them. And we must humbly accept it, regardless of how we feel or what we see or what we hear. Until we accept His word in humility about every matter of our lives, it will not result in salvation for us.
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CAST ALL YOUR BURDENS ON HIM. 05/10/2023
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1Peter 5:7NIV)
When Peter, in the above bible text, tells us to cast all our anxiety on God, it is because he knows that there will be situations that are capable of making us anxious and totally forget that we have a God and Father who has power over all things. But regardless of how challenging or frustrating the situations we find ourselves in life may be, we must never forget that we do have a Father that has power over them. And not only does He have power over every situation of our lives, He also cares enough about us to use His power for our good.
You know that it is possible for someone to have power to do certain things for you but not to have any desire whatsoever to use that power on your behalf. We have all around us people who have the means to change the lives of their family members, friends, neighbours or colleagues at work in very remarkable ways. But are they willing to use such means on their behalf? No! Do they even care at all whether the lives of those around them are made better in any way? No!
But God our Father is not like such people. He not only has the power to solve any problem that we may face in life, He also has the will to do so. And that is because He cares about us. Have you ever seriously thought about the fact that God cares for you? Do you know anything at all about His care for you? Do you know that He cares for you more than you care for yourself and more than anybody else does for you? But God truly cares about you and me. He cares about everything that concerns us and that is going on in our lives. And He cares enough to bear every one of our burdens for us.
David, in a Psalm of his, says, “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior who daily bears our burdens.” (Ps 68:19NIV) Look at that. David's testimony is that God daily carries his burdens for him. And why? It is because He cares for him. But that is not the only reason He daily bears this man's burdens for him. There is another reason, which is that David himself has learnt to cast his burdens on God. And that is what Peter, in our opening bible text, is admonishing us to learn to do. He says, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.”
Now what are you anxious about? What is that thing that is troubling you? What is that situation that has overwhelmed you and brought frustration into your life? You don't need to try to handle it by yourself; you just need to give it to God. If you could handle it by yourself, you would not be frustrated as a result of it. The reason you are frustrated by it is that it has proved itself to be beyond what you can handle.
By the way, if, all along, you had been allowing God to bear your burdens for you, you would never have come to the point of being frustrated. No, you may not know what to do about a situation. But if you have learnt to cast your burdens on God, you will never be frustrated by it. Paul said to the Corinthians in a letter, “…We do not know what to do, but we do not give up the hope of living…” (2Cor 4:8NCV) Why did they not give up? It was because they knew God was in charge of their lives and affairs and would never let them down.
So, your frustration, my frustration or our frustration always arises from our failure to let God care for us and bear our burdens. Nonetheless, as long as there is life in us, it is never too late to take our frustration to Him. Give all your cares and frustrations to Him, then, and He will take care of you.
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HE WILL SEPARATE YOU FROM IT PERMANENTLY 04/10/2023
“Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.”” (Ex 14:13NIV)
When the children of Israel set out from Egypt for Canaan, they thought that was the end of the hostility and oppression they had been facing from the Egyptians for centuries. Unfortunately, their enemies were just too stubborn to let them be. They still came after them hard, seeking to capture and enslave them again.
Now there are problems and challenges of life that are just like those Egyptians of bible days. They just don't know when or how to stop attacking. And it is possible that such problems or challenges are daily or yearly showing up in your life. You battled with them all through last year and perhaps the years before it. Yet they just won't quit bothering or troubling you. And probably you are already getting used to having them in your life, thinking there is no escape from them.
Well, I have good news for you. You don't have to get used to any problem or make it your life companion. That is because the same God that gave Israel a permanent deliverance from those Egyptians who would not stop pursuing them in order to make them slaves permanently is still alive and well today. And not only is He alive and well today; He is also for anyone who will call upon Him.
The bible says, “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile — the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Rom 10:12-13NIV) Did you see that? God richly blesses and saves everyone who calls on Him. That was what happened when Moses called upon Him on behalf of his people that were being hotly pursued by the Egyptians. He gave them a permanent separation from these unrelenting and stubborn enemies. (Cf. Ex 14)
Now, if you too will, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, call upon Him concerning whatever stubborn problem you are facing, a problem that is bent on staying with you until it destroys you, He will answer and give you a permanent separation from it. How He will do this nobody may be able to tell. But when He does so, it will be marvellous in your sight and in the sight of all those who are watching.
So, instead of crying or weeping or feeling sorry for yourself today, just because certain problems have refused to go away from your life, call upon the Lord now. And He will save you and also cause you to enjoy the full riches of His blessings.
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PROTECT THEM FROM THE EVIL ONE 03/10/2023
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” (John 17:15NIV)
Why do people commit suicide? Often, it is because they think their best option in dealing with their lives' trials is to run away from them. Perhaps they have committed some unthinkable crimes, and they don't want to face the consequences of such crimes or are looking for their own way to pay for them. Or it may be that they are loaded with depression and despair because of waves upon waves of failure that they have experienced or because they suddenly realise that the satisfaction they thought they would get from fame, wealth or influence is not there at all. So, they opt for suicide.
But suicide, apart from the fact that God does not endorse it, is nothing but an acceptance of defeat. It means that Satan eventually got you. All along, as your main enemy, he has been working towards fast-tracking your exit from this world. And why has he been doing that? First, it is because he knows that getting you out of this world is the best way to ensure that God's purpose for your life never materialises. Second, it is because he knows that getting you out of this world is the most effective way to eternally separate you from God, if you are not His child. So, those who consciously, that is, in their right senses, commit suicide are simply aiding the devil to accomplish his purpose against their lives.
Now someone may ask, “If suicide is giving in to the devil, how then do I avoid giving in to him? How do I escape all the fiery and destructive arrows and missiles that he throws at my life every day?” The answer to these questions is seen in one of the lines of prayer that our Lord Jesus Christ offered for His disciples just before He left this world, which says, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” (John 17:15NIV)
See, our Lord knows quite well that, as long as we are in this world, we will daily be faced with diverse trials and challenges (Matt 6:34; John 16:33). And that is because of the operations of the devil and his wicked forces of darkness (Eph 6:12). They are always working towards making life miserable and unbearable for us. And if we don't get help against them from a more powerful being, at some point we will succumb to their pressure and demands, which may even lead us to think running out of this world is the way out.
But running out of the world because of the devil is not the way of victory, as I pointed out before. The truth, in fact, is that it is not good for anybody to leave this world before the time God has set for him. And that is why our Lord, when praying for His disciples, categorically says to God, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.”
Look at that. The Lord's prayer here is quite different from the prayers of some saints of old, who asked God to end their lives because of the enormousness of their life's trials. Moses, for example, asked God at some point to end his life and prevent him from witnessing his own ruin. And that was because of the greatness of the pressure that leading the Israelites put on him. (Cf. Num 11:10-11) Also, Prophet Elijah, on a particular occasion, asked God to kill him. And why? It was because of the waves and waves of troubles that were coming upon him as a result of ministering to the nation of Israel. (Cf. 1Kings 19:3-4)
In any case, in both cases, God's answer was 'No'. I mean that God did not answer any of these two prophets' prayers. And that was because He did not have to kill them in order to solve their problems, for He had the power to solve their problems while they were still alive. By the way, their death would not in any way solve the problems they were having; it would only defeat God's purpose for their lives.
Now it was on the basis of this knowledge, which our Lord Jesus Christ possessed, that He did not ask God to remove His apostles from this world of evil. Instead, He asked that He would protect them from the evil one and all his wicked schemes. And you know that God has the power to do so. He has the power to protect anybody from any kind of trouble that Satan and his evil agents may bring against him.
It is no big wonder, then, that Paul would say, “Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merciful Father, the God from whom all help comes! He helps us in all our troubles, so that we are able to help others who have all kinds of troubles, using the same help that we ourselves have received from God.” (2Cor 1:3-5GNT) Can you see that? Not only is God able to help and protect us in all our troubles; He is also able to empower us to help and protect others too in whatever kind of trouble they may be in.
So, none of us should seek to run out of the world because of the devil or because of the trials we are being faced with. And none of us should seek to run away from our responsibilities – husbands, wives, children, parents, creditors and so forth – because of life's trials. We can always turn to God for protection, as our Lord Jesus did for His apostles. And He will not ignore our honest and heartfelt prayers or be slow to attend to us. Instead, He will move in our favour and do so quickly. (Cf. Ps 66:20; Luke 18:7-8)
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A GIFT OF THE RIGHT PERSON 02/10/2023
“Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a wise wife is a gift from the LORD.” (Prov 19:14NCV)
Think about that. A great wife or a great husband cannot be inherited. In other words, the fact that your parents are fully involved in getting a wife or husband for you does not mean that the person will end up being suitable for you.
Also, a great and wise love partner is never a product of hard or diligent labour. Even if you are acting on the word of God and taking all the right steps you know to take, it does not mean you are going to end up with a great and suitable love partner. Such a person can only come to you as a gift from God.
Therefore, don’t think because you are truly devoted to God, hardworking, patient and committed to acting on the word of God in making your love decisions, all is going to end well with your love decisions. That, I must tell you, is confidence in the flesh.
Don’t get me wrong. It is good and important that you are fully devoted to God, hardworking, patient and committed to following Scriptures in choosing your love partner. But don’t rely on any of those things. Instead, rely on God Himself and let Him gift you with the best person for you, in accordance with His goodness and generosity.
There are people who love God and are faithful to Him and who kept themselves pure and focussed on the word of God in choosing their love partners but who are still not enjoying their marriages today. And there are also people who married under very suspicious circumstances and that were not expected to have sweet homes at all. Yet these are having great homes today.
Why are these things so? They are so because having a beautiful home does not depend on human desire or effort but on God’s mercy (Rom 9:16). So, don’t count on your effort or patience or anything else in this. Instead, count on God and on His mercy. Let Him gift you with the right person for you, as He did with Adam.
And let me also say this: that God has gifted you with the right person does not mean that your home will be automatically sweet. If you both, having married, will not commit yourself to acting on what God says about how your marriage is to be handled, you will not have a great home.
I am saying this because it is easy to look at two children of God whose marriage is not working and conclude that they are never meant for each other. But that may not be so. The problem may be that the two of them or one of them has chosen to walk in the flesh instead of in the spirit in their marriage. So, while it is important to choose right by the grace of God, it is also important to be determined that when you eventually get married, you will do the will of God in your home. And may the Spirit of God strengthen you to act according to these words, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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WHAT IF THINGS GET ROUGHER? 01/10/2023
"If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?” (Jer 12:5NIV)
Why does God speak to Jeremiah in the manner that He does in our opening bible text? It is because He wants Him to know that things can actually get rougher for him. Therefore, if he will not take advantage of His grace in his present situation to walk in victory, how will he fare, if things should get rougher for him?
What, then, is the point of that? It is that we need to learn to use every situation we find ourselves to train ourselves for tougher or rougher situations, instead of grumbling or complaining. As the bible shows us, as long as we are in this world, we can expect trials of all kinds. And what forms these trials would take we cannot tell (Ecc 11:2). But, first, we can tell that God will never leave us or forsake us, regardless of what we are confronted with (Heb 13:5-6).
Also, we can be sure that God will not allow us to be tried or tempted beyond what we can handle. The word of God says, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1Cor 10:13NIV) The same Greek word that is translated ‘Temptation’ in this text can also be translated ‘Trials’. It follows, then, if God allows any trial to come our way, it is because He knows that we will be able to handle it, as long as we will take advantage of His provisions for us to do so. And we will always have His provisions to walk in victory over any trial of our lives, for this Scripture also tells us that when we are tried, God will make a way out for us to walk in victory.
Therefore, instead of grumbling, blaming God or others, running away or seeking solutions where there are no solutions, when we are being tried, what we should do is ask God to open our eyes to see His provision for us to experience victory. That was the way Moses functioned all through those years that he led the children of Israel. He turned to God every time a new challenge showed up instead of joining the Israelites in complaining, crying or losing faith. So, he always ended up having the solutions to their problems.
So, there is solution in the hand of God for every problem of life. However, if we will not learn to engage Him for the solution to whatever challenge we are faced with now, if we should be confronted with bigger issues (and we may be confronted with them), there is every tendency that we may lose ourselves and allow those challenges to ruin us.
All of this is why the Scripture says this to us: “Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. "Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.” (Heb 12:12-13NIV) It also says this to us: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.” (Eph 6:10-11NIV)
What this means is that we must choose not to be weaklings in this life. We must choose not to be individuals that always complain, run away or lose heart when challenges come. And we will be such individuals, if we will not strengthen ourselves in the Lord. But if we will strengthen ourselves by putting on His whole armour, we will find that we are able to frustrate the devil any day and any time and walk in victory over all his works.
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DON’T MISUSE OR ABUSE YOUR INFLUENCE 30/09/2023
“Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. "I'm going out to fish," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We'll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.” (John 21:2-3NIV)
Without doubt, Simon Peter was the most influential among the twelve apostles of the Lord that were witnesses of His life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension. Exactly how he became so, we are not told in the bible. Perhaps it was because he was bold, forward and outspoken, always challenging the Lord with all kinds of questions. So, somehow, having been together for a while, other apostles unconsciously began to defer to him, something that was not bad in itself.
You know it is natural for people to readily follow or give way to individuals that they see as bold or as daring or as outspoken or as possessing sound judgment. But it is not always a smart thing to do. That is because bold, daring, outspoken and wise people can also miss it and mislead others. So, no matter the degree of respect you have for anybody, always be careful that you follow them only to the degree that they are in line with the word of God and with His purpose for your life. (Cf. 1Cor 11:1; Gal 2:11-14)
In like manner, you must discipline yourself not to misuse or abuse the influence you have on other people’s lives. You know we all have people, few as they may be, who, for one reason or the other, respect or adore us and will probably follow us anywhere, even if it is hell. And if we are not careful, we may misuse or abuse the influence we have on their lives and lead them astray.
For example, in the bible text above, we find Peter, unconsciously, misleading some of the Lord’s disciples away from God’s plan for their lives. Remember how the Lord had called him away from his fishing business so that he, along with others that had also been called away from their various occupations, could become fishers of men. But after everything that happened to the Lord, His death, burial and resurrection, Peter somehow felt ministering with Him was over for him, if not for everybody. So, he decided to go back fishing. And he announced his decision to those disciples that were with him at the time.
Now because of the influence this apostle had on those other apostles, they all (even those among who probably knew nothing about fishing) immediately said that they would follow him. And they actually followed him into that venture that proved to be fruitless until the Lord showed up and made it fruitful and also set everybody back on the right course. (Cf. John 21)
Well, that shows us something of the power of an influential life. It can either be a blessing or a curse. So, we have to watch ourselves so that, in exercising influence over other people’s lives, we do not consciously or unconsciously mislead them or abuse them. I know people, especially Christian leaders, who, because of the respect some people have for them, get unduly involved in making very important decisions in their lives, talk to them anyhow, without minding their ages, and even ask them to do for them things they will never ask their own children or siblings to do. All such things are wrong. And apart from the fact that they take people away from God’s purpose for their lives, they can equally result in resentment or bitterness on the part of the victims.
Be careful, then, how you live your life and relate to those that you have influence over their lives, so that you do not become the reason they are lost or the reason their lives become miserable. That is because God will not hold offenders along this line guiltless. (Cf. Luke 17:1-3; 1Cor 8)
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THEY ARE BUT MEN 29/09/2023
“Strike them with terror, O LORD; let the nations know they are but men.” (Ps 9:20NIV)
Sometimes in life, we come in contact with people who talk and act as though they were God. And that, often, is because they are intoxicated with power. It may be political power, military power or satanic power that they are intoxicated with. But they are surely intoxicated with some power that makes them forget that they are not God but mere men.
For example, as we are told in the bible, there was a time that a king of the Assyrians, Sennacherib, launched an attack against the cities of Judah, seeking to capture and enslave them. But that was not even the main issue. The main issue was the manner in which he went about the attack on these people of God. He sent a message to them and their king, telling them that no god had ever been able to rescue his people from his hands. In other words, their dependence on God at that time was in vain. He would not be able to do anything to rescue them from his hands. (Cf. 2Kings 18)
Unfortunately, there are people who still act like Sennacherib. They act as though they had all the power in the world and that whatever they want or say is what will be or come to pass. But they are wrong, as Sennacherib was wrong. They do not have all the power. Only one person has all the power in all the universe. That is God. And whatever measure of power or authority anyone is able to exercise here on earth, in heaven or under the earth is what God has given to them. (Cf. Ps 62:11; Rom 13:1; Matt 28:18)
But when people fail to acknowledge this, then, God will have to do as David says in his prayer, which we have in our opening bible text. He will have to strike them with terror, so that they will know that they are but mere men and not God. And that was exactly what happened to King Sennacherib. God, in response to his arrogance, struck him with terror. First, He made sure that he did not enter the city of Jerusalem or shoot a single arrow at any one of His people. Second, He sent one of His angels to this king's camp, and he killed one hundred and eighty-five thousand soldiers in one night. Then, when this king fled back to his own country, two of his own sons attacked him one day while he was worshipping in the temple of his god and killed him. (Cf. 2Kings 19)
King Herod of the days of the apostles also suffered a similar fate. He had been acting as though he were god, laying hands on God's servants and treating them as he pleased. Then, one day, while he was addressing the people Tyre and Sidon in a meeting, the people began to hail him and to say of him, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” And because, in response to that, he did not immediately stop them and lead them to glorify God instead, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. (Cf. Acts 12)
So, you can see that God is never weak in defending His honour. And that is why we all must be careful never to try to talk or act as though we were God, when we are just men. Also, we must never allow anybody to treat us like God or make us think we are God. That is because doing so is like giving God an invitation to strike us with terror. (Cf. Acts 14:1-18)
Then, if anyone is trying to harass us or give us the impression that he has power to do whatever he likes with our lives, we need not to be afraid of him. We just need to warn him not to invite God's terror on himself. And if he listens, good. But if not, then, he will have to experience what David says in our opening text. He will be shown by God that he is but a man and not God.
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WHAT ARE YOU SOWING INTO YOUR WORK? 28/09/2023
“Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.” (Col 3:22-25NIV)
Can you see what attitude God expects His people to have towards their jobs, whether they are slaves or free men and women? He wants us to handle our jobs, whatever they are, with sincerity of heart and with reverence for Him. He wants us to handle our jobs with all our hearts, as people who are working for Him and not for men. And observe that this is not a demand being made on pastors, prophets or preachers in general. Rather, it is a demand being made on slaves, employees and, by extension, everyone that is involved in one legitimate enterprise or the other. That, of course, will refer to every one of us.
In other words, it is every one of us that is to handle their work with all their heart. Yes, it is every one of us that is to handle their work as someone working for the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and not for men. So, regardless of where you work or whom you are working for, Jesus is your real boss. Even if you are the owner of your business or enterprise, you need to understand that you still have an invisible boss over your head, who is with you in your office or shop all the time and is watching every business deal, decision and activity. And that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
This being the case, you are to expect more than the appraisal and reward of men in your business or wherever you work. You are to expect the appraisal and reward of the Lord Jesus Christ as well. And He will appraisal and reward your work, not only here on earth but also in His eternal kingdom, according to how you have fared. Then, as Paul as clearly points out in that text, there is no favouritism with Him. That means it is what you sow that you will reap.
So, if you sow faithfulness and diligence into your work, whether as an employee or as a business owner, God, who is everyone's overall boss, will see to it that you reap a harvest of prosperity in accordance with the quality and quantity of what you have sown. And if you are reaping something contrary to prosperity, then, you should know that God is not responsible. He has already said that whatever a man sows is what he will reap (Gal 6:7-8). And He will never violate this rule. If what you reap from your work is, then, different from what you have sowed, know that it is either you are corrupting the seed yourself or that your enemy is stealing your harvest. Whatever the case is, it is still your business to use the grace of God to deal with it.
Well, I am showing you this to let you see why those who have no faith in God can prosper with the work of their hands and rise out of obscurity into prominence. When they sow the seed of faithfulness and diligence into their work, even though they do not acknowledge God, when they handle their work with all their heart and soul, as though everything depended on it, God will honour His word in their lives. He will make them reap a harvest of prosperity.
But when those who claim to know God and have faith in Him are acting irresponsible in handling their work, when they treat their job or business or education or training as though it were nothing, they will certainly reap the harvest they deserve. And that will be a harvest of failure and poverty. Yes, they may be praying hard and fasting seriously. They may even be contributing all kinds of gifts for God's work or to some men of God. It won't change anything, as long as they are sowing the wrong seed into their work. So, if you want to change the fruit of your labour, then, change the seed you are sowing into your work.
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PRAYING AMISS 27/09/2023
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.” (James 4:3NKJV)
Did you see that? When you pray amiss, you won't receive. And it does not matter how much you cry, weep or shout when praying, as long as you are not praying in line with the will of God, you will not receive.
Apostle John also brings up this same point in his epistle when he says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him.” (1John 5:14-15NIV) Look at that. If we ask God for anything in accordance with His will, He hears us and we receive what we have asked of Him. But what if we don't ask according to His will? He does not hear us. It is as simple as that.
Now what does it mean to pray in line with the will of God? First, it means to ask God for what He has promised to give to us or do for us. Second, it means to ask Him for those things for the right purposes. Third, it means to ask Him for those things in the right way. If we ask God for things He does not want us to have or enjoy, He may not answer us. And if He does answer us in such situations, as we see in the bible, it is to make us experience the sorrow that comes with having what He never wants us to have (Num 11; 1Sam 8).
Then our motives for wanting God to give us something or do something for us is also important to Him. Why do you want to have that thing? What do you want to do with it? Do you want to have it because every other person has it or says it is the right thing for you to have? Do you want to have it so that you can boast about it or oppress some people with it? Or do you want to have it because you actually need it and also possess what it takes to manage it?
If your motives for praying to God to give you something or do something for you is wrong, you are asking amiss, as James tells us in that text above. Also, if what you are asking of God is not something you have the wisdom, strength, character or resources to manage or protect, you are asking amiss. And He is not under any obligation to answer you and do something for you that will hurt you or others. In fact, by not answering you, He is simply demonstrating love and care for you and others in your world.
Furthermore, how we pray is important to God. And I am not referring here to prayer postures. You can take whatever posture you like when praying, as long as it permits seriousness and eliminates distractions. I am also not referring to where we pray or when we pray. Anybody can pray anywhere God is and anytime God listens. And since God is everywhere and is attentive all the time, we can pray anywhere and anytime.
Then I am not talking about the language we use in praying. Anybody can talk to God in a language of his choice. He does not have a favourite language. And there is not one language that is better than others in expressing people's desires to God. Everything depends on the individual that is praying. So, as long as the language we use in praying is one that enables us to fully and freely express ourselves before God, He is okay with it.
But what I am talking about has to do with our attitude when we pray, which, of course, will reflect in our choice of words in talking to God. Do we talk to Him with respect or with arrogance? Do we pray to Him because we want to receive from Him or because we want others to see us as professionals in talking to Him? Do we approach Him as He wants us to approach Him, in the name of His Son and with the boldness of children that are loved? And do we pray with a heart of faithfulness to Him, even when our circumstances are giving us the impression that He cannot help us and that we need to seek help elsewhere? If our attitude or approach in prayer is wrong, then, we are praying amiss, even if we are using all the right words.
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WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO KEEP HIM? 26/09/2023
I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young men, a youth who lacked judgment. He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in. Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent. (She is loud and defiant, her feet never stay at home; now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks.) She took hold of him and kissed him and with a brazen face she said: "I have fellowship offerings at home; today I fulfilled my vows. So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you! I have covered my bed with colored linens from Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come, let's drink deep of love till morning; let's enjoy ourselves with love!” (Prov 7:7-18NIV)
Did you see the things said by Solomon about that adulterous woman? First, he said that she dressed for a purpose; she dressed to seduce someone. Also, look at all the trouble she went through in making her room and bed appealing to her victim. Yet all she wanted was to destroy him.
Now if prostitutes, side chicks, husband snatchers and whatever other names they call them are working hard to steal your husband, what are you doing to keep him in the right place, in your bosom? If some women will do half, just half, of what the small girls or sugar mummies their husbands are following are doing for them, those men will stay at home and remain loyal forever.
But you are always too busy to make yourself look good and appealing to your husband. You are partly to blame for his irresponsibility or lack of commitment to you in your marriage.
Am I saying that men who are involved in adultery or who will have nothing to do with their wives sexually have any excuse? No! But the bible tells us that if the sex life of couples is not what it is meant to be, Satan can use it to lure them into sexual immorality (1Cor 7:5).
So, we all need to keep this in mind and see to it that we do not give any room for Satan to lead our partners into sexual immorality through our arrogance, carefree attitude or ignorance.
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WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO KEEP HIM? 26/09/2023
I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young men, a youth who lacked judgment. He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in. Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent. (She is loud and defiant, her feet never stay at home; now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks.) She took hold of him and kissed him and with a brazen face she said: "I have fellowship offerings at home; today I fulfilled my vows. So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you! I have covered my bed with colored linens from Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come, let's drink deep of love till morning; let's enjoy ourselves with love!” (Prov 7:7-18NIV)
Did you see the things said by Solomon about that adulterous woman? First, he said that she dressed for a purpose; she dressed to seduce someone. Also, look at all the trouble she went through in making her room and bed appealing to her victim. Yet all she wanted was to destroy him.
Now if prostitutes, side chicks, husband snatchers and whatever other names they call them are working hard to steal your husband, what are you doing to keep him in the right place, in your bosom? If some women will do half, just half, of what the small girls or sugar mummies their husbands are following are doing for them, those men will stay at home and remain loyal forever.
But you are always too busy to make yourself look good and appealing to your husband. You are partly to blame for his irresponsibility or lack of commitment to you in your marriage.
Am I saying that men who are involved in adultery or who will have nothing to do with their wives sexually have any excuse? No! But the bible tells us that if the sex life of couples is not what it is meant to be, Satan can use it to lure them into sexual immorality (1Cor 7:5).
So, we all need to keep this in mind and see to it that we do not give any room for Satan to lead our partners into sexual immorality through our arrogance, carefree attitude or ignorance.
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THE FOCUS OF CHURCH DISCIPLINE 25/09/2023
“Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it – I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while – yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. So even though I wrote to you, it was neither on account of the one who did the wrong nor on account of the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are. By all this we are encouraged…” (2Corinthians 7:8-13NIV)
There is really a lot to say about what Paul says here. But the point of it all is that the focus of church discipline is repentance. The focus is to make brethren abandon whatever wrong thing they are doing for the right thing. The idea is not to make them feel bad or sorry. And the idea is not to pull them down. That is why it has to be done in love.
Yes, rebuking and correcting the brethren may hurt them. As Paul shows us in this text, a letter he had written to rebuke and correct the Corinthians hurt them to some degree. But his original intention was not to hurt them. His original intention was to set them right. And he was glad that they were set right. He was glad because he did not harm them in any way, even though he had to rebuke them the way he had done.
But why did Paul’s rebuke not result in harm for the brethren in Corinth? It was because they faced the reality of what he had said to them and also acted on it. Yes, facing the truth about their errors made them unhappy and sorry. But they were not just sorry for themselves. Instead, they also showed themselves to be ready to repent.
Now Paul refers to that as godly sorrow, which always results in repentance and leaves no regrets. But there is equally worldly sorrow. And this results in death. So, we have had those who committed suicide because they were sorry for themselves. There have also been those who abandoned Christian fellowship because they were sorry for themselves and certain things they did. These ones left the church and never came back. They turned their back on God.
But the aim of church discipline is not to make people sorry. Rather, it is to lead them to repentance. It is to bring erring brethren around. It is to make them see what wrong things they are doing, how these things are hurting them and the church and the need for them to repent of them. Yes, rebuking and correcting them may make them feel bad or sorry. But the focus is not on making them feel sorry or sad but to make them repent.
So, if you are being rebuked or corrected in your assembly for your errors, don’t just be sorry about them. Instead, also take appropriate steps towards repentance. Yes, how you are corrected may hurt you. But don’t look at that, as long as you are truly wrong. Instead, admit your flaws and repent. Otherwise, the correction coming to you may end up injuring you. Then the purpose God intends by leading others to correct you will have been thwarted.
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BE DETERMINED TO DO HIS WILL 24/09/2023
Today, I want to admonish you to make up your mind that you will take God’s word more seriously that you have ever done in the past. Look, when you determine to do that, then, you can expect God Himself to strengthen you and make all things work in your favour, so that you may do His will.
For example, the bible tells us of how Daniel determined in his heart not to be defiled through King Nebuchadnezzar’s delicacies. And because he did so, God caused him and his friends to be so favoured that they were able to stay undefiled in that pagan city and also to flourish there throughout the remaining part of their lives. (Cf. Dan 1:6-21)
Also, we are told in the bible of how Joseph made up his mind not to yield to the seduction of Potiphar’s wife or to even stay near her. And that was because he feared God. Therefore, God helped him all through his stay in that house not to corrupt himself and ruin his life. Yes, he was eventually jailed for his determination not to be defiled. Nevertheless, after some years, God vindicated him, exalted him and also made the rest of his life glorious, glamorous and adorable in Egypt. (Cf. Gen 39-50)
So, when we determine to take God and His word seriously, counting on Him to enable us do His will, He won’t abandon us to ourselves or to the schemes of the enemies. Rather, He will make sure we have His strength, wisdom, courage and anything else we might need to please Him. But when there is no determination whatsoever in us to please Him, we leave Him with almost nothing to work with in our lives. Then we will certainly find reasons or excuses not to do what He wants.
Remember King Saul and how he disobeyed God’s clear instruction to him about the Amalekites. And why did he disobey Him? Was it actually because he was afraid of his men? Or was it because he and his men truly wanted to sacrifice some of the animals they had taken as plunder to God? No! He disobeyed God because there was no determination in him to obey Him. If he had been determined to obey Him, as Israel’s king, he would certainly have compelled all his men to obey Him. But because the determination to please God was not in him, it became easy for him to find reasons not to do so. (Cf. 1Sam 15)
Unfortunately for Saul, Samuel, the man of God, made it very clear to him that no excuse is ever acceptable for not doing the will of God. In other words, there is no substitute to doing His will or acting on His word. It is either we do what He wants or we face the consequences for not doing so. And the consequences for not doing His will are never palatable or enjoyable. (Cf. 1Sam 15:22-23)
So, instead of seeking reasons not to do what God wants, resolve that you will count on Him to enable your determination to do His will. And as you do this, He will stand by you, see to it that you are established in all His will and also honour you greatly before men and before all His Holy angels.
Have a great day
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WHAT CAN GENEROSITY CAN DO 23/09/2023
“The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, "This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue." So Jesus went with them.”” (Luke 7:4-6NIV)
From what we know in Scriptures, most of the elders of the Jews hated Jesus because of His stand for righteousness and also because of His claim that He was the Son of God. Nevertheless, as we see in our opening text, there was a time when some of them were willing to put their hatred and bitterness towards Him aside and plead with Him to follow them to heal someone’s servant. And why? Based on their own words, it was because of the man’s love for their nation and religion. In other words, they could tell that he loved them and also cared about what they cared about. And one of the reasons they were able to tell that he cared about them was that he single-handedly built a synagogue for them.
So, when his servant, whom he highly valued, became sick to the point of death and he talked to them about helping him to ask Jesus to come and heal him, they did not hesitate to come. More so, they did not come to Him to speak casually about it; instead, they came and pleaded earnestly with Him that He would do something about it. And as Luke points out in the text, the Lord went with them and, even though He eventually did not get to the man’s house, healed the sick servant.
What does this teach us? It teaches us that our generosity can cause people to go on their knees to beg even their enemies for us in our moment of need or adversity. Beyond that, it can inspire them to stand before God as intercessors for us, if we ever come to the end of ourselves.
For example, consider the case of Dorcas that is reported in the book of Acts. This woman, as the record shows, was always doing good and helping the poor. And when she became sick and died, the believers around her would not readily accept her death. Why? It was because they were going to seriously miss her generosity. So, when they learnt that Apostle Peter was visiting in a nearby town, they quickly sent messengers to urge him to come to them at once. Their thought must have been, “Perhaps, God would listen to Peter’s prayer on our behalf and use him to restore this woman back to us.”
Thankfully, Peter did not hesitate to come; he did not consider himself too big to be summoned by some nameless believers. He went and met with these brethren. And when he got there, what he saw must have moved him greatly, for all the widows in that church gathered round him, crying and showing him some samples of Dorcas’ generosity to them while she was still alive. So, without wasting time, having put everybody out of the room where the woman had been laid, he got on his knees to pray to God. Exactly what he said to God about the matter we are not told. But it worked, for Dorcas was restored to life and given more years to continue her life of generosity. (Cf. Acts 9:36-41)
Now what if Dorcas had not been a generous woman? Would the disciples have been moved as they were moved to send for Peter to come and pray for her? I don’t think so. There definitely must have been other disciples that died in that city before Dorcas. And people would have wept for them too. But Dorcas’ case was different. Her generosity would not allow the brethren to let her go and be with the Lord just like that. Instead, it moved them to summon an intercessor for her.
So, it is not only God that our generosity can move; it can also move people to rise and fight our battles for us. And who knows exactly when we will need this and how seriously we will need it when we do need it? Therefore, let us give ourselves to generosity without grumbling or fainting, as we are instructed in Scriptures. And at the right time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Cf. Rom 12:13; Gal 6:9-10; 1Pet 4:9)
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LEARNING TO CONVERSE 22/09/2023
"When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.” (Prov 10:19NIV)
Did you see that? Though it is not a sin to love to speak, you need to understand that your eagerness to say everything that comes to your mind may lead you to say things you ought not to say or things you do not intend to say. And once certain words are spoken, it may be impossible to retrieve them, revise them or cure the problems they have caused. So, you have to begin to learn to discipline yourself not to always say anything that comes to your mind without carefully considering what benefit or danger it may bring to those listening. Otherwise, you will often appear to people as a fool.
Also, remember that the bible says:
“Don't say anything that would hurt another person. Instead, speak only what is good so that you can give help wherever it is needed. That way, what you say will help those who hear you.” (Eph 4:29-30GW)
So, begin to train yourself to have only edifying conversations with people. You love to talk and not to just hang around quiet. Fine! But whenever you are conversing with anyone, be sure your focus is on edifying them and not just on entertaining them or loading them with anything that comes to your head. And one way to do is to learn to stay on point in all your conversations. Don’t drag your conversations with people here and there, so much so that they can’t make any sense out of all that you are discussing with them.
Why were Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego considered to be ten times better than all their colleagues that King Nebuchadnezzar conversed with? Was it just because they were full of knowledge? No! It was always also because they were full of wisdom and understanding. They knew how to express the knowledge they had without insulting, offending or boring the king. In other words, they knew how to stay on point in every matter that he raised with them. So, they did not come off to him as lousy or arrogant or as individuals who were simply trying to impress him. (Cf. Dan 1:18-20)
You too learn to be that way in conversing with people. Learn to stay on point with them. That will make them see you as a wise person to discuss with. Learn also to respect their interests. One of the reasons people get tired of those who are talkative is that they have no respect for other people’s interests. They just want to do the talking and then have you do the listening. Are you interested at all in the subject they have brought up? They don’t care. You just listen – that is all they want. So, they weary those they are conversing with. And at some point, everybody who knows them for who they are starts avoiding them.
But if you don’t want those in your life, especially your love partner, to become weary of you and start avoiding having conversations with you, then, learn to show respect for their interests. Learn to let them express themselves too and determine what you should converse about. They must see that you are genuinely interested in what they are interested in too. And when you are like this, you will find that even people who naturally do not like to talk for long with others will begin to desire to talk with you.
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IF YOU ARE NOT READY FOR LOVE 21/09/2023
“But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.” (1Cor 7:28NIV)
Did you see that? Paul says it is not a sin to marry. So, go ahead and marry, if you have what it takes. However, this apostle also goes on to say that those who marry will face many troubles in this life. So, the reason he is counselling them not to marry is to spare them the troubles and challenges that come with getting married. And there are many of them, ranging from problems with in-laws, family finances, childbirth, barrenness, the education and care of the children to health issues.
Anyone, then, who is not ready to tackle these problems or bear love responsibilities is not fit for any kind of love life. And if you see yourself as not ready for them, wait. Don’t force yourself into a love life you are not ready for because your family members, friends or church people are pressuring you to go into one. Don’t bend your neck to carry a burden that will break you. Wait until you are ready. Then pray and work hard to be ready on time.
When David was told that Saul wanted to give his first daughter, Merab, to him in marriage, how did he respond? Here is what we are told:
“But David said to Saul, "Who am I, and what is my family or my father's clan in Israel, that I should become the king's son-in-law?" So when the time came for Merab, Saul's daughter, to be given to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah.” (1Sam 18:18-19NIV)
Did you see that? Even though it was a great privilege and honour at that time to be the king’s son-in-law, David did not foolishly commit to marrying Saul’s daughter. Why? He knew that he did not have the resources or class to manage that kind of love affair. He knew the kind of burden marrying a king’s daughter would place on him and his poor family. So, he just passed and allowed the woman to be given to another man.
Did he die because of that? No! He just went on to living fine. And much later, when another opportunity came for him to become the king’s son-in-law, he took it. He took it because he knew that he had what it would take to pay the bride price of the young lady involved. (Cf. 1Sam 18:20-27)
So, if you think a love affair with someone will be too expensive for you to manage, don’t start it. It is not compulsory. If you think you and your family cannot handle the social class of someone, don’t start any love affair with the person. Instead, find someone that is living in the will of God and that fits your circumstances and stick with them. But don’t start something you cannot finish all in the name of love. Otherwise, love snakes may bite and poison you at some point.
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BE ON YOUR GUARD AGAINST THEM 20/09/2023
“Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.” (Gen 4:8NIV)
Our relationship with our family members is a legitimate one. Yes, it is possible for us to have ungodly or unreasonable or wild people as our family members. But they are still our family members and there is nothing we can do about that.
What am I saying? It is that regardless of how godless your family members may be, they are still your blood. And you cannot run away from dealing with them. You can, however, choose how you will be dealing with them, so that you don’t end up becoming corrupted or ruined by them. And if you are wise, you will do this, if you have ungodly and faithless people as your family members.
Why did Cain succeed in killing Abel? It was because Abel was not on his guard against him. Yes, Abel was a righteous man, one who had God’s approval. Yet he died in the hands of his jealous and ungodly brother. As the account goes, when God rejected Cain’s offering, he became very angry. He was so angry that his face fell – his countenance changed. And Abel should not have ignored that. But he ignored it and lost his life for it. (Cf. Gen 4:1-8)
Interestingly, when God was going to judge Cain for his wickedness, He still showed him mercy. He placed a mark of protection on him, so that no one who found him would kill him. But Abel was already gone, gone before his time. (Cf. Gen 4:9-16)
What about Joseph? Why did his brothers succeed in selling him into slavery? It was because he was not on his guard against them. Look at what the bible says about his relationship with them:
“Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.” (Gen 37:2NIV)
“When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.” (Gen 37:4NIV)
“His brothers said to him, "Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?" And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.” (Gen 37:8NIV)
Did you see that? Joseph had enough reasons to be on his guard against his brothers. He himself had, on several, occasions brought evil reports to their father about them. That means he had seen them first-hand do wicked and ungodly things. Then he could not have any normal conversation with them without being insulted or harassed. So, he should have looked beyond the fact that they were blood brothers and be on his guard against them. But he did not. And because he did not, he suffered greatly for it.
Yes, God eventually turned around the evil Joseph’s brothers did to him for good. But things may have happened differently, if he had been on his guard against them. So, be on your guard against anyone in your life or around you, even if the person is your blood, that is obviously ungodly or wicked in their dealings with you or with others. Otherwise, you may end up becoming their victim, if you are not shown mercy by God.
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GET MARRIED OR CONTROL YOURSELF 19/09/2023
“Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (1Cor 6:16-20NIV)
Did you see that? Anyone engaging in sexual pleasure outside a marriage relationship is not just sinning against God or against their spouse, if they are already married, they are also sinning against their own body. They are corrupting their own body, which is God’s temple. In other words, they are making their body unfit for God to live in and unfit for Him to use for His purpose. And God has only one verdict for anyone destroying His dwelling place – destruction (1Cor 3:17).
Not only that, they are wrongly uniting themselves with someone else. In other words, sexual intercourse has some degree of spirituality about it. It is not just about satisfying emotions or transferring body fluids. It is also about sharing the unseen and spiritual essence or contents of our lives with others.
This is how many have brought into their lives problems that should never have been theirs. As they move from man to man or from woman to woman, they fill their lives with all kinds of terrible things that they have no answer for. And years later, when these things begin to manifest in their lives or marriages, they start wondering where they came from. Then it may take more than a thousand miracles from God to get their lives back in shape, that is if they seek His face for mercy.
All of this is why Paul tells us to either learn to control or bodies or get married. Do you want to freely express and satisfy your sexual passions? Then get married. But if you think you are not ready for marriage, for one reason or the other, then, control your body. That is the will of God for you. (Cf. 1Thess 4:3-8)
But then, will getting married automatically deal with all the challenges that are associated with your sexual urges or passions? The answer is ‘No’. Whether getting married will keep you from sexual immorality or not depends on how you and your wife handle your sex life and your sex drive.
What is your understanding of how sex should be handled or treated in a marriage relationship? Is it in line with the will of God? Then how committed are you to following what God says about sex and how it should be handled in a marriage relationship, if you know these things? These are the things that will determine to a very large extent whether getting married will keep you in the will of God, as far as sexual immorality is concerned, or not.
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A WAY TO PROTECT YOUR RESOURCES 18/09/2023
“Invest what you have in several different businesses, because you don't know what disasters might happen.” (Eccl 11:2NCV)
Of course, there are other English bible versions that render this verse differently, giving the impression that Solomon is talking about being generous to others, so that they too can be generous to us when we get into financial trouble. But besides the fact that this rendering of the verse is not in keeping with the context of the passage it belongs, we all know that there is no guarantee that those we are generous to today will be generous to us as well, if we should get into trouble.
In addition, the main reason we are told to be generous to others in the bible is not that they may pay us back; rather, it is that we may please God (Luke 14:12-14). So, this verse cannot be talking about being generous to others.
Well, as it is made clear in the text, the major reason Solomon counsels us to diversify into different businesses is that we may protect our wealth. In other words, diversifying our resources goes beyond venturing into other businesses that God may use to increase our resources. It is also a wise move to protect our resources.
See, a business or job that is doing you well today financially may lose the potential to do so in the future. That may be because of some government policies, good or bad, or because of increased competition or because of disasters or because of some new technology.
For instance, some years ago in Nigeria, many farmers that grew corn suffered great losses because of drought. Think then of what those who put all their resources into planting corn must have gone through and perhaps are still going through now. But if they had put part of those resources into some other businesses or into some other areas of agriculture, they may have been able to save some money to stay out of poverty and still be in business.
Also, if you did not know, I want you to know now that there are jobs today that companies and organisations will no longer require people to do again in the next few years – technology will see to that. What, then, will become of those who are today making money, perhaps lots of money, through them? They may be plunged into poverty, if they do not diversify their resources today or get educated in some other fields of life that will keep them relevant.
So, if you are already doing very well in your business or job at the moment, well enough to be able to spare some resources for investment, you should also start considering other business or trade or financial scheme you could invest in to protect your resources. That is one of the habits of financially intelligent people. And you too should start cultivating it
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IT CAN TAKE A WHILE 17/09/2023
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.” (Heb 10:35-37NIV)
How readily does God answer the prayers of His people and move on their behalf? Very readily! Immediately! Now, of course, there are people who think differently. And they think differently because they have been taught by some preachers that God does not always answer people readily. According to them, there are times that He may tell people to wait for a while before He answers them and times that He may tell them ‘No’ outright. But these ideas are not rooted in God’s word but in people’s imaginations.
From what we see in Scriptures, every prayer that is offered by God’s people that is in line with His will is answered by Him immediately (1John 5:14). In fact, our Lord Jesus says this about God’s attitude towards prayers offered to Him: “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"” (Luke 18:7-8NIV)
Did you see that? God never puts off His people who are praying to Him. Instead, He always attends to them quickly. The Lord’s concern, however, is that God’s people may not see things like this and maintain their faith in Him. That is why He asks whether He will still find faith here on earth when He returns. In other words, will people still be trusting in God when He returns or will they have thrown away their confidence in Him?
Yes, sometimes, it may look like God is not active or answering our prayers at all. And sometimes, He may appear too slow in handling what concerns us. But God, according to Scriptures, is never inactive or slow in relating to matters that concern His people. Rather, He is always immediate and quick to respond to them. Nevertheless, there are times that it may take a while for what He has done or doing on our behalf to manifest for us to see.
For example, when He sent Moses to lead the nation of Israel out of Egypt, it was not the very day that he arrived in Egypt that he led them out. It probably took him some months, though we are not given any specifics in the bible about this. But, at least, we are shown in the bible that Pharaoh was unwilling to let the people go. So, Moses had to perform waves of miracles, one after the other, to bring Pharaoh to his knees and let the people go.
Now all the time that this was going on, things were getting rougher and more difficult for the Israelites. Pharoah saw to it that they were frustrated and oppressed more than ever before. It was so bad that even Moses had to cry out to God at some point, saying, “O Lord, why have you brought trouble upon this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all." (Ex 5:22-23NIV)
And who among us has never felt like that before? Who among us has never for once felt that God was not helping them at all? I have felt like that many times before. I have several times woken up to still find the same problems I have fervently prayed about staring me in the face, looking as though God had not even lifted any finger to address it. And that, of course, is exactly how Satan, the evil being behind all our problems and pains, always wants us to feel about God. He always wants us to feel that He in unconcerned or unmoved about what we are facing and praying to Him about.
But that is never true. God truly cares about us and is truly concerned about us. That is why He Himself is the one that has invited us to cast all our burdens on Him. All we need, then, is to cast them on Him and to maintain our faith in Him, knowing that He has gotten to work the moment we pass these burdens over to Him. (Cf. Ps 55:22; 1Peter 5:7)
In the case of these Israelites, the moment God heard their outcry in Egypt, He began to work for their deliverance. But first He had to wait for the man He was going to use to be ready. And He took him forty years to wait for the only person that was fit for the job to be ready. In fact, He almost literally dragged this man, Moses, out of his shell in order for him to go and save them. Perhaps that is also what He is doing at the moment to certain people that He has prepared to handle certain matters of your life. Perhaps He is dragging them out of their shells, so that they can attend to those situations. But would you know that, if your eyes were not open to see what He is doing? No! (Cf. Ex 3-4)
Then when Moses got to Egypt to work, he was met with very stiff opposition from Pharoah and his sorcerers. So, God had to send ten different plagues on the nation of Egypt before these Israelites could gain their independence. And that, as I pointed out before, took some time. So, you can see that it is not everything God is doing in response to our prayers that we can enjoy immediately or right at the instant that we pray. Some things can take a while before we begin to enjoy His works for us concerning them. And how long each situation of our lives that He is fixing will take before we witness a full manifestation of His works concerning it will depend on the nature of the situation.
Sometimes, we underestimate the nature of the problems we are dealing with, thinking that they should not take God a minute to fix. But what is behind those problems may be bigger than what our minds can handle. And God who knows this will not take half measures at all in dealing with such problems. Instead, He will do all that needs to be done for them to be permanently resolved. But this may take some time.
All of this is why we are told in our opening Scripture not to throw away our confidence in Him or give up on Him. Yes, it may look like nothing is happening or that things are getting worse. But that does not mean that God is not at work on our behalf. He is working and will not delay His works at all. We are the ones, then, that should continue to persevere in doing His will. That is because that is the only way we will receive a full manifestation of what He is doing for us and not miss His help or provisions
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DON’T BE A STUMBLING BLOCK 16/09/2023
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.” (Matt 23:13NIV)
What is the Lord accusing the Jewish religious leaders of in our opening bible text? He is accusing them of being stumbling blocks to the people of God. But how are they being stumbling blocks to them? It is by preventing them from doing the will of God through their teachings, practices and traditions.
As the Lord points out, it is bad enough that these leaders have no intention to do the will of God in their personal lives and affairs. But by deliberately doing things that will keep others also from doing His will, they are heaping up His wrath on themselves. And that is why the Lord says, “Woe to you…” In other words, it will be much worse for these religious leaders than the people they are misleading when God’s judgment eventually comes.
What is the point of this, then? It is that we need to be careful not to be a stumbling block to anyone that wants to do the will of God, just because we ourselves do not want to do it. But why will any child of God not want to do the will of his Father? The reason may be fear, selfishness, envy, pride or complacency. Whatever it may be, we must let it stop with us, if we will not repent of it, and not spread it to others. Otherwise, God will see to it that we surely get the punishment we deserve for sponsoring or encouraging rebellion against Him.
For example, why would Korah, Dathan and Abiram not accept the leadership of Moses and Aaron? Envy! And if they had allowed their envy to live and die in them and among them, God may have spared them. But they allowed it to spread to several other leaders of the people, so that their rebellion against the will of God began to gain ground. Therefore, God judged them in a most remarkable way. He made the ground swallow them and their families and possessions up. When next you, then, think of sponsoring others in rebellion against God, whether in the church or elsewhere, think also of these men. (Cf. Numbers 16)
Also, why would the Jewish leaders not accept Jesus as their Messiah? Pride! Envy! Greed! Stubbornness! They knew somewhere in their hearts that He was the real deal and that accepting Him was the will of God for them. But they would not accept Him for the reasons I already mentioned. Instead, they began to prevent their people too from accepting Him as their Messiah. Therefore, it would be much worse for them than all the people they hindered on the day of God’s righteous judgment. And if you too, because of greed, stubbornness, pride or envy, have been working against others’ acceptance of the truth of God where you are, know that your sin will surely find you out someday, if you fail to repent on time.
Furthermore, why did ten out of the twelve spies sent out by Moses to spy Canaan not want to go up and take over the land? Fear! Unbelief! And if they had kept their fear and unbelief to themselves, God might have spared them. But they poisoned the whole nation of Israel with these things. Therefore, they were the first to die of a plague before the Lord that very day. (Cf. Numbers 13 & 14)
So, you really need to be careful what you spread among people, especially God’s people. Be careful that you are not spreading things that will promote unbelief, bitterness, fear or rebellion among them. Otherwise, you may end your life before you start enjoying it.
Then, be careful not to allow anyone to discourage you from doing the will of God because of their own personal problems with God or men. In other words, don’t make anybody’s fear your fear, their bitterness your bitterness or their rebellion your rebellion. Or else, on the day they are judged for their wickedness, you too may not be spared.
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IF YOU WANT YOUR HOME HEALED 15/09/2023
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.” (Matt 7:3-5NIV)
Did you see that? The first necessary step we need to take in helping anyone in our lives that is in trouble is to see to it that we ourselves are not in a similar or even worse trouble. But, as humans, hypocrisy often does not allow us to pay attention to what is wrong with our own lives, so that we can deal with it. That is why we usually pay more attention to what is wrong in others’ lives and tend to make great issues out of them.
Sadly, we do the same thing in our marriage relationships. We often pay more attention to what is wrong in our partner’s life or with them than we do to what is wrong with our own life. We focus more and talk more about what they are doing to ruin our home than we do about what we are doing to ruin our home.
But if we truly want the healing of Jesus in our homes, then, we must let it begin with us. We must allow Him to set us right and heal us first before telling Him to do the same for our partner. Yes, we must admit our own wrongs and our own contributions to the shortage or lack of peace, joy, rest and advancement that we are experiencing in our marriages before we can expect God to cause our partner to admit their own faults as well.
Well then, the questions for you to answer are, “Do you want your home fixed, if it is indeed crumbling? Do you want your marriage healed, if it is indeed sick? Do you want it to be a haven of rest, peace, joy and fruitfulness for you?” If you do, then, let everything begin with you. Sit down and sincerely face the truth about all the things you are doing to your home, even in sex matters, that are contrary to the will of God and begin to do what is right about them. And as you do so, you will begin to see God’s healing power moving upon your home and in your home and healing and setting you free from everything that has bound you to shame, unhappiness, failure and death.
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PRACTISE SUBMISSION 14/09/2023
“Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.” (Eph 5:22-24NIV)
Can you see that? It is the man that God has appointed to be the head of the marriage union. So, any woman that is going into a marriage union must keep this in mind. You will not be the head of that union. Your husband will be its head. And you have to be ready to submit to him, as you submit to the Lord Jesus.
In other words, just as you yield yourself to be led by our Lord Jesus, you must also be ready to yield yourself to be led by your husband. You must be ready not to wrestle with him, as far as the leadership of your marriage is concerned. If you, then, are not ready for this, don’t go into any love relationship, not to talk of get married.
See, it is not compulsory you get married as a woman. You can be on your own and be fine, as long as you are not engaging in sexual immorality. But if you cannot hold yourself, as the bible tells us, then, you should get married.
However, if you are going to get married, then, be ready to submit to the leadership of any man you marry. Or let me put it like this: marry only that man you can willingly and voluntarily submit yourself to his leadership. That is the only way you will have peace, rest and joy in your home.
Now, of course, when you are not married to someone, you are not under any obligation to submit to him. And no man that you are not married to should demand that you submit to him in your love relationship. He has no such right over your life. So, he should try to exercise it. At least, he is not yet your husband. And he should continually remind himself that.
However, if you know that you are going to marry him someday, then, it is in your interest to start practising submission to him. This has to be out of your own volition, of course. But if you will not put yourself through this exercise while you are still on the road to marriage, you may find it hard to submit yourself to him when you eventually get married. In fact, you may consider it a strange thing for your husband or anyone else to demand that you submit yourself to him.
But that is what you are signing up for. That is the rule God has set for the enjoyment of the marriage package you want to receive from Him. And you should be sure you are up to it before you commit yourself. Otherwise, you may end up finding your marital life to be a cross for the rest of your earthly life.
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TAKE PARTNERSHIP SERIOUSLY. 13/09/2023
“The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.” (Gen 2:18-21NIV)
The only thing that God identified as not good in all that He did in the beginning was the fact that man was without a partner. Read Genesis 1, and you will see that God Himself affirmed that everything He created and formed was good – there was no exception. So, man was good and perfect in creation and formation. What was not good about him, however, was the fact that he was alone in his class – no other created being was his counterpart or in his class.
That means partnership is important to life. Life will be boring for us if we do not have partners to live it together. In short, there is none of us that can give full expression to their potential in this life, if they do not have at least a partner to work or live with. And this is not just about marriage. It is about everything for us.
Every business, for instance, is built around the principle of partnership between the seller and the buyer and between the employer and the employees. And whatever great development man has witnessed is built around the principle of partnership, people working together to accomplish something that they can never accomplish if they are working alone as individuals.
So, take partnership with others very seriously. Learn the art of recognising the roles those around you and in your world are meant to play in taking you to where God wants you to be and also the roles you are meant to play in others’ lives in taking them to where God wants them to be. That is because though you have all the potential you need to be unique and outstanding in life, God has said it is not good for you to be alone, for you to be an island, for you to be without a partner.
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IDOLATRY WILL EXPOSE YOU TO JUDGMENT. 12/09/2023
“Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending men to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!” (2Kings 1:6NIV)
God hates idolatry, every form of it. And every time we are relying on ourselves, other people or some gods, we are committing the sin of idolatry. That was the sin of Ahaziah, king of Israel, to whom the words of the above Scripture were addressed.
Though Ahaziah was raised to know that God rules and reigns in the affairs of men, he would not seek Him but demons when he once needed healing. Therefore, he missed the healing that might have been his and received the judgment of death through the mouth of God’s prophet, Elijah.
In like manner, there are many today too who claim to be believers in Christ Jesus but who, in their moments of challenges, would not mind visiting some witchdoctors or soothsayers for help. And some of them are even ready to argue with you and prove that nothing is wrong with such things. For them, it does not matter whether it is God you are praying to or demons; what matters is that you get results.
However, who we pray to matters. Who we count on for the burdens and challenges of our lives matters. And the only one we are to pray to and rely on to handle all our cares for us is God. Yes, there may be times in which it may look like He is not answering us at all or like He is too slow. We may even get to a point, as we wait on Him, in which it looks like our problems will swallow us up.
But it is better to be swallowed up by our problems while trusting God than to seek solutions to them from some other gods. That is because God is able to make those problems that have swallowed us up vomit us, as that great fish vomited Jonah, who was in its belly for three days and three nights. But if we turn to other gods for help for any reason, we deny God and open ourselves up for His judgement to come upon us, as it did come upon Ahaziah.
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WHY DO PEOPLE COMMIT CRIMES SO READILY? 11/09/2023
“Why do people commit crimes so readily? Because crime is not punished quickly enough.” (Eccl 8:11-12GNT)
According to the Scriptures, the natural man is naturally delinquent and so will readily do wrong things, especially if the opportunity is there to do so (Rom 3:9-18). But then, it is not only because human beings are naturally prone to do evil that they readily do wrong things; it is also because wrong things are often not quickly punished by those in a position to do so.
For example, we have in the bible an account of how Amnon, the eldest son of King David, raped his half-sister, Tamar, and also threw her out of his house (2Sam 13:1-19). And what did the law of the land say against that kind of atrocity? First, the law says that it is wrong for a man to marry his sister, even if she is his half-sister, not to talk of having sexual relations with her (Leviticus 20:17). People who do such things must be cut off from the assembly of God’s people. Second, the law says if a man rapes a virgin that is pledged in marriage to someone else, and the virgin is absolutely in a helpless situation when this happens, one in which no one could rescue her, that man must be put to death (Deut 22:23-27). Third, the law says if a man rapes a virgin that is not pledged in marriage to anyone, he must be made to marry the girl, and he cannot divorce her as long as he lives (Deut 22:28-29).
Therefore, if Amnon’s case were to be judged, the most merciful judgment he could get was a lifetime married life with his sister, Tamar, a married life away from the royal house and away from the land of Israel. Unfortunately, even though King David heard about this matter, as bible records show, he only got furious with Amnon; he did not judge his crime or sentence him in any way. Yes, he may have called him and reprimanded him. But if that young man were not a prince, would he only reprimand him and not make him face the full wrath of the law of the land? I don’t think so. (Cf. 2Sam 13:21)
Now that, of course, was not the first or only time David, a God-fearing man, would be reluctant to judge an obvious crime because of his relationship with the one involved. For instance, when Joab, his nephew and army commander, murdered Abner, Israel general, who had come in peace to him in order to end the war between his house and Saul’s house, he only wept and fasted for Abner. He did not punish Joab in any way. And that only strengthened the man to commit more acts of wickedness, for, years later, he would murder in cold blood another Israel’s general, who was even a cousin of his and whose only crime was that he was made his senior in the army. Yet what did David do about this? Nothing! He simply passed the matter on to Solomon, who became king after him. (Cf. 2Sam 3:17-39; 2Sam 19&20; 1Kings 2:5-6)
In like manner, because Amnon was his son, his eldest son and perhaps the one he was grooming for kingship at that time, he overlooked his crime. And because he overlooked his crime of rape, he unconsciously encouraged Absalom, another son of his and brother to the raped girl, Tamar, to take matters into his hand and murder Amnon, who was his own brother as well. So, Solomon, who was aware of all this, says to us in our opening text, “When we fail to judge and punish people’s crimes on time, we are strengthening wickedness in the land.” And when we strengthen wickedness where we are because we will not use our position or authority to judge it, lawlessness will at some point take over. Then there may come a time in which we too will become victims of it.
Therefore, regardless of how little your authority to judge or punish evil may be where you are, make sure you are using it appropriately and adequately, without partiality. That way, you will be discouraging those around you from giving themselves to wickedness.
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STOP CHEATING 10/09/2023
“Judah got a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. But Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the LORD's sight; so the LORD put him to death. Then Judah said to Onan, "Lie with your brother's wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother." But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother's wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for his brother. What he did was wicked in the LORD's sight; so he put him to death also.” (Gen 38:6-10NIV)
As we see in the bible text above, Judah’s firstborn, Er, was put to death by the Lord because he was wicked. Exactly what form his wickedness took is not something we are told in the text. But it is clear that he was wicked enough to get a death sentence from the Lord before he could even father a child. So, if someone is living a wicked life and is still alive, know that the Lord is just being merciful to him and giving him time to repent. And if he will not repent within the amount of time given to him, God’s judgment is bound to come on him. How He will judge, however, is what no one can say.
At any rate, when Judah saw that his son, Er, died without leaving any child behind, he asked his younger brother, Onan, to take in his wife and fulfil his duty to her as a brother-in-law. Why? It was so that through him his elder brother might have a son to carry on his name. This, of course, was cultural at that time. So, nothing was wrong with it. In fact, God would later give the Israelites similar laws in order to see to it that no one loses his inheritance because of their childlessness and to also protect the widows of childless men. (Cf. Deut 25:5-10)
Now Onan did not argue with his father when he told him to take in his brother’s wife, even though he could have. But he made sure that his sexual relationship with her would not result in a pregnancy. Why? He did not want his brother to have any offspring. Why? It may be that he was thinking about their father’s inheritance. This is just an assumption, for the bible does not say so. But if this assumption is correct, then, it would mean that he did not want his brother to have any child that would claim his own share of their father’s inheritance, a share which, of course, would be the largest, seeing that Er was Judah’s firstborn.
But as I already pointed out, Onan could have refused to marry that woman. Even under the Law of Moses, a man could refuse to marry the widow of his brother for any reason justifiable to him. And no punishment would follow other than the fact that he would be despised and labelled forever as unkind. So, if Onan had refused to marry his brother’s wife, heavens would not have fallen over him. The worst that could have happened would be for them to release the woman and allow her to go and start afresh. (Cf. Ruth 1:3-14 & 4:1-12)
However, Onan chose to marry her, knowing fully well that he had no intention of helping his dead brother have a son through her. Why? It was because he was greedy. And I am not talking about his greed for their father’s inheritance, though that was present in him too. Rather, I am talking about his greed for his brother’s beautiful wife, Tamar. Though he did not want his brother to have any child through her, he wanted to have her for himself and to continue to enjoy her. So, he would keep her in the family, use her from time to time to satisfy his sexual desires and then let her grow old without any child to care for her.
Now what do you call that? Cheating! Oppression! And could any man judge this kind of case appropriately? No! But God could. And He decided to judge it by also taking the life of the young man, Onan. Thus, He is showing us that He is watching every matter of our lives to see that there is justice for everyone. So, if you are cheating others in one way or the other, even if they are your family members, know today that God is watching you. Yes, if you are drawing from others but preventing them to draw from you what is appropriate or legitimate for them also to draw from you, God is watching you. And if you do not amend your ways, at some point, He will step in to judge your wickedness.
How, then, will He judge, when He decides to judge? That is not what anyone or I can say. What Onan did seemed quite trivial and not deserving a death sentence. He got a death sentence, nonetheless. So, we cannot tell what form of loss or pain we may experience for cheating others. That is why we should, henceforth, begin to cleanse our lives of every tendency to cheat or oppress others. And may we be guided and strengthened by the Spirit of God to effectively do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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BE ON YOUR GUARD AGAINST THEM 09/09/2023
“For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach — and that for the sake of dishonest gain.” (Titus 1:10-12NIV)
Where are these rebellious people that Paul is talking to Titus about? In the church! And where are the mere talkers and deceivers that he is talking to him about? In the church. So, you can see that it is not a new thing to have rebels, boasters and liars in the church. They have always been around in the kingdom. And they will be around till Jesus will return. Our job, then, is to identify them and not allow them to mess us up.
Well, as Paul goes on tell Titus, all such people must be silenced in the church. Why? It is because they are destroying families with their teachings. Please pay attention to this: families, love relationships, businesses, lives and even whole communities can de destroyed through wrong teachings. It happened in bible days. And it can happen now. In fact, it is happening in many places right now.
For instance, some years ago, I heard a sermon in which the Pastor dwelt at length on the sacrifice of Isaac given by Abraham. And among the things he said was that Abraham did not discuss what God told him with anybody, not even his wife, before taking Isaac to be sacrificed. According to him, if he had told his wife, she would not have allowed him to take the young man to be sacrificed.
Now what is the implication of that kind of teaching? It is that there are seed offerings that God will want you to give that you cannot discuss with your spouse, parents or friends. Otherwise, they may stop you from doing the will of God and being rewarded accordingly. And on this basis, some wife will take a car belonging to the family and sow it as a seed to some man of God, without her husband’s consent. Then before you know it, their home is on fire. Or some student will take their school fees and use it as a seed for some church project and then get into trouble with their parents or guardians.
To say the fact, only God knows the number of homes that have been ruined through wrong teachings. As in the example cited above, it is true that we are not told in the bible that Abraham discussed the offering of Isaac to God with Sarah, his wife. But that does not mean he did not tell her about it at all. And let us even say that he did not tell her about it, is that to say that he was right not to tell her? This was a woman that risked her life and marriage for him on two separate occasions and lied that she was not his wife (Gen 12 & 20). So, I believe she had earned the right to hear something as important as that.
Then what if Abraham did not hear correctly? What if it was not God that spoke to him? At least, we know that Satan and demons speak to people to and misguide them. There are even a number of religions in the world today that started because certain individuals believed that they heard the voice of God, telling them to start the lie they started. And if Abraham had not heard correctly and had not told his wife about it, so that she could make him ascertain that it was God indeed that had spoken, he would have slaughtered his son for nothing. So, the fact that Abraham heard God right and succeeded in bringing his son back alive does not mean that it was okay for him not to tell his wife about such a thing as risky as what he did.
Well, my point is that there are all kinds of dangerous and destructive teachings in several assemblies of God today. You may not recognise these things easily because they are often mixed and served with other truths of the Scriptures. But they are teachings that do not promote God’s work in the lives of His people but confusion, controversies, greed, bitterness, pride, witchcraft and other acts of the flesh that are dangerous to the soul and to the society. So, be on your guard against them. Otherwise, they may be the tool that Satan will use in messing up your beautiful life or home.
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ARE YOU A PERSON OF PRAYER?08/09/2023
“…But I am a man of prayer.” (Ps 109:4NIV)
Who said these words about himself? It was David. He referred to himself as a man of prayer. And was he? Yes, he was. He turned to God in prayer for every challenge he had to handle in order to know His mind about it and to also receive His provisions for it. Also, he sought His face for every opportunity he wanted to take advantage of. He was not someone that saw every opportunity that showed up as one to take advantage of without first consulting God.
Also, in his moments of failure, it was God that David would turn to and not anyone else. He was not like King Asa that would not pray to God for healing in his moment of illness, just because he did not want to admit his errors. So, he died before his time while David lived long enough in happiness and good health to enthrone his son, Solomon, as king after him. (Cf. 1Sam 23:1-13; 2Sam 5; 2Chro 16; Ps 51)
Now are you too a man of prayer? Or are you too a woman of prayer? Examples abound in the bible of men and women of prayer that changed the situations of their lives, homes or country through prayers. Just think of how Jacob protected his family from Esau and his band of warriors through prayers (Gen 32&33). That should let you know how beneficial it will be for you, your home and others around you, if you will begin to discipline yourself now to be a person of prayer.
So, stop running away from prayer meetings. Stop sleeping or dozing off when you should be praying. And stop making excuses for not making out time to pray by yourself. You are not training yourself to be responsible in prayer matters that way that way. And that is not good for you and for those in your life. My prayer is that you will not wake up someday and wish you had taken what I am sharing with you now seriously, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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WISDOM TO RENDER JUSTICE 07/09/2023
“When all Israel heard the king's decision, the people were in awe of the king, for they saw the wisdom God had given him for rendering justice.” (1Kings 3:28NLT)
One of the things destroying our society today is injustice. And that is largely because most of our leaders are not concerned about dealing with those under them with fairness and equity. For example, look at the number of those who are suffering for crimes that they know nothing about in our country today. And some among these have been in prison for years without facing any proper trial, as some of our prison officials have admitted. Think also about the number of those who are due for promotion in their organizations or those who are qualified to handle certain projects for the government but who will not be considered at all because they are not connected to any influential person in the land. Or should we begin to talk about the number of those who are applying to our schools for some form of education or those who are applying to our institutions for jobs, who, even though are qualified, may never get any chance to prove themselves because they are not related to some big names or bigwigs in the land?
Yet we want our nation to grow and develop to be great among other nations. How is that going to happen? Families, nations and organisations can only realize their full potential where justice and fairness are embraced and celebrated. But wherever these are hated and despised, people can only hope for nothing but a continuous decay of whatever good things they have left in their lives and in their land. So, we must learn to pray for our leaders not just to love justice and equity but to also be given the wisdom to render justice. Yes, we must continually pray for leaders who will not only desire to give justice but will also possess the ability from God to give justice and not be manipulated by people's dark arts or black magic.
Look at King Solomon, for instance. He was respected by his people because they saw that he had God's wisdom to promote and render justice in the land; they saw that he was not someone that could be manipulated to act against what was righteous and good. And the case of two certain prostitutes who came to him to resolve their dispute was a clear proof of this king's possession of the wisdom to do what was right. First, as we see in the Scriptures, Solomon did not refuse to hear their case because they were prostitutes. Instead, he gave them a fair hearing. Second, he saw through the mischievousness and the dark cleverness of the one that was wrong out of the two women. So, he would not be manipulated to give a wrong judgment. (Cf. 1Kings 3:16-28)
Now we too need and must continually pray for such leaders in our land. We need leaders who will not allow people's colour, age, sex, ethnic group, education, religion or position to corrupt their decisions or judgment. We need leaders who cannot be bought and who have enough sense to see through the lies and manipulations of enemies of justice and progress. And God is able to give us such leaders and also make us such leaders, if we will sincerely ask Him to. So, let us ask and keep asking God to give us such leaders in our various communities, institutions, sectors, tiers of government and arms of government. And before long, if we don't faint, we will begin to see doors being opened by Him for them to come in and lead us out of our pains, miseries and barrenness. (Cf. Ex 23:6-8; Lev 19:15; Deut 1:17)
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HE WILL FULFIL YOU 06/09/2023
“…I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Gen 28:15NIV)
That was God’s promise to Jacob, when he just left his father’s house and was on his way to Laban’s house. And did He fulfil this promise to him or not? He did. He never left him for once but was always with him to protect him and to make him prosperous, regardless of the circumstances he was confronted with. Jacob, however, also had to learn to stop handling life according to his cleverness and to start relying on God absolutely in order for all of His good intentions to be fulfilled in his life. (Cf. Gen 28:20-21, 31:42 &35:3)
Now what is the point of all this? It is that God is able to fulfil all His good intentions concerning you, in spite of where you are now and what you are facing or may face in life. Did he not fulfil His purpose for Jacob, even when he had to stay with a very crafty man that did not wish him prosperity at all? He did. And if you too will count on Him, He will fulfil His good purpose concerning you, regardless of your life’s circumstances.
Also, look at how He fulfilled His purpose in Moses' life, despite all the challenges he had to go through. At forty years of age, he was a fugitive, running for his dear life and, in a sense, away from God's purpose for his life. And that was because he thought he could accomplish God's purpose by His own strength, influence and wits. But soon enough he had a dead body in his hand and had to run away for 40 years. (Cf. Ex 2:11-15; Acts 7:23-29)
Then, at age 80, this man seemed to have totally lost it; he seemed to have given up on himself and on whatever potential he had in him to fulfil God's purpose for his life. Yet God took him, broken and fearful as he was, and made him into one of the greatest leaders of all generations. (Cf. Ex 7:7; Acts 7:30-35)
Now have you become broken too? Or have you given up on yourself and on God's purpose for your life because of your past sins or errors. I want you to know that it is not over for you yet, as long as there is breath of life in you. Actually, it may be that God allowed you to go through some of the things you went through so that you may come to an end of yourself and see Him as the only one that can truly fulfil you. And regardless of where you are right now, if you will cast yourself absolutely on Him, He will take you up and begin to restore you until His purpose is fully accomplished in your life.
So, don't waste any more time crying over your past mistakes or feeling sorry for yourself that you are just too far away from God's purpose for your life. Instead, take the first necessary step of casting yourself on God. And before you know it, your mourning will soon be replaced with laughter and dancing. Then you will begin to see your life daily expressing the fulfilment that only God can bring.
Do have a fabulous day.
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FIND YOUR STRENGTH IN HIM 05/09/2023
“David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.” (1Sam 30:6NIV)
Why was David distressed on the occasion mentioned in the bible text above? He was distressed because his fighting men were talking about stoning him? But why were they talking about stoning him? It was because each of them was bitter in spirit because their wives, sons and daughters had been taking captive by the Amalekites. And they blamed him for it. They blamed him for it because he was their leader that took them far away from their family without leaving some armed men behind to protect them.
So, in a sense, David was actually to blame for their misery. But stoning him or killing him in any way was not going to bring their wives, children and possessions that had been captured back to them. Also, it could not in any way have brought comfort to their hearts or taken away the sorrow of losing their loved ones. But because they allowed their distress to overwhelm them, they totally forgot that David had always been a good, kind and reliable leader to them all and to their families and began to think of killing him.
Perhaps you too are in a similar situation right now. You made a mistake or certain circumstances have come up against you that are threatening to destroy you or your reputation. And instead for the people that you have loved and cared for to show some sympathy and help you walk in victory over what you are faced with, all they can think or talk about is how to punish you for allowing your problem to become their personal problem or how to make sure your problem does not become their personal problem.
Now how you respond in such situations will go a long way in determining whether they go from bad to worse or are turned around by God for your good. In David’s case, though he must have felt really bad that his men and friends, whom he loved dearly and had been taken care of, could be so selfish in that situation that all they could think about was killing him instead of rallying round him to find a solution to their common predicament. Nevertheless, he did not fight or argue with them. Why? First, it must have been because he admitted in his heart that what happened was partly his fault. He overlooked a part of his leadership function, which was to secure the lives and properties of his people. So, in that instance, he failed them.
Second, David did not fight or try to defend himself before his men on this occasion because he knew that it would not solve their problem. On the contrary, it would only make an already bad situation worse. So, instead of trying to defend himself, he turned to God for comfort, strength and restoration. And did he find these things, which he could not find in his warriors and friends, in Him or not? He did. As the account further shows us, David not only found strength and comfort in God on this occasion, he also found victory over his enemies in Him. He was able, through God’s enablement, to defeat those who had taken his people captive, take back everybody and everything they had captured and also take the goods of these enemies of his. (Cf. 1Sam 30)
How seriously we need such leaders like David today, leaders who will admit their wrongs when they are wrong instead of acting in arrogance, leaders who will seek God’s face and take every step within their power to solve the problems of their people instead of trading blames? Unfortunately, what we have in many places of authority today are selfish, self-occupied and arrogant leaders, who busy themselves with fighting and insulting everyone that is pointing out their flaws instead of admitting their failures and dealing with them.
In any case, you don’t have to be a leader to be in a situation similar to David’s. And if you too will look to God for your comfort, strength, boldness and wisdom to do the right thing, you will certainly walk in victory over whatever that situation throws at you. But if, instead of doing this, you give in to bitterness, quarrelling or blame trading, you will soon enough realise that you have made a bad situation worse for yourself and others. And the following consequences may not be pleasant at all.
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BE A FINISHER 04/09/2023
My prayer for you today is that you will always be strengthened to be a finisher of every good thing you lay your hands on, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
From what we see in the bible about the character of God, He is not someone that starts something He does not intend to finish or have the ability to finish (John 4:34; Phil 1:6; Heb 12:2). So, if He begins any good work in our lives or for our lives, He will surely finish it, if we do not stop Him with our unbelief or lack of character. For example, many of the children of Israel that He brought out of Egypt did not make it into the land of Canaan. Why? Was it because He could not finish what He started? No! Rather, it was because of their unbelief, ingratitude and other manifestations of stubbornness. So, as long as we are not unbelieving or disobedient to God, we can expect Him to finish any good work He starts in us, including that of bringing us safely into His eternal kingdom. (Cf. 1Cor 10:1-12; Heb 3:19)
Now then, since God our Father is a finisher of everything He sets his hands on to do, we too, as His children, must cultivate the culture of finishing every good thing we lay our hands on to do or that we have entrusted to us. Remember that we are told in the bible to be imitators of God, as His dearly loved children (Eph 5:1). So, we must set out to do whatever we want to do, whether for God, for ourselves or for others, with a heart that is ready to see it through to the very end.
Why is this important? First, it is because it is the one that sees the job to the end that will bring to realisation the full purpose of what is done. The one that does not finish the job will, to one degree or the other, affect the purpose for which the job is to be done. For instance, if our Lord Jesus had not finished the work God had sent Him to do here on earth, would our salvation have been possible? No! Or if a contractor that is supposed to construct a road does not finish the job, would those that the road is meant to serve enjoy it at all or as they ought to? No! So, when we do not finish any good work we start, we ruin or diminish the enjoyment of the purpose for which it is to be done.
Second, it is the one that gets the job done that is saving resources and time. But the one who starts something and does not finish it wastes time, energy, resources and even life. And there are many like that who are nothing but life, resources, time and grace wasters. That is because they don’t ever get to finish any good thing they start. If we are like them, then, we too are wasting ourselves and perhaps others on nothing.
The third reason it is important we cultivate the culture of finishing any good thing we start or that is entrusted to us by men or God is that it is the one that gets the job done that can be trusted with more other jobs. The one that quits has proved something about himself, which is that he lacks the character of a finisher. And such a person, as our Lord points out, is not fit for service in the kingdom of God. Yes, men, sometimes, may overlook this lack of character on his part and still give him new or more responsibilities. But God will not overlook it until he learns to discipline himself to be a finisher of anything he starts (Luke 6:62).
Another reason it is important is that it is the one that finishes the good work he starts that gets rewarded and praised by God and even men. The one who abandons the work for any reason, however reasonable it may appear, won’t get the reward or praise of a finisher. Yes, sometimes, he may be commended by men for trying. But God never commends people for trying to do what He has entrusted to them. Rather, He commends them for getting it done. So, if we want to always receive God’s commendation on whatever He commits to us in life, we must learn to finish and not abandon it (Ex 40:33-34; 1Kings 7:51-8:11)
How, then, do we cultivate the character of a finisher? First, we must learn never to commit ourselves to anything (of God or of man) we have no intention of seeing through to the end. Second, we must always settle down to count the cost of anything we want to commit ourselves to doing before agreeing to embark on it or embarking on it (Luke 14:28-32). That means we must know our limitations and accept them. We must know what we have abilities and resources for and what we do not have abilities and resources for. Otherwise, we will often find ourselves starting things that we have no capacity or determination to finish. And may the Spirit of God strengthen our hearts to take these things seriously, so that we will stop wasting our lives on things that will not earn us God’s praise or benefit humanity.
Do have a great day.
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THE NET WAS NOT TORN 03/09/2023
“ were not a product of accident, will power or luck. So, they don't give thanks to Him or seek to fellowship with Him to know Him better. And that is why they are often kept from enjoying a perfection of His goodness in their lives.
As John shows us in our opening text, there was a kind of perfection that they experienced the second time Jesus performed a miracle of a great catch of fish for them. According to him, though their net was full of large fish, 153 of them, it did not tear. The first time they had this kind of miracle, their nets were breaking. That means some of the fish they caught may have been lost in the process. Then their boats also began to sink when the hauled in the fish. So, had it not been for the mercy of God, they could have lost their fish, their boats and even their lives through the miracle they received.
That is to show us that there are provisions or blessings of God that can destroy us, if we are left to handle them all by ourselves. But as long as we are continually fellowshipping with Him and trusting Him, He will see to it that whatever He gives to us is perfected, secure and preserved for our enjoyment. And that is what we see in the second miracle of a great catch of fish that the apostles witnessed. As John points out, the fish they caught were so large that they could not even pull the net into the boat. So, they had to drag it through the waters to the shore. Yet their boat did not sink, their net did not break and they did not lose any fish. Hallelujah!
In like manner, if we remain in fellowship with the Lord, learning from Him and relying on Him, He will continually surprise us with miracles that will blow our minds, even where our efforts fail us. Not only that, He will also always see to it that we do not lose what He gives to us or get destroyed by it but are loaded with the ability to enjoy it. So, take your fellowship with Him seriously. And you will find Him always there with you to see to it that the net carrying your profit or increase does not get torn and that you do not miss the enjoyment of the fruit of your labour.
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THE NET WAS NOT TORN 03/09/2023
“Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.” (John 21:11NIV)
According to John's account, after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and before His ascension, some of His disciples had followed Peter to go and fish one night. But they caught nothing. So, early in the morning, while they were just about ninety meters away from the shore, a man standing on the shore called out to them and asked, “My dear friends, haven't you any fish?” And they said to him, “No.” Then the man told them, “Throw your net to the right side of the boat and you will catch some.” And when they did, without asking questions, their net got so filled with fishes that they could not pull it back into the boat. (Cf. John 21:1-6)
That, of course, made John, who reported this incident, remember what happened to them some years before then, when they were just about to join the ministry of Jesus. They had gone to fish one night and had caught nothing, though they had laboured hard. Nevertheless, Peter allowed Jesus to use his boat for preaching in the morning. And when the Lord was done preaching, He decided to reward him. So, He told him to launch out again into the deep for a catch. He found that, of course, outrageous. But he did what he was told to do because it was the Lord that said so. And when he did, they had such a great catch that their nets began to break. Then when they pulled the fishes into their boats, the boats also began to sink. So, they had to handle everything with care in order to get to the shore safely. (Cf. Luke 5:1-10)
In any case, the moment something similar happened to them, John was able to tell that the man that just told them where to throw their net was the Lord Jesus Christ. So, he announced to everybody that it was the Lord. And they all set out to meet Him at the shore and to fellowship with Him.
Unfortunately, many often are kept by the devil from seeing that the Lord is the one behind their success, elevation and salvation in life. They are often kept by him from seeing that those simple or bold steps they have taken in life that have resulted in real success, promotion or deliverance for them were all informed by Him; they were not a product of accident, will power or luck. So, they don't give thanks to Him or seek to fellowship with Him to know Him better. And that is why they are often kept from enjoying a perfection of His goodness in their lives.
As John shows us in our opening text, there was a kind of perfection that they experienced the second time Jesus performed a miracle of a great catch of fish for them. According to him, though their net was full of large fish, 153 of them, it did not tear. The first time they had this kind of miracle, their nets were breaking. That means some of the fish they caught may have been lost in the process. Then their boats also began to sink when the hauled in the fish. So, had it not been for the mercy of God, they could have lost their fish, their boats and even their lives through the miracle they received.
That is to show us that there are provisions or blessings of God that can destroy us, if we are left to handle them all by ourselves. But as long as we are continually fellowshipping with Him and trusting Him, He will see to it that whatever He gives to us is perfected, secure and preserved for our enjoyment. And that is what we see in the second miracle of a great catch of fish that the apostles witnessed. As John points out, the fish they caught were so large that they could not even pull the net into the boat. So, they had to drag it through the waters to the shore. Yet their boat did not sink, their net did not break and they did not lose any fish. Hallelujah!
In like manner, if we remain in fellowship with the Lord, learning from Him and relying on Him, He will continually surprise us with miracles that will blow our minds, even where our efforts fail us. Not only that, He will also always see to it that we do not lose what He gives to us or get destroyed by it but are loaded with the ability to enjoy it. So, take your fellowship with Him seriously. And you will find Him always there with you to see to it that the net carrying your profit or increase does not get torn and that you do not miss the enjoyment of the fruit of your labour.
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LEARN TO CONTROL YOUR OWN BODY 01/09/2023
“It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.” (1Thess 4:3-8NIV)
Did you see that? The will of God for us, whether we are married or not married yet, is to avoid sexual impurity and learn to control our bodies in ways that are holy and honourable before God. See, we all have been blessed by God with these love passions and emotions. But when we fail to control them, they become lust and start controlling us, leading us to destroy ourselves and others.
So, you have to learn to control your own body. Nobody is going to do so for you. You cannot leave it in the hands of your love partner or any other person. Otherwise, you may end up being in trouble.
I once heard someone say, “I told my love partner this: please, the moment you see that I am losing control.
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LEARN TO CONTROL YOUR OWN BODY 01/09/2023
“It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.” (1Thess 4:3-8NIV)
Did you see that? The will of God for us, whether we are married or not married yet, is to avoid sexual impurity and learn to control our bodies in ways that are holy and honourable before God. See, we all have been blessed by God with these love passions and emotions. But when we fail to control them, they become lust and start controlling us, leading us to destroy ourselves and others.
So, you have to learn to control your own body. Nobody is going to do so for you. You cannot leave it in the hands of your love partner or any other person. Otherwise, you may end up being in trouble.
I once heard someone say, “I told my love partner this: please, the moment you see that I am losing control on myself and touching you the way I should not touch you, stop me. I won’t be angry with you.” I really did not know what to make of that then. But now I know that is nothing but a recipe for disaster. He was leaving the control of his body in the hands of a love partner, who also may not be in control of her own body. What do you think would happen to any such two lovers? Trouble! Sexual scandal!
Therefore, don’t be like that. Learn to control your body yourself. Learn how not to put yourself under unwarranted sexual pressure from your lover or other people of the opposite sex. Learn how to handle yourself and not fall into traps of immorality. A brother that will not control his body before marriage, a brother who is constantly pressuring a sister he is not yet married to for sex or who is willing to seduce or rape her will certainly find it hard to control himself in his marriage. Likewise, a sister that will not control her body and emotions before marriage, a sister that is constantly seeking ways to seduce her lover or other men to make love to her will find it hard to control herself in her marriage.
That explains why there is a high rate of infidelity in marriages all around the world today. People who have not learnt at all to put their bodies under subjection to the word of God go into their marriages, expecting that a miracle of self-control will somehow happen to them, and they will start controlling their bodies. That is self-deceit. It is true that God performs miracles. And it is true that it is only by the power of His Spirit that we can be truly self-controlled in all things and not just in sex matters. But it is also true that God won’t impose self-discipline on us; we will have to take advantage of His power to cultivate it.
Joseph, the earthly father of the Lord Jesus, was married. Yet he controlled his body for a while in sexual matters because he wanted to honour God. So, you who are not married have no excuse for not controlling your body or for not learning to do so. Otherwise, when you eventually get married and you are perhaps confronted with circumstances that require that you excuse your spouse from sexual matters for a while, you may not be able to endure it.
There are many who have sinned or are sinning against God because of these things and experiencing all kinds of trouble as a result. It may be because of a spouse’s pregnancy, childbirth, illness, education or job that they are plunged into situations in which they need to control themselves for a period. But because they have never learnt it, it becomes an issue for them, and they start messing themselves up with all kinds of people in sexual immorality. The same thing can and will most likely happen to you too, if you will not start disciplining your body now and putting it under control.
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LEARN TO CONTROL YOUR OWN BODY 01/09/2023
“It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.” (1Thess 4:3-8NIV)
Did you see that? The will of God for us, whether we are married or not married yet, is to avoid sexual impurity and learn to control our bodies in ways that are holy and honourable before God. See, we all have been blessed by God with these love passions and emotions. But when we fail to control them, they become lust and start controlling us, leading us to destroy ourselves and others.
So, you have to learn to control your own body. Nobody is going to do so for you. You cannot leave it in the hands of your love partner or any other person. Otherwise, you may end up being in trouble.
I once heard someone say, “I told my love partner this: please, the moment you see that I am losing control on myself and touching you the way I should not touch you, stop me. I won’t be angry with you.” I really did not know what to make of that then. But now I know that is nothing but a recipe for disaster. He was leaving the control of his body in the hands of a love partner, who also may not be in control of her own body. What do you think would happen to any such two lovers? Trouble! Sexual scandal!
Therefore, don’t be like that. Learn to control your body yourself. Learn how not to put yourself under unwarranted sexual pressure from your lover or other people of the opposite sex. Learn how to handle yourself and not fall into traps of immorality. A brother that will not control his body before marriage, a brother who is constantly pressuring a sister he is not yet married to for sex or who is willing to seduce or rape her will certainly find it hard to control himself in his marriage. Likewise, a sister that will not control her body and emotions before marriage, a sister that is constantly seeking ways to seduce her lover or other men to make love to her will find it hard to control herself in her marriage.
That explains why there is a high rate of infidelity in marriages all around the world today. People who have not learnt at all to put their bodies under subjection to the word of God go into their marriages, expecting that a miracle of self-control will somehow happen to them, and they will start controlling their bodies. That is self-deceit. It is true that God performs miracles. And it is true that it is only by the power of His Spirit that we can be truly self-controlled in all things and not just in sex matters. But it is also true that God won’t impose self-discipline on us; we will have to take advantage of His power to cultivate it.
Joseph, the earthly father of the Lord Jesus, was married. Yet he controlled his body for a while in sexual matters because he wanted to honour God. So, you who are not married have no excuse for not controlling your body or for not learning to do so. Otherwise, when you eventually get married and you are perhaps confronted with circumstances that require that you excuse your spouse from sexual matters for a while, you may not be able to endure it.
There are many who have sinned or are sinning against God because of these things and experiencing all kinds of trouble as a result. It may be because of a spouse’s pregnancy, childbirth, illness, education or job that they are plunged into situations in which they need to control themselves for a period. But because they have never learnt it, it becomes an issue for them, and they start messing themselves up with all kinds of people in sexual immorality. The same thing can and will most likely happen to you too, if you will not start disciplining your body now and putting it under control.
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THE COMPANY YOU KEEP IS IMPORTANT 31/08/2023
“Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."” (1Cor 15:33NIV)
Paul says it is self-delusion for you to think you can keep unbelievers or corrupt believers as your friends and not be influenced negatively by them. You cannot escape the influence of bad company or friendship. Your only escape is not to be involved in any. Once you are involved in one, it will certainly corrupt your good character.
For example, we are told in the bible of how Amnon, the first son of David, fell in love with his half-sister, Tamar, to the point of being sick. And since she was his sister, there was nothing he could do about it. He could not even talk to her or to anybody about it. He was just suffering in silence and making no effort to get rid of the wrong love in his heart. So, in the long run, he ended up raping his sister and laying a foundation for his own death by the hand of Absalom, Tamar’s elder brother (Cf. 2Sam 13)
Unfortunately, there are many like Amnon today too, who are holding on to some wrong love in their hearts and are not doing anything to get rid of it. I mean that these people know that the persons they are in love with are not right for them or are not individuals they should even fall in love with. Yet they think the love they have for such people is genuine and that they are helpless in getting rid of it. If you are in this kind of situation or you know someone who is, you need to take advantage of the word of the God, the presence of the Spirit of God in your life and the fellowship of other godly people to deal with it. Otherwise, like Amnon, you also may end up messing up your and the life of that person you claim to love.
But why did Amnon rape his sister, one that he claimed to be in love with? According to the bible, it was because of one evil friend and cousin he had in his life, Jonadab, a son of David’s brother. It was this young man that Amnon told his plight to. And it was he who taught him what to do. But what if Jonadab had been a good and righteous man, would he have counselled his cousin and friend to rape his sister? No! Instead, he would have counselled him and perhaps found ways to help him come out of the nonsense he had embraced as love. (Cf. 2Sam 13:3-5)
Also, as an example, is the case of Dinah, daughter of Jacob. Concerning her the bible says:
“One day Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit some of the Canaanite women. When Shechem son of Hamor the Hivite, who was chief of that region, saw her, he took her and raped her.” (Gen 34:1-3GNT)
Did you see that? Who did Dinah go to visit? The Canaanite women! She went to visit her friends who did not know God or believe in Him. She went to visit friends that were raised differently. So she ended up being raped by Prince Shechem, who was considered to be the most honourable of the members of his household (Gen 34:19). Just think about that. If a rapist was considered to be the most honourable of all the members of his household, what kinds of individuals do you think the rest of his family members would be? I will leave that to your imaginations.
In any case, what we don’t usually ask is, “Where were Dinah’s friends when she was being raped?” Or how did she even end up in Shechem’s hand? It is clear that her friends lured her to that man. They set her up. And she fell into their trap and was raped. That, of course, eventually led to the retaliation of her brothers, who saw to it that all the male in that city were killed and their possessions plundered. (Cf. Gen 34)
So then, the kind of company you keep is very important. If you keep ungodly or corrupt believers as your friends, you can be sure that a greater part of the counsel you will be getting from them about matters of life will be twisted and ungodly. And if you walk with them long enough, there will come a time when you will not be able to resist their evil influence. That is when you will find yourself doing something you never thought you could do or going to places you never thought you could go and exposing yourself to shame and destruction. Watch the company you keep, then, and save yourself and your faith from corruption.
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LOVE TRAPS ARE REAL 30/08/2023
“Now Saul's other daughter, Michal, loved David. When they told Saul, he was pleased. He thought, "I will let her marry David. Then she will be a trap for him, and the Philistines will defeat him." So Saul said to David a second time, "You may become my son-in-law."” (1Sam 18:20-21NCV)
Did you see that? It is true that Michal, the daughter of King Saul, loved David. And what else would you want in a love relationship, if it is not sincere love? Unfortunately, her father saw in her love an opportunity to set a trap of death for David. And if God had not been with him, he would have lost his life as a result of that love relationship.
In like manner, Satan can use a legitimate and true love relationship to set traps for you. For example, he often uses it to set traps of immorality for people. Here are two wonderful brother and sister, whose lives have been blameless all along. And they start a love relationship that everyone is happy about and that is expected to lead them into a wonderful marriage. But before you know it, sexual immorality creeps in, and they are messed up. Then, while they are still considering how they are going to help themselves and be totally free from what is seeking to enslave them, pregnancy shows up, followed by thoughts and considerations for abortion. And what would have been a great life for those involved is rubbished by shame, anger, finger pointing, backbiting, slanders and so forth.
Apart from that, Satan can also use a legitimate and true love relationship to introduce irresponsibility into someone’s life. Here is a sister or a brother who has been up and doing and well-organised. Then they start this love relationship and become overwhelmed by it. So, they begin to spend more time than necessary on phone calls, chats, dates and so forth. And before you know it, others things -- their night rest, work, other legitimate relationships and even resources – begin to suffer for it. Therefore, queries at work and complaints from family members, friends, colleagues, neighbours and even church members start pouring in.
Now that is a legitimate love relationship. But because the individuals involved are not wise, they have opened the door for Satan to start using it as a trap to ruin other things in their lives. And if they are not careful, there may come a time in which, in their attempts to save whatever good things that are left in their lives, they sacrifice their love relationship and hurt themselves.
Satan can also and, in fact, has in many cases used true love relationships to set traps of jealousy and obsession for those involved. Before they start this love relationship, they were fine and doing great. But then they start and, after a while, suddenly realise that they have become so attached to their love partner that they can’t stand anyone else around them. So, they start wasting the time and resources they could have used for other meaningful things on policing their partner or on distracting them or on keeping them away from other legitimate relationships and endeavours.
Now the results that this may bring up will certainly be unpleasant for everyone involved. Distrusts, irritation and even bitterness are among what they can expect. And before you know it, these two people that could have ended up being great husband and wife may just abandon their relationship, having hurt themselves and others too in very terrible ways.
But then, remember that we are dealing with a love affair that starts on a good foundation. Yet because of the ignorance, carelessness, lack of watchfulness or foolish confidence of one or both of those who are involved, Satan uses it as a trap to hurt them and bring them down. So, love traps are real. And many are falling into them day after day and getting themselves ruined. My prayer for you is that you will always have sufficient wisdom and courage to keep your feet away from every trap of love that may jeopardise your life or faith, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a blessed day.
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DON’T BE BUSY WITH THE WRONG THING 29/08/2023
In Saint Luke’s gospel, chapter 10, he narrates an incident in which our Lord Jesus visited two sisters that happened to be His friends. The one was Martha, and the other was Mary. Now, considering the place the Lord held in the hearts of these sisters, it was natural for them to want to give Him and His disciples a grand reception. So, when they came, Martha, being the older of the two, immediately began to run around to fix things for them.
But Mary acted differently. Instead of running around with her sister to entertain the Lord and His disciples, she sat down at His feet, learning from Him. This, as it was to be expected, got her sister upset. And think about it – each time she passed by, she saw Mary sitting down comfortably with Jesus, sometimes nodding her head, something smiling and sometimes sober. “What is all this?” she must have thought. “Why is this girl acting irresponsibly and not assisting me at all?” And when she could no longer take it, she confronted the Lord and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” (Cf. Luke 10:40)
Now does that not sound like a very reasonable thing for her to say? It does! But the Lord’s reply to her suggests something contrary. The Lord says to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. And Mary has chosen it, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Cf. Luke 10:41-42) Wow! That is really touching! I mean that what the Lord says here deserves our careful consideration. Look at it yourself. He does not praise Martha for running around to prepare different kinds of things for Him. Instead, He condemns her acts. And He does not reprimand Mary for sitting down to learn from Him instead of helping her sister. Instead, He commends her that she is doing just the right thing.
What, then, is the problem here? Is the Lord playing favorites, or is He just being mean to Martha? Actually, the Lord is not playing favorites, neither is He being mean to Martha. He is just putting things in their right perspectives. So, it is not as though He does not care at all that Martha is doing all kinds of things to please Him. He does. However, the only way Martha can truly please Him is for her to first be with Him and learn from Him how to do so.
Evidently, the Lord was not in their house on that day for the sole purpose of eating. Rather, He was there to feed them with God’s word. So, food, if it was to come at all, could come later. Unfortunately, Martha, unlike Mary, did not bother to find out this. She just sprang into action and started doing all kinds of things the moment she saw the Lord. And she found out later that she had been busy with the wrong thing, even though she was very honest about it.
In like manner, many honest people today are also busy with the wrong thing. I mean that there are many good and honest people that have been investing their time, energy, resources, devotion, skills and so forth in things that will ultimately prove meaningless to God. And that is because they will not take out time to learn from Him what He really requires of them. Perhaps you too have been busy with the wrong thing because you won’t make out time to learn from God. Then you need to amend your ways and give Him room to put you on the right track, for, regardless of how many years you spend, busying yourself with the wrong thing, the reward you will get will still be nothing. And may you not get nothing as a reward for all your hard work in life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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TOO MUCH FOR YOU 28/08/2023
“Lord, I have given up my pride and turned away from my arrogance. I am not concerned with great matters or with subjects too difficult for me.” (Ps 131:1GNT)
In the book of Daniel, he narrates one of the visions he saw in which he heard certain things that he did not understand at all. And when he asked the angel that was sent to give him those revelations, he simply told him that it was not his business to understand what he had heard. The actual words of that angel were: “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.” (Dan 12:9NIV)
Also, when the apostles of old began to ask Jesus questions about the signs of the end time and of His return, He told them without mincing words that no one, not even the angels or He Himself, knows the day or hour He will return. Only God, the Father, knows. And there is nothing anybody does to search it out that will amount to anything. Why? God, in His wisdom, has chosen not to disclose it. He has chosen not to disclose it because we don’t need to know it. That means that knowledge is not relevant to our steadfastness in the faith and also probably too much for us to handle. (Cf. Matt 24; Mark)
If we, then, insist of searching it out, we will surely get into trouble. And there have been people who got into trouble along these lines. In their attempt to search out the exact day that the Lord would return, they ended up being seduced by evil spirits to come up with misleading dates and times. Thus, they endangered their own faith and the faith of others who believed them and brought disgrace upon the body of Christ.
Now just as it is with spiritual things, so also it is with natural things. What I mean is that just as there are spiritual matters that are too much for us to know or handle, there are also natural matters that are too much or too deep for us to handle. And that is what David is drawing our attention to in our opening bible text. There he tells us that he does not concern himself with matters that are great or too difficult for him to process or handle.
Evidently, David was a very wise and godly man. Yet he knew his limitations and boundaries. So, he would not get himself involved in probing to know something that he had no business knowing. Why? He knew that could get him into troubles that were not meant for him.
We too need to know our limitations and boundaries in life. We need to be able to separate knowledge that we need from knowledge that is useless to us or that is too much for us to handle. Look, it is not everything we need to know about the people in our lives or around us. And it is not everything we need to know about the place we live or work in. Some knowledge is not good for us at all. That, of course, will be because we have no wisdom or character to handle it.
For instance, when I was working in the bank, there were times some compliant officers would meet me and ask questions like, “Did so and so actually do this?” And my response would be, “Well, that question is above my pay grade. It is not my job to know. I have not been saddled with the responsibility of knowing what so and so is doing. And I really don’t want to know.” Why? I did not want to be dragged into matters that I had no authority to comment on or to defend. Also, I did not want to make unnecessary enemies for myself in matters that had nothing to do with my job or reputation. So, I always excused myself from such things and allowed those employed to handle them to handle them.
But there are people who often foolishly put their noses where they do not belong in their offices or neighbourhoods. They want to know what is going on with everyone so that they will always appear up-to-date. And before they know it, they will have heard something too big for their ears to handle or too great for their mouth to speak of. Then people that should never have been their enemies will rise up against them to hinder their progress or to destroy them. And they may not be able to escape.
Also, personally, I always love to maintain a good notion about the people in my life and around me, based on my personal judgment of who they are. Therefore, I don’t encourage anyone to tell me ugly stories of their past, especially when they have nothing to contribute to my present relationship with them or their present situation. I consider such information to be useless to me. It will probably only stain the good picture of them that I have in my mind. Why, then, should I have it?
But there have been people who dug deep into the past of their friends or spouses only to find there things too terrible for them to bear. Yes, what they found out probably had no direct effect on their relationships. But it ruined their minds and the images of their partners they had always had. And before they knew it, their relationships were ruined as well, ruined for nothing.
Now don’t get me wrong here. I am not saying that if we are in certain relationships with people, we should not seek to know what they are up to or capable of doing. We should by all means know these things. Otherwise, we may become victims of our own ignorance someday. Then I am not saying that if we are working somewhere we should not know what is going on there or what those we are working with are up to. We should by all means seek to know anything that concerns our job or that is related to it. Otherwise, we may end up foolishly getting into trouble and putting our job or reputation at risk.
However, in situations where we have no authority whatsoever to know what is going on in someone’s life or in a certain place, we should do our best not to put our noses where they do not belong. Also, where people have made it clear to us through their words or actions that it is not our business or in our interest to know certain things about them or about the place we are in, and if we too know that it is not our business or in our interest to know these things, we should back off. Otherwise, our insistence on knowing what is too much for us to handle may end up bringing disgrace, bitterness or destruction of lives, relationships or reputations on us. And may that not be your experience, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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TEACHING YOU ALL OVER AGAIN 27/08/2023
I once heard a preacher speak of how the board of elders of an assembly once wrote to their headquarters to have their pastor transferred. Their reason was that he had been preaching on just one subject since he got to their church, which was repent and be saved. And when the pastor was asked to explain himself, he said the problem is not that he does not have any other subject to preach to these brethren but that they have not acted at all on the one he has been preaching to them. “Why, then,” as he further pointed out, “should he teach them new things, when they will not act on the one thing he has been teaching them?”
What is the point of this? It is that until God’s people begin to intelligently act on what they are being taught, preachers who know what they are doing will not stop going over it. This is one of the reasons Paul says to the Philippian brethren, “Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.” (Phil 3:1NIV) Did you see that? Paul did not see it as a problem at all to go over again the same things he had taught these brethren before. Why? It was because doing so would help them in staying in the will of God.
Now I know that many of us often get offended when we are being reminded or taught again by our pastors something that we already know. But we must also understand that if we are acting well on what we know to be the truth of God to us, we won’t need anybody to remind or teach us to do so. It is when we are acting as if we did not understand what we have been taught or like a forgetful hearer or like a stubborn student that this becomes necessary.
For example, I have personally observed that even though the subject of appreciating our pastors and other church leaders, who regularly feed us with the word of God and watch over us by the power of God, has been severally taught to many of God’s people, only few still take it seriously. I am saying that in most of our assemblies only very few people often personally and deliberately appreciate their leaders not just with words of mouth but also with their material things. What about others? Do they not know this? In most cases, they know. But they won’t just act accordingly. (Cf. Luke 10:1-8; 1Cor 9:14; Gal 6:6)
It will, in fact, shock you to know that many children of God have never in their lives deliberately approached their pastors to simply say, “Thank you sir for the good work you are doing,” or to just do something for them that will make them happy. But if these same brethren hear that their church leaders are involved in some sexual scandal or financial mess, they will most likely not hesitate to spread the bad news or to use whatever means they have to totally destroy them. It is no big wonder, then, that the prayers and words of blessings of many preachers don’t settle on their brethren to work for them.
Or do you really think that it is every word of prayer or blessing that is said on behalf of people that may rest on them or work for their good? No! Jesus once said this to His apostles: “When you enter a house, first say, 'Peace to this house.' If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.” (Luke 10:5-7NIV) Can you see that? A word of blessing can return to the one who offers it, if the person he is offering it for does not respond appropriately. So, even if your pastor is praying for you to prosper and do well in life all the time but you are not relating to him as God wants you to, his prayers of blessing may not settle on your life and work for you as they ought to.
Unfortunately, many of God’s people don’t understand that the reason they are not prospering under their pastors in most cases is not that something is wrong with those pastors spiritually. Rather, it is that they are not relating to them as God wants them to. And if they will repent of their disobedience and stop taking the things they ought to have used to support their pastors to some prayer mountains, they will begin to see that they can prosper even more under the daily ministration of those pastors than under the once in a while ministration of the so-called anointed prophets they are dying to see. But will they repent? (Cf. Matt 10:40-42)
In any case, my point all along is that if your pastor has to go over certain bible topics again and again with you, it may not be because he does not have something else to teach you; rather, it may be because you are not yet working with what you have been taught as you are supposed to. And if you are not working well with what you have been well taught, it may be that you do not yet understand it as you should or that you are being a forgetful hearer or that you are just being stubborn. None of this, of course, is acceptable. So, stop being slow to learn, forgetful or stubborn and begin to take the things you are being taught seriously. That way, you can leave the elementary teachings of the Christian faith and move on to maturity (Heb 5:11-6:3).
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BE ON YOUR GUARD AGAINST THEM 26/08/2023
“The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully upon Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the harp, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it, saying to himself, "I'll pin David to the wall." But David eluded him twice.” (1Sam 18:10-11NIV)
What came forcefully on Saul? It was an evil spirit. And what did he do when that evil spirit came upon him? He began to prophesy. But this same man had prophesied before by the Spirit of God, when he was just ordained by God as king over Israel (1Sam 10:9-11). Then, even after that incident, he later prophesied by the Spirit of God before prophet Samuel (1Sam 19:23-24).
So, here was a man that alternated at different times between prophesying by the Spirit of God and prophesying by an evil spirit. Can you trust such a person, then? No! Can you conclude that such a person is indeed a child of God, just because he frequently prophesies? No!
All of this is why we are told by the Lord Jesus to look beyond the exercise of spiritual gifts in people to the fruit their lives are bearing. He says, “By their fruit you will know them.” While Saul, for instance, was prophesying, he still wanted to commit murder. He wanted to kill a young man that did nothing wrong to him. (Cf. Matt 7:15-20)
Sadly, we still have people like King Saul in the church today. They will prophesy this minute and in the next minute they want to commit fornication, adultery or theft. You have to be watchful, then, that you do not fall into the hands of wolves in sheep’s clothing.
As the Lord makes clear to us, we can save ourselves from such people by looking beyond whatever spiritual gifts that may be in manifestation in their lives and their dedication to religious matters to the fruit their lives are bearing. Are they bearing the fruit of righteousness? If they are, it will be obvious to us and also to those around them. But if they are not, we will be doing ourselves much good by being on our guard against them and their wicked works.
David was always on his guard against King Saul, having known that he was under demonic influences. That was why he never became a victim of his jealousy and wickedness. And if you too don’t want to become a victim of the wolves in sheep’s clothing around you, always be on your guard against them and their works. May God continue to keep you safe from all harm, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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DON’T LET THEM GET YOU INTO TROUBLE 25/08/2023
"You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that!” (2Cor 11:19-21NIV)
Those are Paul’s words to the Corinthian brethren. But why does he say such things? It is because the Corinthian brethren have been allowing certain so-called apostles to enslave and exploit them. They have been allowing these false church leaders to run their lives for them and act as God over their lives. But Paul and his men will not do that at all, for they have in them the fear of God and also understand the boundaries of their ministries. So, he says you ought not to put up with any so-called preacher that is trying to enslave you, exploit you or molest you. “Don’t comply with them,” he says.
See, the duty of a preacher is not to control people but to lead them to yield to the Lordship of the word of God in their lives. His job is to show them what the word of God is saying about their lives and to demand that they live accordingly. Meddling in their lives or dictating to them how to run their lives and affairs, then, is not his business.
Yes, if brethren ask for a church leader’s honest counsel about certain matters of their lives, he can go ahead and counsel them according to the word of God about those matters. But if they are technical or occupational matters that he is not knowledgeable about and if God has not given him any specific revelation about them, he should keep his mouth shut and let such brethren meet experts in handling them. Otherwise, he may end up misleading them and getting them into trouble. And there are many that have been misled and got into trouble in this manner.
So, don’t let any church leader, however close you may be to them and whatever degree of respect you have for them may be, unnecessarily get you into trouble in any area of your life. And the only way for that not to happen is for you to weigh every counsel or instruction they give you on the scales of God’s word. Any counsel that is coming from them that is contrary to His word, then, should be rejected.
Then also define your closeness to church leaders according to the word of God. Don’t get unduly involved with them and begin to arouse suspicions, especially if you are of the opposite sex. Instead, sanctify your relationship with them. Make it plain and open.
I know assemblies where most of their pastors love to move around with young and unmarried ladies. They travel with them, keep them as office or house assistants and so forth. While I cannot say that they are definitely involved in sexual immorality with these ladies, their closeness to them is totally uncalled for and can even put them in trouble. So, don’t allow any man or woman of God make you do anything that will endanger your faith or reputation. Otherwise, you can only have yourself to blame. And I hope you can relate to this.
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LET HIS WORD BE SUFFICIENT FOR YOU 24/08/2023
“When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. He inquired of the LORD, but the LORD did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. Saul then said to his attendants, "Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her." "There is one in Endor," they said.” 1Sam 28:5-7NIV)
Why was Saul expecting God to talk to him through dreams, Urim or prophets, as we see in our opening bible text? It must have been because God had been talking to Him through these means before. But on this occasion, God refused to talk to him at all. Why? Was it because He hated him so much? No! Of course, Saul had been living in disobedience to God and in fact had been rejected by Him. That, however, is not to say that if he repented, God would not forgive him.
God will forgive any sinner that turns to Him, however vile the person may be. But the person does not need a dream, vision, prophetic instruction or angelic visitation in order to repent. What the person needs is to hearken to the word of God, which we have in Scriptures.
Saul had the Scriptures with him. And these Scriptures talk about what the Israelites are to do any time they are faced with their enemies, however large the number of these enemies may be (Deut 20). So, even if God was not going to talk to this man through dreams, visions, prophets or Urim, if he would settle down to know what the Scriptures say, he would know exactly what to do in order to be victorious.
But instead for Saul to turn to the Scriptures and learn the way of repentance and victory from them, he decided to go for sorcery. And there are many today too, including Christians, who get themselves involved in things and with people they should have no business dealing with, just because they want to know the right thing to do about certain situations of their lives. If such people are not shown mercy, they may end up perishing like Saul.
See, there have been people, including pastors and prophets, that married the wrong persons because of things like this. Yes, they prayed hard before making their decisions. But why did they conclude that God was leading them to marry those that they married? It was because they had some dreams, saw some visions, got some prophecies from some prophets or church leaders or heard some voice in their spirits that gave them assurances that they were on the right track. But having gotten married, everything they began to witness was contrary to the assurances they once had. And now they are either blaming themselves or accusing God or their prophets for misleading them.
Am I saying that God cannot talk to you about the right decisions to take in life through dreams, visions, prophetic revelations or even angelic visitation? He can. But He may not. And if He does not, all you need to is to settle with His word, your bible. That is because there is sufficient, adequate information for you in it on how to make the right decisions in life and not miss it.
In the story told by the Lord of the rich man and the poor Lazarus, we see how the rich man pleaded again and again with Abraham to send someone from the grave to his five brothers to warn them about the reality of heaven and hell. And what did Abraham tell him? He told him that his brothers had Moses and the prophets with them and should listen to them. What did Abraham mean by that? Did he mean that Moses and the other prophets of God were still alive and around to give that rich man’s brothers prophetic revelations about heaven and hell? No! (Cf. Luke 16:19-21)
What then did he mean? What he meant was that they had the writings of Moses and the prophets with them and should take them seriously. In other words, they had the Scriptures with them and should take them seriously. But the rich man was not satisfied with that at all. So, he begged Abraham again, saying that if someone from the dead or an angel should pay his brothers a visit and warn them, they would listen. But Abraham frankly told him that was not going to happen. Why? According to him, if those brothers of this rich man would not pay attention to Scriptures, then, even if someone from the grave or an angel should visit them, they would still not listen.
So, let the word of God be sufficient for you in making decisions about your life, whether you receive a vision, a prophetic utterance or a dream about what is right for you or not. Then, even if you do see a vision, have a dream or get a prophet revelation about certain decisions you want to make, how can you be sure that it is from God and that you are not being misled? It is by verifying what you have received with Scriptures. Is it in line with what Scriptures say about the matter at hand? If it is not in line with it, then, it is not of God. And you should immediately reject it, regardless of how sweet the thought of it may be.
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BE OPEN ENOUGH 23/08/2023
“I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do.” (Neh 7:2NIV)
Why did Nehemiah make his brother overseer over Jerusalem? Was it because he was his brother? No! Rather, it was because he was a man of integrity and one who highly feared God, in fact, more than most of the men in the land.
But how did he get to know Hanani to be this kind of person? It must have been through his openness. Before you can say that someone is a person of integrity or a God-fearing person, you must have had the privilege or opportunity of watching the person’s life and conduct closely. And if you cannot say much about someone, even though you live together, work in the same place or fellowship with the same Christian assembly, it must mean that their life is not open enough.
In like manner, if people cannot say much about you, good or bad, it must mean that your life is not open enough. And if your life is not open enough, it becomes a hard thing for anyone, including whoever you want to marry, to trust you completely. If your lover, then, cannot trust you completely, there is no way you can have the kind of home God wants you to have.
Therefore, begin to work on your openness. Yes, you may have grown in a home where no one opens up to no one – everyone is often keeping things to themselves. But that is not the will of God for you. Instead, it is one of the tools Satan uses in isolating people for destruction. So, break yourself away from that kind of life and begin to live openly before everyone around you.
And living an open life, of course, does not mean telling everyone everything that is going on in your life. It does not mean that you are not to take your privacy seriously, for you are supposed to take it seriously and set boundaries for everyone around you. Rather, it means what you are is plain to everyone. Yes, it means you are straightforward and everyone around you can tell what you stand for and what you are against and where you are headed in life.
So, you give no room for anyone to be suspicious about you. Instead, be open enough for everyone to know you for who and what you really are. That is how to build an unmistakable reputation of godliness and integrity.
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HANDLING PENINNAH 22/08/2023
“And because the LORD had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat.” (1Sam 1:6-7NIV)
The bible story of Hannah is a very popular one. And it is popular because of the prayer she offered to God for a child and the result that followed. But what drove this woman to pray earnestly concerning her barrenness? It was the harassment that she constantly suffered from her rival that drove her to do so.
As the story goes, Hannah was very much loved by her husband, Elkanah. And though we are not told this in the bible, it could be because she had been barren that the man decided to have another wife who would give him children. Having another wife, however, did not make Elkanah stop loving Hannah. He kept on showering love on her, so that she would not ruin herself with depression because of her childlessness. (Cf. 1Sam 1:3-8)
What this means is that if this woman had not had any rival in her home, she may not have taken that bold step of faith to pray earnestly to God about her problem. But she had a rival. Peninnah was her name. And it was this Peninnah that God used to eventually drive the woman to pray to receive not just one child but six children (1Sam 2:18-21).
How, then, did that happen? As the account further shows us, Peninnah made sure life was miserable for Hannah because of her childlessness. In other words, she kept on doing and saying things that would provoke her and make her cry over and over again. Why? Maybe she wanted her to abandon her home and run away or to kill herself or to just do something stupid that would remove her from that family. Only God could have known exactly what was on her mind.
At any rate, the fact is that the world has never had a shortage of people like Peninnah. They are the kind that always use others’ predicaments, handicaps, lack or weaknesses to taunt them or drive them crazy. They are nothing but oppressors. And perhaps you even have one or more of them around you now. They can be a neighbour, a colleague at work or a family member. But you can see that they are doing all they can to make life uneasy or miserable for you because you do not have certain things they have or because you are not able to do certain things they are able to do. They are the Peninnah in your life.
Now I want you to know that such people have no fear or knowledge of God in them at all. Otherwise, they would have known that there is nothing they themselves have that they have not received from God. And since they have received everything from Him, they have no right to boast about anything they have that gives them an edge over others or to despise those who do not have what they have. (Cf. 1Cor 4:7)
But then, should you surrender yourself to their harassment, oppression or threats and put yourself at their mercy? No! Should you allow them to continue to make you mad, depressed or sorrowful? No! Or should you allow them to make you embrace wickedness and begin to fight them back with anything you can think of or lay your hands on? No!
See, one main reason Satan is using such people against you is to make you lose your faith in God. And once you lose your faith in God, you are going to destroy your character and, of course, your life. That way, your enemies would have won. So, don’t give them any reason to rejoice over your ruin or defeat. Instead, act like Hannah. And what did Hannah do? Hannah prayed to God.
Why did she pray to God? First, it was because realised that by crying all the time and going crazy because of what Peninnah was doing, she was just giving her more power over her. More so, her crying and going crazy could not in any way solve the problem. On the contrary, it may even make her kill herself or everybody in the house someday. So, she gave up on crying and going crazy and instead prayed to God. And she prayed to Him because she knew that He had the power to solve her problem and change her story. Did He, then, solve her problem and change her story or not? He did.
Mind you, as the bible points out to us, from the moment she prayed to God about the matter, the peace of God took charge of her life and she was no longer sorrowful (1Sam 1:18). So, if you too have any Peninnah in your life. Don’t give them more power by crying or going mad because of what they are doing to frustrate you. And don’t allow them to drive you to become like them by embracing wickedness or idolatry of any form. Instead, see whatever they are doing as God’s means of driving you to earnestly pray to Him about the matter at hand. And just as He comforted and vindicated Hannah, He will comfort and vindicate you too, if you don’t give up.
Cheers!
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I RECOMMEND ENJOYMENT 21/08/2023
“So I recommend enjoyment — a person can do nothing better under the sun than eat, drink and enjoy himself; this is what should accompany him as he does his work for as long as God gives him to live under the sun.” (Eccl 8:15CJB)
It is interesting to find that God is not against man’s enjoyment. Yes, He wants us to work. But He also wants us to enjoy ourselves. He wants us to be able to take delight in whatever we do and enjoy the profit that comes from doing it. And that is why Solomon, in our opening text, says, “I recommend enjoyment.”
Now I know there are Christians who think something is wrong with being happy and enjoying ourselves. These ones think to enjoy life is to lose touch with heaven. So, all they want is to live righteous and blameless lives before God. And of course, living a righteous and blameless life before God is very important, for that is what we have been recreated in Christ Jesus to do. However, the bible does not say that the kingdom of God is about righteousness alone; rather, it is says, “The kingdom of God is about righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. And the man who serves Christ in these things is pleasing to God and approved by men.” (Cf. Rom 14:17)
Did you see that? God does not just want us live in righteousness before Him; He also wants us to live in peace and joy. God wants our lives to be peaceful and joyous. In other words, He wants us to enjoy living in this world, even though it is a world that is full of chaos and all kinds of evil things. Yes, He wants us to enjoy our bodies, homes, husbands, wives, children, parents, jobs, possessions and so forth. Since this, then, is the will of God for us, we too should want what He wants for us. I mean that we too should want to be joyous in life and enjoy every moment we take.
But then, there are two major things we need to keep in mind as we seek to enjoy our lives in this life. The first is that true enjoyment is a gift from God, for the bible says without Him who can eat or find enjoyment (Ecc 2:24-25). That means all our effort to make ourselves happy and enjoy life will prove abortive, if God Himself does not give us happiness and enjoyment. This is why we must learn to look unto Him always for our peace, happiness and enjoyment.
The second thing we need to keep in mind is that we can ruin our lives in our attempt to enjoy ourselves, if we will not stay within the boundaries of the word of God. For instance, King Belshazzar, once while trying to enjoy himself with his officials, got into trouble with God and received a death sentence. Why? It was because he allowed his desire for enjoyment to lead him into using articles meant for the house of God for His party and into giving the praise that belongs to God to gods that do not exit. (Cf. Dan 5)
In like manner, many have lost their lives, parts of their bodies, very important relationships or even jobs because they got carried away while trying to enjoy themselves. Some have even reduced everything about life to fun. They just want to have fun. So, they are restless if they cannot get some moment of fun. And because of this their lives have become miserable and worthless.
But that is not what God wants for us. Though He wants life to be fun for us, He does not want us to lose our minds, our lives or our souls in the process of wanting to have fun and enjoy life. So, He warns us through Solomon, saying, “Young man, it's wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it! Do all you want to; take in everything, but realize that you must account to God for everything you do. So banish grief and pain, but remember that youth, with a whole life before it, can make serious mistakes.” (Eccl 11:9-10TLB)
Did you see that? Even though we are free to enjoy every moment we take in life, God will still someday hold us accountable for everything we do, even in the name of enjoyment. Not only that, even though we have a whole life before us to do great and mighty things with God, we can waste everything. And we will waste everything, if we will not stay within the boundaries of the word of God in handling our desire for enjoyment. Therefore, while it is good and in keeping with the will of God for us to enjoy life, we must also watch ourselves so we don’t mess up our lives in the process of wanting to enjoy life
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HE WILL TEACH AND GUIDE YOU INTO THE BEST 20/08/2023
“This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy one of Israel: 'I am the LORD you God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.'" (Isaiah 48:17NIV)
There is hardly a day in all our lives in which we are not confronted with the need to make important decisions that may affect the entire course of our lives. And since there is none of us that is All-wise, All-knowing or All-powerful, we can never in any situation completely assure ourselves that our choices or decisions will certainly pay off and not get us into trouble or more trouble. This is why we need help. We daily need the help of the one who knows all things, sees all things, understands all things and has power over all things. We need His help, not only in the greatly twisted matters of our lives but also in the seemingly simple matters of our lives. And the beauty of it all is that He is more than willing to teach and guide us into all that is best for us in life than we ourselves are willing to trust and follow Him.
Look, for example, at what He says in our opening bible text. He says, “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.” Now that is remarkable. I mean that it is remarkable to know that God wants the best for you and me in this life, contrary to the religious opinions of many. Therefore, if we are willing to submit ourselves to Him and learn from Him, He will not only teach us but also direct us and the situations of our lives in such a way that we will be the best we can be and equally enjoy the best we can enjoy in this life. And He will do this, regardless of how twisted or confused our lives may be at the moment we begin to consciously yield ourselves to Him.
So, none of us really has to take just anything life throws at us. That is because we can actually see, access and enjoy the best God has for us in it. But the question is, “Do we really want to know, access and enjoy the best God has prepared for us in this life?” If we want to, then, we must begin to utterly give ourselves to learning His will and ways from the Holy Scriptures and to walking in them. That is how the Holy Spirit will open our lives to the very best of everything God has prepared for us and also separate us from the ways of error, weakness, dryness and destruction. (Cf. Mark 12:24; John 5:39; I Cor 2:9-12)
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AS YOU HAVE DECIDED IN YOUR HEART 19/08/2023
“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion...” (2Corinthians 9:7NIV)
Have you ever given reluctantly before? Well, I have. I have given reluctantly before. That was because I was not happy giving whatever I gave at the time. Why? Well, there were times that it was because I was pressured to give. And there were times that it was because I was swayed by others to give.
But that kind of giving is not acceptable in the sight of God. I know this now. So, I don’t need to get to heaven before I know there is no reward for that kind of giving. And I am talking about my own giving now, not some other persons’ giving.
Well, since I know better now, I don’t want to sow to the flesh again; I don’t want to reap corruption again. What I want now is to sow to the Spirit, so that I can reap eternal life.
In the same vein, you should not give because you are being pressured, manipulated or threatened to give. That kind of giving will most likely happen reluctantly. But what God wants is for you to give cheerfully. Paul says God loves a cheerful giver. The Greek word used for ‘cheerful’ in this text is ‘hilaros’, and it is from it we have our English word ‘hilarious’.
That means God loves a hilarious giver. The Amplified Bible describes him as a prompt to do it giver, whose heart is in his giving. He is not being begged or pressured or threatened to give; rather, he gives because he loves to give. He is not giving because of some personality, so as to impress them. On the contrary, he gives because he understands God’s mind about giving and loves to give. So, when he gives, he gives as he decides in his heart.
In like manner, if you too want to give to God at all, don’t give to impress anybody or because you are being manipulated or threatened by anyone. Rather, give as you purpose in your heart. That way, you will be able to give cheerfully to Him and be honoured by Him. .red by Him. .
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HE LOVES THOSE HE DISCIPLINE 18/08/2023
“And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."” (Hebrews 12:5-6NIV)
Can you see that? The Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son. So, when the Lord decides to rebuke you, it is not because He hates you. Rather, it is because He loves you as His own and does not want you to be condemned with the world. This is why He will not keep quiet and allow you to mess up your life.
See, you must understand that it is not everybody that the Lord rebukes the way He rebukes members of His family. In Romans, chapter 1, Paul tells us of how God gave some people over to iniquity. God literally said to them, “Is this what you want to do with your life? If it is, then, go ahead.” In other words, God gave them over to do things that are not convenient for them, things that are going to ultimately destroy them. And that is not because He does not love them; rather, it is because of the hardness of their hearts. (Cf. Romans 1:21-32)
So, if you find God ministering to you and restoring your soul when you miss it, it is because He loves you. When you are going in the path of error, and the Lord calls you back to the right path, you should know that it is because He loves you.
Therefore, you should not make light of His discipline. Don’t take what He is saying or doing to you lightly. And do not lose heart because He rebukes you. Yes, I know it is possible for us to become discouraged when we are rebuked by God. We may feel so bad that we don’t want to do anything again with our faith. This sometimes also happens in our relationship with men. When they rebuke us for doing something wrong, we may feel bad, offended or sorrowful. We may even say, “Why did this person talk to me like that?”
Well, the right approach to such words of rebuke or correction is not to lose heart but to stop doing the wrong thing and start doing the right thing. And this is also the way we must act when the Lord rebukes us. I have felt bad in the past for being rebuked by the Lord about certain matters and have even said to myself, “How could I have done that? I should never have done that.” And that bad or sorrowful feeling sometimes has lingered for days.
But the Lord has already moved on. He has already told me what needed to be corrected and done. So, what He expects of me is to do the right thing, not to stay sorrowful or discouraged because of my wrongdoing.
In like manner, don’t waste your time feeling sad or sorrowful because of the Lord’s rebuke. What He really wants is not your sorrow but your repentance. The bible tells us of two kinds of sorrow, godly sorrow and worldly sorrow (2Cor 7:10). Godly sorrow leads to repentance and leaves no regret. But worldly sorrow leads to death. Why? It is not accompanied by repentance. So, don’t just be sorrowful because of the Lord’s rebuke. Instead, also take what He says to you seriously and act on it. Otherwise, instead for you to be healed and set right, you may end up endangering your life and faith.
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BE CONTENT WITH YOUR PLACE IN HIM 17/08/2023
“But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” (1Corinthians 12:18NIV)
The one who arranges the parts of our bodies is God. We did not determine where our eyes would be; God determined that. We did not determine where our ears would be; God did that. Likewise, in the Church, He is the one who arranges us; He is the one who determines where each one of us will function. He is the one who determines what ministry each one of us will have.
So, those whose ministries are obvious have their ministries that way because God wants it to be so. And those whose ministries appear to be unknown or hidden have their ministries that way because God wants it to be so. That, however, is not to say that their ministries are irrelevant or that their ministries are not essential to the growth of the body.
God is the one who arranges these things. Where you are is where He wants you to be, and the gifts that you have are the gifts He wants you to have. So, you don’t have to be envious or jealous of anyone. You only need to function where God wants you.
Has there ever been a time in your life when your eyes were jealous of your ears? No! Each part of your body has its own functions. And God has made our body in such a way that each part of it is contented with whatever its roles are in the body.
Now that is also how it should be in the body of Christ. Each one of us should be contented with whatever role God has given us to play in the body. And we must understand that it is as we play our roles and do what He has called us to do that the body will grow. If you, then, are not doing what God has called you to do, you are slowing down our growth; you are limiting us.
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YOU CAN DRIVE OUT DEMONS 16/08/2023
"Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.” (Mark 3:13-14NIV)
Here, we are given three major reasons Jesus called His disciples and appointed twelve out of them as apostles. First, it is that they might be with Him. He wants them to be with Him, travel with Him, eat with Him, fellowship with Him and learn the life that He is living. Second, it is that He might send them out to preach. If you pay attention to the order, you will see that being with Him precedes being sent out to preach. That means you have to be on His side first before He can send you out to preach or do any other thing—you don’t start out by preaching. Then Mark goes on to tell us the third major reason the Lord called these apostles to be with Him, and it is that they might have authority to drive out demons.
Does it not surprise you that the Lord was giving these people authority to drive out demons? He wanted them to have authority to expel demons. He wanted them to put an end to the activities of the devil wherever they went. So, they were not to act helpless in the face of satanic operations. That was because the Lord was giving them authority to drive out demons. And all this was before the Lord went to the cross. In fact, in Saint Matthew’s gospel, chapter 10, verse 1, we are told that Jesus gave them authority to heal every manner of sickness and disease.
So, it has always been the Lord’s intention that His own people will have authority over the devil. He wants us to be able to stop the devil from acting where we are. We can tell the devil to keep quiet, and he will keep quiet. We have several examples in the scriptures of occasions in which Jesus told demons to keep quiet, and they did. He would not allow them to talk. He would just say, “Come out of this person—I don’t want you to say anything.” And the demon or demons would come out. He never had to negotiate with demons. (Cf. Luke 4:41)
Also, in Saint Luke’s gospel, chapter 10, we are told how Jesus sent out seventy-two [‘seventy’ in some other translations] of His disciples two by two ahead of Him to every town and place where He was about to go. Then in verse 17, Luke says, “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’” (Luke 10:17NIV) Look at that. Luke says those disciples returned with joy. Why did they return with joy? It was because they got results. They used the authority the Lord gave them and got results. So, they came back with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
Now you should take note of that. They did not say, “Lord, even the demons submit to us.” Instead, they said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” That means the demons submitted to them in the Lord’s authority; they submitted to them because they knew that these disciples were representing Jesus, that they were taking His place, that they had come in His stead.
Then from verse 18, Luke says, “He [Jesus] replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” (Luke 10:18-19NIV—emphasis added) That is a mighty statement. Jesus says, “I have given you authority…” How did He give this authority to them? By words of mouth! Notice that He did not say, “Bring your hands so that I can put something there.” Neither did He say, “Open your mouth and drink this.” He gave this authority to them by words of mouth. So, it was because the Lord said, “You can now drive out demons,” that they began to drive them out. They were acting on the basis of the words that He said to them.
Now I showed you all that because I want you to see how it affects us. You must understand that what the Lord said to these people He is also saying to us. I know some have said, “When Jesus said those words, He said them only to the apostles.” But that is not true. In the first place, the apostles were only twelve at that time, not seventy-two. But here the Lord is talking to seventy-two people, saying, “I have given you authority…” And we are told that all these seventy-two people that He sent out came back with the report that they got results. So, what Jesus says here is not only to the apostles, but to everyone who believes in Him.
Furthermore, from Saint Mark’s gospel, chapter 16, verse 14, we are told, “Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.’” (Mark 16:14-16NIV) Now I will like you to pay attention to the context in which what we are reading now is set. First, the Lord tells His apostles gospel will also have the signs we are able to read of accompanying them. Again, He says, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons…” (Mark 16:17NIV) Look at that. The Lord here is saying those who believe the gospel will drive out demons in His name. That means, as one that are representing Jesus, they will drive out demons. They will expel demons. And notice that He does not say that the Pastors will drive out demons; neither does He say that the Prophets will drive out demons. Also, He does not say that the Evangelists and Apostles will drive out demons. Instead, He says, “Those who believe the gospel will drive out demons in my name.”
Do you believe the gospel? If you do believe the gospel, then, you are among those that the Lord has given the authority to drive out demons to. You can now drive out demons. Do you believe that? You are now in a position to drive out demons, not in your name but in the name of Jesus. I know that some Christians don’t like hearing things like these. They will say, “How can you place this kind of responsibility in my lap?” Yes, it is a great responsibility. But the Lord says that you can do it, for you are now taking His place here in this world. You have not come in your name; you have come in the name of Jesus. You have come as one representing Jesus.
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YOU CAN DRIVE OUT DEMONS 15/08/2023
"Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.” (Mark 3:13-14NIV)
Here, we are given three major reasons Jesus called His disciples and appointed twelve out of them as apostles. First, it is that they might be with Him. He wants them to be with Him, travel with Him, eat with Him, fellowship with Him and learn the life that He is living. Second, it is that He might send them out to preach. If you pay attention to the order, you will see that being with Him precedes being sent out to preach. That means you have to be on His side first before He can send you out to preach or do any other thing—you don’t start out by preaching. Then Mark goes on to tell us the third major reason the Lord called these apostles to be with Him, and it is that they might have authority to drive out demons.
Does it not surprise you that the Lord was giving these people authority to drive out demons? He wanted them to have authority to expel demons. He wanted them to put an end to the activities of the devil wherever they went. So, they were not to act helpless in the face of satanic operations. That was because the Lord was giving them authority to drive out demons. And all this was before the Lord went to the cross. In fact, in Saint Matthew’s gospel, chapter 10, verse 1, we are told that Jesus gave them authority to heal every manner of sickness and disease.
So, it has always been the Lord’s intention that His own people will have authority over the devil. He wants us to be able to stop the devil from acting where we are. We can tell the devil to keep quiet, and he will keep quiet. We have several examples in the scriptures of occasions in which Jesus told demons to keep quiet, and they did. He would not allow them to talk. He would just say, “Come out of this person—I don’t want you to say anything.” And the demon or demons would come out. He never had to negotiate with demons. (Cf. Luke 4:41)
Also, in Saint Luke’s gospel, chapter 10, we are told how Jesus sent out seventy-two [‘seventy’ in some other translations] of His disciples two by two ahead of Him to every town and place where He was about to go. Then in verse 17, Luke says, “The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’” (Luke 10:17NIV) Look at that. Luke says those disciples returned with joy. Why did they return with joy? It was because they got results. They used the authority the Lord gave them and got results. So, they came back with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
Now you should take note of that. They did not say, “Lord, even the demons submit to us.” Instead, they said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” That means the demons submitted to them in the Lord’s authority; they submitted to them because they knew that these disciples were representing Jesus, that they were taking His place, that they had come in His stead.
Then from verse 18, Luke says, “He [Jesus] replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” (Luke 10:18-19NIV—emphasis added) That is a mighty statement. Jesus says, “I have given you authority…” How did He give this authority to them? By words of mouth! Notice that He did not say, “Bring your hands so that I can put something there.” Neither did He say, “Open your mouth and drink this.” He gave this authority to them by words of mouth. So, it was because the Lord said, “You can now drive out demons,” that they began to drive them out. They were acting on the basis of the words that He said to them.
Now I showed you all that because I want you to see how it affects us. You must understand that what the Lord said to these people He is also saying to us. I know some have said, “When Jesus said those words, He said them only to the apostles.” But that is not true. In the first place, the apostles were only twelve at that time, not seventy-two. But here the Lord is talking to seventy-two people, saying, “I have given you authority…” And we are told that all these seventy-two people that He sent out came back with the report that they got results. So, what Jesus says here is not only to the apostles, but to everyone who believes in Him.
Furthermore, from Saint Mark’s gospel, chapter 16, verse 14, we are told, “Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.’” (Mark 16:14-16NIV) Now I will like you to pay attention to the context in which what we are reading now is set. First, the Lord tells His apostles here to preach the gospel to every creation. Then He goes on to say, “Whoever believes will be saved.” Whoever believes what? Whoever believes the gospel!
Now in verse 17 He says, “And these signs will accompany those who believe…” Those who believe what? Those who believe gospel! The same people that will be saved on the basis of their belief in the gospel will also have the signs we are able to read of accompanying them. Again, He says, “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons…” (Mark 16:17NIV) Look at that. The Lord here is saying those who believe the gospel will drive out demons in His name. That means, as one that are representing Jesus, they will drive out demons. They will expel demons. And notice that He does not say that the Pastors will drive out demons; neither does He say that the Prophets will drive out demons. Also, He does not say that the Evangelists and Apostles will drive out demons. Instead, He says, “Those who believe the gospel will drive out demons in my name.”
Do you believe the gospel? If you do believe the gospel, then, you are among those that the Lord has given the authority to drive out demons to. You can now drive out demons. Do you believe that? You are now in a position to drive out demons, not in your name but in the name of Jesus. I know that some Christians don’t like hearing things like these. They will say, “How can you place this kind of responsibility in my lap?” Yes, it is a great responsibility. But the Lord says that you can do it, for you are now taking His place here in this world. You have not come in your name; you have come in the name of Jesus. You have come as one representing Jesus.
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BE DETERMINED NOT TO BE DEFILED 15/08/2023
Often I hear people say things like, “When God is ready to stop me from misbehaving, He will use His power to do so.” But what people who say such things don’t realise is that God will never force anybody to do anything he does not want to do or to stop doing anything he does not want to stop doing. That means everybody also has a role to play in what eventually becomes of his life, good or bad – everything does not depend on God alone.
For example, we are told in the bible that a young man named Daniel determined in his heart that he would not defile himself when he was brought to the royal court of Babylon, as a captive of King Nebuchadnezzar. And because of his determination to keep himself pure among those corrupt people, God caused him and his friends to be favoured by those who would naturally have made things difficult for them. In other words, God helped him to succeed in his determination. (Cf. Daniel 1:8-16) But what if he did not make that strong decision to stay pure, regardless of the punishments and sufferings that he may have received? What could God have done for him? Nothing!
Also, we are told of another young man of bible days that was named Joseph. As a young and handsome man, he was terribly pressured by his mistress, the wife of his master, to engage in immoral affairs with her. But, according to the bible, Joseph was determined not to defile that woman or to be defiled by her, even though he knew that would mean a lot of trouble for him. And God strengthened and helped his determination. He gave him the wisdom he needed to handle that crafty woman, so that he would not be defiled by her. So, the woman decided to set him up when she saw that nothing she did would make him yield to her pressure. And that was how innocent Joseph was imprisoned because of his determination not to be defiled. (Cf. Gen 39)
However, even though this young man was treated shamefully because he was determined not to be defiled, God did not abandon him in the prison. Instead, He lifted him up out of that prison and set him as a ruler of the entire nation of Egypt. But what if he had not made up his mind not to be defiled by that woman? What if he had given in to the cheap sex that the woman was offering him? Would God have been able to help him or lift him up? The answer is ‘No!’
So, if you, as a young man or woman, want God to strengthen you to remain pure in this corrupt world, you must first of all be determined to stay pure. Yes, you will be daily faced with all kinds of temptations to do corrupt and immoral things; you will be daily pressured or encouraged by friends, neighbours, colleagues and sometimes family members to cheat, lie, steal or go for cheap or immoral sex. But if you will make up your mind not to be defiled, then, you can expect God to always be there to strengthen you to do the right thing.
Mind you, having the determination not to be defiled in this world is not enough; you also have to be counting on God to help your determination. Otherwise, you may just end up like Apostle Peter, who denied our Lord Jesus Christ three times in one night, even though he was determined in all good conscience to stand by Him for better or for worse (Matt 26:30-75). So, your desire and determination are not enough to stay pure in this corrupt world; you also need God’s mercy and power to work on your behalf (Zech 4:6; Rom 9:16). And may God continually make those available for you. Amen!
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HE IS ABLE TO SHOW YOU WHAT TO DO TO PROSPER 14/08/2023
“Isaac's servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac's herdsmen and said, "The water is ours!" So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, "Now the LORD has given us room and we will flourish in the land." (Gen 26:19-22NIV)
It was a time of famine. And Isaac’s first thought was to leave where he was, which was Gerar, and go down to Egypt. But God told him not to leave but to stay and that He would bless him there. So, Isaac stayed in Gerar and went into farming, the planting of crops, even though he had been raised as a keeper of flocks. And God began to bless him and his farm until he became exceedingly great. (Cf. Gen 26:1-18)
However, as the account also shows, Isaac did not become great in that land without some opposition. Yes, it was God that asked him to stay there. Nevertheless, the herdsmen of the place were hostile to him out of jealousy. They kept on forcefully taking over his wells. And each time they took over one, he just left it for them and moved on to somewhere else. He made sure he sought peace with those people all the time. Eventually, there came a time when God gave him rest from their hostility and quarrelling. Then he was able to say, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”
In like manner, if we will trust Him, the Lord is able to show us where we should settle and what business we should do there. Then He is also able to give us rest from whatever opposition we may be encountering where we are and make us flourish. All we need is to trust and obey.
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EMBRACE THAT GOOD AND RIGHTEOUS DESIRE 13/08/2023
"After David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of the covenant of the LORD is under a tent." Nathan replied to David, "Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you."” (1Chron 17:1-2NIV)
As we see in our opening bible text, there was a time David thought about building a temple for the Lord. And why? It was because he looked at himself and the kind of luxurious life he was living in his palace and could not just accept the fact that God's ark was placed under a tent. And when he discussed the matter with Nathan the prophet, he told him to go ahead and do whatever he had in mind to do for the Lord. So, through the wisdom and understanding given by the Holy Spirit, he wrote out the plans for the building of the temple and also instructions about the utensils that would be used in it and the divisions of priests and Levites that would serve in it. (Cf. 1Chro 29:11-19)
However, even though David's thought about building this temple was a good and great one and all the plans and instructions he put down about it came from the Spirit of the Lord, it was never God's intention that he would be the one that would build it. But why? It was because he, as noted by God, was a great warrior and had shed much blood on the earth (1Chro 28:3). Why, then, would God give him this kind of beautiful thought and also all the excellent plans to carry it out, when He had no intention of allowing him to carry it out? It was just to see whether he would embrace the thought and work with it or reject and quench it.
See, as the bible points out to us, it is God who is at work in His people to will and to act according to His good purpose (Phil 2:13). That means, first, He is the one that is always giving us those good and righteous desires that are consistent with His purpose for us. Second, it means that He is also the one always furnishing us with the ability required to fulfil whatever good and righteous desires He gives us.
But then, as we see in David's case, it is possible for God to give us a wonderful desire and still not provide us with the ability and (or) opportunity to carry it out. And when that is the case, we are not to get angry with Him or see Him as wicked, for we are not as wise as He is. Instead, we are to understand that He just wants us to embrace that desire or thought, just as David did, and see how we can be of help to others whom He may have chosen to carry it out. (Cf. 1Chro 28)
Now is there anything to gain by doing that? Yes, there is a lot to gain by doing so, in fact more than our minds can fathom. For example, even though God would not allow David to carry out the grand desire He had given him about building Him a temple, He still blessed him for embracing that desire. Read the whole seventeenth chapter of 1Chronicles, and you will see the kinds of wonderful blessings and promises He gave to him just for embracing and nursing the desire to build Him a temple.
If God, then, would favour David in that manner, just for embracing a good and righteous thought, how much more do you think He would favour someone who goes beyond just thinking about doing something good for Him to actually doing it? He will favour the person in ways beyond his expectations or imaginations. So, if you want to receive unspeakable favours or promises from God, learn to embrace and wholeheartedly work with whatever good and righteous thoughts or desires He is filling your heart with, as long as you are blessed with the ability and opportunity to do so.
More so, even if God has not blessed you with the ability and opportunity to carry out a wonderful desire to do something for Him, don't be bitter or angry. Instead, find others who with the ability, opportunity and willingness to carry it out that you can support to do so. That way, God will honour you greatly and do for you things you could never even think of asking Him to do for you.
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YOU HAVE DONE A FOOLISH THING 12/08/2023
"You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD's command."” (1Sam 13:13-14NIV)
Those were the words Samuel said to King Saul when, on one occasion, the latter took upon himself to carry out a spiritual responsibility that was not his. As the account goes, the Israelites and the Philistines were going to have a battle. And Samuel, the Prophet, was supposed to offer certain offerings to the Lord for the armies of Israel before that battle. But he did not come at the time he had set for King Saul. (Cf. 1Sam 13:5-8)
Now we are not told exactly what kept Samuel from coming on time. But at some point, his lateness began to terribly affect Saul's men – they began to desert him and to run into hiding. And since he did not want to go into that battle without consulting God and appeasing Him, he decided to stand in Samuel's place and offer the sacrifices himself. But was he anointed to do that? No! Also, did he know the revelation behind what Samuel was going to do? No! (Cf. 1Sam 13:9-14)
In any case, he did what he felt he had to do because he was under pressure. Unfortunately, God said that what he did was a foolish thing. That means it was a foolish thing for him not to be patient with God. Of course, he thought he was trying to save his kingdom by doing what he did. But it was that very step that he took that made him lose his kingdom to another man.
There is another king that heard very similar words from God. His name was Asa. This man began his reign over the nation of Judah with absolute dependence on God for everything. So, He established his kingdom and made sure he had peace till the thirty-sixth year of his reign. But just about that time, an army came against him to fight him and, instead for him to consult God about the matter, he decided to use money to settle it. And because he chose to rely on his wealth to fight his battle instead of God, He sent a prophet to him, who said, “…You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war." (2Chron 16:9NIV)
Imagine that. Asa did what he did in order to avoid a war. Sadly, what he did ended up throwing him into a lifetime of war. But did he know at the time he was taking that step that it was a foolish one, one that would only make a bad situation worse? No! Or did Saul, in his desperation to save his kingdom and his people, know that the step he was taking was a foolish one, one that would make him lose the very kingdom he was trying to save? No!
In short, the things these men did at the time they did them did not appear harmful at all. But they were not steps of faith at all. Rather, they were steps motivated by fear, impatience and pride. We too can take such steps. We can take steps motivated by fear, impatience, pride or greed instead of faith in God, if our hearts are not continually set right by the Spirit of God. And when we take any of such steps, we will find that it is counter-productive. In other words, instead for it to solve our problems for us, it will only make them worse.
And remember the words of our Lord Jesus, which say, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” (Matt 16:25NIV) Did you see that? We can lose our lives while we are trying to save them. Yes, we can lose our home, job or anything else while we are trying to save it. And we will lose our lives or whatever it is we are trying to keep, if we will not learn to absolutely rely on God and obey Him in everything, regardless of the pressure not to do so. So, our prayers continually must be that God, in His love and mercy, will keep us from taking any step or making any move that will make fools of us and cause us to lose in life instead of win.
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YOU HAVE DONE A FOOLISH THING 12/08/2023
"You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD's command."” (1Sam 13:13-14NIV)
Those were the words Samuel said to King Saul when, on one occasion, the latter took upon himself to carry out a spiritual responsibility that was not his. As the account goes, the Israelites and the Philistines were going to have a battle. And Samuel, the Prophet, was supposed to offer certain offerings to the Lord for the armies of Israel before that battle. But he did not come at the time he had set for King Saul. (Cf. 1Sam 13:5-8)
Now we are not told exactly what kept Samuel from coming on time. But at some point, his lateness began to terribly affect Saul's men – they began to desert him and to run into hiding. And since he did not want to go into that battle without consulting God and appeasing Him, he decided to stand in Samuel's place and offer the sacrifices himself. But was he anointed to do that? No! Also, did he know the revelation behind what Samuel was going to do? No! (Cf. 1Sam 13:9-14)
In any case, he did what he felt he had to do because he was under pressure. Unfortunately, God said that what he did was a foolish thing. That means it was a foolish thing for him not to be patient with God. Of course, he thought he was trying to save his kingdom by doing what he did. But it was that very step that he took that made him lose his kingdom to another man.
There is another king that heard very similar words from God. His name was Asa. This man began his reign over the nation of Judah with absolute dependence on God for everything. So, He established his kingdom and made sure he had peace till the thirty-sixth year of his reign. But just about that time, an army came against him to fight him and, instead for him to consult God about the matter, he decided to use money to settle it. And because he chose to rely on his wealth to fight his battle instead of God, He sent a prophet to him, who said, “…You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war." (2Chron 16:9NIV)
Imagine that. Asa did what he did in order to avoid a war. Sadly, what he did ended up throwing him into a lifetime of war. But did he know at the time he was taking that step that it was a foolish one, one that would only make a bad situation worse? No! Or did Saul, in his desperation to save his kingdom and his people, know that the step he was taking was a foolish one, one that would make him lose the very kingdom he was trying to save? No!
In short, the things these men did at the time they did them did not appear harmful at all. But they were not steps of faith at all. Rather, they were steps motivated by fear, impatience and pride. We too can take such steps. We can take steps motivated by fear, impatience, pride or greed instead of faith in God, if our hearts are not continually set right by the Spirit of God. And when we take any of such steps, we will find that it is counter-productive. In other words, instead for it to solve our problems for us, it will only make them worse.
And remember the words of our Lord Jesus, which say, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” (Matt 16:25NIV) Did you see that? We can lose our lives while we are trying to save them. Yes, we can lose our home, job or anything else while we are trying to save it. And we will lose our lives or whatever it is we are trying to keep, if we will not learn to absolutely rely on God and obey Him in everything, regardless of the pressure not to do so. So, our prayers continually must be that God, in His love and mercy, will keep us from taking any step or making any move that will make fools of us and cause us to lose in life instead of win.
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IT DOES NOT HAVE TO HAPPEN 11/08/2023
“Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.’ The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh: ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.’ When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.” (Jonah 3:3-10NIV)
The Ninevites were not worshippers of God. Yet when God sent warnings to them through Jonah about the disaster He had intended to bring on them, they immediately took steps towards repentance. They did not laugh at Jonah. They did not make jest of him or insult him. Instead, as the bible says, they believed God. They believed that He was going to do what He had said that He was going to do. Yet these people were not worshippers of God.
It is actually interesting to note that there are times those who are not worshippers of God take His instructions through His prophets more seriously than those who claim to be worshipping God. I am saying there are times unbelievers take prophetic instructions and revelations more seriously than many so-called believers.
These Ninevites were idol worshippers, who did not care at all about God. But when He sent His prophet Jonah to them, they believed. And to show that they believed God, all of them called for a fast. As the account goes, their king issued an edict, asking everybody to fast and seek the face of God for mercy. Not only that, he asked them to turn away from their wickedness. So, they were not just asking God for mercy; they also took steps towards the practice of righteousness.
Unfortunately, sometimes, people fail to see that it is one thing to ask God to have mercy on you and forgive your sins; it is another thing to have a mind to repent. These are two different things. You may approach God for forgiveness ten times or a hundred times. That does not mean you have a mind to repent of your sins. And what God wants is repentance. He wants us to turn away from our wickedness. The bible says everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness (2Timothy 2:19). And that was what the Ninevites did. They did not just ask God for mercy; they also turned away from their wickedness.
So, we are told in verse 10 of that chapter that when God saw what they did and how they turned away from their evil ways, He relented and did not bring on them the destruction He had threatened. In other words, He saw the steps of faith they took. He saw that they believed in Him and in the word of His prophet. He also saw that they responded by asking for mercy from Him and by turning away from their wicked ways. And that is in agreement with what He says through Jeremiah. He says if I say I am going to tear down a country and destroy it, if the people repent of their sins and wickedness, then, I will relent. I will not bring on them again the disaster I had planned.
I am saying this to you to let you know that even if God has said that He is going to hurt or judge someone for their wickedness, it does not have to happen. The mere fact He is announcing His judgment ahead of time shows that He wants to give the persons involved an opportunity to repent and change their ways. And if you are privileged to know such individuals, let them see the light. Let them see that God is warning them ahead of time so that they may ask for mercy and change their ways. Yes, let them see that their repentance will go a long way in changing God’s mind.
Then if you are that person that God has sent a warning too, don’t waste time at all in receiving His mercy and changing your ways, as the Ninevites did. Whatever judgment He plans to bring on you does not have to happen. But that will depend on your response to what He says. I pray that your heart will always be yielded to accept whatever rebuke the Lord brings to you and to act on it. Amen.
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DAYS OF OPPORTUNITIES 10/08/2023
“Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16NIV)
When you consider the current situation of things in our country and also in differing parts of the world, you will agree that these are indeed evil days, perilous times. Nevertheless, Paul tells us that these evil days are also days of opportunities. And our wisdom will be to recognise these opportunities and make the most of them in doing the will of God. In other words, we must not allow the present situations of things to make us stop our lives or lose our minds and begin to live irresponsible and meaningless lives.
Now Paul wrote this letter while he was in prison. He had been locked up like a common criminal, even he was not a criminal at all. He was a child of God who was devoted to the cause of God. And it was because of that that he was locked up.
Nevertheless, Paul would not stop his life or lose his mind and begin to cry and feel sorry for himself. Instead, he thought of how he could make the most of his time in the prison to do the will of God. So, he gave himself to praying like never before. At least, he knew that he could no longer go out to evangelise or preach or fellowship with God’s people in bible study or prayer meetings as he used to do. But he could pray. So, we see from his letters that he was spending time to pray for himself and for other people of God. I am sure he was able to do that with less distractions. That, of course, is what it means to make the most of every opportunity that comes our way, regardless of the circumstances of our lives.
Furthermore, Paul used his time in that prison to reach out to other prisoners and also to the soldiers around him. And the result was that a church was birthed in Caesar’s household. He mentions this in his letter to the Philippians. He even speaks about how other brethren became emboldened as a result of what was happening to him. They could see that his being in the prison was being used by God in advancing the cause of the gospel. And that was because he took advantage of the opportunities that his being there presented to him. (Cf. Phil 1:12-14 & 4:22)
Not only that, this man saw his time in the prison as an opportunity for him to write letters to God’s people. Since he could not meet with them physically at the time, he decided to do something else, which was to put down the wonderful revelations God had given to him and send them out to the people of God in form of letters. Today we are still enjoying the letters he wrote to the people of God.
So, Paul did not waste his time in the prison. Instead, he took advantage of the opportunities that his being there gave to him. And God honoured his steps of faith. He made sure that everything worked together for his good and for the cause of the gospel.
In like manner, if we too will open our eyes by the Spirit of God to see the opportunities that the present situation of things in our country present to us and take advantage of them, God will honour our steps of faith and turn everything around for our good and also use them to advance the cause of the gospel. So, what we should be doing is talking to God to open our eyes to see the opportunities that we can take advantage of at such a time as this to do His will.
What I am saying is that you should not stop your life as a result of the present situation of things in the country. Do not lose your mind as a result of the present situation of things in the world. Don’t waste your time, crying, weeping or grumbling, as a result of these things. And don’t waste your life on non-essentials and irrelevances. Yes, because of how things are now, you may have lost your job or your home; and you may not have access to as much money as you used. But don’t stop your life because of these. What you need is to open your eyes to see the opportunities that are available and that you can take advantage of to do the will of God and to win His praise.
And may the good Lord begin to open your eyes, right from today, to see all the opportunities for you to flourish and prosper that are around you and also strengthen you to make the most of them. Amen.
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YOUR TRUE AND LOGICAL WORSHIP 09/08/2023
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship.” (Romans 12:1NIV)
What is your true and proper worship? It is the offering of your body to God in a holy and acceptable way. So, do not just say, “Oh, my heart is after pleasing God.” You ought to also make your body available to Him. That means if your heart is actually after pleasing Him, you will also use your body to serve and please Him. You will offer members of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness and not to the devil as instruments of wickedness.
See, you cannot say that you are worshipping God, when you are not making your body available to Him. You do not offer Him your eyes, legs, arms and so forth to fulfil His purpose. Instead, you are offering these things to serve Satan’s purpose. How, then, are you worshipping Him?
Paul tells us the possibility of these things in this same letter to the Romans, the sixth chapter. He says we really can make parts of our body instruments or missionaries of wickedness. And he is speaking about our eyes, ears, legs, arms, mouths and so forth. These can be made available to be used by the devil to do evil. We offer him our mouths to say hateful, hurtful and bitter things. We offer him our eyes to look at things that are destructive to us. We offer our ears to hear things that are destructive to us. In short, we offer ourselves to do wrong things, things that are contrary to the will of God.
If we are doing that, then, we are not truly worshipping God. A true worshipper does not just worship God with his heart; he also worships Him with his body and his resources. Of course, anyone who worships God with his heart and body will have no problem giving Him anything else he may have. If you have given God your heart and body, is there anything else you will not be willing to give to Him? I am not sure there will be any such thing. So, Paul says true worship of God consists also in offering of our body to Him as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to Him. This, as he further says, is our logical worship. This is our reasonable worship. This is the right thing for us to do.
What we are saying is that the right way to worship God is not to simply say, “My heart belongs to you, God.” Your body also belongs to Him. And do you realise that? Have you acknowledged the fact that your body belongs to Him and should be used by Him as He pleases? If you are not functioning like this, your worship is improper. It is not true. It is not reasonable.
Well, it is important that we worship God truly because true worshippers are the only ones that will fully experience His power, glory and awesomeness in their lives. Look at what He says through one of His prophets to King Asa after the latter developed a sinful heart that turns away from the living God. He says from verse 9 of chapter 16 of 2Chronicles, “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him…” (2Chronicles 16:9NIV) Why do God’s eyes range throughout the earth? It is to strengthen those whose hearts are truly committed to Him. He wants to show Himself strong on their behalf; He wants to show Himself powerful on their behalf.
So, if your heart is after pleasing God, if you are giving Him heart worship, if you are worshiping Him by the leading of the Spirit and relying on the provisions of the Spirit to worship Him, if you have given your body fully to Him to use as He pleases, He will be showing Himself strong on your behalf. He is looking for those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him. He is looking for those who are going to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Why? It is so that He may show Himself strong on their behalf. He wants to strengthen them. He wants to show Himself powerful on their behalf.
Now can you contemplate what it means to have God demonstrating His power on our behalf? We have examples in the bible of how He showed Himself strong on behalf of those who truly worshipped Him. Look at the way He fought for Abraham, even when the man was wrong. He fought and rebuked kings for him. Look at the way He fought for Jacob because he was a man after his heart. Yes, he had his flaws and mistakes as a man. But he was a true worshipper of God. So, He fought for him. And look at the way He handled David and gave him success in all his endeavours. Look also at the things He did through the apostles of old because they were true worshippers of Him. Look at the way He manifested His power through them in healing the sick, raising the devil, driving out demons, leading many to salvation and so forth.
God showed Himself powerful on behalf of all these people because they were true worshippers. And He wants to show Himself powerful on your behalf too, if you also will fully commit your heart to worshipping Him. If He has found you to be a true worshipper, I want you to know that He will devote Himself to showing Himself strong on your behalf. And I pray that He will find in you a true worshipper and so His power will always be released for your lifting, salvation and exaltation, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY 08/08/2023
“Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!” (Amos 6:1NIV)
When reports of what King Xerxes had decreed against the Jews, at the instigation of Haman, came to Esther’s ears, she was indeed distressed. But she did not see how she could be of any help to them, neither did she sense that she herself was in danger. And it took some very harsh words from her uncle, Mordecai, for her to deal with the false sense of security she felt she had in the king’s palace. (Cf. Esther 4)
As the account goes, the edict of the king was for all the Jews in his kingdom to be annihilated on a certain day. And though Esther was the queen, she too was a Jew, something unknown to the king at the time. So, the edict was going to affect her as well, once it was brought to public notice that she was a Jew too. That was because the edict given was irrevocable. It couldn’t be changed or altered. So, in order to save the Jews, another edict had to be issued by the king, giving them the right to defend themselves against any form of hostility. You can see, then, that if Esther had been complacent because she was the queen and had done nothing to help her people at that time, though she was in a position to do so, her false sense of security would have been her undoing. (Cf. Esther 8)
In the same vein, there are many today that are carrying around a false sense of security in places where disasters are already brewing. They think because they are in certain positions in life or are related to certain people, no harm will come to them. But the disasters that they think will not come to them will surely come to them and in fact overtake them. Why? It is because they are failing to utilise the positions they are in or the influence they have at the moment to end or prevent the evil that is about to swallow them and their people up.
As we see in our opening bible text, God was once angry with certain leaders of His people and was also set to bring judgment on them. Why? It was because though the people were looking up to them to use their positions and influence to save them from their miseries, they were doing nothing to help them. And why were they doing nothing to help them? It was because they had a false sense of security. They felt that the problems of their people would never become their personal problems. They felt that their wealth, position and influence would be able to save them from whatever calamity that would befall the land.
But they were wrong. They were wrong because God, the true judge of all, could see their complacency, hypocrisy and selfishness. And He was determined to make them the first among those would experience the coming calamities. (Cf. Amos 6:1-7)
Therefore, if you are in a position to alleviate the sufferings or pains of any group of people that you are a part of, don’t be complacent about it. No, do not think that their problems will never affect you or become yours because of certain measure of security your position, money or influence now offers you. That is because if you fail to act on time, God will soon enough make you see that what you have is a false sense of security. Then the problems you have always thought would never be yours would not just become yours but may also end up swallowing you up.
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COUNT ON HIS FAVOUR ALONE 07/08/2023
"But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.” (Gen 6:8NIV)
Why was Noah with his family spared when God brought floodwaters to destroy all life on the face of the earth? Was it simply because he was a righteous man? No! Indeed, he was a righteous man, as we are told in the bible (Gen 6:9). But as we are also told in the bible, no man’s righteousness is sufficient to save them in the day of God’s judgment. That is because all of men’s righteous acts are as filthy rags before Him (Is 64:6). Therefore, none of us should trust in their righteousness or righteous acts. They will never be enough to merit God’s salvation or exaltation.
This, of course, is not to say that God does not value people’s righteous acts at all. He does. He, in fact, created us to do righteous works (Eph 2:10). But He never wants us to rely on our acts of righteousness as a means of getting anything from Him. He never wants us to think that our acts of righteousness qualify us to get anything from Him. Only His own righteousness qualifies us to get things from Him. And unless we understand this and function accordingly, there are things we will never receive or enjoy from His hands. (Cf. Luke 18:9-14)
Consider Job, for example. He was a righteous man. God Himself testified that he was a righteous man (Job 1:1). Yet He gave Satan permission to attack him, his family and his possessions. Why? First, it was to show Satan the genuineness of this man’s devotion to Him. Second, it was to uproot Job’s own wrong notion that his righteousness qualified him to enjoy God’s provisions and protection. And until he acknowledged this fact and repented of his dependence on his righteousness, his healing and restoration did not come. (Cf. Job 42)
So, though God commends and appreciates righteous living, it does not qualify anybody to receive anything from Him. It is only His favour that qualifies people to receive from Him. And that is why the first thing we are told about Noah when God first decided to destroy mankind from the face of the earth was that he found favour in God’s sight. Yes, he was a righteous man. But it was not his righteousness that saved him; rather, it was God’s favour that saved him.
In like manner, it is only God’s favour that can keep us safe too in this world of danger. And it is only His favour that can lift us up. Therefore, we must never approach Him or expect to receive anything from him on the basis of any righteous act of our own, though it is important that we are devoted to acts of righteousness. Rather, we must always approach and seek things from Him only on the basis of His own righteousness and grace. That way, we will never fail to experience His goodness in this life, regardless of how messed up things may get.
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IT MAY BE LITTLE BY LITTLE 06/08/2023
“I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.” (Ex 23:27-30NIV)
Can you relate to that? Even though God was set to give the land of Canaan to the children of Israel, He was not going to give them the whole land all at once or drive out all their enemies all at once. Why? They did not have enough population of people to occupy the whole land at the time. And if they had everything all at once, it would not be long before they lost most of it to desolation and to wild animals. So, the Lord decided that He would not take away all their enemies all at once but little by little until they had the right number to dominate the land.
Now if those Jews had been praying to God to give them all the land and drive away all their enemies at the time, would it not have looked like He was not answering? It would have looked just like that. But the truth was that He had already answered them. It was just that they would only witness the manifestation of the answer little by little.
In like manner, sometimes, when it looks like God is not paying attention to us or answering our prayers about some matters, He has already answered us. But the full manifestation of the answers to those prayers may not come all at once. It may be gradual.
Wherever this, then, is the case, wherever we can see even it is a little sign that our prayers are being answered by God, we should lose no time to begin to give Him thanks. That is because He will surely perfect what He has started. Yes, everything may be unveiled to us little by little. But God will certain perfect things for us, if we don’t give up on Him.
.on Him.
.
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THEY ARE ALL FREELY GIVEN BY HIM 05/08/2023
"Freely you have received, freely give.” (Cf. Matt 10:8)
Who said these words? Our Lord Jesus! To whom did He say them? His apostles! Now by saying this He does not mean that they are not free to receive support from those they are ministering to. On the contrary, He says that they can receive the support of those who welcome them and embrace their ministry (Matt 10:9-11; Luke 10:5-7).
However, He wants them to keep in mind the fact that salvation, healing, deliverance and every other thing God is able to give to people through their ministry are gifts. So, they should never try to commercialise them or give anybody the impression that they have to give money or anything else in order to have them.
All of this is why we see Peter rebuking Simon the sorcerer for offering him money to buy the power of God. Evidently, Simon wanted the power of God, even though his motives for wanting it was wrong. But he did not know that it was not something put up for sale; it was a gift of God. So, he offered money to have it and was rebuked severely for doing so. (Cf. Acts 8:18-24)
Since this, then, was the way the apostles of old handled any matter that concerns the blessings of God, it is wrong for anybody, preacher or no preacher, to tell anybody to give money or to get involved in any form of service in order to receive what God has already freely given. I am saying it is wrong, for example, to ask people to give God money or to engage in some service in the church in order to be healed, protected, promoted or productive in any way.
Even our Lord Jesus never did that before healing or ministering to anybody. These things have already been freely given to us by God. All we need to do is receive them with thanksgiving and keep walking in the will of God in order to fully experience their manifestations in our lives.
Also, it is wrong to demand that God should give us something or do anything for us because of our giving or service to Him. That is because there is nothing we do that qualifies us for receiving anything from Him. On the contrary, it is what He has done through His Son, Jesus Christ, that qualifies us to be partakers of His blessings, partakers of His inheritance in the saints (Col 1:12). So, when we begin to take Him task to give us something or do anything for us on the basis of what we think we are doing, we are walking in self-righteousness and that will hinder the flow of His blessings in our lives. (Cf. Luke 18:1-14)
What is my point, all along? It is that the gifts of God cannot be bought with money or service. They are freely given by Him and are to be received by faith. So, do not let anybody steal from you or pressure you into doing anything in order to receive what God has already freely given for your enjoyment. What you need is to learn from Him how to experience the manifestation of His free gifts in your life and not hinder it. And may the Spirit of God continually teach your heart all the truths you need to know about this, in Jesus' name. Amen.
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EMBRACE EVERYTHING IN IT 04/08/2023
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2Timothy 3:16-17NIV)
Can you see that? All Scripture is God-breathed. Everything we have in our bibles is God-breathed; it is inspired of Him. And each statement there has its usefulness, regardless of who says it. As you probably know already, it is not everything you find in the bible that is said by God. Some of the things there are said by the devil, by angels, by men and even by an animal (Balaam’s donkey, who spoke against his master’s madness). So, when we refer to the bible as being the word of God, we do not mean that everything said in it was said by God. (Cf. Numbers 22:21-30; 2Peter 2:15-16)
However, everything we have written in the bible is inspired of God. In other words, everything written in the bible was written because God wants it recorded. And He wants it to recorded to teach us, to correct us, to rebuke us and to train us in righteousness, so that we may become perfect, thoroughly furnished to live the kind of life He wants us to live. That is what Paul is telling us in our opening bible text.
Also, you can see from what Paul says in that text that we will have to learn to become people that are made ready to do any kind of good work God wants us to do. So, there will be mistakes along the line. There will not be any need for corrections, if there won’t be mistakes. There will not be any need for rebuking, if there won’t be mistakes. And there won’t be any need for teaching and training, if we already know everything.
So, we have to be taught. We have to be corrected. We have to be rebuked. We have to be trained until we become all that God wants to be, functioning as He wants us to function. And what will accomplish this? The Holy Scriptures!
Therefore, we have to embrace everything we see in it. If you read any part of it today and you don’t get it, don’t run away from it. Go over it again tomorrow. Or find someone else to explain to you what is said there. That is because it is useful for you. It is not only preachers that should understand Scriptures – it is every child of God that should. That is because they are our life.
Moses said to the children of Israel, “These words that I speak to you are not idle words; they are your life.” In other words, they did not have any life apart from the word of God. We too do not have any life apart from the word of God. The only real life we have is that which is lived in the light of His word. So, embrace His word in its totality. And it will make you live the very life He wants you to live. (Cf. Deuteronomy 32:45-47)
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KEEP YOURSELF FROM DREAM SPOILERS 03/08/2023
“But he refused, ‘With me in charge,’ he told her, ‘my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?’ And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even to be with her.” (Genesis 39:8-10NIV)
God had planned greatness for Joseph and also shown this to him in diverse dreams. So, even though he later found himself as a slave in Egypt, he could still see himself rising. In fact, everybody around him could see him rising – they could see that God’s favour was upon him and that he was not meant to live a low life. But he was still a slave. And that was not the peak that God had prepared for him. He himself knew that that was not his peak. There was a far greater place that God had prepared for him, which he was looking forward to.
But here was his master’s wife, trying to introduce him to immorality. It was free and cheap sex that she was offering him. But he said, “No, I cannot do this and sin against God.” Therefore, he was not even looking at his master in this situation. He was not saying, “I will be sinning against my master, Potiphar, if I do this with you.” Instead, he was saying, “I will be sinning against God, if I do this with you.” That means Joseph was mindful of his steps. He was not going to do anything that would make God angry or that would make Him change His mind about the plans He had for him.
There are many today who have had dreams of great and wonderful plans that God has for them. Yet they are living low lives. There are equally those who have had dreams of being wealthy or rich in life but who are still living in penury or poverty. Such individuals may complain that God is slow in keeping His promise to them or that He has failed them. But they need to ask themselves, “Have I been keeping in step with the plans God has shown me about my life? Have I kept myself from anything that could spoil the dreams God has shown me?”
See, God can change His mind about people. Yes, there are Scriptures that show us that God does not lie and does not change His mind, as men do (Numbers 23:19; 1Samuel 15:29). Of course, God does not tell lies. But there are cases in Scriptures in which God changes His mind about people. He changed His mind about King Saul, for example. He had prepared a great dynasty for this man. And it was His plan to establish this dynasty. But because Saul did not take Him seriously, he ended up losing what He had prepared for him. What about King Jeroboam? God told him that He was going to give him a great dynasty. But he failed God. He turned to idolatry. So, God’s plans for his life did not come to pass.
Also, consider the children of Israel that were led out of Egypt by Moses. It was God’s plan to take them straight into the Promised Land, so that they would inherit it. But along the line they failed Him. Therefore, He changed His mind about them and swore that none of them would enter His rest. You can read the book of Jeremiah, chapter 18, and see what he has to say about this. God had taken this prophet to the potter’s house and had shown him how the man was handling the mortal he was working with. And He was showing him this to let him see that even if He had planned greatness for a man, if the person would not keep in step with His plans for him, He would change His mind about him. Then He went on to show Jeremiah that if He had planned to uproot someone, and the person changed his ways and began to walk in His righteousness, He would not uproot the person again but establish him.
So, I want you to understand that how we respond to whatever dreams God has given to us is very important. If God has given us a dream, then, we need to take it seriously. Also, we need to pray to Him to bring to fulfilment what He plans for us and has shown us. Another thing we must do is to keep in step with what God has shown us about our lives or our future by identifying those things that could ruin our dreams and staying away from them. That is because the fulfilment of God’s purpose that has been revealed to us through our dreams is not automatic. Our response to it is also very important.
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YET SHE SHARED WITH THE MAN OF GOD 02/08/2023
“Elijah said to her, ‘Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me; and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.”’ She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.’” (1Kings 17:13-16NIV)
Observe here that even though what this woman had was very little, she shared it with the man of God. Unfortunately, one of the reasons many believers often don’t give to support their ministers is that they think they are poor and do not have. And if you are one of those who think they do not have or are too poor to support their ministers, the question you should ask yourself is, “Do I actually not have anything?”
See, from the little you have, you should be able to share with the one teaching you the word of God. If you cannot share with him from the little you have, there is every tendency that you will not be willing to share with him when you have much.
That widow had very little food with her. Yet she shared with the man of God from that little. Of course, she did not at first want to do this. That was because she was considering what she had and how little it was. But when the man of God, however, spoke the word of God to her, she went ahead and did as she had been told. So, there was a miracle of multiplication for her. It was so much that throughout all the days of the famine the land of Israel was experiencing at that time, this woman, her son and the prophet of God had enough food to eat. God made sure that what she had was not exhausted.
How that happened no one can explain. But God sustained them throughout that period. And He is able to sustain you too, if you are going to act faithfully in doing His will. He is able to perform for you miracles of multiplication. He is able to multiply for you that which is little in your hand, if you will take His word on giving and other matters of life seriously.
Now, of course, there are other ways through which God rewards those who are faithful in ministering to His servants sent to them. For example, we also have in the bible the case of the Shunammite woman that was supporting Prophet Elisha. She did not need money or a miracle of multiplication at that time. But she needed a child. And God spoke to her by the mouth of His prophet on this. So, she eventually conceived and had her own son. What opened that door for her was her ministry to the man of God. (Cf. 2Kings 4:8-44)
I am saying this just to let you know that when you fulfil the word of God by appreciating your ministers, He is not going to overlook what you are doing. Instead, He will reward you. Of course, there are various ways through which He can reward you. His reward may come in form of protection. It may come in form of elevation or exaltation. Or it may come in form of a miracle of healing, of deliverance or of multiplication. It may come in any form. But He will surely reward you here on earth.
Therefore, if you have not been giving to support or appreciate your ministers but are just making excuses, you need to repent and begin to do what is right. That is because you are cheating yourself. In fact, even if your ministers are praying for you and labouring in love over you, what they are doing may not produce in your life the kind of result it is meant to produce.
Our Lord Jesus, for example, tells His disciples that if they go into a house and say, “Peace be to this house,” if there is a man of peace in that house, their peace will rest on him. Otherwise, their peace will return to them. What is His description of a man of peace? He is that man that not only welcomes them and receives their message but that also supports them with his substance. (Cf. Luke 10:5)
Surely, when one welcomes a preacher of the word of God and receives His word, the blessings of that word will rest on Him. But the Lord expects us to do more than just receiving the teachings of our ministers and acting on them; He also expects us to support them. That is because there are words of blessings from them that may not work for us until we do so. And this may just be the reason certain prayers have not been answered in your life or the reason your life has not been fruitful the way God wants it to be fruitful: you have not been ministering to those feeding you with the word of God as you are expected to.
If that is the case, then, you are the one cheating yourself. And it is important that you change your ways and begin to act on the word of God, so that His will may be fulfilled in your life. Mind you, there are believers who are already excelling in this matter that you need to emulate. They may not be doing well in some other areas of their lives, and God will attend to that. But because they are doing well in this matter, God is elevating and exalting them.
We too need to wake up and begin to excel in this grace of giving. This is one area in which many of us who are children of God are lacking in demonstrating our faith in Him. And as we begin to do the right thing, His blessings will start finding expression fully in our lives, homes, businesses, ministries, academics and so forth, making us exceedingly fruitful and productive. Amen.
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WHATEVER YOUR HAND FINDS TO DO 01/08/2023
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…” (Eccl 9:10NIV)
One of the major problems we are facing in this country today is lack of employment. And this is badly affecting our economy and our standard of living. Many young people, especially, tertiary institution graduates, wake up every day, not knowing exactly what to do with their lives. When they were much younger, they were told to take formal education seriously and do their best to get good grades and impressive certificates. So, as bad as things were for the families of many of them, they still strived to get formal education and some good papers for themselves.
But now, even though they are through from school and have their certificates, the jobs to do with those certificates are just not there. And that has led to frustration for many of them. Parents, siblings, other family members and even friends are expecting them to start carrying certain responsibilities, for they think being a graduate is synonymous to being a millionaire. And when they are unable to perform, they start calling them all kinds of names or comparing them with children from other families, pressuring them to act in desperation. That is how some have ended up killing themselves and others have joined bad gangs and gotten involved in some very dangerous and destructive things.
Now while it is true that because of the present state of things in our country a young person may be under a lot of financial pressure from his family or the society in which he has found himself, there is no excuse for him before God to take his own life or to sell his soul to the devil to do evil. That is because the God who created him and gave him the privilege to live at such a time as this is not dead. Rather, He is very much alive, well and active. In addition to that, He is not far from him or any one of us. So, if he will reach out for Him, He will move on his behalf, show him what to do with his life and also strengthen him to rise and shine. Yes, it may take a while for him to get to where he’s made to get to. But as long as he is yielded to God, He will bring him there in due season. (Cf. Acts 17:24-28)
Then, apart from reaching out for God, every young person that is faced with financial or unemployment problems must be willing to do anything legitimate with his hands. And I do not by this mean that it is every kind of job that we all have the strength or skills to handle. But regardless of how bad things may be where we are, there will always be some legitimate work each of us can do with his hands. And what we need is to recognise what this is, throw away our feeling of shame and get working, with faithfulness and diligence. Then, as we continue to count on God for our advancement and lifting, there will come a time when He will use what we are doing at the moment to lift us to where we are supposed to be.
All of this is why Solomon, as we see in our opening bible text, says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might…” Notice that he says, “Whatever…” That means what your hand will find to do at the moment may not be what you like or what you think is fitting for your social status. But if it is something honourable and legitimate, something that is capable of removing you from that condition of depending on others for everything, then, do it; and do it with all your might. That may just be the discipline God requires you to have in order for Him to able to trust you with bigger and greater things of life.
Jeremiah shares with us along this line in his lamentations. He says, “It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.” (Lam 3:26-27NIV) Did you see that? It is good to wait without grumbling for the Lord to lift you out of the miry clay and place you on a firm place. But while you are waiting for Him to do this, you also must be willing to bear the yoke. That means you must be willing to do whatever honest and legitimate thing you are able to do for yourself. And that is one of the lessons of the story of Joseph of bible days. While he waited for the Lord’s deliverance, he bore the burdens of hard and diligent labour, both in Potiphar’s house and in the prison. Whatever his hand found to do in those two places, he did it with all his might. And when the right time came, God lifted him up and set him above all the princes of Egypt. (Cf. Gen 39-41)
Now the same God that lifted Joseph up can lift you too. But you also must be willing to trust Him and to work diligently and faithfully with your hands, as did Joseph. So, stop complaining about lack of employment; and stop saying that you can never do certain jobs. Instead, find out today what legitimate thing you can readily do with your hands, skills, education or training, and begin to do it with the fear of God and diligence. And my prayer is that the good Spirit of God will open your eyes to see what to do and also guide you into all the best God has for you. Amen.
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HE WILL MAKE A DISTINCTION 31/07/2023
“Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, so that they may worship me." If you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them back, the hand of the LORD will bring a terrible plague on your livestock in the field — on your horses and donkeys and camels and on your cattle and sheep and goats. But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and that of Egypt, so that no animal belonging to the Israelites will die.'" The LORD set a time and said, "Tomorrow the LORD will do this in the land." And the next day the LORD did it: All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one animal belonging to the Israelites died. Pharaoh sent men to investigate and found that not even one of the animals of the Israelites had died. Yet his heart was unyielding and he would not let the people go.” (Ex 9:1-7NIV)
When you read the words of our Lord Jesus that say, “God causes His sun to shine on both the good and the bad and also sends His rain on the righteous and the unrighteous,” you may conclude that God makes no discrimination at all in the way He deals with those who belong to Him and those who do not belong to Him (Matt 5:44-45). But that is not true. Yes, there are situations in which God treats both those who belong to Him and those who do not belong to Him alike. But it is not every time that He does this. There are times that He makes a distinction in the way He treats those who love Him and those who do not.
For example, as we see in our opening text, He once made a distinction between what His people Israel experienced and what the nation of Egypt experienced. In fact, He announced in advance that He was going to treat these two nations differently, even though they were living together. And that was exactly what He did. The terrible plague that came on all the animals of the Egyptians and killed them did not at all go near the livestock of the Israelites. As the men that Pharaoh sent to investigate found out, not even one of the animals of the Israelites died.
So, under certain circumstances, God’s people can expect Him to treat them differently from the way He treats those who do not believe in Him. He Himself once said to His people through Prophet Malachi, “And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” (Mal 3:18NIV) And why did He say this to them? It was because they had been saying, “It is useless to serve God. It did no good to obey his laws and to show the LORD All-Powerful that we were sorry for what we did. So we say that proud people are happy. Evil people succeed. They challenge God and get away with it.” (Mal 3:14-15NCV)
Think about that. Those people were saying that there was no gain in serving God and living uprightly before Him. And that must have been because of their experiences in life. They had been seeing wicked people prospering in their wickedness, without God punishing them, and righteous people being pushed down, suppressed and despised, without God coming to their aid. So, they began to think that it would probably be better for them to give up on righteousness and join the wicked in lying, in stealing, in cheating and in doing other kinds of terrible things that they do to advance themselves. But God said to them, “No, you are mistaken. I don’t treat the righteous and the wicked alike the way you think. There are times that I make distinctions. It is just that you have not been paying attention. But now I am going to do things that will make you see for yourself the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve me and those who do not serve me.”
Now maybe you too have been reasoning like those Jews, who thought God never discriminates between the righteous and the wicked. And it is possible that this thought has been affecting your devotion to God and to the practice of righteousness where you are. So, you have started compromising bit by bit. Things that you would naturally not do before or that you would frown at before, you now do or tolerate. And this is all because you are envious of the prosperity of the wicked. You can see the liars, the swindlers and the immoral people around you thriving and doing big things, when you, despite your devotion to righteousness, do not seem to be advancing at all – everything just seems to be stagnant for you.
Well, the word of the Lord is coming to you at this moment, saying, “Do not pay attention to the prosperity of the wicked or become envious of them. That is because they are standing on slippery ground. So, their destruction will come when they least expect it. But if you will remain steadfast in my righteousness and stay true to me, I will make sure you experience prosperity where others are failing, joy where others are sad, peace where others are troubled and exaltation where others are brought down.” And how should you respond to this? First, respond with thanksgiving to God. Second, respond with prayers, asking God to bring to fulfilment His good word concerning you without delay.
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WHAT EXALTS A NATION 30/07/2023
“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” (Prov 14:34NIV)
Can you see that? The only way for our nation to experience a lifting up is for all us to embrace righteousness. And talking about embracing righteousness, I am not just referring to a possession of righteousness as a nature or an acknowledgment of righteousness as the right thing to have or practise. Instead, I am also referring to an actual practice of righteousness.
See, there is a big difference between possessing righteousness as a nature and practising righteousness as a way of life. And there is also a big difference between acknowledging righteousness as a good thing and practising righteousness as a way of life. To say the fact, there are many people in this country today who claim to possess righteousness as a nature but who don't practise righteousness. And there are also many people in the country today who claim to believe in righteousness but who don't do righteousness. But until we begin to do righteousness, until we begin to do the right things in the right way, whatever we say that we believe or know about righteousness will not matter—failure, disgrace, decay and death are all that we are going to continually get.
Remember that there are a number of developed nations that are not as religious as ours. I am talking about countries in which many do not take God seriously and in which they have several policies and laws that encourage immoral living. Yet they are referred to as developed nations. They have good transport and communication systems. They have fairly dependable justice systems. They have superb health care services, which many of our leaders are regularly going after. They have good and progressive educational systems, which many of us will really love to access. And I don't even need to begin to talk about their security systems or technological advancement, for these are things that many of us are well aware of.
But why do they have all these beautiful things going for them, even though many of them don't care much about God? It is because, even though they do not proclaim righteousness in a religious sense, many of them practise it to a great extent. I mean that many of these people, who don't care much about religion, have a culture of doing many things right.
For example, look at how they choose their leaders and hold them accountable for their actions and inactions. Also, look at their commitment to excellence in their various fields of endeavours. At least, even if you have never travelled out of this country, you must have on different occasions used products that were imported into the country. And can you in any way compare what we produce here to what they produce over there? If you can, then, explain why many of us still prefer imported products to local products, or explain why many of our products are not exportable.
The point I am making, at any rate, is that we also need to begin practising righteousness. We need to begin to do the right things in the right way, that is, in our homes, neighbourhoods, offices, business centres, market centres, farms, schools and even religious assemblies. It is not enough for us to use our mouths to condemn stealing, extortion, lying, robbery, bribery, prostitution, kidnapping, thuggery, laziness, rebellion, division and so forth. We must also desist from all such acts in actuality.
And it is not enough for us to, only with our mouths, encourage truthfulness, hard work, excellence, loyalty, unity, vigilance and accountability. We must also be committed to practising these things wherever we are. And that is how our nation is going to be exalted; that is how our country will be lifted out of its mud of shame and placed on a mountain of glory.
So, make up your mind today that you will be among those that God will use to exalt this country through their practice of righteousness. And I pray that your heart will be encouraged and strengthened to do so, in Jesus' name. Amen.
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DON'T ACT LIKE YOU ARE FINE 29/07/2023
“I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now — if I have found favor in your eyes — and do not let me face my own ruin." (Num 11:14-15NIV)
The Scripture makes it abundantly clear to us that God is the one that daily bears all our burdens for us (Ps 68:19). That means it is only those burdens of our lives that He carries and handles for us that won't crush or destroy us. Any burden that He does not personally carry or handle for us is bound to ruin or destroy us, sooner or later. Therefore, Peter admonishes us in a letter of his to cast all our burdens, cares and worries on Him. And that is not just because He can handle all of them but also because He cares very much about us. (Cf. 1Pet 5:7)
Now, of course, God does not always wait for us to cast our cares on Him before He handles them for us. He is a responsible Father who knows all our needs and is always concerned about taking care of them (Matt 6:8&32). So, He is always working towards taking care of all our concerns and burdens, even before we mention them to Him and when we don't mention them to Him at all.
However, there are times that God won't touch certain burdens or problems we have, if we will not acknowledge these problems and the need to commit them to Him. For example, as we see in our opening bible text, there was a time that Moses cried out to God that the burden of leading the people of Israel was too heavy for him to carry. In fact, he went on to ask Him to take his life, as if that were the solution to the problem at hand.
Well, Moses prayed like that because he was terribly frustrated. And why did he become frustrated? It was because all along he had been acting as though he could handle the burden of leading that great number of people alone. As we are shown in Exodus 18, even when Jethro, his father-in-law, came to visit him with his wife and sons, he did not fail to point out to him that the burden of leading the people was too heavy for him to carry and that he would need to appoint leaders to share the burden with. And we are told that he listened to his father-in-law and did as the man had counselled.
But when we consider the fact that he still had to cry out to God later that the burden was too heavy for him, it is evident that he either did not do enough sharing of his work before or those that he shared the work with did not have sufficient enablement to support him. And interestingly, when he cried out to God about this matter, He did not rebuke him for doing so. He did not say, “You are crying like this simply because you are lazy and unwilling to be responsible.” Instead, He told him what to do to lighten the burden. He told him that he would need anointed leaders, not just selected leaders, to work with. And once he did what God told him to do, he never had to complain or pray again that the work was too much for him. (Cf. Num 11)
Now why did God not rebuke Moses for praying the way he did, expressing his frustration and tiredness? It was because He knew that he was indeed frustrated. He also knew that his frustration was not as a result of laziness or unwillingness to be responsible. Rather, it was because, all along, he had failed to acknowledge that the work was too much for him to handle. So, in a sense, God was waiting for this man to come to an end of himself, to come to that point where he would tell himself the truth about his leadership among the Israelites. And what was the truth? It was that the job was too much for him to handle – he needed quality help.
In like manner, as I pointed out before, there are times that God leaves certain burdens in our lives untouched because He wants us to first acknowledge the truth about them to ourselves. It may be that we have been deceiving ourselves and others around us about such burdens, pretending that they are nothing or that they are not hurting us. Yes, we may have taken some steps to deal with them based on our understanding of things. But we know that what we have done or are doing about them is not working. And until we tell ourselves the truth about these things, stop leaning on our own understanding in handling them and cast them upon God, our Father, we may end up being frustrated or utterly ruined by them.
Why are many, including Christians, in depression today? Why is the number of those committing suicide and those being committed to asylums increasing everyday? One main reason is that most people lie to themselves, others and even God about their problems. Though they are being tortured and ruined, they still keep acting as though they are fine. But God is saying to all such people, including you, if you are one of them, “You are not fine. And you need to admit it and call out to me for help. Otherwise, what is killing you now may end up destroying you.”
So, if there is any situation that is secretly hurting or destroying your life, home, business, children or ministry, you need to stop pretending or lying to yourself, God and others about it. Instead, call out to God to do what only He can do, to bear this burden for you. It is His job to do so. And He will gladly do so. How He will handle it is up to Him and not up to you. But there is solution with Him. And my counsel to you is that you go for it before it is too late. Yes, go for it instead of taking your life. Go for His solution instead of allowing your burden to crush you.
It is well with your soul.
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DON'T BE STUBBORN 28/07/2023
“A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed — without remedy.” (Prov 29:1NIV)
One of the things we see in Scriptures about God is that He is a God of mercy. And because He is a God of mercy, He is often patient with those who are sinning or acting against His will. But people can misrepresent this for slowness or inability to judge wickedness on His part and continue to misbehave. This is why Peter says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2Peter 3:9NIV)
Did you see that? God is never slow in judging sin or wickedness, as some of us understand slowness. The reason we don't often see Him punishing people immediately they do wrong things is that He is patient and merciful, not wanting anyone to perish but to come to repentance.
But then, we also need to understand that God is not under any obligation to be patient with anyone or not to judge anyone immediately for their sins. As we in Scriptures, there were times that He judged people immediately they sinned against Him. In other words, He judged them without giving them any warning or exercising any form of patience with them.
For example, when Nadab and Abihu, two of the sons of Aaron, offered unauthorised fire before Him, He immediately judged them with fire from His presence, and they died (Lev 10:1-2). These men were not warned or rebuked at all. Instead, they were instantly killed. Also, when Uzzah, out of care for the Ark of the Covenant, touched it in order to prevent it from falling off the cart that was carrying it, God killed him immediately without mercy or warning (2Sam 6:1-7).
So, if we are being warned, rebuked or corrected by God for any wrong thing we are doing, we need to consider ourselves privileged and not be arrogant or stiff-necked. That is because, as we are shown in our opening bible text, anyone that remains stiff-necked after being rebuked or corrected by God severally is bound to perish suddenly and without remedy. In other words, that person's destruction will come when he or nobody expects it.
You know that when people are doing wrong things and are not being immediately punished by God, they may, at some point, begin to think that judgment will never come. But as Paul tells us in his letter to the Thessalonians, it is while wicked men and women are saying, “Peace and safety,” that destruction will come on them suddenly, and they will not be able to escape (1Thess 5:3).
Look at King Ahab of bible days, for example. Despite all the warnings and words of correction and rebuke that he got from the Lord through his prophets, he did not turn away from his wicked ways. Even when he wanted to go to the battle where his life was ended, he was warned by Micaiah, the man of God, not to go. Yet he did not listen but went. And when he entered the battle, nothing seemed odd, nothing looked different. He just kept on moving here and there and killing his enemies as usual. But then, randomly, as the bible puts it, some unknown soldier drew his bow and hit him with the arrow between the joints of his armour. And that was what ended him. So, he died when he least expected death to come. (Cf. 1Kings 22)
Now what is the point of all this? It is that destruction or failure can come upon us when we least expect it, if we keep relating to God's instruction with a spirit of pride and stubbornness. So, if there is any way we are stubbornly defying God at the moment, simply because we think we have been doing so for long and nothing bad has happened to us, we need to repent right away. That is because we may not get any further warning from Him before we are made to suffer the consequences of our stubbornness. And who knows how severe those consequences may be?
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INFERIOR PRAYER REQUESTS 27/07/2023
"You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. "Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"” (1Kings 3:6-9NIV)
That was Solomon’s prayer to God, when He asked him to tell Him whatever he would want Him to give to him. And notice that this young man began by thanking God for the position he was. He acknowledged that it was God Himself, not his own father, David, or his righteousness that put him there. That is the way to pray and receive.
Then he went on to acknowledge before God his inadequacy to handle that position the way it should be handled. He wanted to do the right thing with his position. But he knew that without God's enablement, he would not be able to do so. That means this man not only had the right motives, he also understood that there was a need for him to express his utter dependence on God to succeed in life and as king.
Finally, he asked God for the one thing he needed most to succeed in his position as king – he asked for a discerning heart. And in giving us God's response to this man's prayer, the bible says:
“The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for — both riches and honor — so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life."” (1Kings 3:10-15NIV)
Did you see that? Solomon's request pleased God. My earnest desire and prayer is that my requests and your requests too will always be pleasing to Him. See, if our request pleases Him, He will certainly grant it, as He granted Solomon's. In fact, He will even do for us immeasurably more than we have asked of Him, for He is able to do so (Eph 3:20). And that is what He did in Solomon's case. He gave him much more than he had requested for.
But before He did that, He first showed him some of the inferior requests he could have made. He said that if he had asked for long life for himself, for instance, it would have been an inferior request. Is long life not a good thing? It is. But that someone lives long does not mean that his life will have meaning and not be wasted. There are many old fools all around the world whose lives will still mean nothing when they are ended.
Also, the Lord told Solomon that if he had asked for wealth for himself, it would have been an inferior request. Of what use is wealth, if you do not have the wisdom to use it to please God and to make life better for humanity? It is useless. And that is how it is with many wealthy people today. Their wealth is useless and will ultimately rot, inasmuch as they are not using it to make the world a better place for others to live in (James 5:1-6).
Then the Lord equally told him that if he had asked for the death of his enemies, it would have been an inferior request. That is because it is not in every situation that the death of a man's enemies will spell peace or a life of meaning for him. So, even if all our enemies die and we still do not have what it takes to make sense out of living, we will end up being our own enemies and ruining ourselves.
Well, the point I am making is that we can actually make prayer requests that are inferior to the will of God for us. And when that is the case, even if God grants them, our lives may still not be any better than they have been. But if we, like Solomon, make requests that are in line with His will and are pleasing to Him, He will not only answer us but also do for us much more than we can ask or imagine.
He did that for Solomon. He gave him riches, fame, honour and the promise of long life, if he continued to walk in his will, in addition to wisdom and breath of understanding that are as measureless as the sand on the seashore (1Kings 4:29). He can do even much more for us too, if we will learn to make superior prayer requests. And I pray that God will fill your heart with adequate knowledge of His will for you, so that every time you open your mouth to pray, your prayer requests will always move Him to want to do more for you. Amen.
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HE WILL COMPLETE IT 26/07/2023
Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave us birth into a living hope and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. In His great and infinite mercies, He has brought us safely into another day of this month. And I am confident that He will carry on to completion every good work He started in us. (Cf. Phil 1:6)
Now we really can count on God to do that. I mean we can count on Him to carry to completion all the good works He began in all of us who are His children. God, our Father, is not a quitter; neither is He someone that starts something that He is unable to see through. Even men are smart enough not to embark on a project that they are not certain they are able to see through.
Our Lord Jesus highlighted this during one of His sermons on discipleship. He said, “Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn't first sit down and figure the cost so you'll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you're going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: 'He started something he couldn't finish.'” (Luke 14:28-30MSG)
Look at that. Nobody will like to be in a situation where people will make fun of Him for being foolish enough to start something he cannot finish. And if that is how it is with men, will it not be even truer in God’s case? Will God want anybody to make fun of Him for promising us something He cannot deliver? No!
And that was proved to be so in the wilderness, when God was so angry with the children of Israel that He sought to destroy them all, except Moses. But Moses, according to the bible, pleaded with God and drew His attention to what the Egyptians and others would say about Him. He said:
“If you put these people to death all at one time, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, 'The LORD was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath; so he slaughtered them in the desert.' Now may the Lord's strength be displayed, just as you have declared: 'The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.' In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.” (Num 14:15-19NIV)
Now do you know that when Moses prayed like that God actually answered him? The bible says, “The LORD replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked.”” (Num 14:20NIV) That is to show us how concerned God is about His integrity. He does not make promises that He cannot keep or that He does not intend to keep. And He does not begin a work that He cannot finish or that He does not intend to finish.
He once said to Jacob, “… I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Gen 28:15NCV) And now He is saying to us through the mouth of Apostle Paul, “I, who have called you into fellowship with my Son Jesus Christ, am a faithful God. And I will keep you strong and blameless till the very end. You can count on that.” (Cf. 1Cor 1:8-9)
Let us, therefore, go and face our world today and throughout the remaining part of the year with these words of assurance, knowing that the Lord will not fail us.
It is well with your soul!
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EVEN IF YOU ARE AT YOUR WITS’ END 25/07/2023
“Others went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep. For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away. They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits' end. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.” (Ps 107:23-30NIV)
Here is a testimony of certain business men, who were merchants and sailors and who got into trouble on the sea. And though these men were professionals, their knowledge, skills, cleverness and courage failed them at that hour. In short, they found themselves at their wits' end, for nothing they did to save themselves worked.
But when they cried out to God for help, He answered them and brought them out of their distress. He spoke to the storm and the waves that were contrary to them, and they were hushed. More than that, He led them to the very place their hearts had always desired to go. What a great and marvellous God He is!
Have you also come to your wits' end in your marriage, business, ministry or studies? Have you become utterly confused about the way forward in life or the way out of the stagnation you have found yourself in? It is not the will of God for you to perish there. Rather, His will is that you will call to Him and let Him do for you what your intelligence, cleverness, education, skills, influence, power and whatever it is you have been counting on in life can never accomplish for you.
So, regardless how lost, far away from your dreams, confused or distressed you are on the sea of life, let Him take you to your desired haven, your desired place of rest, by calling out to Him in prayer. But if you keep on counting on yourself, human beings or the power of the devil to fulfil your dreams, you may just perish where you are.
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DON’T DESPISE THE GIFT OF GOD 24/07/2023
"Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country, famished. He said to Jacob, "Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!" (That is why he was also called Edom. Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright." "Look, I am about to die," Esau said. "What good is the birthright to me?" But Jacob said, "Swear to me first." So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew. He ate and drank, and then got up and left. So Esau despised his birthright.” (Gen 25:29-34NIV)
Have you ever despised something or someone or judged them as worthless, only to later found out that your judgment was wrong and that the very person you despised, ignored and rejected was someone that would have contributed greatly to your advancement or satisfaction in life? If you have never done that, then, I pray that you don’t ever do it. That is because the regret or pain that may come with it may be for an entire lifetime.
Now such was the case with Esau. Esau was the elder of the twins of both Isaac and Rebekah. And as the bible tells us, he was a skilful hunter, who also went on to have under his command four hundred warriors (Gen 25:27&33:1). So, we are looking at a strong, brave and intelligent man and leader. Yes, we are looking at a very confident man, one who believed in what his intelligence and might could achieve for him.
But Jacob, Esau’s younger twin brother, was unlike him. He was not an impressive person like his elder brother. Rather, he was a quiet person that prefers to stay indoors. That, however, does not mean that he was a stupid person. On the contrary, he was a very clever person, who knew how to use what he had to get what he wanted.
Well then, being an indoor person, one who was always interacting with everyone at home, especially his parents and their servants, it was not long before he learnt about a special blessing from God that was running through their family and which naturally was meant to go to his elder brother. And the moment he got to know about this blessing and what it could do to his life and the lives of his descendants after him, he began to covet it and think of ways to make it his. (Cf. Gen 12:1-3, 22:15-18 & 26:2-5)
Now a day came when his dream came true. Esau came home that day, hungry and fainting and desiring to eat something very fast. And to make things easy for him, he met his younger brother in possession of what he loved best, red stew. So, he asked him to quickly give him some in order that he may quench his hunger with it and renew his strength. But Jacob, who was a very shrewd person, saw an opportunity in that situation to make his brother give up his right as the elder of the two of them and so asked him to sell it for the price of his red stew. Why? It was because he felt that would give him the opportunity he needed to be the inheritor of the blessing of God that was given to their grandfather, Abraham.
How, then, did Esau respond to that? He responded by saying, “Look, I am about to die here. What good is the birthright to me?” So, without giving much thought to what he was about to do, he sold his birthright on oath, collected the food he wanted to eat, ate, drank and then got up and left. And the bible says that by doing that, he despised his birthright. Think about it. That man despised something that only God could give a man, something that no amount of money could ever buy. And by despising his birthright, he also despised the blessing given by God to Abraham and proved himself to be unworthy of receiving it. So, today, hundreds of years later, the descendants of Jacob still stand as a recognised nation in the world, but the descendants of Esau are nowhere to be found.
But why did Esau do what he did? He did it because he was a godless man, as the bible notes (Heb 12:16-17). He was someone that did not believe in spiritual things and the roles they play in determining how life goes. Remember I said that he was a very confident young man. But his confidence was not in God but in himself and in what he could accomplish for himself. Unfortunately, all that he could accomplish for himself could not give him and his descendants a permanent place in God’s scheme of things.
In like manner, we need to watch never to put confidence in ourselves or our abilities to take care of ourselves. Is that to say it is wrong to be a confident person? No! But our confidence must not be in ourselves but in God without whom we cannot accomplish anything. This, of course, will keep us humble and also from despising people or things that He has given as gifts to fulfil us in life.
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DON’T TRY TO HELP GOD 23/07/2023
"Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her." Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.” (Gen 16:1-4NIV)
In Genesis 15 we have the account of God’s assurance to Abraham that He would give him a son of his own, who would be his heir. And he believed God. He believed every word God said to him about the matter. Therefore, God proclaimed him righteous on account of his faith.
But then, as we see in our opening text, after a while, his wife, Sarah, succeeded in convincing him to take her maid in as his concubine. Why? She probably felt that since God had assured her husband that he would have a son, the son might as well come from anywhere – he really did not have to come from her.
Now did her plan work or not? It worked. But was that what God wanted? No! Indeed, He promised Abraham a son of his own. But it was never His intention to do so through an illegitimate means. And all that they, then, needed to do was to wait for Him to fulfil His promise.
Unfortunately, Sarah would not let them wait. Instead, she felt that they needed to do something to help God. That was why she came up with the plan to use her maid, Hagar, to bring the promise to pass. And as I already pointed out, her plan worked, even though it was not in line with the will of God for them.
So, that you take steps outside the will of God in order to get something that God has already promised to give you or to get something that He wants you to have does not mean you are going to fail. I mean that people can be succeeding in what they are doing, even though it is contrary to the will of God for them. It does not mean that they are on the right track.
Yes, they may think they are just helping God to bring His will to pass in their lives. But nobody can help God to do what only He can do. And no one should try to help Him to do it. It is sufficient for us to carry out our own legitimate responsibilities in our lives’ matters, based on the abilities and opportunities given to us by Him. But to step outside that realm in order to aid Him is to look for trouble.
Again, as we see in Abraham and Sarah’s case, though their plans to help God seemed to work, it introduced into their lives and into the world troubles that should never have been there. First, it launched an attack on their marriage. And that attack would have destroyed it, if Abraham had not acted wisely in handling it. Second, it brought ageless bitterness in between the sons of both women and their descendants.
In like manner, whenever we resort to using our own wisdom or schemes to accomplish the will of God for us, we are bound to invite into our lives and world problems or wars that should never have been ours to fight. This is why the quarrels in some families may never end till Jesus would come. And it is also why some people may never enjoy peace or rest in life again, even though they have gotten certain things their hearts have been yearning to have for years.
So, be careful of any kind of desperation that may drive you to go outside the will of God in getting your needs met or in solving some of your life’s problems. Otherwise, though you have your way, the troubles that will follow may just be bigger than the ones you are trying to solve.
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SPEAK HIS WORD INTO YOUR LIFE 22/07/2023
"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” (Ps 27:13NIV)
One of the things we must learn to do as God's people is to speak divinely inspired words into our lives instead of cursing ourselves or polluting our lives with evil words. David, in one of his psalms, says the following:
“Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” (Ps 34:11-14NIV)
Did you see that? If we truly love to enjoy our lives and to see many good and not evil days, one of the things we must learn is to keep our tongues from evil speaking. This, of course, goes beyond not telling lies or not abusing others; it also involves not speaking negative words into our own lives. There are people that any time they encounter any difficulty in life, they must say something negative into their lives. Yet they wonder why bad things keep happening to them and bad situations keep becoming worse for them. They are the cause of their own miseries. They have a negative mindset, a mindset that is polluted with evil thoughts. So, each time they speak, it is the evil in them that is coming out.
Now that is perfectly scriptural, for the word of God says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). So, the reason you speak negative words to others and to yourself is that your heart is filled with negative thoughts, purposes and desires. If you, then, want to change and begin to speak positive words to others and into your own life, you must begin to fill your heart with positive thoughts, purposes and desires.
Does this, then, mean that all you need to enjoy life and see many happy days is to fill yourself with positive thoughts and to speak them out? No! Of course, any day and anytime, it is better to say positive things into our lives than to say negative things. But the fact that we keep saying positive things into our lives does not mean that positive or good things will keep happening to us. Good things don't just happen to people; it is God that makes them happen. The bible says every good and perfect thing comes from Him. (Cf. James 1:17)
So, it does not matter how positive you are about life and what positive things you are saying to yourself, if God does not make life beautiful and good for you, it won't be. What I am saying is that our positive words are not enough to scare Satan and his hosts away from us. That is why many people with positive attitudes in life are still failing and getting destroyed by these evil beings every day.
But when our positive words are words that are divinely inspired, when they are words that are spoken on the basis of what God, our maker, has said and on the basis of our faith in Him, they will not return to us empty. In other words, they will not fail to accomplish what we desire and achieve the purpose for which we have uttered them. (Cf. Isaiah 55:11)
So, continually fill yourself with the word of God in order that you may keep speaking it to yourself and into your life. Then, as each day passes, you will see your life taking the form of the divine words you are speaking into it. And supposing you are wondering what divine words you need to fill yourself with and also speak into your life, you have an example in our opening bible text. In it, David says, “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”
What about you? What are you confident of seeing in life? If you too are confident that God is able to make you witness His goodness here on earth also and not just when you get to heaven, then, say the same words in agreement. Say, “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living this very day and every other day of my life.” And so shall it be in Jesus' name.
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REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU ARE 21/07/2023
"From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.” (Jonah 2:1-2NIV)
Jonah, as we see in our opening bible text once called upon the Lord for salvation and he was heard and saved. But where was he when he called on his name? In the belly of a great fish! He was originally running away from God. And that trip away from God landed him in the belly of a great fish.
Now only God Himself knows how many like this man have landed in some big trouble because they were running away from Him, away from His truth, away from His will for their lives. Only He also knows how many have lost their lives in the process of running away from Him and the truth He was confronting them with.
So, I am going to say this to you: that devil that is driving you away from God is not driving you to any good or safe place. And if you lose time in resisting him and submitting yourself to your God and to His truth, you too may end up finding yourself in the belly of a great fish. Who knows, then, what that fish might do to you? Who knows whether it will feast on you before you even get a chance to repent and turn back to God for salvation? Therefore, don't take the risk. It is not worth it.
In any case, Jonah, when he found himself still alive in the belly of that great fish, knew there was nowhere else to run to. He had come to a dead end. So, he had only two very simple options. The first was for him to refuse to acknowledge that he was in the wrong place and that his life was in danger and about to be snuffed out there. The second was for him to turn back to the God that He was running away from and cry out to Him for help.
Now, if he had chosen the first option, he would have perished in the belly of that fish, and we would most likely have never known or heard his story. But he did not choose that option. Instead, he chose the second one. And because he chose the second one, because he acknowledged that he was in the wrong place and cried out to God for salvation, he was saved. The same fish that swallowed him vomited him on dry ground, so that he could go and do the will of God that he had once turned away from.
What is my point? It is that if you too will call out to God from wherever you are hidden away from His peace, rest, joy and fruitfulness, He will answer you and save you. But will you call out to Him? Will you answer His call, as Adam and Eve eventually did, even though He may rebuke you or show you the consequences of your error?
Well, it is better you call out to Him and be rebuked by Him than for you to remain in darkness and be utterly destroyed. That is because even if He rebukes or wounds you, He will still heal you and make you whole, as long as you submit yourself totally to Him and cast yourself on Him for mercy (Job 5:18). As we see in Adam's case, though God proclaimed judgment on him and his wife for their rebellion, He still provided the payment for their sin and the sins of their descendants after them (Rom 3:25-26).
So, stop running or hiding from Him, however terrible your sins may be or messed up your life may be. Instead, release yourself to Him. Then, if you know anyone that is hiding from Him or running away from Him, you will do well to pass this message on to them. God is saying to them, “Where are you?” And they will do well to respond to His call and say, “Here am I. Save me!”
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TO MEN EVERYWHERE 20/07/2023
“I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.” (1Tim 2:8NIV)
What is the instruction here? It is that all the men in all the churches of God everywhere must be devoted to prayer. Is that to say that it is only the men in the church that ought to be devoted to prayer? No!
Everybody, as we see in several other passages of the bible, ought to be devoted to prayer. However, this specific instruction is given on prayer to men because Paul wants them to know that God does not want them to take the back seat in prayer matters, whether in the assembly of His people or in their homes. Instead, He wants them to be at the forefront.
What we are saying is that God does not want our men, married or singles, making excuses for staying away from prayer meetings, sleeping in prayer meetings, delegating their prayer responsibilities or hiring people to handle their prayer business. Rather, He wants them to take their prayer responsibilities seriously and be up and doing in handling them.
Also, He does not want the married ones pushing their wives or children to the fore, when it comes to prayer matters in their homes. Rather, He wants them to stand at the fore. Men are created to be leaders. This, of course, does not mean that they must surely be leaders in every place, as some think and so refuse to submit themselves when they are placed under the leadership of a woman. Such people are immature and unspiritual and in need of the cleansing of the word of God.
At any rate, regardless of how lowly the place of a man in this world may be, he will always be a leader in his own home. And there he must also show himself as a leader in prayer matters, instead of taking the back seat. In short, wherever a man is a leader, he must show himself as a praying leader. In other words, he must be one that is leading those under his watch in a life of utter dependence in God. And if all of God's men that are leaders in various capacities in this world will take this very seriously, the kind of peace and fruitfulness we will be enjoying will definitely be beyond what mouth can speak of.
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BE MERCIFUL 19/07/2023
"Blessed are those who show mercy. They will be treated mercifully.” (Matt 5:7GW)
Do you want to be treated mercifully? If you want to, then, be merciful. Those are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ to us. And what this means is that it is not enough to be praying to God for mercy; we also must learn to be merciful to others. Otherwise, we too may not be shown mercy in some situations of our lives.
Now I know someone may say, “But God does not need us to be merciful to others in order to show us mercy. So, why should you say we may not receive His mercy, simply because we have refused to show others mercy?” It is true that God does not need us to be merciful to others in other to show us mercy. In fact, if He had needed to wait for us to be merciful to others before showing us mercy, none of us would have been saved. He showed us mercy because He is a merciful God and because He loves us. He showed us mercy so that we too could learn to be merciful to others.
The point I am making is that God did not just show us mercy to show Himself to us as a merciful God but to also teach us to be merciful to others. He wants us to learn from Him to treat others better than they deserve. More so, we have been blessed to be able to do this. If we will, therefore, not show mercy to others who have failed us, forgive them and treat them better than they deserve, we will not only be acting contrary to His will for us but also wasting His grace that is at work in our lives.
When that, then, is the case, there may come a time in which we too will not be shown mercy, regardless of how much we cry for it. This is why James says, “…because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!” (James 2:13NIV) Did you see that? Mercy triumphs over judgment. And our Lord illustrates this for us with the story of a servant who owed his king a huge sum of money and could not pay. So, his master ordered that he, his family and everything he had be sold to repay the debt. But he fell down and cried for mercy, and his master forgave him his debt and allowed him to go free. Think about it.
Unfortunately, just right after that incident, this same servant went and found another servant that owed him just some money and began to choke him and to demand that he pay what he owed. He even went as far as putting the man in jail because he could not pay him. This, of course, upset other servants who knew of how he had been shown mercy by their master and forgiven his huge debt. So, they reported him to their master, who was so furious with him that he changed his judgment and asked that he be tortured until he paid back his debt. And the Lord says that is exactly how God, our Father, will treat those who will not show others mercy. (Cf. Matt 18:23-35)
Now perhaps you are already being treated by God in that manner because you will not be merciful to others. Perhaps the reason certain doors of favour and mercy have remained shut against you is that you also are refusing to show some persons that have hurt or offended you mercy, so that they may experience some measure of peace of mind, elevation or comfort through you. The Lord is speaking to you now and saying, “Be merciful, so that you too can be shown mercy and move from where you are to where you ought to be.”
But then, it is also good we understand that showing mercy goes beyond what we do for those who have hurt us. Even those who have not hurt us or done anything wrong to us can be beneficiaries of our mercy. For instance, when we help people who are too weak or poor to help themselves, we are being merciful. Also, when we take it upon ourselves to comfort people in their moments of trials or when we choose to give people more than they should naturally get, just because we are concerned about their hard labour, age or handicap, we are being merciful. And when we function like this, the hearts of those whom we have shown mercy will certainly be moved to pray to God for us.
For instance, look at how Paul prays for a man named Onesiphorus in his letter to Timothy: “May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me. May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.” (2Tim 1:16-18NIV) Did you see that? Paul was moved to pray to God for mercy for this man because of his acts of mercy towards him. That is the way those that you show mercy to in their moments of trials or weakness will be moved to cry out to God for your good. And even if they will not do so, the Scriptures have already shown us that God will be merciful to those who show mercy, and they are trustworthy (Ps 41:1-3; Matt 5:7). So, be merciful, my friend, for you don't know when you too will need to be shown mercy.
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SEPARATE YOURSELF FROM IT 18/07/2023
“When Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned safely to his palace in Jerusalem, Jehu the seer, the son of Hanani, went out to meet him and said to the king, "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? Because of this, the wrath of the LORD is upon you.”” (2Chron 19:1-3NIV)
Why was the wrath of the Lord upon king Jehoshaphat? It was because he joined a wicked man in acting against the will of God. As the story goes, Jehoshaphat once visited the king of Israel, Ahab, because the latter was his in-law. But Ahab, as the bible tells us, was a very wicked man. In fact, he was so wicked that the bible says of him, “There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the LORD drove out before Israel.” (1Kings 21:25-26NIV)
So, Ahab was not just a wicked man but also an idolater. This being the case, Jehoshaphat, being a true lover and worshipper of God, should not have allied himself to this man by marriage or in any other way at all. That is because there is no way you will be in alliance with a wicked person and not be unduly exposed to situations that will want to make you sin against God (Deut 7:3-4).
But you know, most times, in politics, people care more about perceptions than realities. They care more about favouring public sentiments than doing what is right. And this, perhaps, was the reason Jehoshaphat ended up having Ahab as his in-law.
In any case, on an occasion that he visited him, the man requested that he join him in going to battle against the people of Ramoth Gilead. And since there was an alliance between them, he accepted to go with him. But he also requested that they should consult God first to know whether they should go to that battle or not. And when they did, the man of God, Macaiah, made it clear to them that disaster was what they would meet, if they should go to that battle. But instead for them to listen to his voice, Ahab would not let them. So, they went against the will of God and Ahab met his death in the battle, just as the man of God had said. (Cf. 2Chro 18)
Now Jehoshaphat himself would have been killed in that battle, if God had not been merciful to him (2Chro 18:30-32). But what was he doing on that battle ground in the first place? Why would he go against what he knew to be the will of God in order to please people? He could have told Ahab that he would not go with him since God had shown them that disaster was looming. That, of course, may have affected their alliance. But he would not have been exposed to destruction, as he was, or come under the wrath of God.
What is the point of all this? It is that you should watch the kind of association you keep. Paul says, “Don’t be deceived. Bad company corrupts good character.” (Cf. 1Cor 15:33) That is to say that there is no way you will maintain friendship with an evil or wicked person and not be corrupted at some point and to some extent, regardless how much you love God. So, don’t get involved in any kind of association or friendship that has a potential to put pressure on you or entice you or manipulate or seduce you to do evil or act against the will of God. Otherwise, you will have fallen into some trap of death, immorality, idolatry or greed before you know what is happening to you. And if God’s mercy is not extended to you, that may just be what will destroy your life or faith permanently.
Then, if you are already in a friendship or association that is constantly making you go against what you know to be the will of God, you need to separate yourself from it while you still can. I am saying this because I want you to know that the reason you have not yet been destroyed or gotten into some big trouble because of this relationship is that God is being patient with you and merciful to you.
But as we know through Scriptures, His patience with sinners is not forever. At some point, if they will not repent, He will have to do the needful and judge them (Rev 2:20-23). And if you do not want to come under such judgment, you had better separate yourself right away from that wrong relationship or friendship. My prayer is that you will be filled with the wisdom, boldness and strength of mind you need to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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SUCCESS IS ALL YOU HAVE IN MIND 17/07/2023
"When Solomon had finished the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the LORD and in his own palace, the LORD appeared to him at night…” (2Chron 7:11-12NIV)
One important thing that the Scripture above teaches us is that success in all our endeavours is achievable. Just take a careful look again at what is said about Solomon in the text. It is said that HE SUCCEEDED in carrying out ALL HE HAD IN MIND TO DO in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace. And observe that it was not only in doing those things that pertained to the worship of God that this man succeeded; he also succeeded in handling those things that pertained to his own life. That means it is not only in matters of our service to God that we can experience complete success; we can also experience complete success in handling the matters of our own lives.
In any case, if Solomon could succeed in carrying out all he had in mind to do, then, we too can succeed in carrying out all that we have in mind to do. We just need to know how to do so. And how do we do so? First, it is by putting God first and seeking to please Him in all that we do. Solomon succeeded in all that he had in mind to do because his delight was to please God and make Him happy with everything he did. If we too would put God first and seek to please in all we do, we will not desire wrong things or conceive wrong and unrighteous ideas. Then He will lead us to the right endeavours for us and keep us from wasting our lives, time, energy, skills and resources on unprofitable ventures.
Yes, the road may be rough and difficult. But as long as we put God first and seek to please Him in all our dealings, He will make sure we are brought to the place of abundance and success. That is why the bible says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Ps 37:4NIV)
The second thing we need to succeed in all we have in mind to do is to rely solely on God for all that we need to succeed. Solomon says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the labourers labour in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.” (Cf. Ps 127:1) This shows that the secret of his success was in his total dependence on God. If we too want to succeed in all that we do, then, we must not just set our affection on Him and on pleasing Him; we must also totally depend on Him for all – wisdom, knowledge, understanding, resources, people and so forth – that we need in our endeavours. This is why we must learn to pray.
The third thing we need for success in our endeavours is success mentality. One of the reasons many fail in almost everything they do is that their mentality is wrong – their minds are programmed to fail. So, even before they start anything, they are already thinking of how it might fail or how they may lose everything. And if they are in a job, all they will see is what is not working there; they won’t see what is working or what they can make to work.
But as long as you function with this kind of mentality, it will be hard for you to succeed at anything. Solomon did not start building that temple and his own palace, thinking that the projects would fail. Rather, he set out expecting that he would succeed. And since he was doing the will of God and also trusting Him for success, he eventually succeeded. So, get rid of your failure mentality, if you have it, and start thinking success. Then, as long as your heart is right with God and your endeavours are legitimate and righteous, He will guide you into success.
Lastly, we need to cultivate the act of being thorough with our planning and diligent with our work. Read about Solomon’s work on the temple and his palace and you cannot fail to see that he was thorough with their planning and excellent in handling their execution. It is, however, unfortunate that many today, even believers, want success but don’t want to think hard, work hard and give excellence to their labour. Yet they expect God to reward their slothfulness. That is not going to work. So, if you want true success, set your affection on God, trust Him absolutely, think success and work hard too. And God will crown your effort with success.
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EMBRACE IT WITH HUMILITY 16/07/2023
“Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” (James 1:21NIV)
The first thing James tells us here is that the word of God that we have received is like a seed that is planted in some ground. So, God’s intention is for His word to take root in us and grow and bring forth fruit. And you can think of all the messages He has planted in your heart since you became born again or of all the messages He has planted in you this year. Have they taken root in your heart? If they have not taken root, definitely they cannot grow or bring forth fruit.
Then notice that James does not just say, “Accept the word planted in you…” Rather, he says, “Humbly accept the word planted in you.” That means even when God’s word is contrary to your opinion, you are still to accept it. And for that to happen, you must see His word as superior to your thoughts or opinions. Yes, you must see His word as superior to your ideas, experiences or feelings. If you do not see it as superior to whatever you are going through or thinking, you will not accept it. That is why some will say, “Let us put the word of God aside and face reality.”
But is there any reality besides the word of God? The word of God is reality. Jesus says, “Sanctify them by your word. Your word is truth.” (Cf. John 17:17) That means God’s word is reality. And this is why James says accept His word with humility. If you want it to produce the results He desires in your life, then, you must accept it with humility. Don’t argue with His word. Don’t think that you know better than what He is telling you. Don’t think that your feelings are superior to the word. Your feelings may be contrary to His word. But take the word as superior to them. Recognise the supremacy of the word of God.
In Isaiah, chapter 55, we are told this: ““For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”” (Isaiah 55:8-9NIV) Can you see that? God is saying here that He is superior to us in thinking. His ways are superior to our ways. You may think you have everything planned out. But His ways are superior to ours.
So, in humility, we are expected to drop our ways and embrace His ways. In humility we are to drop our thoughts and embrace His thoughts. And until we do that, we cannot experience what He wants us to experience. Until we do that, we cannot see the fruit of His word in our lives. That is what God is saying. So, do you want God’s word to continually produce in you the results He desires? Embrace it with humility! Regardless of what you feel, see or think, embrace His word.
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YOUR ZEAL IS NOT ENOUGH 15/07/2023
“They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.” (1Timothy 1:7NIV)
Who is Paul talking to in our opening bible text? He is talking to Timothy. And what does he want him to know? He wants him to know that there are actually some so-called believers who want to be teachers of the law but who really do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. And there are many people who fall under this same category of persons today. They want to be addressed as prophets, evangelists or apostles. Some of them have even found ways of acquiring those titles. Yet they don’t understand what they are doing.
Indeed, such people may be passionate about God. Indeed, they may want to serve Him. But they lack knowledge. And that is why they are causing confusion here and there. They are misleading people here and there. They are misguiding people here and there. They want to preach, but they don’t know what they want to preach or the person they want to preach about. So, they mess up the word of God.
Often, we come in contact with individuals like such, who are constantly messing up the word of God. Some of them will wake up very early in the morning to do ‘Morning-cry’. And I am not against that. But what is the content of your message? What is that thing that is coming out of your mouth, that thing that you are crying out about? Is it God’s word or your own idea?
What some people are carrying around are their church policies, church principles, church ideas and church doctrines. And these, for the most part, are doctrines and ideas that are not rooted in the word of God. Yet that is what they preach and teach everywhere they go. And they are doing so passionately.
Sit down with some people to talk about some matters from the Scriptures, and they will end up wanting to fight you. Why? It is because they believe their position about such matters is just the right one. And when you say, “Okay, please establish this position you have taken from the Scriptures,” they will simply turn the whole thing into a fight and start shouting at you. When you see people like such, you have found individuals who are zealous but who lack knowledge.
Well, my point is that it is not sufficient for you to be zealous for God; you must also have sound knowledge and understanding. You must understand what God expects of you. You must understand how He expects you to live. You must understand how He expects you to relate to others. You must understand the kind of message He wants you to communicate about Him. So, regardless of how zealous you may be about God, don’t run ahead to preach or evangelise without having sound knowledge of Him and of His will. Otherwise, you may find yourself doing more harm to the work of God’s kingdom than good.
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PUT IT TO WORK 14/07/2023
"…it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.” (Matthew 25:14-16NIV)
Now, first, I want you to pay attention to the part of our opening text that says the man went at once and put his money to work. He did not waste time at all. He did not beat about the bush. He did not defer or postpone his work. No procrastination on his part. He went out at once to work. Why? He did not know exactly when his master that was at that time going on a journey would come back. So, for him, there was no time to waste.
Then from verse 17 of the same chapter we are told, “So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.” (Matthew 25:17-18) Did you see that? The second servant also went and put to work what he had been given and gained more. But the third man went off and hid his master’s money.
Now how much did that man hide? If you read this passage without giving much thought to the value of what the man was given at that time, you would likely say, “Wasn’t he just given one talent?” But we are talking about an emolument of about twenty years of hard work. That was what he was given.
Well, from verse 19, Jesus says:
“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. “Master,” he said, “you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.” His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” The man with two bags of gold also came. “Master,” he said, “you entrusted me with two bags of gold: see, I have gained two more.” His maser replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share in your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 27:19-23NIV)
Notice that the master did not rebuke the second servant for not having as much profit as the first one. He did not say, “How come you are coming with only two more bags of gold?” And that was because he was examining them on the basis of what he had given to them and their individual abilities. That, of course, is how God is going to deal with us too. He will settle accounts with us on the basis of what He has given to us. So, stop comparing yourself with others. In fact, Paul says, “When you measure yourself by yourself and compare yourself with others, you are a fool.” (Cf. 2Corinthians 10:12)
In any case, from verse 24 the Lord says, “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. “Master,” he said, “I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.”” (Matthew 25:24-25NIV) Now I don’t want you to think that this man was totally jobless when his master was away. He must have been about his own business. But his master was not concerned about what other things he was involved in; he was only concerned about the assignment he had given to him.
And look at his master’s response from verse 26:
“His master replied, “You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”” (Matthew 25:26-30NIV)
Look at how he describes this servant—wicked, lazy and worthless. He was useless. And may you not be described in that manner, in Jesus’ name. Of course, you can say ‘amen’ to that. But it is beyond saying ‘amen’. You really have to start doing something with whatever gift or abilities God has entrusted to you. And you can see from this text why some believers keep on increasing in usefulness in the kingdom while some others keep on increasing in worthlessness. That man’s master said, “Take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.” Why? This servant has been faithful in what was little. So, God can now increase his ability and opportunities to do more.
See, you can look at someone and say, “Oh, God is blessing many lives through that man.” But do you think He does not want to bless a great number of people through you too? He wants to. But you must first show yourself profitable with what He has given to you, however little or insignificant it may seem to you or to others at the moment. That is when He will be moved to give you more gifts, resources, abilities or opportunities to increase in usefulness and relevance.
That man you are looking at will keep on increasing in usefulness, as long as he keeps on putting to work what God has given him. And you must understand that he also started somewhere. You may see him as popular today, but he was not always popular. He has become popular because he kept on walking the path God marked out for him. If he had quit or stopped along the line, he would probably not have been known the way you now know him.
What I am saying is that the people of God that are popular in our eyes today were not always popular; they became popular because they kept on doing what God has called them to do, putting to work His gifts and abilities in their lives. And I am not saying this because it is important that you become popular or that many people get to know about you. What is important is that you fulfil what God has called you to do. And you can do that by intelligently and diligently putting to work His gifts and abilities in your life. It is as you do so that He will lead you into more usefulness in His kingdom. And I pray that the Spirit of God will strengthen you to begin to function in the light of all these things, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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NOT COUNTING THEIR SINS AGAINST THEM 13/07/2023
“…that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them...” (2Corinthians 5:19NIV)
We all ought to pay a very close attention what Paul says in our opening bible text, which is that God is no longer counting people’s sins against them. That means He is not condemning anybody. John says God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that through Him all men might be saved. (Cf. John 3:17) So, Jesus did not come into the world counting anybody’s sins against them; rather, He came to bring them back to God.
Now this does not mean that God is now saying that ‘sin’ is no longer ‘sin’. Some actually have read this portion of the Scriptures that way. They have gotten the idea that God has changed His mind about sin. They think, for example, that He is no longer saying that ‘fornication’ is sinful or that ‘adultery’ is sinful or that ‘stealing’ is sinful.
But that is not what Paul is telling us in this text. He is just saying that God is no longer imputing men’s sins against them; He is not counting their sins against them or holding them responsible for their sins. God knows men are sinners. He knows that they have done all kinds of wrong things. But while He is trying to reconcile them, He is not counting their sins against them; He decides to set aside their sins.
And that is why a prostitute could come to God and have her sins washed. God is not going to reckon those sins against her. It is not that she did not sin or that she has not sinned; it is that God has decided not to reckon her sins against her.
In like manner, an armed robber or a terrorist can now come to God, even though he has taken several lives and brought discomfort to several homes, and God will overlook all those things. Why? It is because God has already given Jesus as a payment for all those sins (1John 2:1-2). Somebody has paid for all those sins. And that person is Christ Jesus. So, men can no longer be held accountable for sins that have been paid for.
You can see, then, that it is not that God is being unfair in His dealings with us. That is because one person may say, “How can someone who has been as wicked as this be pardoned, just like that? Is that even fair?” I mean many people still have troubles accepting this reality. They say, “No, this person must be punished. No sinner will go unpunished.” And I hear that all the time.
But such people are just trying to distort or disregard the Scriptures, for they do not understand what God is doing. If God were to mark our sins, none of us would stand, as the Psalmist puts it. (Cf. Psalm 130:3) But now, God has found the way to solve our sin-problem. And that is by giving someone as a payment for it. Now since our sins have been paid for, we don’t have to pay for them again. That is why God is not counting men’s sins against them. And you too should not count anyone’s sins against them, just as you should no longer count your sins against you. Instead, you should learn to celebrate your freedom from sin made possible through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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THE NATURE OF OUR AUTHORITY 12/07/2023
“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’” (Matthew 28:18NIV)
Look at what Jesus says again: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Now I know some of our English bible translations render the word ‘Authority’ that is used in this text as ‘Power.’ But if you actually look up the Greek word that is used here—Exousia—you will see that a more appropriate translation of it is ‘Authority’.
There are two words that are being used interchangeably like that, especially in the King James Version of the bible. And they are ‘Authority’ and ‘Power’. ‘Power’, in most of the places where it is used in the New Testament portion of the bible, is ‘Dunamis’ in Greek. But the word that is used in our opening bible text is ‘Exousia’, which means ‘Authority’, when translated.
In any case, Jesus says here that He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. That means His is the highest authority in the whole universe. He can cancel anything and permit anything. So whatever authority anybody may think he has is included in Christ’s authority; it is subject to His. And it is on that basis that He commissions His disciples. He wants them to know that whatever He says to them is final; whatever He says to them cannot be revised or reversed by anybody. For He is speaking as one who has all authority.
Well, again, He says, “…All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19NIV) In other words, He is saying, “On the basis of my authority, I want you to go…” Now that will show you something significant about the kind of authority we have. It is delegated authority; it is representative in nature. What I am saying is that the authority we have in Christ is not that of the Creator; rather, it is that of the created. It is delegated authority.
Also, in Saint Luke chapter 10, verse 19—this was after the Lord had given His disciples authority to preach, to heal all kinds of sicknesses and diseases and to drive out demons and they had come back with testimonies— we are told, “He [Jesus] replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority…’” (Luke 10:19NIV-emphasis mine) Can you see that? Who gave these disciples authority to do all that they did? It was Jesus. And just as He gave it to them, He has also given it to us.
Again, He says, “…I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy, nothing will harm you.” (Luke 10:19NIV) What He is saying here is, “I am giving you authority to handle Satan and his demons. But this authority is not yours; it is mine. I am simply delegating it to you.” And I am showing you this to let you know that our authority in Christ is delegated; it is representative in nature. We are representing someone. We are standing in someone’s stead or in someone’s place. And that person is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Well then, since our authority is delegated, that means it has limitations. And the one who defines those limitations is the Lord Jesus who has given us this authority. The second thing this points out to us is that this authority can be used, neglected or abused. And if you keep these things in mind, you will understand why, in the exercise of this authority, it will work for some and not work for others.
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GRACE TO ABOUND IN PROSPERITY 11/07/2023
“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” As it is written: "He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” (2Cor 9:9-11NIV)
One of the reasons many gripe, complain or even quarrel with others is lack of enough resources to act responsibly in their relationships. Here is a responsibility you are supposed to handle, and you know that it is actually your responsibility to handle. But you do not have the means or resources to handle it. Yet you are receiving pressure and perhaps threats from those who know the responsibility is yours to handle. What are you going to do?
For some, quarrelling or fighting everybody around them is the way to deal with this kind of problem. For some others, running away from home or taking their own lives is the only way out. Then there are those who will resort to stealing, extortion, prostitution, killing, kidnapping or money rituals. But none of these ways will work or produce results that will not ultimately hurt or destroy those who use them. That is why you must never attempt to use any of them to handle your lack problems.
What, then, must you do with your lack problems? What are you to do with the bills that are staring you in the face and that you must handle? Or are you simply going to allow them to make a mess of your life or reputation? No! What you need to do is to learn to take them to God in prayers. James, in his epistle, says this:
“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:1-3NIV)
Did you see that? Fighting, killing, quarrelling and so forth will not take care of your needs. They will only create more problems for you. But offering prayers to God from a pure and sincere heart will see to it that whatever those needs of yours may be are taken care of. So, train yourself to always present your needs to God, regardless of how little or big they may be, instead of complaining to men, fighting men or using ungodly means to meet them. And you will never be disappointed.
More so, what God really wants for all of us is to function in a place where in all things, at all times, having all that we need, we will be able to do any good thing we desire to do. And that is what Paul is speaking to us about in our opening text. There he tells us that God is able to make all grace abound to us so that in all things, at all times, having all that we need, we will abound in every good work. In other words, He is able to bring us to a place where we will not just have more than enough for ourselves; we will also be able to always contribute to the needs of others and lead them to praise Him. Just think about that. I mean you should think about how beautiful it will be for you to always have enough for yourself and also to always be able to generously help those who approach you for financial assistance.
Well, that is the realm God wants us all to function from. But how will He bring us there? It is, as Paul further says, by increasing our resources to work and enlarging the harvest of our labour. So, it is clear that we must be diligently involved in some legitimate work that God can bless and enlarge in order for us to have access to overflowing resources. But if we are lazy or are doing nothing at all and yet are expecting a mighty flow of resources into our lives, we are deceiving ourselves, for we are giving God nothing to work with in enriching us. And if we do not change our ways, we may live in poverty for our entire lifetime, even though we could have lived in plenty and been a blessing to many.
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THE SIN THAT SO EASILY ENTANGLES 10/07/2023
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Heb 12:1NIV)
There is no way we will talk about the fall of Samson and not talk about his dealings with women. And that is because, as recorded in the bible, most of the problems he had in life came through his dealings with them. Yes, he was an unusually strong and powerful man because of God’s anointing upon his life. He was so strong that killing a lion was as simple for him as killing a baby goat. In fact, he once personally caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs and used them to destroy the farms of his enemies. That is just to mention some of his exploits.
Yet, when dealing with women, especially the ones he loved, Samson’s superior strength could not keep him from becoming a victim of their nagging, seduction or manipulation. All they needed was just to put more and more pressure on him and make him feel that he did not know how to love enough or properly. And he would begin to say or do what he was never meant to do. That, of course, was how they eventually became responsible for his failure in ministry and also his early death. (Cf. Judges 14-16)
Now what is that telling us? It is telling us that even if we have been anointed by God from the womb, as long as we would not identify and deal with those things that constitute a weakness of character in our lives, they may end up being the trap that Satan will use to make us fail God or to destroy us.
In our opening bible text, we are told that there are sins that easily trap people, even God’s people. Is this supposed to be so? No! Or are we supposed to be weak in handling any kind of sin? No! The bible already tells us that sin shall not be our master (Rom 6:14). It also tells us that God’s grace is more than enough for us to say ‘No’ to any kind of sin (Titus 2:11-12). So, we are not supposed to be caught in any trap of sin, if we will duly take advantage of God’s grace and also watch ourselves. And even if we are caught in the trap of a sin, there is forgiveness for us in Christ Jesus, which we can freely take, just as we have the gift of God’s people whose job is to seek our restoration, should we be caught in any trap of sin (Gal 6:1-2; 1John 2:2).
But then, the situation we are dealing with here is not one in which a Christian errs in a situation and then repents. Rather, we are talking about one in which he finds himself being consistently caught in the traps of a particular sin or weakness. That was the case with Samson. He was not a godless or useless person that did not care at all about God or about pleasing Him. He cared about God. He cared about his people. And he wanted to see the will of God done in their lives through his labour. But he was a man that was easily falling into the traps of sexual immorality. And because he did not see it and deal with it as a problem, his enemies used it against him.
In like manner, it is possible that you too have in your life a sin that easily entangles you, using Paul’s words, or a weakness that easily surfaces in your life once you are confronted with certain circumstances. You need to admit the reality about your situation and deal with it. It may not be sexual immorality, as it was in Samson’s case. It may be the love of money, envy, bitterness, rage or impatience. It may even be a relationship with someone. Whatever it is, you know that it is something that easily takes charge of you, makes you lose yourself and drives you in a way nothing else is able to, in a way you yourself do not like. The Lord’s command to you about it is that you are to throw it off your life.
Therefore, you must no longer make excuses for it. Instead, you are to separate your life from it by taking advantage of the grace of God through prayer, meditation on the Scriptures and the fellowship of God’s people. Otherwise, a time will come when it will be the door through which Satan will come into your life and destroy you.
And perhaps this is already happening. Perhaps Satan has already found in this sin or weakness in your life an opportunity to do all kinds of evil. It is not too late for you to end his works and receive God’s mercy for restoration. You just throw off this evil thing that easily entangles you. If you have to end some relationships, deny yourself of some privileges or dispose certain valuables of yours in order to accomplish this, do so. Just make sure you don’t put yourself anymore in any position again where you will be easily trapped or ensnared by that which the enemy is seeking to use to destroy you. And your salvation and restoration will show up without delay.
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A NEED FOR MORE LABOURERS 09/07/2023
“The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send workers into His harvest field.” (Cf. Matt 9:37-38; Luke 10:2)
Why would the Lord say this to His disciples? First, it was because they could relate to what He meant. These men had been with Him since the beginning of His ministry and had seen for themselves the high demands of people on Him everywhere they went. Everybody wanted to touch Him for one thing or the other. And everybody wanted Him to touch them or say something to them that would free them from their problems. It was so serious that there were times that they could not even eat or get some rest because of those who wanted to be ministered to. And sometimes, as few as they were in number, they were still the ones that would serve as waiters or venue managers in attending to the crowds that had come to Him. So, they could see for themselves that the work was beyond them. (Cf. Mark 3:20-21, 5:24-34 & 6:30-44)
But there were Priests, Levites, Pharisees, Sadducees and other teachers of the law in the land in those days. And it was basically their duty to teach, comfort, heal, strengthen and help the people live in the will of God. But they were busy with other things instead of truly laboring with God. So, right under their watch, many of the people they were supposed to be ministering to remain confused, harassed and helpless under the rule of the devil – they were like sheep without a shepherd. That is why the Lord asked His disciples to pray that God would look at the conditions of these people and send labourers into their midst. (Cf. Matt 9:35:38)
Sadly, the story has not changed today. The harvest is still plenteous, and the workers are still few. There are all around us many who need salvation, deliverance, healing, restoration, comfort, encouragement in righteousness and so forth. But how many of those who can help these ones are truly available to be used by God? How many of us who have seen the light will readily make ourselves available to bear the burden and teach, pray for, comfort, strengthen, heal or restore those around us that God wants to minister to? It is never His desire that only one person or a handful people will be involved in this work. What He wants is for as many that have experienced His salvation and comfort to make themselves available as channels through which He will reach others.
But aren't we just too busy or occupied with our own things? So, it is only the few people that have made themselves available to God in their communities, offices, schools, business centers and so forth that are continually bearing the burden and taking up more and more responsibilities. And this ought not to be so, for regardless of how faithful and diligent such people may be, they still cannot do all the works that God wants done among men. Even our Lord Jesus knew that. He knew that there was no way only He and His disciples could do all the work alone. That was why He asked them to pray, as I am sure He Himself had been praying, that God would raise and send more labourers into His harvest field. It was also why He warned them not to stop or hinder any other person that was doing the work in His name, even if he was not a part of their group (Mark 9:38-39).
Another reason the Lord asked His disciples to pray to God for more labourers was that they themselves were labourers. If they were not already labouring in God’s vineyard, they could not understand the significance of that instruction. But they were labourers and had also seen the enormousness of what needed to be done. So, they could identify with this instruction and take it seriously. But can the same things be said about you and me? Are we labourers in God’s kingdom already, or have we abandoned His work for others to do all by themselves? If we are labourers, then, we should give ourselves to His work more and more and also keep on praying to God to raise and send in more labourers into His work field. And we should do this, being mindful of the fact that each of us will someday receive His full reward for what he has done or fail to do for the Lord.
Do have a great day.
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INCREASE IN YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF HIS POWER 08/07/2023
"Then I thought, ‘To this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand. I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.’” (Psalm 77:10-12NIV)
This man says, “I will remember the deeds of the Lord. I will remember your miracles of long ago and I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.” Why did he say this? It was so that he could strengthen his faith in God. But how would he know about the deeds and miracles of God of long ago? It was by going through the Scriptures, for these things are expressly declared in them. So, he would go through the Scriptures, consider the things said in them about the power of God and meditate on them so that he could take advantage of this power.
In like manner, learn to study Scriptures that talk about manifestations of Gods power and to meditate on them. That way, you can take advantage of His power for your preservation, exaltation, salvation, healing and so forth.
Look, for example, at what is said in Scriptures about Gideon’s knowledge of God’s power: “When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, ‘The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. Pardon me, my Lord, ‘Gideon replied, ‘but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, “Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?” But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.’” (Judges 6:12-13NIV)
When the angel of the Lord appeared to this man, he asked, “Where is God? Where is His power that we have heard great things about? It seems that He has already abandoned us. Otherwise, we would be experiencing His power.” So, Gideon was familiar with what God’s power could accomplish. He had heard about it. He had read in the Scriptures about it and had been thinking about what became of this power. Yes, he had been wondering if God’s power was no more or if it was just that God had left them. If He had not left them, why then were they not experiencing His power for their deliverance? And the angel of the Lord did answer all his questions for him.
Now thanks to God, for we have no doubt about His presence with us or the availability of His power for us and in us. We just need to know what His power could accomplish for us and then begin to take advantage of it. Therefore, you need to increase in your knowledge of the power of God, which is the point I have been making all along. You need to increase in your revelations of His power. Yes, you need sound and abiding revelations of His power in your heart, so that you can begin to adequately take advantage of it to frustrate the devil and walk in victory in every area of your life. And I pray that your heart will be filled with greater revelations of this power, so that you can take advantage of it to be the person God wants you to be and do the things He wants you to do, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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DON’T ALLOW HIM TO USE YOu 07/07/2023
"If anyone grazes livestock in a field or vineyard and lets them stray and they graze in someone else’s field, the offender must make restitution from the best of their own field or vineyard. If a fire breaks out and spreads into thorn-bushes so that it burns sheaves or corn or standing corn or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make restitution.” (Exodus 22:5-6NIV)
The Lord is speaking here about how, through our carelessness, we may provide an occasion for Satan to devour the fruit of other people’s labour or His goodness in their lives. As He points out, if, for example, you are grazing your livestock somewhere and you allow them to stray into another person’s field, they will definitely consume what the person has in his field. That way, the person has lost the fruit of his labour because of your carelessness, negligence or recklessness.
In Nigeria, we often see herdsmen who deliberately allow their animals to move into people’s farms and devour the fruit of their labour. Such people are showing that they have no concern at all for the labour of others. They are just concerned about taking care of their own animals and making profit by doing so.
This, of course, is not applicable to all herdsmen. But there are herdsmen like these. I have personally seen some who deliberately turned blind eyes to what their animals were doing and allowed them to stray into the farms of others and devour their labour. That is wickedness.
But there are times that such things happen because of people’s carelessness or negligence. And the point is that when you allow this to happen, when you allow other people’s work to be ruined or devoured through your negligence, you have allowed Satan to use you.
See, when Satan is working, it is not every time he shows up for people to see him and tell that he is the one working. A lot of times, what he uses are people’s carelessness, negligence and recklessness. He uses these things to bring harm to others. All of this is why we must not be careless or negligent or reckless. No, being careless, negligent or reckless may not be a sin. But Satan can use it to destroy lives or things. Be careful, then, so that you do not allow him to use you to ruin other people’s lives or labour.
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HE WANTS RELIABLE PEOPLE 06/07/2023
“You, then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” (2Timothy 2:1-2NIV)
Who is Timothy to entrust spiritual truths and things to? Reliable people, who also will become able to teach others! That means he has to consider their faithfulness first before he considers their competence. Of course, we cannot diminish the relevance of gifts and competence in the church. But gifted individuals that are not faithful will do more harm than good in any assembly of God. So, Paul says to Timothy, “Consider their reliability. How reliable or faithful are they? If they are reliable, then, you can commit the things I have entrusted to you to them as well.”
Then, speaking about Timothy himself to the Philippian-church, Paul says from verse 19 of Philippians 2:
“I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. And I am confident in the Lord that I myself will come soon.’” (Philippians 2:19-24NIV)
Look at what Paul says here about Timothy to these brethren. He says I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. Evidently, he had other people around him at that time. But it was not all of them that he could trust with this assignment. It was not all of them that he could trust with the people of God. But he trusted Timothy, for he had proved himself as reliable and also as someone that had genuine concern for the welfare of the brethren. So, he was the one that he was sending to the Philippians.
How I wish our leaders would pay attention to these truths, especially those ones who have several assemblies under them. What do they consider in posting people to lead the people of God? Sometimes, in fact, many times, they post people who care nothing for the people of God to lead them. They post people who have no desire to go the places they are sending them.
How do you send someone to pastor a church that he has no concern about? In short, the kind of politics that goes into the posting of pastors from place to place in some assemblies of God today is not something you even want to talk about or look at. People now pay bribes to some church leaders in order to be posted as pastors to some assemblies. Why? They have been told there are senators, judges, medical doctors and other dignitaries in the society there. So, they are not going there because they are concerned about the brethren; rather, they are going there because of what they want – money.
But look at what Paul says about Timothy. He says that he has genuine concern for the brethren. And how does he know this? It is because the man has proved himself to be faithful and reliable. He says similar things about Titus to the brethren in Corinth. He says we are working in the same spirit. So, I can send him to you or leave him with you to take care of you. That is because he is trustworthy. And consider his epistles to these two men. In them he talks about how he left Titus in Crete and Timothy in Ephesus. Why? It is because he trusts them. (Cf. 2Corinthians 13:17-18)
Can you be trusted with people? Are you not going to mess up their lives? Can you be trusted with responsibilities? Are you not going to mess them up? Well, the Lord wants reliable people to work with in this world. My prayer is that He will find one in you.
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GOD IS WILLING 05/07/2023
“When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’” (Matthew 8:1-2NIV)
But why would the man mentioned in our opening bible text ask if the Lord was willing to make him clean? It was because he was not sure if the Lord was willing to heal him. He did not know the mind of God concerning his health.
But he should have known the mind of God concerning his health, for he had the Scriptures. And in the Scriptures the will of God concerning his health was revealed. So, by saying to the Lord, “If you are willing, you can make me clean,” the man was showing that he did not know the mind of God concerning his healing. And that, as I said, shows that he had not been paying attention to the Scriptures.
Well, in verse 3 we are told, “Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man, ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.” (Cf. Matthew 8:3NIV) Look at that. This man was not sure if the Lord was willing to heal him. But Jesus revealed through His actions that He was willing. He said, “I am willing to make you clean. So, be clean!”
In fact, the Lord Jesus touched this man. But don’t forget that the man was unclean because of his leprosy. And according to the laws, Jesus was not meant to touch him, for touching him would make He Himself unclean. Yet He did touch him. And that was to show that He cared for him; it was to show that He loved him. But He did not just touch him; He also said to him, “Be clean!” And immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.
Now, by doing that, our Lord Jesus Christ is showing us that God is willing to make us healthy. I am saying know that is as good as God Himself saying, “I am willing to make you whole.” So, if you have any ailment in your body, and you are not sure if God is willing to heal you, this Scripture is showing you that God is willing to heal you. Or if you know anyone around you that is sick and not sure whether God is willing to heal him or not, this Scripture is showing you that God wants the person well. All they need is to come to Him, in the name of Jesus Christ, and receive their healing. And healing will be theirs.
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QUESTION YOURSELF ON YOUR SUPPORT 04/07/2023
“Make it your ambition to live a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anyone.” (Cf. 1Thessalonians 4:11-12)
As we see in our opening bible text, the will of God is that none of us will be unduly dependent on others, especially in financial matters. Otherwise, we may not be getting the kind of respect we ought to have from those around us. So, if you are getting other people’s support, and you are not a preacher of the word of God – preachers of the word of God have been authorised to receive the support of those they minister to – and you are not disabled or in a physical condition that makes it impossible for you to support yourself financially, you need to ask yourself certain questions.
For instance, you need to ask yourself, “What is the support I am getting meant for? Is it meant for me to consume or to invest?” It is good to have people support us. But we must not waste such support. So, if you have family members or friends or neighbours or colleagues at work that God is using to support you financially, you need to ask yourself, “What is this support for? Is it for me to consume or to invest?” Is the support coming to you so that you can have some resources left for investment and, at some point, become financially independent too? Or is it just something you are receiving for consumption?
You are not handicapped physically or bedridden. Yet you are so favoured by God that people are financially supporting you. Then you need to use your head. You are not a preacher of the word of God, one who can expect his brethren to support him with their resources. Still, you are getting people’s support. Then you need to use your head and consider how to properly utilise the support you are now getting.
See, it is God’s arrangement that preachers be supported by those they are ministering to, as I pointed out before. So, it is fine if a preacher is constantly looking forward to receiving such support. But if you are not a preacher and are getting the support of others, you need to know why you are getting it. Is it for you to waste, consume or invest?
Then ask yourself, “How long will this support keep coming?” Already, it is because of this support that you are probably spending more than you are earning. Perhaps you are not even working or earning anything at all. Yet you are getting this kind of support. How long do you think it will keep coming? How long will the people supporting you keep on doing so? What if the support stops coming? What will become of you financially? Have you asked yourself these questions?
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BASE IT ON WHAT YOU HAVE 03/07/2023
“For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.” (2Corinthians 8:12)
Paul is speaking here to the Corinthian brethren, encouraging them to fulfil the promise they have made to give to support some other people of God. And he wants them to know that as long as they are willing to give, God will accept their gift on the basis of what they have, not on the basis of what they do not have.
Think about that. God wants His people to give on the basis of what they have and not on the basis of what they do not have. Since this is the case, why then should we think He would want us to spend more than what we possess? Evidently, He would also want us to spend on the basis of what we have and not on the basis of what we do not have. Yes, He would want us to acquire things on the basis of what we have and not on the basis of what we do not have.
Of course, we may be under pressure to spend more than what we have. It may be pressure from family members, friends, colleagues at work or in school or neighbours. We may be under all forms of pressure to spend more than we earn. But if we succumb to any form of pressure to do so, we will suffer for it, for we will not be acting in line with the will of God. The will of God is that in everything we do, we function on the basis of what we have and not what we do not have. In other words, our spending must be proportionate to what we have.
We also see a reflection of this in what God says to the Israelites about the purification of women who just give birth. It reads thus:
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites: “A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her monthly period. On the eight day the boy is to be uncircumcised. Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over. If she gives birth to a daughter, for two weeks the woman will be unclean, as during her period. Then she must wait sixty-days to be purified from her bleeding. When the days of her purification for a son or daughter are over, she is to bring to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting a year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. He shall offer them before the Lord to make atonement for her, and then she will be ceremonially clean from her flow of blood. These are the regulations for the woman who gives birth to a boy or a girl. But if she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her, and she will be clean.”’” (Leviticus 12:1-8NIV)
You can see here that even though God gives His people instructions about the kinds of offerings or sacrifices they are to bring to Him for a woman who has just given birth to her child, He also makes it clear to them that they are to bring these things on the basis of what they have and not on the basis of what they do not have. So, if any such person coming with a sacrifice cannot afford a year-old lamb and a young pigeon, she is to come with two doves or two young pigeons. That is God showing consideration for His people in matters of giving. And this is to let us know that He wants us to be wise in using what we have. He does not want us to put ourselves under any undue financial pressure.
So, He says when you give, give on the basis of what you have, not on the basis of what you do not have. This also is seen in the way He says that His people are to give their tithes. There is a specific fraction of their increase that they are to bring. It is ten percent of it for everyone. So, the one earning a thousand naira is to bring a hundred naira, while the one that earns a hundred thousand naira is to bring ten thousand naira.
You can see that the one who earns a thousand naira is not asked to bring ten thousand naira. Why? It is because he does not have it. You cannot give what you do not have. And if you cannot give what you do not have, why should want to spend more than what you have? That will evidently throw you into debt. And if you don’t want to be in debt or you want to get out of it, learn to use your resources on the basis of what you have and not what you do not have.
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WHEN YOU NEED TO CALL FOR HELP 02/07/2023
“The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves." Elisha replied to her, "How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?" Your servant has nothing there at all," she said, "except a little oil." Elisha said, "Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don't ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side." She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, "Bring me another one." But he replied, "There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, "Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left."” (2Kings 4:1-7NIV)
One of the main lessons of the account given in the Scripture above is that righteous people can experience financial disgrace or enslavement. Therefore, that you are righteous or upright does not mean that you will automatically be financially independent or rich in material things. If you are lazy, for instance, and will not engage yourself in some honest or legitimate endeavour, you may live all your earthly life in poverty.
Also, if you are ignorant of how to use resources or skills or how to build work or business relationships, you may not experience financial liberation in your entire lifetime, even though God’s favour is mightily resting on you. And if care is not taken, you may even pass the poverty in your life on to your descendants, as the story above shows.
Another thing the account teaches us is the need to call for help when we need it and to call at the right place. There are many today who need to reach out for help but who will not because of pride or fear that others may find out that they are in a deep mess. But will you rather call for help and be saved or remain quiet and perish in your predicament?
Also, there are many today, who know that they need help but who are seeking it where it does not exist, just as there are many who need help but who don’t know the kind of help they need. And what all such people that I just described need is to open their hearts to God in prayers, so that He may grant them the boldness, humility and wisdom that they need to get the kind of help they need.
Furthermore, we learn from the account that God’s supernatural power for multiplication and increase is always available for any who will reach out for it. What He will use to make people experience His power in this way is not what any of us can say. It may be something we don’t even consider to be significant, as in the case of the woman above. But when He breathes on it, it becomes the channel through which our lives are given rest and liberty in prosperity.
So, don’t hesitate to call out to God for help, for a great release of His supernatural power to rescue you wherever you are bound. That is because you will find it worth it, if you do so.
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END THE CULTURE OF UNFAITHFULNESS 01/07/2023
“Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.'”” (Luke 16:1-2NIV)
Why do we have such a high rate of unemployment in our country today? Is it basically because the successive governments we have had have been irresponsible for many years? Not exactly! Truly, our governments have grossly failed in providing the basic infrastructures that could aid the birth and growth of many businesses and organisations and, as such, reduce the rate of unemployment in the land. But these governments are not to blame for everything. Our own culture of unfaithfulness also has a lot to contribute to what we are now experiencing.
What is my point? It is that many of us cannot be trusted with anything that does not belong to us. We just do not have in us a heart that wants to faithfully handle whatever is entrusted to us. So, we are not fit for any kind of employment in which there is no well-established system to monitor us and also punish us accordingly for any kind of unfaithfulness. Otherwise, we are going to ruin any business or organisation we are employed to work in.
Just think of the number of businesses, organisations, companies, government institutions and so forth that used to be great in the country but that were wrecked through the unfaithfulness of their managers and employees. So, many who would have invested in our economy by building businesses or organisations that would employ many are afraid of doing so. Even government leaders are afraid of embarking on certain projects that would benefit the people. Why? It is because it is hard to find people who will faithfully manage or work in another person’s business and not ultimately ruin it.
So, today, if you want to start any business, people will tell you that if you are not going to be readily available to manage and nurture it yourself, you had better not start it. Otherwise, you will regret it. And this true to a very great degree. Even if it a house you want to build, and you do not plan to be there, those close to you will advise you not to try it. Why? It is because you will not likely find any contractor, even if the person is your own blood, that will manage the building faithfully and see to it that the correct items are used and that the correct thing is done.
You can now see why the rate of employment in our land is high. People who have money to invest in businesses or organisations or systems that will solve unemployment problems in many ways don’t want to do so. That is because they don’t want to lose their investment to the unfaithfulness of their would-be workers or employees. And unless we renew our minds along this line and begin to treat other people’s things faithfully, just as we would expect them to treat our things, many of us will never in this life find any real job that will make enough resources available to us.
Then, even if we find a good job for ourselves, as long as we are unfaithful in handling our duties in it, we are bound to lose it at some point. It is either we are sacked by our employers or sacked by the business or organisation itself after we have ruined it. As we see in our opening bible text, the only reason that rich man the Lord speaks about was going to sack his manager was his unfaithfulness in managing his business. Yet he went on to act more unfaithfully in managing the business after he had learnt that he would be sacked. So, he never had the good of his master’s business at heart; all he was concerned about was himself and his welfare. (Cf. Luke 16:3-8)
Now, of course, this man’s master commended him for being a smart person, one that knows how to get himself out of trouble. However, that did not change the fact that he was an unfaithful person that was not fit for any form of job or favour. And if we are like him, we too, as I pointed out before, are not fit for any kind of real employment. We are not even fit for any kind of financial favour to run our own business or organisation.
Why? It is because, as our Lord Jesus shows us, if we have not learnt to handle what is small in a faithful way, we cannot handle what is big in a faithful way. Also, if we have not shown ourselves as being able to handle what belongs to someone else faithfully and responsibly, only a foolish or reckless person will invest in us. (Cf. Luke 16:10-12).
Therefore, as I mentioned earlier, if we want to greatly reduce the rate of unemployment in our land, we all must begin to develop a culture of faithfulness. And we can start by handling whatever job or business we are doing for others or ourselves at the moment faithfully and diligently. Then God, who is the true rewarder of all faithfulness, will see to it that our faithfulness does not go unrewarded by opening doors of greater opportunities, resources and positions for us.
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WHO CAN RESIST THE DEVIL? 30/06/2023
“Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.’” (Matthew 12:25-28NIV)
You can see that the Lord is here showing us that Satan will never go against himself or against his own works or activities. So, if you engage Satan to stop his activities in your life and it appears that those activities have been stopped, you can be sure that there will be a renewal of his works in your life in a greater way. Why? He cannot oppose himself in any way.
See, if Satan is opposing himself, his kingdom cannot stand. Yes, through the practice of witchcraft or sorcery, you can use a more powerful demon to displace a less powerful one or to stop the activities of a less powerful one in your life. But that won’t end Satan’s works in your life. It will only make them worse. So, you can be sure that your life will become more miserable afterwards.
Why is that so? The reason is that Satan will never voluntarily stop his works in your life. It takes one who has authority over the devil to end his works permanently, not temporarily. And that is what our Lord is saying in our opening text. He says it is only by the Spirit of God that Satan can be driven out of people’s lives and affairs; it is only by the Spirit of God that the works of Satan can be ended.
Jesus Christ was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and power. Therefore, He went about doing good and healing all those who were oppressed of the devil. So, it was by the Spirit of God that He was healing people, driving out demons and destroying the works of the devil. (Cf. Acts 10:38)
In like manner, it is only by the Spirit of God that we can destroy the works of the devil. It is only by the Spirit of God that we can resist him. So, it is only those who are children of God, who have His Spirit in them and have been given authority in Christ Jesus that can resist the devil, frustrate him and end his works.
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MAKE YOURSELF USEFUL 29/06/2023
My prayer for you today is that God will empower you to increase in usefulness and profitability in His kingdom every remaining day of your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Now I offered that prayer for you because God is very much concerned about the profitability of men. That is why He has blessed every living person with one form of ability or the other to make them useful to themselves and also to others in their world. It is also the reason He has blessed every one of His children with at least one spiritual gift to make them useful and profitable in His kingdom. So, if we are not useful in His kingdom, especially among those of our local Christian assembly, it will not be because we cannot be; rather, it will be because we have refused to be useful.
Yes, there will always be reasons to make ourselves useless to God and His people. It may be fear, personal matters, selfishness or laziness. But as our Lord points out to us, it is only those who make themselves useful with the gifts God has given to them that He will make more relevant in life and in His kingdom. Those who refuse to make themselves useful can only expect to diminish more and more in relevance, progress and other good things of life. (Cf. Luke 19:12-27)
So, if you don’t want to diminish in importance in God’s kingdom and also in other matters of life, start making yourself useful with your spiritual gifts, natural gifts, skills, education and resources. And you can start right here among us. All you need is to first think of what you can do with all that God has blessed you with to help everyone’s faith and then begin to do it in a spirit of submission.
Look, for example, at what is said about Apollos, that is, after he had been shown the way of the Lord in a very adequate way: “When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.” (Acts 18:27NIV) Did you see that? Immediately Apollos came among the Corinthian brethren, he began to do things that greatly helped their faith.
But what about you? What exactly are you doing now to help the faith of those of us in your life? What are you doing to make us all more devoted to God and to righteous living? If you are not doing anything to help all of us grow our faith, then, you are missing it. In fact, you are not different from anyone who may be working to destroy our faith. And there are indeed people in different assemblies of God today who are destroying or corrupting the faith of the brethren instead of helping it. Such people will not go unpunished, as revealed in the Scriptures, just as you too who are doing nothing to help the faith of your brethren will not go unpunished. (Cf. 1Tim 1:18-20)
So, wake up from your slumber and begin to make yourself useful to God and to His people. And you will be amazed at how your life will begin to increase in relevance among God’s people and also among those of this world.
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RUN AWAY FROM SEXUAL SINS 28/06/2023
“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (1Cor 6:18-20NIV)
What is our charge here? It is that we are to flee from sexual immorality. And what does it mean to flee from something? It means to run away from it. So, when Paul tells us to flee from sexual immorality, he means that we are to run away from it.
For example, when Potiphar’s wife began to make sexual advances towards Joseph, he started avoiding her. The bible says, “And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.” (Gen 39:10NIV) Did you see that? Though that woman made it her business to seduce Joseph everyday, he would not listen to her or even spend time with her. I am sure if he were not a slave but just an employee of Potiphar, he may have totally resigned from work. But because he could not resign and had to deal with that woman everyday, he also made it his business to avoid her.
Finally, a day came when all the other household servants were not in. And that day the woman grabbed his coat and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his coat in her hand and ran out of the house. Why did he run? It was because he would have fallen into the sin of sexual immorality, if he had not done so. See, sexual sins are sins of emotions. So, you cannot tell at what point you will give in, if you keep hanging around someone that is continually tempting you with them. That is why we are commanded to run away from it. Otherwise, we would have fallen into it before we know what is happening.
But why are we commanded to run away from sexual sins? Why are we commanded to stay away from something that feels good and seems good? It is because it defiles and destroys our bodies, which are God’s temple. As Paul points out in that text, our bodies do not belong to us but to God who paid the price for our redemption. And it is because they belong to Him that He now lives in them by His Holy Spirit. So, we are not the only ones occupying these bodies; the Spirit of God is also living in them with us. This is why we must not defile or abuse them in any way. Otherwise, we may end up being destroyed, for Paul further tells us that if anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person (1Cor 3:16-17).
Now we must understand that it is not sex we are told to run away from but sexual immorality. So, sex is not the problem; its abuse or misuse is the problem. Sexual passions, just like hunger and thirst, were given to us by God Himself as a gift for expressing love. But we are only allowed to express these things in a marriage relationship. So, if you are not married, you are wrong to be involved in any form of sexual activity, whether between man and woman, man and man, woman and woman, man and animal or woman and animal. It is even wrong for you to be involved in sex with yourself, which is popularly referred to as masturbation.
Look, you will be polluting your body, if you are involved in any of these things. And as I already pointed out to you, your body does not belong to you but to God. So, any time you pollute it, you expose yourself to destruction. What form this destruction will take or when it will come is what I cannot tell you. It may be the destruction of your future home or the destruction of God’s plan to exalt you or the destruction of your body by some deadly disease. But it will certainly come, if you fail to repent when you have the chance to do so.
So, run away from anyone or anything that could drag you into sexual sin. And don’t allow any of the lies that ungodly people, especially our film makers, are propagating about sex lead you to self-destruction. The will of God is for you to control yourself and stay away from sexual immorality (1Thess 4:3-6). So, nothing is wrong with you, if you abstain from sexual immorality and stay pure. And may the Lord continue to strengthen your heart to do so, irrespective of how immoral those around are, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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IMITATE THE GOD OF ORDER 27/06/2023
“For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” (1Cor 14:33NIV)
The bible tells us that we should imitate God because we are His beloved children (Eph 5:1). And one of the things we are to imitate from Him is order. God, as we are told in our opening bible text, is a God of peace and order and not of disorder or confusion. So, if we observe any form of disorder or confusion in our lives or affairs, we should know that God is not behind it. That means He is not the one responsible for the chaos and confusion that we see everywhere in the world today. We and the devil are the ones responsible for these things.
From what we see in the bible, God’s intention is that this world we live in will be one of order. So, even though He made the earth for us to live in, He did not make us before making the earth habitable and ready for us. He did not make us first before thinking of what we would eat and where we would stay. Instead, He made sure the food we would eat and all the other resources we would need for shelter and to make the earth most interesting for us to live in were already available. So, there is nothing we are using or discovering here on earth now that God had not made available before we were brought forth. In fact, we were the last of all His creations to be brought forth. Therefore, we were brought forth into the fullness of His provisions. That is what we call order. (Cf. Gen 1:26-31)
Also, from the creation story that we have in the bible, we see that the world of plants was not made until God had provided light and water for it and also put in the soil all the nutrients that it would need to make the world beautiful and habitable for man and all the other living things with him. Then the birds and animals were not made until God had prepared the world of plants and every other thing they would need to enjoy their stay here on earth. That, again, is what we call order. (Cf. Gen 1:1-23)
Furthermore, when we consider the way the universe works, the consistency of the Sun, the moon and the stars in blessing us with their lights and energies and in marking off for us our days, nights, months, years and seasons, it is clear that God, who created all these things and set them in their proper places, is a God of order and not of confusion. And as His children, He expects us to replicate the same consciousness and pattern of order in our lives and affairs. He does not want us to be disorderly in our lives or to do things without taking into consideration their results or aftermaths.
Yes, order, sometimes, can be very costly. But we won’t regret it, if we will pay for it. What I am saying is that there are times that in order to have order in your life or affairs you may need to expend more resources, energy or time than you will naturally want to use. But ultimately, it will pay off, for it will make life easier and better for you and others with you or others that may come after you.
So, if, for example, you intend to be educated along certain field of life, God expects you to have a plan of what you will do with that education before you even begin to receive it. That is order. Otherwise, you may never be fruitful with that education you want to receive when you are done receiving it. And there many all around the world whose lives clearly illustrate this.
Or if you intend to get married and have children, God expects you to have a plan for the proper care of your spouse and children. He does not expect you to just go ahead and marry like every other person without any knowledge or plan of how your home will be run peacefully, happily and responsibly. Otherwise, that home may never be a blessing to the society but a curse. And there are many homes that are readily testifying to this fact.
At any rate, the point I am making is that God wants our lives to be orderly and free of any form of confusion. So, we must stop making excuses for whatever degree or measure of disorderliness that is in our lives. Instead, we need to deal with it. And how do we do this? First, we need to agree that disorderliness or confusion is not the will of God for us. So we must not embrace it. Second, we must learn to always commit our lives and affairs to God, so that He may cleanse them of confusion and guide us into what is best for us. Third, we must refuse to be lazy or impatient in taking advantage of God’s provisions to organise our lives for excellence. And as we devote ourselves to doing these things, it does not matter how disorderly things may be for us now, it won’t be long before our lives take the shape God wants them to take and begin to show forth His excellency.
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LET NOTHING BE WASTED 26/06/2023
“When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.” (John 6:12-13NIV)
From the teachings and practices of our Lord Jesus Christ we see that God is very much concerned about how we use not only our gifts but also resources. And our demonstration of diligence and faithfulness in managing or using what we have is one of the things that He considers before entrusting more resources to us. Don’t forget that the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it (Ps 24:1). So, everything we have belongs to Him. We are just stewards of these things.
That being the case, we should naturally expect Him to be watching to see how wise and profitable we are in using whatever He has entrusted to us. And as He makes clear to us in Scriptures, it is only those among us who prove themselves wise, diligent and profitable in using what He has entrusted to them that He will consider as qualified to have more. His actual words are, “I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.” (Luke 19:26NIV)
Did you see that? Those who show themselves as trustworthy with the resources God has given them will be given more, so that they may have an abundance. But those who do not show themselves as trustworthy in using what He has given to them will have even what they have taken away from them. So, if you are decreasing instead of increasing in the earthly resources that God has committed to you, however little they may be, you need to ask yourself if you are being faithful in using them or not. See, it is not in every situation that people are in poverty because of Satanic attacks or even because of their stinginess to God or men. In most situations, people are in poverty because they are not faithful and diligent in handing the resources God has given to them.
For example, many people are wasteful in the way they manage even the little resources they have or have access to. From the way some people use tap water in their homes or neighbourhoods, you can tell that they are wasteful. You do not have running water in your house. But in God’s mercy, He allowed a neighbour to put some taps of running water out for you in front of his house. And how do you manage it? Wastefully! Foolishly! Yet you expect God to give you more resources. How is that going to happen? Have you not read in the Scriptures that the one who would not manage other people’s things well does not deserve to be given anything to call his own? (Cf. Luke 12:16)
Also, if you look at the way some people eat, you can tell that they will most likely end up being poor in life. For instance, I personally knew a woman who was doing odd jobs and who ought to be taking out time to cook at home before coming to work. And that would, of course, have reduced the amount of money she spent everyday on food. But she would not do that. Instead, she would go and buy meals that would cost her more money than she should be spending. So, as it was to be expected, she was regularly in debt.
In like manner, what many labourers, commercial drivers and company casual workers in our country today spend on single meals is something that even some organisation executives would not dare spend. You need to see the chunks of meat or fish on some people’s food. And you will start wondering whether they are the richest people on the face of the earth. Yet they are not. The problem is that they are just wasteful.
Now God does not reward or encourage wastefulness. And we see an illustration of this in what our Lord Jesus said to His disciples in our opening bible text. After miraculously feeding well over five thousand people who had come to His meeting on one occasion, He told his disciples to gather the pieces of food left over and allow nothing to be wasted. So, even though the food was miraculously provided by God, our Lord Jesus did not see that as an excuse to have it wasted or used anyhow. No wonder God honoured Him on another occasion by enabling Him to yet again miraculously feed about four thousand people, without counting the women and children (Mark 8:1-10).
But why did He not allow the food that was left over in that meeting to be wasted? First, it was to show that He valued very much what God had provided. Second, it was to save what was left for future purposes or to share with others in need. It, then, follows that if we too value God’s provisions for us, we would not waste them. Also, if we are thinking about tomorrow, when we may not have what we have today at all or in abundance, and if we are thinking about other people who do not have access to what we have, we will not waste whatever God gives to us. And if that is the way we are functioning, God will see to it that miracles of increase and multiplication do not cease in our lives.
But if we are wasteful, reckless, selfish or irresponsible with what He has given us, however little it may be, we are only showing ourselves as individuals that cannot be trusted with more. And regardless of how much we have today, a time is coming when we will certainly suffer for our wastefulness and irresponsibility. So, please take note of this and adjust yourself accordingly.
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DON’T EXPOSE YOURSELF OR OTHERS TO JUDGMENT 25/06/2023
“Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.” (Jonah 1:4NIV)
Did you see that? There are times that certain bad things that happen in this life are a direct result of God's judgment on certain individuals or places. And even if His people should identify themselves with such people or places that are under His judgment at such times, they too will share in the fate of the wicked, if they are not shown mercy.
For instance, Lot and all his family members would have perished with Sodom and Gomorrah, if they had not been shown mercy. Also, King Jehoshaphat would have lost his life with King Ahab in that great battle against Ramoth Gilead, if God had not shown him mercy. So, be careful never to pitch your tent with anyone under God's judgment, for you may end up being destroyed with them. (Cf. Gen 19; 2Chro 18:1-19:3)
Unfortunately, in Jonah's case, it was not the ungodly that exposed the righteous to God's judgment but the righteous that exposed the ungodly to His judgment. Jonah was a righteous man. But he brought trouble on everyone travelling with him because of his disobedience to God's instruction. It was so bad that those people lost their goods to the sea, just to keep themselves alive. They would probably have lost their lives and their ship as well, if they had not thrown him overboard, as he had suggested to them. (Cf. Jonah 1:4-16)
So, there are times that righteous people can endanger the lives of those around them because of their disobedience to God. And if you, as a child of God, are now walking in any form of disobedience to God's will, you may just be exposing yourself and the people in your life or around you to God's judgment.
Perhaps certain innocent people are already sharing in the sufferings that have come upon you because of your disobedience to God. You need to repent right away before an already bad situation becomes worse. Otherwise, apart from whatever punishment you get for your personal sins, God will still be holding you responsible for the pains or destruction you brought upon others because of those sins of yours.
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A VICTIM OF JEALOUSY. 24/06/2023
“Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate, knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.” (Mark 15:9-10NIV)
Why did the religious leaders of the Jews bring Jesus to Pilate, so that he would execute Him? According to them, it was because He, being an ordinary man, was calling Himself the Son of God, which, by implication, meant that He was God. But was that the real reason they brought Him to be killed? No!
As we see in our opening bible text, when Pilate was done listening to their allegations and interrogating Jesus, he was able to tell that it was jealousy that drove them to the point of wanting to get rid of him. They were jealous of Him because of the miracles He was doing, which they could not do. They were jealous of Him because of the way He taught the people and made them understand the will of God, something they could not do, even though they were always studying Scriptures and carrying them around.
Also, they were jealous of Him because all the people were running after Him, believing that He was a true prophet of God and could even be the Christ they had long been waiting for. In fact, at some point, they became so frustrated because of Him and the way the people were following Him that they said, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!" (John 12:19NIV)
So, it was not really because Jesus was calling Himself the Son of God that these Jewish religious leaders were bent on having Him killed. Rather, it was because He was doing what they would love to be able to do, which they could not do, and also making their ministry less and less relevant in the eyes of the people. And because God had already foreordained Him to die in their hands in order to be the sin sacrifice for the sins of the whole human race, they succeeded in killing Him.
In like manner, if you too have anyone that is jealous of you, you can be sure that they can go to any extent to hurt you or to get rid of you. And this does not exclude highly religious people. Inasmuch as they are loaded with jealousy or envy because of you, you must see them as dangerous and capable of doing the unthinkable just to take your place or get rid of you, just as the religious leaders of Jesus' days did. Therefore, you must be on your guard against them at all times, regardless of how nice they may want to appear to be to you. That is because unless God Himself leads them to repentance or judges them, they will stop at nothing until they destroy you.
Remember King Saul. Remember the kind of devotion he demonstrated in getting rid of David. And what was his motivation? Jealousy! As we are shown in the bible, on two different occasions, David spared his life while he was pursuing him and seeking to kill him. Did that stop him from seeking to kill the young man? No! It did not stop him at all. On the contrary, he kept on seeking to take his life until God took his very life in a battle against the Philistines. (Cf. 1Sam 24&26)
It is no big wonder, then, that Solomon, some years later, would say this of jealousy: “Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?” (Prov 27:4NIV) Think about that. As destructive and cruel people can be when they are angry, you can pacify them through quietness, patience or kind words. But a jealous person cannot be pacified or entreated. As long as jealousy resides in their bosom, they will be bent on doing evil. And if you don't want to be a victim of their jealousy, you, like David, must always be on your guard against them.
Besides, you must continually commit yourself into God's hand for safe keeping from jealous people. See, it is not every time that people reveal their jealousy. Saul did not immediately reveal that he was envious of David. Instead, he waited for him to be close enough to him before he made his first attempts to kill him with his javelin. And if God had not spared his life, he would have died like a thousand times in the hand of Saul before his time was really up.
So, your carefulness in dealing with jealous people is not enough to keep you safe from their intrigues or wicked schemes. God Himself must protect you from them. Otherwise, you will not be safe. Therefore, always commit yourself into His hands, and He will see to it that no hair of your head is lost to the wickedness of anyone seeking to hurt you.
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BECAUSE OF THEIR UNBELIEF 23/06/2023
One of the reasons people often fail to receive or enjoy God's provisions for them is unbelief. For instance, we are told this about the people that Moses led out of Egypt to receive the land of Canaan, which God had promised to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: “So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.” (Heb 3:19NIV)
Yes, there were among them those who were not able to enter that land because of rebellion, sexual immorality or murmuring. But the majority of those who could not make into the land could not make into it because of their unbelief.
What is unbelief? It is unwillingness to act on the information we have about something. So, in relating to God, unbelief is unwillingness to act on what He says to us about Himself, about ourselves or about our lives' situations. This, of course, may be as a result of what we feel, see or think about the matter at hand. What does it matter? Inasmuch as we refuse to take steps in line with the information or revelation God has given us about a matter, we are unbelieving. And where this is the case, we cannot receive or enjoy His blessings or provisions that are associated with the matter.
That was the problem with those Israelites led out by Moses from Egypt to inherit the Promised land. They came out of Egypt to possess that land. They went through everything they went through in the wilderness in order to possess that land. But when they were only few days into entering and possessing the land, they refused to go over to take it. Why? They no longer believed that God could deliver the land into their hands. In other words, they doubted His ability to perform and bring to pass His promise to them. And that was because of the report that ten of the twelve men sent by them to explore the land gave to them. (Cf. Num 13-14)
But they had seen enough of the power of God to think He was not able to give them that land. They saw how He ruthlessly dealt with the Egyptians because of them. They saw how He divided the Red Sea for them. They also saw how He brought forth water from the rock for them to drink and how He laid a table for them in the wilderness, giving them food and meat to eat. Yet they allowed the empty words of men to make them reject the blessings of God for them. So, He got angry with them and allowed them to wander in the wilderness for forty years and waste away.
In like manner, many are wandering in life now and wasting away in poverty, illness, disgrace and other terrible situations of life because of their unbelief in God. They will not just act on what He says. They will rather act on what they hear from others or what they feel than act on what God says. But we do not need to feel good about what God says before we act on it, if we trust Him. And what He says does not need to appear reasonable to us before we act on it, if we trust Him. We just need to act on His word. And when we do, we will find things to be exactly the way He says that we will find them.
For example, when the Lord Jesus told Peter to take his boat back into the deep and let down his nets for a catch, it did not sound like He was making any sense. That was because this man and his companions had worked hard all through the night and had caught nothing. So, asking them to go back to the same place where they had laboured and failed was probably the most unreasonable thing anybody could say to them at that time. Yet Peter said that he was going to do just that. Why? It was because it was Jesus that asked him to do so. And when he did, he and his men received the provisions of God for them and their families in a most shocking way. (Cf. Luke 5:1-8)
In like manner, if we will begin to take everything God says to us in His word about our lives, homes, work, health, children, prosperity, protection, salvation, country and so on seriously and act on it, regardless of how we feel or what we think, see or hear, we will find things the way He says we will find them. Then we will see that we are never in shortage of His provisions for us or in shortage of the ability to enjoy them. So, if you want to receive and enjoy all that God has in store for you this month and throughout the remaining part of this year, embrace the word of God to you fully and act on it, regardless of what others or your senses may tell you. And you will be glad you did so.
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ARE YOU DEVOTED TO PRAYING FOR THEM? 22/06/2023
“Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.” (Colossians 4:12-13NIV)
Look at what Paul says about this man of God. He says, “He is always wrestling in prayers for you.” Now as we see in this letter, the one who took the gospel to the brethren in Colosse was this man, Epaphras (Colossians 1:7). Then he left them for a while. But he never stopped praying for them, for he was one of them. So, he knew them well. And he took advantage of that knowledge that he had of them to pray for them.
Now Paul says, “I vouch for him that he has never stopped praying for you.” And to what end was he praying for them? Paul says, “…that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.” In other words, Epaphras was praying that these brethren would never be shaken or moved away from the will of God.
As long as we are in this world, there will be challenges, trials, temptations and so forth. But we can be firm in the will of God in the face of them all. And one of the ways to make this happen is to be devoted to praying for one another, as Epaphras was devoted to praying for the Colossian brethren. He was praying for them that they would come to maturity and that they would stand firm in the will of God, that is, regardless of what circumstances they were faced with.
Do you offer such prayers for your brothers and sisters? Do you remember them at all when you are praying? This is serious business, or what do you think? I mean that you call them by their names and pray for them. You say, for example, “God I remember Sister Patience this morning. As she goes to school this week, keep her and make sure she is not shaken, regardless of what temptations she is faced with.”
Or you say, “Lord, I know this sister is working in a bank. So, if she is tempted this week to steal, strengthen her not to steal. There may even be people who will want to lure her into sexual impurity. Father, keep her, so that her faith will not fail.”
Or you say, “I pray for Brother Emmanuel, Father. You know that the people he is working with are, for the most part, foul-mouthed. So, please, keep him safe among them, so that he will not lose his mind and deny you there.”
See, you cannot tell to what extent such prayers will help. Unfortunately, we don’t often remember to pray for ourselves in this manner. Then, when one of us falls, we start saying, “I knew it. I knew it. I knew that he would end up in trouble, as I considered the way he was conducting himself.”
But did you pray for him at all? No! And you think you are guiltless? No, you are not. And when God starts asking you questions, “Where is your brother?” are you not, like Cain, going to say, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
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IF THEY WILL NOT LISTEN 21/06/2023
“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” (Matthew 18:15-17NIV)
You can see here the stages we are to go through in dealing with brethren who have sinned. Of course, the Lord does not tell us in this passage what sort of sins will require that we act in this manner. But He does tell us that if our brother sins, it is our duty to point out his error to him. And if he listens to us, the matter should end there, if it is not something that is of public nature. But if he will not listen to us, we are to take one or more people with us, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he listens, then, the matter should end there – we don’t have to take it any further than that.
However, if this person will not listen to us, then we are to tell his matter to the church. If he listens to the church, it should end there. But if he will not listen to the church, then, he has to, henceforth, be treated as a pagan. You can see from this that the Lord’s desire is that we will straighten out our brethren, if they miss it, so that they can be restored.
Paul says something similar in Galatians 6. He says if one of us is caught in a sin, those of us who are mature should restore them gently. So, it is important that we do not leave any of our brethren in sin. We must address the person about it and seek to bring him to restoration.
But if people will not listen to us, if they will not accept rebuke and correction, especially when they have been addressed by different people and the church, if they will not acknowledge their sins or are claiming not to care, then, we must punish them. And what sort of punishment are they to be given? The Lord says we are to treat them as we would treat a pagan or a tax collector.
This, then, has to do with withdrawal of fellowship from them. That means we stop fellowshipping with them the way we would fellowship with believers. It does not mean we are to condemn them to death or curse them or abuse them or slander them or destroy their reputation. We have no business doing such things.
Unfortunately, in several assemblies of God’s people today, if some brethren show themselves to be unrepentant in any way, we start calling them names, abusing them, cursing them and destroying their reputation. By living in sin, they are already destroying their own reputation. We don’t need to make matters worse for them. We must understand that even when people are unrepentant, whatever measure of punishment we give them must be geared towards bringing them back to the Lord Jesus Christ. So, Jesus says we are to treat them as we would treat pagans, as we would treat someone who needs to be evangelised all over again, as we would treat someone that is not saved at all and needs to be brought to the knowledge of the truth. And I pray that your heart will be filled with adequate wisdom to follow these words wherever you need to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen
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WHAT CAN SET YOUR LIFE ON FIRE 20/06/2023
"The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.” (James 3:6NIV)
Self-control is a major virtue that everyone who does not want his life ruined before it even gets started needs to possess. And one area of our lives in which we need to cultivate self-control is that of the way we use our tongues. In other words, we need to learn to control what we say with our tongues. Otherwise trouble will never be far from us.
To say the fact, one major reason some people will never have any moment of peace in this life is that they do not know how to control their tongues. They just say anything that comes into their mind and in exactly the way it comes into it. It is true that we may not always be able to control what thoughts come into our mind. But we surely can control what we do with those thoughts. I mean that we can determine which among the thoughts of our hearts we give expression to with our mouths and which ones we are going to remain silent about. And that is because it is not everything we think in our hearts that will do us or others good, if we should express it with our mouths.
Unfortunately, some people don’t even think at all before they open their mouths to speak. Once they are angry, depressed, happy or excited, they will just say anything that enters their mind, without considering how it may affect them or others. So, they end up putting themselves, others or even generations of people in some difficult situations or in some path of destruction.
Look, for example, at the case of one Herod of bible days (Mark 6:17-29). This man on a particular birthday of his gave a banquet for his high chiefs, army commanders and the leading men of Galilee. And was anything wrong with that? No! But when the daughter of his wife, Herodias, got him excited with her dance, he did not know when he, on oath, promised to give her anything she wanted, even up to half of his kingdom. And who does that? Even if that young lady was the most tender person in the world, was she capable of managing a household, not to talk of a kingdom? Had she been proved worthy of managing her own life, not to talk of managing an entire half of a kingdom that probably took several years of hard labour, diligence and wisdom to build?
Yet because this Herod got carried away in his moment of excitement, he made a promise to that girl that her mother took advantage of to get rid of John the Baptist, a righteous man that she considered to be her enemy. And because of his oath, there was nothing he could do about it. So, even though he did not deliberately kill John the Baptist, he would someday have to take responsibility for his death before God. But how did he find himself in this mess? It was through the careless use of his tongue.
Now there are several other examples both in the bible and in life of how people got themselves into trouble and set whole lives on fire because they could not tame their tongues. You yourself may even be able to speak of cases in which you got into trouble or lost some good things because you did not use your tongue wisely and carefully. Did you learn anything from such cases? If you didn’t, then, take advantage of these words that are coming to you now to learn the relevance of taming your tongue.
See, as apostle James makes very clear to us in our opening bible text, it is true that the tongue is a very small part of our body. However, it is also a fire that is capable of setting someone’s entire life on fire and devouring it. And the truth is that it has devoured many lives. I am saying there have been lives, homes and even nations that have been set on fire and ruined because of some people’s careless or foolish words. You may even know some of them. And if you don’t want to set your own life or other people’s lives on fire with your tongue, if you don’t want to shut the door of God’s favour against yourself or continually get trapped in problems that are never meant to be yours, you need to begin to consciously and consistently control the way you use your tongue.
Look at what the bible says to us about this: “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.” (1Peter 3:10NIV) Did you see that? If you want to enjoy your life and see many good days, what do you need to watch? The way you use your tongue! And may God enable you to tame your tongue to be blessing to you and others and not a curse of fire that will burn down your life and every good thing you have.
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VICTIMS OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 19/06/2023
“In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, "Put Uriah in the front line where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die." So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David's army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.”” (2Sam 11:14-17NIV)
There are all kinds of lessons to learn from the bible story of David, Bathsheba and Uriah. And one of them is that an innocent or righteous person can be a victim of life’s circumstances. As the account goes, David, at some point in his life, allowed his flesh to take charge of him and lead him into the sin of adultery with a woman called Bathsheba, who happened to be the wife of one of his best warriors, Uriah. Why this woman did not refuse David in order to honour her marriage is something we are not told in the bible. But the two of them did what they did, and it resulted in an unexpected pregnancy.
Now, in an attempt to cover up their sin, David first tried to set Uriah up to sleep with his wife, Bathsheba, and make him take responsibility for a pregnancy that was not his. But this attempt failed. Therefore, as we are shown in our opening bible text, he decided to set him up for death in battle through Joab. Unfortunately, Uriah himself was the one that bore the letter carrying his death sentence to Joab. And the only reason he did not know was that he was being a faithful and loyal servant to his master, the king.
What, then, was Joab, who was the commander of Israel’s army at that time, supposed to do? He was supposed to make Uriah’s death look like an accident. And that was exactly what he did. So, Uriah and some other men, who all knew nothing about what was happening, became victims of circumstances, victims of David’s evil plot. I am saying that these innocent and faithful men, who were doing nothing other than fight for their country, lost their lives not because it was necessary to do so but because one selfish man was trying to cover up his sins. And interestingly, that selfish man still obtained forgiveness from God for what he did. (Cf. 1Sam 11-12)
In any case, even today, a very good, honest, diligent and righteous person may still lose his life, home, job, honour, reputation, property, position of advantage or some other things money cannot buy because of the greed or selfishness of certain wicked and unreasonable people. Often, we hear stories of people losing their jobs or being denied a job because some powerful or influential person wants something they have or thinks that they may hinder him from having something he so crazily wants. We even hear stories of students being failed by some lecturers they have no business with at all, just because the latter think they are the reasons they cannot have certain girls in their school.
So, these things still happen. And sometimes, it may even be because of the carelessness or mistake of some individual that a good person will lose his life or something very dear. Remember Queen Vashti. Why did she lose her royal office as queen? Was it because of pride, as many of us have been made to believe? No, it wasn’t.
Read the story carefully again and again, and you will see that she was just a victim of circumstances. King Xerxes was drunk and not in his right mind when he asked her, the Queen of the Empire, to come and dance before him and his nobles like a common prostitute or stripper. And it was in order to maintain her dignity and that of the crown she wore that she chose to disobey the order. Of course, that made her lose her place as queen and opened the door for Esther to become queen. But she did not lose her dignity. And it is even clear from the account that Xerxes himself, when he eventually became sober, was not too happy about what he had done. But the harm had already been done, and it could not be reversed. So, even the mistake or carelessness of some persons may be the reason an innocent person will suffer. (Cf. Esther 1-2)
All of this is why we must learn to continually pray to God to keep us from being victims of circumstances. Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, says this: “And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith.” (2Thess 3:2NIV) Did you see that? It is not everyone that has faith in God or that possesses His fear. And people who do not know Him or have His fear can go to any extent to have what they want, even if it means wasting innocent lives.
More so, those who know God sometimes, like David, act recklessly and wickedly and hurt the very people they ought to be protecting. And unless we are protected by God Himself in such circumstances, we could innocently or ignorantly walk into their wicked traps and be destroyed or disgraced. Yet they may go on and receive God’s forgiveness. So, we must learn, as I said before, to pray that God will always keep us from being victims of the greed, selfishness, carelessness, recklessness or any form of wickedness of the people in our world.
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HOW SATAN PROMOTES LIES 18/06/2023
"The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” (2Thessalonians 2:9-11NIV)
I love this. Paul here tells us one of the ways Satan works. He says he uses all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders to promote his lies. Now, of course, he is going to do this in abundance when the Antichrist shows up. But already, the secret power of wickedness is at work in the world. Satan is already working and causing people to believe what they are not supposed to believe. And one of the ways he convinces them to follow him is through signs and wonders.
Think about that. Satan is able to perform signs and wonders and miracles. He is able to amaze people with miraculous works. It is no big wonder, then, that our Lord Jesus warns us not to follow anyone because he is performing miracles, signs or wonders. Satan also can do these things. He has some measure of authority and power to do these things. Remember he is an angelic being, though fallen from grace. Remember also that he now carries man’s authority to rule over this world. So, he can do wonders, signs and miracles to whatever degree God permits him to do them. And he uses these things to cause people to believe his lies and be entrenched in them.
You can see why people sometimes say of miracle workers, “If he is not telling the truth, how come he is doing these mighty works? How come he is doing all these miracles?” But our Lord Jesus says, “By their fruit you will know them.” If they are of God, they will not only be performing miracles, they will also be bringing forth the fruit of righteousness. But if all they do is perform signs and wonders and are not bringing forth the fruit of the Spirit, you can be sure that they are not of God. (Cf. Matt 7:15-20)
Today, we have miracle workers all around the world. And some of them sometimes openly get involved in sexual immorality. For instance, I once saw a video of a woman who was giving men holy milk in her so-called church. They would come and openly suck her breast in order to receive a miracle. Disgusting, isn’t it? But things like such are happening.
I also once saw the video of a man who was taking his bath in a drum in his church auditorium and asking his brethren to line up to drink his bath water. And they were coming to receive the water from him, while some others were singing around him. Why do people follow such liars? Why do people yield themselves to be led into doing such nasty and crazy things? It is usually because of the signs, wonders and miracles that they see. They believe that once someone is performing signs and wonders, he must be the real deal.
I equally saw another video of a man who was shaving off the hair of the private parts of certain female members of his church. And those women came out to have their private parts shaven by this charlatan. Why would people yield themselves to such things? Most times, it is because they have witnessed the signs and wonders performed by them. These things convince them that these miracle workers are real.
Well, that is exactly what Satan wants and loves to do. He loves to confirm his lies and errors with miracles and signs. And as Paul tells us, the reason people end up being deceived by such things is that they do not love the truth of God. When people hate the truth, when they do not want to embrace it, God, as this apostle further says, will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe Satan’s lies. And by so doing, they will ultimately ruin themselves.
Remember that what first made Pharaoh adamant and unwilling to let the Israelites go was the magic of his magicians and sorcerers. He had these people with him who were performing signs and wonders. They were the ones that strengthened him in his wickedness, to his own destruction. Similarly, there are people today who are being strengthened in wickedness by certain wizards, sorcerers or witches in their lives. These ones are giving them tokens and employing the power of witchcraft and sorcery to support them. So, they end up believing that no one can hurt them or destroy them. But it is all a lie. At some point, they will become victims of their own wickedness.
I shared all these things with you to let know how Satan operates. So, watch out for his lies. Watch out for his deception. And the only way to recognise these things is to be rooted in the word of God. I pray that your heart will be strengthened in His word of truth always, so that you can live accordingly and frustrate whatever scheme Satan may employ against you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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DON’T OPEN THE DOOR FOR THEIR ATTACK 17/06/2023
“The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it, saying to himself, ‘I’ll pin David to the wall.’ But David eluded him twice.” (2Samuel 18:10-11NIV)
What came upon Saul forcefully here? It was not the Holy Spirit. It was an evil spirit that came upon him forcefully. And he began to prophesy. This was different from what happened when he was just anointed as king over Israel and the Spirit of God came upon him and he began to prophesy (1Sam 10:9-13). He was prophesying by an evil spirit on this occasion. And that spirit led him to attempt to kill David.
But what brought Saul into that situation in which an evil spirit began to lead him in that manner? It was disobedience to God. When you are walking in disobedience to God, you are making room for evil spirits to use you. And this is especially true of those who turn away from God to idols or to the practice of witchcraft or sorcery. Whether they have been believers or not, their lives are always open for demonic spirits to afflict them. That is how some people become mad. That is also how some become sick and nothing done for their healing works. It is equally how some become deaf, dumb or paralysed. Their involvement in witchcraft and sorcery opened the doors of their lives for evil spirits to come in and afflict them.
Well, the point I am making is that disobedience to God, any kind of disobedience to Him, can open our lives for satanic affliction. Don’t forget that Saul did not commit adultery for him to be afflicted in this manner. He had not even at this time got involved in idolatry. His sin was simply that of not carrying out God’s instruction against Amalek. That was why the Spirit of God left him and he became exposed to satanic affliction.
Now we have the Spirit of God in us. So, we cannot be possessed by demons. I mean that the Holy Spirit and demons cannot occupy our hearts at the same time. However, by disobeying the word of God, we will be opening the doors of our lives for demons to attack and afflict us. And we may be able to tell how dangerous their attacks on us will be. So, we need to avoid any form of disobedience to God. It is safe us from needless satanic attacks and afflictions.
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IT IS ABOUT HIS COMMENDATION 16/06/2023
“For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.” (2Corinthians 10:18NIV)
Paul, here in our opening bible text, says it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. So, when we are talking about examining ourselves, we are not talking about aiming for self-commendation. The fact that you commend yourself does not mean that you have God’s approval. You may look at your life and conclude that it is fine just the way it is. That does not mean that your life is fine or that you are doing well in the sight of God.
It is, indeed, important that you examine your life to see that it measures up to God’s expectations. But it is not about what you think of yourself; it is about what God thinks of you. So, again, it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.
And how do you know whether you have His commendation, approval or praise? It is by examining your life in the light of His word. If that, then, is what you are doing, you will be examining your life on the basis of His expectations from you.
You may have your own expectations concerning your life. You may have the things you want to do or see in your life. That is okay. But the things you want to see in your life, are they want God wants to see in it? If what you want to see in your life is not what He wants to see in it, then, you have already missed it. You are not the one that will judge yourself; God is the one that will judge you. Ultimately, all of us are going to stand before His judgement seat to give an account of our lives. Yes, it is important that, right now, we are accountable to ourselves, that we look at our lives and examine them to see that they measure up. But whose standards are they to measure up to? Whose expectations are they to measure up to?
Well, it has to be about God’s expectations and standards, not about our own expectations and standards or other people’s expectations and standards. People may have their own expectations from us, what they expect our lives to look like or how they expect our lives to turn out. And that is okay – it is okay for others to have their own expectations from our lives. But if they are not in line with what God expects of us, then, we don’t need to take them very seriously.
Also, people may have standards by which they judge whose lives are moving forward or moving in the right direction and those whose lives are fruitful and productive. And they do have all kinds of standards that they use to judge people to determine whether they are making sense with their lives or not. They may look at your bank accounts to see how much you are worth financially or look at the number of houses or cars you have. They may look at where you work or your position in the society. Or they may look at the foundations you have and how many people they are reaching. They just have all kinds of things they look at in order to judge whether people’s lives are making sense or not.
You know that we have many celebrities all over the world today, individuals that are popular and influential. And people imitate their lifestyles, the way they talk, dress and so forth. But are their lives actually making sense or moving in the direction God wants them to move? They may meet people’s expectations or even surpass their expectations. But are they meeting God’s expectations? By human standards they may be doing well. But are they doing well by God’s standards?
Well, the point I am making is that this is not about what people expect of you or what you expect of yourself. And it is not about using people’s standards or your own standards to measure your life to see whether it is becoming more and more fruitful and useful or not. This is about using God’s standards to judge your life and also about meeting His expectations over your life. And this is what Paul is talking about in our opening bible text, which says, “It is not the one who commends himself that has God’s approval but the one whom the Lord commends.”
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INVEST YOUR ETERNITY 15/06/2023
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21NIV)
The Lord says where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. If you have treasure in the heavenly kingdom that the Lord will establish, then, your heart will always be there. But how do you lay up treasure for yourself there? It is by being devoted to good works.
The Lord says do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth. Why? It is because whatever you store up here on earth is reserved for fire and will ultimately be destroyed at the end of this age (2Pet 3:10-13). By the way, even before the day of the Lord, anything can happen to the things we store here on earth and make us lose them. Thieves can strike, even though we do not pray for that to happen to us. Windstorms, rainstorms and so forth can take away from men what they have stored up for themselves here no earth. In one day, as we are told in the Scriptures, Job lost everything he had. All kinds of calamities befell him and made him lose everything he had, including his children. And he went from being the richest in the land to perhaps the poorest.
That is showing us that nothing of this world is certain. The only one certain is God. So, Jesus says do not store up treasures here on earth but store up treasures in heaven, where thieves do not break in, where moths and vermin do not strike. And how do you do that? As I said before, it is through good works.
Paul tells us in Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 10, that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, the good works God prepared in advance for us to do. So, there are good works God wants us to do here in the world. And as we do them, we will be saving up for eternal purposes, laying up treasures for ourselves in heaven, investing in our eternity. All of this is why we preach, give and do all kinds of things for the kingdom of God.
Well, my point is that you need to invest in your eternity. If you believe that Jesus is coming to establish a new order of things, invest in your eternity. Noah invested in his salvation. God had told him what was coming and what he would need to do to be saved. He was to build himself an ark. And he did. But whose money did he use in building the ark? His money! Whose time did he use in building it? His time and perhaps the time of others whose services he engaged and also paid for! Everything Noah did was geared towards saving himself and his family members and investing in their future after the flood.
In like manner, everything we do now must be geared towards investing in our eternity. Noah, in his own case, had to store food and water in the ark to take care of himself, his family and all the animals and birds with him in the ark. Whose money did he use in getting all these things? It was his money. So, all that he did, from the time the Lord spoke to him about what was coming till the time he entered the ark, was geared towards his future survival. And think about this: if he had gone into the ark without enough food and water to drink, when he did not even know how many days he would spend in there (and they spent months in there), would he and those with him have survived? No!
You too need to invest in your eternity. You need to invest in it with your time, money, energy, education, skills, spiritual gifts and any other thing you have. You are to put all these things together and use them to invest in your eternity. Use them to do good works that God can reward you for
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THEY HAVE NO PART IN HIS KINGDOM 14/06/2023
"Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1Corinthians 6:9-10NIV)
Paul says don’t let anybody deceive you about any kind of sin. Don’t let anybody tell you that certain things that God has judged to be sinful do not matter. They matter. And people who indulge in them have no part in the kingdom of God, regardless of what they think or how they feel.
For instance. the homosexuals and the lesbians have no part in the kingdom of God. Those who have sex with animals have no part in the kingdom of God. So, you do not say that you are a child of God and be living in this manner. Something is wrong with you. Your new birth is questionable, if you are living in this manner. If you are truly a child of God and a citizen of His kingdom, you will not live in this manner.
Also, in Galatians, chapter 5, from 19, Paul says,:
“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21NIV)
Look at that. Paul says I am warning you, as I did before, that those who are living in sin will not inherit the kingdom of God. The sexually immoral will not inherit the kingdom of God. The impure will not inherit the kingdom of God. Those who give themselves to idolatry, witchcraft and sorcery will not inherit the kingdom of God. Those who hate others, murderers, thieves, robbers and those who are involved in orgies have no part in the kingdom of God.
So, do not let anybody tell you that these things do not matter. Do not let anybody tell you that these things do not mean anything and that the only thing that matters is that your heart is right with God – what you do with your body is unimportant. That is because the word of God is clear about the fact that people who live like this have no part in the kingdom of God.
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KNOW WHO YOU TAKE THINGS FROM 13/06/2023
“Do not eat the food of a stingy man, do not crave his delicacies; for he is the kind of man who is always thinking about the cost. "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you. You will vomit up the little you have eaten and will have wasted your compliments.” (Prov 23:6-8NIV)
From what we see in the bible, love must be the motivation for anything we do in life (1Cor 16:14). Therefore, anything that is not based on love will be rejected by God as useless, regardless of how grand it may be in the sight of men. And since that is how it is with God, since He will not accept from our hands anything that is not based on love, we too must study not to accept from people anything that is not based on love.
The point I am making is that it is not every gift or act of kindness from people that we can accept or must accept. It is true that love does not just give but also receives. But it is not every gift that people give or everything that looks like an act of kindness or generosity from them that is borne out of love. And it will be wisdom for us to be able to tell when what someone is trying to give to us or do for us is not being motivated by love, so that we may reject it. Otherwise, someday, we may have to pay a very costly price for something that we thought was free.
For example, in our opening bible text, we are warned not to eat the food or delicacies of anyone that we know as stingy. Why? It is because stingy people always think more about the cost of what they want to give out than their relationships with those they want to give to. So, their giving is hardly motivated by love but by necessity. This being the case, you cannot trust them to give you anything of quality. And even if they should give you something of quality, it will certainly come with a price.
Now, of course, once you receive the gift or help of a stingy person, you will have to say ‘Thank you’ to them. But as Solomon further tells us in that bible text, soon enough, you will realise that you have wasted your compliments or thanksgiving. Why? It will either be because what they have given you or done for you is utterly worthless or that the price you have to pay in order to use or enjoy it is even greater than thing itself. Then you end up blaming yourself for receiving their gifts or allowing them to help you.
Therefore, if you don’t want to be wasting your compliments on anybody, if you don’t want some so-called gift or help done for you by some person to eventually become a terrible burden for you, know who you receive things from and what you receive from them. Some people are not stingy but arrogant. These ones like to boast, even to the point of exaggeration, about what they do for others. So, you can always expect them to take more credit for whatever they do for you or give to you than they deserve. And if care is not taken, at some point, they may start making everybody believe that they made you. So, regardless of how needy you may be, mark them and do your best to stay away from their help or gifts. Or someday you may regret ever receiving anything from them. (Cf. Gen 14:21-24)
Then some others only give to others and do things for them for the sole purpose of being able to use them at some point or trap them. That means their help or gift is either a bribe or a trap and not a love sacrifice (1Sam 18:20-21). You equally must do your best to stay away from their help or gifts, even if you are in serious need of what they are offering. Otherwise, whatever you receive from them may end up leading to your fall or enslavement. And may God fill your heart continually with wisdom to know what sort of help or gift is not good or appropriate for you to accept, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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FOLLOW IT UP WITH PRAYER 12/06/2023
“And Elijah said to Ahab, "Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain." So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.” (1Kings 18:41-42NIV)
As we are shown in the bible, there was a period during the reign of King Ahab that God brought drought and famine on the land of Israel for three and a half years. He announced that this would happen by the mouth of His prophet, Elijah. But why? It was because of the sins of the people. And there are also other instances in the bible in which the people of God experienced drought and famine in their land because of their sins or the sins of their leaders (2Sam 21:1).
So, droughts and famines are not normal things in the affairs of men. They are usually one of God's ways of judging peoples and nations for selling themselves out to sin, especially idolatry, bloodshed and injustice. And God does not bring these things on nations because He does not love or care about them; rather, He does so because He wants to get their attention and make them see what their sins are doing to them. But if they do not have discerning leaders, whether political or religious leaders, who will seek the Lord's face about their predicament, things can only go from bad to worse for them. (Cf. 2Sa 21:1; Amos 4:7-8)
At any rate, after three and a half years, the word of the Lord came to Elijah again, saying, “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land." (1Kings 18:1NIV) Did you see that? It was God Himself that told Elijah that it was time for the drought and famine in the land to end. But He did not want it to just end without letting Ahab and the people know that these things did not just end by themselves – He was the one that brought them to an end. Also, He did not want them to think that it was the activities and sacrifices of the prophets of Baal and Asherah in the land that brought the three and a half years of drought and famine to an end – He was the one that brought them to an end.
Therefore, He told Elijah to show himself to Ahab, his prophets and the people of the land and use the occasion to show them that He is the true God and the only one that can save them from their miseries and make their land abound with fruitfulness. And that was exactly what Elijah did. He appeared to Ahab, his evil prophets and the people and proved to them that Yahweh is the true God. (Cf. 1Kings 18:2-40)
Now, having done the will of God by leading the people of God back to repentance, Elijah, as we are told in our opening bible text, told Ahab to go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain. Why was he confident to say this, when there had neither been a drop of rain nor dew for more than three years in the land? It was because the Lord Himself told him that He was going to send rain on the land, and he believed him.
But then, having told Ahab that rain was already coming on the land, Elijah did not just walk away and expect rain to come. Instead, he went up Mount Carmel to pray earnestly to God. In other words, this man went to back his word up with prayers. He went to tell God that he had done his own part and that He too should do His part. But was that really necessary? At least, it was not his idea in the first place to tell Ahab that rain was coming on the land; it was God's idea. Why, then, did he still need to pray to Him to fulfil His word?
First, it was because he knew that prayer was a way of receiving from God what He has already provided or given. Second, it was because he wanted an urgent fulfilment of what God had said. And did God answer Him or not? He did. In fact, judging by the context of that account, he could not have prayed for long at all before God answered him and sent rain on the land. And what this is teaching us is to learn to back up our knowledge or declaration of the word or will of God with prayer.
See, knowing the will of God about our situation or confessing it is not always sufficient for us to see its manifestation; we also need to learn to back our knowledge and confession of His will up with prayers. In fact, anytime we notice a delay in the manifestation of what God has said concerning us, we should lose no time to pray to Him about it. That is because prayer, as I pointed out before, is one sure way of taking for ourselves what God has already given. And when we pray like this, even if the devil has been working to delay our access to what God has provided, as he once did with Daniel, our fervent and continuous prayers will make sure all the angels of God that are supposed to work in our favour are activated to work and bring us answers to our prayers. (Cf. Dan 9 & Dan 10:1-14)
So, as you are making effort to learn the will of God and to affirm it concerning the various matters of your life, also learn to back up your knowledge of His will with earnest prayers to access and enjoy His provisions without delay.
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BELIEVERS CAN BE DECEIVED 11/06/2023
Believers also can follow lying spirits and teachings of demons, as we are clearly shown in our opening bible text. Then they will start doing things they are not supposed to do. Satan will convince to begin to see something that is wrong as right.
For example, in the verses that follow our opening bible text, Paul speaks about people who command others not to get married and not to eat certain foods (1Tim 4:3-5). And in recent times in this country, a woman in the church was preaching and telling people not to eat certain foods because they are being produced in the bottom of the oceans by some evil beings. Also, a man, several years ago, used to preach similar nonsense. He would tell husbands not to use their wives’ cloths to cover themselves when sleeping because it has some spiritual connotations. He would also tell people not to wear certain colours of clothes on certain days of the week because doing so has some spiritual connotations.
But all these things are lies. And they are things through which Satan operates in many people’s lives and keep them in poverty or misery. That is because instead for them to face the real issues in their lives that are responsible for their failure, poverty or sicknesses, it is something else they will hold responsible for their ordeals. And there are all kinds of myths and legends that are rooted in satanic deception. Sadly, people live on these things.
Why do people worship idols? It is satanic deception that is responsible. The things we call taboos in most places today are mostly rooted in satanic deception. And many live their lives on their basis. For instance, growing up, we were told that if you were going somewhere and you hit a stone with your left foot and stumbled, it meant that something bad was going to happen soon that day. And many of us believed this lie.
So, any time you dashed your left foot against a stone, you would start expecting something bad or terrible to happen. And guess what? Something bad would happen, for you had been looking forward to it. Satan would keep reminding you that something bad was supposed to happen that day. And since the doors of your heart were already opened to welcome a bad occurrence, you have already given him the permission he needed to work in your life. Therefore, you must be rooted in the word of God, for Satan succeeds in deceiving people often because of their ignorance of the word of God.
Now remember that when he succeeded in deceiving Eve, she and her husband ended up being driven out of the Garden of Eden. They were driven out of God’s place of comfort and provisions for them. And many are being driven out, just like them, out of God’s place of rest, peace of mind and provisions for them through satanic deceit. They are being driven out of where their lives can flourish and be meaningful to a place of hunger, frustration, depression, barrenness and death because they are living on the lies of the devil.
Therefore, it is important that you know what the word of God is saying. It is important that you hold on to His word, for only His word has the power to demolish the lies of the devil. Otherwise, even though you are a believer, Satan may end up deceiving you and driving to a place of hunger, barrenness, frustration, depression and death.
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NEVER BY ACCIDENT 10/06/2023
“You are the salt of the earth…” (Matt 5:13NIV)
One of the qualities of salt is that it preserves. Salt stops the decay of things. If you don’t want something to go bad or decay, you apply salt to it. It has powerful abilities to kill germs and other kinds of devourers. For example, when you apply salt to your smoked fish, what do you see? You see the worms inside dying. And that is because salt has power to preserve things or to protect them from experiencing decay.
So, when the Lord says to His disciples, “You are the salt of the earth,” He is saying you are the ones to preserve this world from decaying. This is a decaying world, according to the Scriptures (1Corinthians 7:31; 1John 2:17). But with our presence in it, we can stop the decay where we are. At least, we can limit the degree of decadence in our own world.
We know that we cannot get rid of evil in the world. The Scriptures are clear about that. There is nothing we can do to get rid of evil in this world. The only one who can get rid of evil in the world is God, and He is not ready to do that yet. But in our neighbourhood or family or office or school we can stop the decay.
I mean you come into a family and stop the decay there. Or you come into someone’s life and stop the person’s life from decaying. That means, as people whose lives are already decaying begin to interact with you, the decay that is going on in their lives stops, and their lives are preserved from destruction. It means that as people watch the way you live and begin to imitate you, their lives are preserved. It means that as they listen to your counsel, their marriages, homes, jobs and so forth are preserved.
Well, the Lord is saying you are the salt of the earth. He is saying this is what you are to the world. But do you see yourself in that manner, child of God? Do you see yourself as salt where you are? Do you see yourself as the salt of your family, the salt of your neighbourhood, the salt of your workplace? As you interact with people, are their lives seasoned, are their lives healed and are their lives preserved from decay? As you interact with those who are already going in the path of destruction, are they stopped in that path?
Now you need to understand that the Lord is not telling us to try to be salt in this world. Rather, He is telling us that we are salt already. He is telling us that because we are His disciples we are salt in this world. He is telling us that because of the things He has been teaching us we are the salt of the earth. And look at the things He has been teaching us since we became Christians. Look at all the things the Lord has taught you since you became a Christian. If you would put every one of those things into practice, do you know what the world around you would look like? If you would put every one of the things He has taught you into practice, if we all would put every one of the things He has brought to us into practice, what would the world around us look like? What do you think our families would look like? What would our neighbourhoods look like?
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NEVER BY ACCIDENT 09/06/2023
“…rather, train yourself to be godly.” (1Timothy 4:7NIV)
One of the reasons Paul tells Timothy to train himself to be godly, as we see in our opening bible text, is that godliness does not happen by accident. Think about it. If Timothy could become godly by accident, would Paul need to tell him to train himself to be godly? No! So, it must mean that godliness does not happen by accident—you have to train yourself to be godly.
Many who are now Christians still wonder why, having become Christians, they still don’t have a reputation for being righteous or holy. They are wondering what is wrong. They might even say, “They told me that if I would give my life to Jesus Christ, everything would just come around, and I would stop telling lies, stop stealing and stop womanising.” And now they have become Christians but have not been able to stop those things. So they wonder why they still do not have a reputation for being godly.
Well, the answer is very clear. Godliness does not happen by accident; you have to train yourself to be godly. People, for example, don’t become little devils by accident. And they don’t become wicked by accident. They don’t. We have robbers in the world today. We have kidnappers in the world today. We have assassins and terrorists in the world today. We have prostitutes in the world today. We have all kinds of people who do all kinds of wicked things in the world today. The question is, “Were they born that way?” No!
How many who are robbers today were born that way? Or perhaps you know any robber whose parents used to tell him when he was growing up, “Look, you were born a robber, and a robber you must become.” I don’t know of any, though they may exist. But for the most part, people train themselves to become those things. They probably started by pilfering, pick-pocketing and so on. Before long, they found themselves among a company of people with similar traits. Then they began to plan and scheme together. And now they have become big-time robbers.
Also, consider those who tell lies today, people that one will refer to as professional liars. How did they become liars? They trained themselves. And consider this: all of us were once liars—we told different kinds of lies on different occasions. I do hope, I do sincerely hope, that you no longer tell lies.
In any case, we all have told lies in the past, whether with our eyes or body or mouth. And how did we start? Gradually! We trained ourselves to be liars. It is possible that we were caught and punished the first time we told a lie. So, we told ourselves to make it better in the future. Then we began to find better ways to present our lies so that we would not be caught. That is what it means to train oneself to be a liar.
In addition, consider students who cheat during examinations. Some of them keep inventing new ways of cheating. If they tried a particular method, and it did not work out, they would say, “That method did not work well. I have to come up with another one.” That is why today we find ladies who would write things on their laps, information that they think they might need in their examinations, and put on very long robes. And when you see them, you might be tempted to think all is well. How did they come about those ideas? It was by training themselves.
Now let us suppose you are twenty years old plus and all your life you have been training yourself to do the wrong things. Having become a Christian now, do you think your life will just automatically become wonderful and everybody will begin to admire it? No! You have used all your life learning to steal, to lie and to womanise. Why then should you think that you will automatically gain a reputation for godliness? That will never happen.
There are Christians, for example, who have mastered some worldly mannerism and gestures. And even now, such people still exhibit some of those negative mannerism and gestures, as they relate to others. As I was told, there is a way you shake hands with someone of the opposite sex and an impure impression will be gotten. People train themselves to do such things. And if they become Christians, they will have to first un-train themselves of those things and then start training themselves in godly living.
That is what Paul is telling us here. He is saying, just the way you trained yourself to be ungodly, you now also have to train yourself to be godly. Just the way you have trained yourself to curse people, you now have to train yourself to bless them. This is not going to happen by accident. Just as you trained yourself to steal, you now have to train yourself to do something honest with your hands. You have been training yourself to be lousy all your life. Now you must begin to receive a different training. This thing is not going to happen by accident. It is not going to happen automatically. You will have to train yourself. You will have to do it, and I also will have to do it.
Interestingly, this is a message to a pastor. Paul is telling a Pastor Timothy here to train himself to be godly. But some pastors today think that they have already arrived and do not have to receive this kind of training. But this is a letter to a Pastor. And he is told to train himself to be godly. Now if a Pastor needs to train himself to be godly, what about one who is not a Pastor or one who does not have a designation or recognised title in the church? Will he not also have to train himself to be godly? He also will have to. So, you don’t have any excuse not to be exhibiting godliness in your life. You just need to train yourself to do. And may you daily receive sufficient strength from the Spirit of God to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a great day.
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YOU HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR GODLINESS 08/06/2023
Why does Paul tell Timothy to train himself to be godly? It must mean that Timothy has what it takes to be godly. Otherwise, it will be useless to tell him to train himself to be godly. You know there are things in this life that you cannot train yourself to become. And that will not be because the facilities or resources to train yourself to become those things are not available but because it is simply not in you.
For example, if you want to join the military, there is a minimum height you are expected to have. They will tell you that if you are not as tall as they have stipulated you should not even apply. Yes, you may be brutal, energetic, hard and be able to do a lot of things. You may even be able to handle guns, swords and other weapons. But if you do not meet the height requirement of the force you want to join, all those things will not matter to them—you will be disqualified.
To say the fact, there are several other things in life that you cannot train yourself to be. And as I said before, that will not be because the resources, facilities or equipment you need to train yourself to be those things are not available; it will be because it is not in you—the potential is not there. So, for Paul to be telling Timothy to train himself to be godly, it must mean that this man has what it takes to be godly. And why is that so? It is so because Timoth is a child of God.
Now, like Timothy, every child of God has in him what it takes to be godly. That is why you are a child of God in the first place. Or how can you say that you are a child of God, if you do not have what it takes to be godly. If you say that you do not have what it takes to be godly, you are just saying, in other words, that you are not a child of God.
In 2Peter, chapter 1, verse 3, we are told, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (2Peter 1:3NIV) Look at that. Peter says God’s divine power has made available for us or put at our disposal all the things that we need for godliness. So, we have the things that we need to be able to live a godly life. The potential to be godly is in us. Every child of God has the potential to be godly in him; he has in him the potential to exhibit the character of God in every situation.
Similarly, every natural man has in him the potential to be a little demon. He only needs to work at it. He has all that it takes to be an angel of the devil here on earth. Now you, as a child of God, may consider what some people have done in the past and what some others are doing now and say, “How could anybody be as wicked as this?” Or you could say, “Why would someone do something as wicked as this?”
But do you know that sometimes unbelievers too ask such questions? They look at people like Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin as monsters. And they look at individuals like Idi Amin of Uganda and Sani Abacha of Nigeria as monsters. But what they don’t know is that in every one of them is the potential to become something worse than what those people were. Yes, every natural man has the potential to be worse than Hitler and to be more wicked than Idi Amin. They only need to do something about that potential, and it will begin to manifest.
In like manner, the Christian has to do something about the potential for godliness that he has in him for it to manifest. Yes, he has to work at it. That is why Paul tells him to train himself to be godly. So, if you are a child of God, begin to train yourself to do those things that are consistent with godliness instead of making excuses for doing things that are contrary to the character of God, your Father. You already have in you what it takes to exhibit godliness. So, you are not going to be struggling to do something you are not cut out for. Rather, you are simply going to be exhibiting what is natural for you. And may the Spirit of God strengthen you to be devoted to manifesting the character of God in your life every day and wherever you go. Amen.
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THE CHURCH IS NOT YOUR PROPERTY 07/06/2023
Now the part I want you to pay attention to in our opening text is where Jesus says, “I will build my church.” That is to show us that the church belongs to Him. He is literally saying, “I bought the church with my own blood. And I will build it up.”
So, the Lord Jesus is the only one who has the right to say, “My Church—the church belongs to me”, speaking in terms of possession now. No other person possesses the right to say so. He is the only that possesses that right. And even if He has used you to reach out to people and gather them to begin to meet as an assembly of His, you still do not possess the right to say that the church is yours.
This, of course, is contrary to the thinking of many. I know there are people who are going to tell you how much they have suffered in order to build up an assembly. They will say things like, “I know how much I laboured in order to build this church and bring it up to this level. And now you think you can tell me how to run it? This is my church!”
Such people are simply trying to possess God’s assembly; they are trying to own it. But the church is not theirs to possess. And the fact that the Lord has used them in raising His people does not mean that the church now belongs to them.
Today, we even find those who have already turned assemblies of God’s people into a family business or property. So, they can now pass such assemblies on to their children, as one would parcel out his properties as an inheritance to his children. You know how our parents pass on to us the things they have laboured for. In the same way, we now have ministers of the gospel that parcel out assemblies of God’s people to their children and their children also to their children after them.
Now I am not in any way saying that a minister of the gospel that has a son or a daughter that has been trained by the Lord to minister to His people should not give that child an opportunity to minister in his stead or in his place in the kingdom. That is not what I am saying. But the idea of trying to parcel out God’s people as an inheritance to our children is totally unscriptural; it is totally ungodly. We are simply saying that these assemblies belong to us, when we do that; we are saying that they are our properties, things that we have laboured for. In other words, we possess the right to transfer them to whosoever we desire to transfer them to, as an inheritance.
But here Jesus says, “The church belongs to me. It is my church. And I am the one that will build it. Yes, I may decide to use you in building it. But ultimately, the building up of the church rests on me; it is my sole responsibility.” So, to think that you have laboured so hard for the church to grow or that the growth of an assembly of God’s people is a result of your effort is to miss it. The one who is actually building the church up is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. That is because He is the owner of the church.
That being the case, regardless of how the Lord uses you in building His church or what great things He uses you to do for His church, you must never forger that you are still an instrument in His hands and not the owner of what is being built. Otherwise, your ignorance will breed some terrible pride in you that may end up leading to your destruction. So, mind yourself.
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BE CAREFUL MIGHTY MAN 06/06/2023
Daniel, once, having received a revelation from God about what the future holds for the kingdoms of men, said these words: “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever, wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others…” (Dan 2:20-21NIV) Did you see that? Wisdom and power belong to God. So, regardless of how wise you may think you are, the owner of wisdom is God. And if you will not acknowledge this, humble yourself before Him and use whatever measure of wisdom He has blessed you with to do His will, He will someday deal with you and frustrate your so-called wisdom. This is why we have had wise people that lived and died without leaving any significant mark on the world of their time or accomplishing their lofty dreams.
Also, regardless of how powerful you may be, regardless of what position of power you may be occupying in life, never forget that God is the owner of power. So, if He had not permitted you to be in that position you are now occupying, you could not have been there. And if you will not acknowledge this and use your position to make life better for others, He is able to remove you from your secure position and put someone else there.
Now Daniel witnessed this in his day. First, he saw how that mighty emperor, Nebuchadnezzar, was driven away from his throne by God because of his pride. This man ran mad and lived as an animal among animals for some years. And if God had not been merciful to him, forgiven him and restored him, he would have perished as an animal. (Cf. Dan 4)
In addition, Daniel saw how this man’s son that became king after him, Belshazzar, was judged by God as unfit for the position he was occupying and taken away in death the very night he was judged. But this man had been forewarned about the looming disaster. Why did he do nothing about it? Procrastination, most likely! Apparently, this man had no idea that the judgment God had announced was coming on him the very night of the day Daniel warned him. He probably thought he had more time to fix things. Unfortunately, he died that same night and lost his position to another, just the way God had said. (Cf. Dan 5)
Furthermore, as we see in our opening bible text, God told Shebna, the palace administrator during the reign of King Hezekiah, that He was going to judge him, break his power and send him far away to a strange land to die there. Exactly what this man did to merit this kind of judgment we are not told. But it is evident from the context of the text that he had been abusing his power and acting in arrogance, thinking he was some mighty man. In fact, he had even prepared an expensive tomb for himself in some choice place, as though he were in charge of his own future. But God, speaking through His prophet, Isaiah, said that He would uproot him from his position of power, throw him away like a ball and replace him with a better man. (Cf. Isaiah 22:15-24)
So, regardless of how mighty you think you are now, be careful. Yes, watch how you use that might or power that you have. That is because God, the owner of all might, power and dominion, is watching your every move. And if you are already failing Him, He may, at some point, have to show you that He has the power to uproot from your secure position and throw you away to a place where you may remain useless or irrelevant for the rest of your earthly life. How soon can He do this? It can be as soon as now. So, waste no time to repent of every abuse of your position or power. That may just be the difference between elevation and disgrace for you.
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DESTROY LAZINESS AND IGNORANCE 05/06/2023
The bible is very clear about the fact that none of us can accomplish anything good in life, either for ourselves or others, without God. It is also clear about the fact that we cannot receive anything good and perfect in life and enjoy it, if God does not give it to us. This is why we all must put Him first and take Him very seriously in all that we do. It is why we all must take praying to Him about our success in life very seriously. Otherwise, all our labour and effort to be great and relevant in life or to make sense out of living will ultimately amount to nothing. (Cf. Ecc 2:24-26; Is 26:12; Matt 6:33; John 3:27&15:5; James 1:17)
However, everything about enjoying our lives and the beautiful things of this life is not resting on praying to God alone. Of course, we are taught in scriptures to take praying to God about our lives and even our world very seriously. But that is not all we are taught to do. We are also taught to take life very seriously in order to be able to access and enjoy God’s provisions for us in it. This is why we all must be involved in one legitimate labour or the other and be devoted to handling it seriously. Or else, our praying, fasting, giving or any other spiritual service we may be involved in will not be able to give us access to the kinds of resources we need to enjoy life.
Now, in our opening text, Solomon shows us two major reasons people, even children of God, may end up being poor and miserable in life, even though they are born into wealth and affluence. The first of them is laziness. According to him, if we are lazy, it is right before our eyes that our job or business or whatever it is that God could have used to channel the resources we need in life to us will become useless and unproductive. In other words, what ought to have been a channel through which God’s blessings will be flowing to us will not be one. Instead, it will be a channel through which insults, shame and pains will flow into our lives.
Therefore, this wise man warns us against laziness and procrastination. He warns us against sleeping, resting or playing when we are supposed to be working. Yes, He warns us against putting off what we are supposed to be doing now to some other time. Mind you, when Solomon speaks of ‘a little sleep’, ‘a little nap’ and ‘a little folding of the arms to rest’, he is not saying it is wrong for us to sleep or rest at all. Rather, he is saying that it is wrong for us to use the time that is meant for serious work for idleness of any kind. And according to him, functioning like this will simply open the doors of our lives for poverty to come into them like robbers and take away from us every good thing we have or that might have been ours. So, deal with everything that has to do with idleness and procrastination in your life, for it can only work against your prosperity.
But then, as Solomon equally points out in that text, being lazy is not the only thing that may keep us in poverty or plunge us into a life of lack; being senseless or ignorant may also drag us into an entire lifetime of lack and misery. For example, there are people that are hardworking and diligent in handling their jobs or businesses but who are still in poverty or in a terrible financial mess because they lack understanding. Some lack of an understanding of those things they need to be doing or things they should not be doing in order to take their job or business to great heights. And instead for them to go for more knowledge and understanding along their line of job, business or trade, they are adamant and unwilling to learn. So, they keep doing the same things they have been doing and in the same ways they have been doing them. But such people are not going to get different results, regardless of how long they stay or how much energy or resources they put into using the same old and ineffective principles.
For some others, it is financial intelligence that they lack. These ones do not know how to put the resources they have, however little they may be, to meaningful and profitable use, so that those resources will keep increasing in their hands and not diminish. And instead for them to admit that they need help in managing their resources and seek it, they may change their job or business, start an additional business that they have no capacity to handle, resort to undue rationing of what they have, something that may introduce some other problems into their lives, or give themselves to borrowing or smart begging. But such people may never come out of their financial misery, as long as they refuse to gain the financial sense they need.
Therefore, apart from separating your life from every form of laziness or idleness, you also need to constantly give yourself to learning those things that will make you increase in fruitfulness and usefulness. Yes, learn those things that will make you get promoted in your line of job or get better results in your business or trade. In addition, learn those things that will make you better in handling resources and even people. That is because it is not only money that you need to enjoy life; you also need people. And if you will give yourself to doing these things, with God on your side, there is no way you will not rise above whatever degree of poverty that Satan has conferred on you.
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DON’T CHOOSE WHAT TO PREACH 04/06/2023
"Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32NIV)
What is Paul referring to here as the word of God’s grace? He is referring to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And he calls it the message of God’s grace, that is, the message that reveals God’s provisions for man to be all that God wants him to be. So, the word we have been called to preach, the message that has been delivered to us for all men, is a message of God’s grace, a message of God’s provisions.
Interestingly, we now have assemblies of God who believe that what they have been called to preach to people is grace. But that is the job of every child of God and of every assembly of His people. We all have been called to proclaim the message of God’s grace.
Then, we also have other assemblies of God’s people that believe that what they have been called to teach people is holiness. And yet some others believe that what they have been called to teach people is prosperity. But as I said earlier, there is no believer that has not been called to teach all these things. Every child of God has been called to teach these things. Each of us has been called to teach people the grace of God, to show people how to access God’s grace, to show people what God has made available to them. That is what the Lord means when He tells us to make disciples of all men, teaching them all that He has commanded us. (Cf. Matthew 28:19-20)
So you don’t choose what to teach. You don’t say, “My focus will be on holiness”, or “My focus will be on righteousness”, or “My focus is prosperity”, or “My own focus is healing.” What about other things? Are you saying the one that has been healed does not need to walk in righteousness? Or are you saying because a man is already living in holiness he does not need to live in health or in prosperity? Every child of God has been called to preach or declare the full counsel of God and make it known to men.
Well, my point is that the gospel we are to preach is also referred to in the Scriptures as the message of God’s grace or provisions. So, as we are revealing to people what the new life in Christ Jesus is all about, we are also supposed to be showing them what God has made available for them to live this new life. You can see, then, that this is serious business. It is not something that we can do thoughtlessly. It is not something that we can do carelessly. It is something that we have to be fully involved in, as God gives us opportunity.
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DON’T CHOOSE WHAT TO PREACH 04/06/2023
"Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32NIV)
What is Paul referring to here as the word of God’s grace? He is referring to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And he calls it the message of God’s grace, that is, the message that reveals God’s provisions for man to be all that God wants him to be. So, the word we have been called to preach, the message that has been delivered to us for all men, is a message of God’s grace, a message of God’s provisions.
Interestingly, we now have assemblies of God who believe that what they have been called to preach to people is grace. But that is the job of every child of God and of every assembly of His people. We all have been called to proclaim the message of God’s grace.
Then, we also have other assemblies of God’s people that believe that what they have been called to teach people is holiness. And yet some others believe that what they have been called to teach people is prosperity. But as I said earlier, there is no believer that has not been called to teach all these things. Every child of God has been called to teach these things. Each of us has been called to teach people the grace of God, to show people how to access God’s grace, to show people what God has made available to them. That is what the Lord means when He tells us to make disciples of all men, teaching them all that He has commanded us. (Cf. Matthew 28:19-20)
So you don’t choose what to teach. You don’t say, “My focus will be on holiness”, or “My focus will be on righteousness”, or “My focus is prosperity”, or “My own focus is healing.” What about other things? Are you saying the one that has been healed does not need to walk in righteousness? Or are you saying because a man is already living in holiness he does not need to live in health or in prosperity? Every child of God has been called to preach or declare the full counsel of God and make it known to men.
Well, my point is that the gospel we are to preach is also referred to in the Scriptures as the message of God’s grace or provisions. So, as we are revealing to people what the new life in Christ Jesus is all about, we are also supposed to be showing them what God has made available for them to live this new life. You can see, then, that this is serious business. It is not something that we can do thoughtlessly. It is not something that we can do carelessly. It is something that we have to be fully involved in, as God gives us opportunity.
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‘GOD’ OR ‘THE WORLD’ 03/06/2023
“You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (James 4:4NIV)
This is so clear. You cannot be God’s friend and, at the same time, be a friend of the world. That is not possible. It is either the one or the other – it cannot be both. God has made that abundantly clear. So you cannot sit on the fence. It is not possible. You just have to choose.
You know God is a jealous God. He does not want anyone messing up with the love He has for us and the one He expects us to have for Him. So, you have to choose whether He is the one you are standing with or the world. (Cf. Exodus 20:4-6)
What I am saying is that it must be clear to all that you are against the ways of the world, if you are truly for God. And it must be clear that I am also against the ways of the world, if I am truly for God. A man of God, whose name I cannot remember now, was once confronted by his friends on his stand against some things. They said to him, “What are you doing? Don’t you know that your position on this matter will set the whole world against you?” And the man said, “Well, I am already against the world. I am not for the world.”
Likewise, we too must come to that point in our lives where we are able to say, “I am not for the world.” Each of us must come to that point where it is settled in our hearts that we are not for the world. I am not for the world. And what about you?
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IF YOU HAVE IT, THEY WILL ACKNOWLEDGE IT 02/06/2023
“Not Until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews there were amazed and asked, ‘How did this man get such learning without having been taught?’” (John 7:14NIV)
The Jews listened to Jesus Christ and could not but agree that He was indeed a teacher of the word of God. And that was not because He had attended a school of the Pharisees or the Sadducees. To say the fact, He was not like any of their regular teachers. They had their Pharisees, Sadducees and other teachers of the law, who went to certain formal schools to be trained to handle the word of God. But Jesus was unlike them. He did not go to any of those schools to be taught how to handle God’s word.
That, of course, was responsible for the amazement that the people showed, as they heard Him teach them the word of God. And they all acknowledged that He was gifted by God to do so. So, it was not because Jesus was parading Himself as a teacher of God’s word that He was acknowledged by the people as one; rather, it was because those who listened to Him could not but agree that He was truly gifted of God to handle His word.
In fact, in Saint Matthew’s gospel, chapter 7, something similar is said from verse 28, which reads:
“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” (Matthew 7:28-29NIV)
Did you see that? Jesus taught as one who had authority to teach, as one who was sent and gifted by God to teach, not as the teachers of the Law that the Jews had. Yes, these teachers of the Law were trained and taught various things about handling the word of God. But many of them did not handle it as ones that were ordained by God to teach.
However, Jesus who did not attend those schools with them taught the word as one with authority to teach it. So, it is really not about attending a bible school. Nothing, of course, is wrong with attending a bible school. There are a lot of beautiful things that one can learn by attending one. Therefore, I am not trying to diminish the relevance of attending it. If you have the privilege to attend one, do so.
But being through a bible school will not authorise you to teach the word of God. It won’t give you the ability to teach you or gift you to teach it. If the Spirit of God has not given you the ability to do so, you won’t be able to do so. You will simply make a mess of the ministry of teaching. And those listening to you will know that are simply trying to do something you have not been gifted to do.
The point I am making is that you need to possess the ability to exercise whatever gift of the Spirit you desire to exercise. If you do have it, people will recognise that you have it and praise God for your life. There is no point, then, trying to use a spiritual gift that God has not given you. Instead, focus on using the one or ones that He has given you. Those are the ones that people will easily identify with. And those are the ones that God will be able to use you to bless others with.
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THE LEADER MUST BE ON HIS GUARD 01/06/2023
What is Paul doing here? He is preparing the Ephesian leaders for what is coming. He says, “Keep watch over the people of God of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.” Who made them overseers of the church of God? The Holy Spirit! And as Paul further points out, they have a responsibility to protect those placed in their care.
Now why do they have to protect the brethren placed by God in their care? It is because savage wolves will at some point come into their midst and not spare the flock. And observe that Paul does not say that wolves may come into the church; rather, he says that they will come in. So, as any assembly begins to increase in number, wolves will start coming into their midst. Paul refers to them as beasts, animals. And you know how beasts function. They are always selfish. They always think about themselves only. They don’t care about others.
Well, as Paul tells us, such individuals will come into the church to attack the brethren. But they will not come in as unbelievers. If they come in as unbelievers, we will easily recognise them. But they will come in as believers, as wolves in sheep’s clothing. And when they come in, they will not spare the flock.
You need to understand what Paul is getting at with what he is saying to the Ephesian elders. The individuals he is describing here are people who will be holding leadership positions. Otherwise, they will not have influence. Nobody will pay attention to them or take them seriously. You need to be in a leadership position in the church to be able to do certain things or influence the brethren in certain ways.
So, the apostle is referring to individuals that will be allowed to serve because of their gifts or abilities. But these are wolves, beasts, animals. And all they are after is to devour the flock. What I mean is that ultimately it is the people of God that will be victims of their activities.
Therefore, the leader has a duty to protect God’s people against these beasts. And that is why Paul says to the Ephesian-elders, “Be on your guard.” So, it is not wrong for a leader to be on his guard in relating to those that are coming to help him do this or that. A wise leader has to be on his guard. That is because if anything happens, it is the people of God that will suffer the most.
Remember that scripture: “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will scatter.” (Cf. Zechariah 13:7) That is always what Satan does to destroy God’s people. He looks out for those with influence that he can strike and, by so doing, destroy the people of God. And I am saying all this to let you know that, in carrying out his ministry among the brethren, the leader has to be careful. He has to be on his guard. Otherwise, right under his watch, those committed to his care may have their lives ruined or destroyed by the wolves within the church.
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YOU CAN TAKE HIS GRACE IN VAIN 31/05/2023
“For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptised into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.” (1Corinthians 10:1-5NIV)
What is this passage saying? What message do we get from what Paul says here? It is simply that we can take the grace of God in vain.
The people that Moses brought out of Egypt all experienced the goodness of God. They all experienced the wonders and signs of God in Egypt. They all walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. They all fed on Manna in the wilderness. They also all drank from that Spiritual Rock that accompanied them in the wilderness.
Yet it was all a waste. All their experiences of the goodness of God could not bring them into the Promised Land. Everything was a waste. They took His grace in vain. And because they took His grace, God was not pleased with them. So, their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. In other words, they were buried here and there in the wilderness.
Also, we have a familiar passage in Luke 13. There we are told of how some people came to the Lord to talk to Him about what certain worshippers experienced from the hands of Pilate in order to see what He would say. And He told them that those people did not suffer like they did because they were the worst of sinners in the land. Therefore, those of them who were still alive needed to repent of their sins in order for them also not to perish.
Then Luke goes on to share Jesus’ parable with these people, saying, “Then he told this parable: ‘A man had a fig-tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, “For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig-tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?” “Sir,” the man replied, “leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig round it and fertilise it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.”’ (Luke 13:6-9NIV)
Now what does that parable mean? Again, it is telling us not to take the grace of God in vain. Here was a man that had a fig tree and had taken care of it to the point that it should be bringing forth fruit. Then he looked for fruit on it in the first year but found nothing. He came also to look for fruit on it in the second year but found nothing. Then in the third year, when he came and still found nothing on it, he told the husbandman, “Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?” That means that fig tree was wasting resources. It, therefore, needed to be gotten rid of. And it took the intercession of the man that was taking care of it to spare it one more year.
In like manner, the one that is wasting the grace of God is in danger of losing it all. He is in danger of being taken away for wasting His grace. So, we need to watch ourselves and see to it that the grace of God to us, all of His goodness, kindness and faithfulness being shown to us are not wasted on unprofitable and irresponsible living. Otherwise, apart from the fact that we may end up in hell, at some point, we may also lose it all or be taken away in the midst of our prosperity. And may that not be your experience, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a pleasant day.
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IF YOU WILL ONLY LET HIM 30/05/2023
“If you will only let me help you, if you will only obey, then I will make you rich!” (Isa 1:19-20TLB)
One of the reasons some people’s lives are utterly messed up and some have, in fact, lost their lives is that they would not receive help from God or from the people He sent to them. For instance, we are told in the bible of how a king of Judah, whose name was Asa, got sick and refused to seek God’s help for his healing. He only consulted the royal physicians in his illness. And was that wrong? No! Nothing is wrong with consulting physicians or doctors for us to get well, if we are sick. But even real physicians know that they cannot heal anybody – only God heals. So, it does not matter how hard they try or how much they invest in making someone well, if God does not make the person well, they will not be well. (Cf. 2Chro 16:12)
Well, because Asa would not seek God’s help in his moment of need, he died in his illness (2Chro 16:13). But why would this man, who was raised to know God as the healer, not seek healing from Him? As the account goes, it was because of pride. He did something wrong, and God rebuked him for it. And instead for him to admit that he was wrong and seek forgiveness from God, he got angry with Him and would, henceforth, not have anything to do with Him. This, of course, was what opened the door of his life for affliction to come in and take him away. (Cf. 2Chro 16)
In like manner, there are people today whose pride will not allow them to seek or accept God’s help or the help of those He is sending to them. They think they have enough wisdom to solve their problems their own way. But what they don’t know is that man’s wisdom is nothing but foolishness in the sight of God. So, someday, they will come to the end of that wisdom and see that their problems have not yet been solved or that those problems have actually ended their earthly lives.
Now I would not know where you need help in your life. Regardless of where it may be, you need to turn to God. Perhaps you did not know before that God had the power to help you. I am sharing this with you now in order that you may know that only He has the power to help you and that if He does not help you, nobody can (2Kings 6:26-27; Ps 62:11). And He wants to help you because He cares about you (1Pet 5:7). Your duty, however, is to cast your cares or anxieties on Him and allow Him to bear them.
In our opening text, He announces that if only we will allow Him to help us, He will make us rich in joy, peace of mind, love and every other beautiful thing of this life. But will pride let us allow Him? Will that desire to want to take credit for our advancement permit us to allow Him? I know there are times we reject people’s help because we do not want them to use it as a reason for unduly interfering with our lives. And indeed, there are people whose sole reason for helping others is to forever enslave them.
But God has no intention of enslaving anybody by helping them. In the first place, He owns us all, for He created us all for His own pleasure (Ezek 18:4; Rev 4:11). So, it is His duty to help us and produce in our lives what will bring Him pleasure. If our lives, then, are miserable or horrible, it gives Him no joy. You can now see why He always wants to set our lives right and fulfil His duty to us as a responsible Creator and Father. The right and logical thing for us to do, then, is to deliberately place our lives under His authority. That is because it is only by doing so that He can freely produce in us what is pleasing in His sight and make our lives truly meaningful.
Therefore, allow God to take charge of your life and affairs. Allow Him to help you solve that problem. Allow Him to give meaning and sense to your life. In short, allow Him to fulfil His responsibility to you as the owner of your life. And don’t allow pride or anything else to keep you back from doing so. Just let Him do in you, for you and through you what only He can do, and you will not be disappointed that you have done so.
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IF YOU DON’T WANT YOUR ABILITIES TO GO TO WASTE 29/05/2023
“Bless all his skills, O LORD, and be pleased with the work of his hands...” (Deut 33:11NIV)
It is one thing for one to be skilful, talented or highly educated; it is another thing for his skills, talents, abilities or education to be appreciated and given appropriate and adequate recognition and rewards. For instance, Joseph of bible days, without doubt, was a man of great abilities. But if God had not favoured him to the extent that Potiphar, the jailer in the prison he was sent to and the Pharaoh of his time recognised his abilities, he would not have amount to anything in Egypt. (Cf. Gen 39-41)
I am sure you must have come across these words of Solomon at one time or the other:
“I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn't always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn't always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skilful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don't always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.” (Eccl 9:11NLT)
Did you see that? Being a person of abilities does not guarantee anybody a successful, meaningful, profitable and enjoyable life. If God’s favour is not working with you, leading you to the right place at the right time and causing people to recognise your abilities and be willing to reward you adequately and appropriately for them, those abilities you have, however great they may be, will not take you anywhere.
Use your life as an example. Is it all the abilities or skills that you possess that those around you have recognised and are willing to reward you for? Or consider the education you have received. How adequately or appropriately are you being rewarded in life for it?
It is a fact that there are many people with great or special abilities and education in our world today, including us, who can turn things around for good. But, for obvious reasons, their abilities are not being recognised or given any serious space to shine. Then we see that many with abilities also don’t often place the right kind of value on what they have. Therefore, they waste or underutilise them. And the result is that many of our countries, communities, organisations and so forth are not experiencing the kind of growth and development they could have been experiencing.
In any event, if we don’t want our abilities, skills and education to go to waste, not profiting us or our world, we must learn to offer the kind of prayer Moses offered for the tribe of Levi in our opening text. He asks God to bless their skills and to be pleased with the works of their hands. What are the jobs of these Levites and what skills do they have? They are priests and teachers in Israel. So, Moses, in other words, wants God to bless their teaching and intercessory skills. And this is so that the people will recognise the relevance of what they are doing and be blessed through it. Then, they can appropriately and adequately give to support them.
Now we too can pray along this same line and expect God to answer our prayers and cause people to begin to respond adequately and appropriately to all His wonderful endowments in our lives. Will you, then, talk to Him about this today? Will you ask God to cause His blessings to fully find expression in all your skills, abilities and education and make them attractive to those who are in a position to clear the way for you to make the most of them and be adequately and appropriately recognised and rewarded for using them?
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YOUR BODY NOW HOUSES GOD 28/05/2023
“But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit. Flee sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.” (1Corinthians 6:17-20NIV)
The part of the Scripture above that I want to draw your attention to is where Paul says, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit?” Do you not know that? Don’t you see that the Spirit of God is living inside you, if you are born again? Do you not see that you now house God? You cannot mess up with your body or do with it as you like again. That is because God is now living inside you.
Look at the way the temple of old was treated by the Jews of those days. They treated it with utmost reverence. Everything there was considered sacred. And when you read the book of Numbers you will see the divisions of Levites that were meant to handle the different articles and objects of worship there. Nobody could just enter there and touch things anyhow. Every day the place was taken care of and handled neatly because of the presence of God there. But that was just a physical temple, one concerning which God had said, “Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things?” (Cf. Isaiah 66:1-2; Acts 7:48-50)
So, God couldn’t really dwell in that house of stones and wood, as magnificent as it was. But He is able to live in us. And Paul is telling all of us who believe in Christ Jesus that our bodies now house God. He is now inside my body and also inside your body.
Should we, then, desecrate our bodies or allow anybody to pollute them? No! Instead, we should walk daily with the consciousness that the Spirit of God is in us and so our bodies should not be defiled or desecrated. What we are saying is that we are no longer the only occupants of our bodies; God is also living in them by His Spirit. So, we should consider our bodies sacred and treat them with great respect and honour. And that is because they are the temple of the living God.
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DON’T BE ANXIOUS 27/05/2023
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7NIV)
Paul, in our opening text, says do not be anxious about anything. Do not become afraid of anything. Do not become worried because of anything, the things you want to do, the things you want to have or the challenges you are faced with at the moment. Do not be worried because of these things.
But then, observe that Paul does not say, “Don’t worry about anything. All will be well by themselves.” He does not say that at all. Unfortunately, that is the idea that some people have. They think when we say, “Don’t worry about anything,” we are saying, “Things will somehow get better by themselves. So don’t worry about anything.”
But things don’t get better by themselves. If things do not become bad by themselves, then, they are not going to become good by themselves. There are forces, influences and beings that make things bad and make life sometimes miserable for us. And if things are going to become better for us, God must step in and handle them.
That is why Paul does not just say, “Do not worry about anything,” he also says, “In every situation, talk to God.” He says tell God what you want, what you need. And when you do this, first, He will allow His peace to take charge of your heart and mind. This, of course, does not mean that the circumstances of your life have changed. Things may still remain the same for you or even worse, though you have cast them on God.
But He (God) will let His peace fill and calm your heart and mind. He will do this to assure you that He is in charge of the situation, even though you may not see anything happening about the matter you have entrusted to Him. So, Paul says, “Talk to God. Cast your anxiety on Him.” And to cast your anxiety on God is to commit everything making you anxious to Him in prayers.
So, don’t allow any situation to fill your heart with discouragement or depression. Instead, commit everything bothering your heart to God in prayers. And He will surely drive depression, hypertension and other related heart conditions far from you with His peace and also take care of things for you.
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HE CARES FOR YOU 26/05/2023
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1Peter 5:7NIV)
Who is Peter asking us to cast our anxiety on here? God! He is telling us to cast all our anxieties, worries and even dreams or plans on God. Evidently, we all have plans for our lives. There are things we want to do or accomplish in life. And Peter is asking us to cast all these things on God.
We may even have worries about our lives. We may have our fears about them, perhaps because of our present circumstances. Yet we are told to cast all our anxiety on God. Why? The reason we are given here is that He cares for us. Do you know that God cares about you? Until we are certain that God cares about us, we will most likely not cast our cares on Him. One main reason many want to hold on to their worries or anxieties and have taken their lives in their hands is that they do not know or believe that God cares about them. When you know that someone cares about you, there are things you will want to commit to the person; there are things about your life that you will not mind asking the person to handle. But when you are unsure if someone cares about you or your progress, there are things about your life that you will be unwilling to share with the person or entrust to them.
But here Peter wants us to know that God cares about us. And there are many Scriptures that point to the fact that God loves and cares about us. He is interested in us, in our lives, in our progress. David once thought about this and was moved to say something about it in a Psalm. In Psalm 8, from verse 3, he says, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (Psalm 8:3-4NIV)
David looked at all the beautiful things that God created and was amazed. You too only need to go outside there, and you will not fail to see the beauty of nature. You will see the great things God created all by Himself. Do you want to talk about the stars, the sun, the moon, the world of animals, the mountains, the rivers, the oceans and all these beautiful things around us? God created all these things. Not only that, He sustains all these things by the word of His power. For instance, as magnificent as the sun, the moon and the starts are, not one of them has ever fallen out of heaven. Why? They are sustained by God’s word of power. (Cf. Hebrews 1:3)
In any case, when David looked at the way God relates to mankind, he said, “Why do you care so much about man? Among all these beautiful things you created, you have singled him out. Why?” And think about this: God is so concerned about us that when He was bringing us into the world, He brought us into His provisions. He made sure every other thing had been formed before He brought us in. He just brought us into a place of provisions, a place of abundance, a place of enjoyment. And even when we fell, he was the one that made the move for our salvation. He did everything about our salvation. He paid the price for us to be saved. So, God cares about us. He cares about our lives. He cares about past, present and future. He cares about our eternity. All of these things we are interested in, He is interested in them. He is interested in how they affect us.
But many people do not know that God cares about them. That, as I said, is one major reason they do not want to entrust their lives to Him. But I want you to know that He cares about you. In fact, He cares about you more than you care about yourself; He cares about you more than anyone else does. He is interested in your progress. He is interested in your advancement. He is interested in your peace, joy and elevation. He does not want your life ruined. He does not want your life messed up. That is because He cares about you.
Now you need to walk with the consciousness that God cares about you and allow Him to guide you, lead you and handle your worries, anxieties or cares. Just give everything over to Him. And He will see to it that you and all that is yours are adequately cared for.
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IF YOU TOO WILL PRAY25/05/2023
Jabez was one of the few people mentioned in the bible that offered prayers to God about the situations of their lives and got results. The bible says this man was more honourable than his brothers. How did he become more honourable than his brothers? It was by taking advantage of God’s power to change his situations.
This man had been named Jabez by his mother because she gave birth to him in pain. But that was not even the main problem. Sometimes a person may bear a name that is associated with pain or misery or poverty. Yet he may not be living in pains, misery, sorrow or poverty. So, for Jabez to offer the prayer he offered to God, it must have meant that pains and miseries were in expression in his life.
In fact, part of the things he prayed about was that God would take away pain from his life. That means apart from the fact that his mother gave him a name that is associated with pain, he too could see that pains and miseries were associated with his life. So, he prayed to God to take away his pains and poverty.
Now this man could have been complaining and saying that the reason his life would not work was that his mother had placed a curse on him. Or he could have said that the reason his life would not work was that the circumstances were unpleasant for him. But he was not going to accept the circumstances as they were, neither was he going to keep on enduring them.
He must have endured the circumstances for some years before he prayed to God about them. But at some point, he was not going to accept them in his life as normal anymore; he would not take them as a normal lifestyle for him again. Why? He knew that God could change things for him. This is one of the reasons it is important to know God and His power. There are things we will not demonstrate faith in God to receive, if we do not know that His power could handle them for us.
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A KINGDOM OF PEACE 24/05/2023
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit...” (Romans 14:17NIV)
One of the things Paul says that the kingdom of God is about in our opening text is peace. He says that the kingdom of God is a kingdom of peace. What does that mean? Well, it means that the subjects or sons of God’s kingdom stand for peace. They live a life of peace. They do not just want peace; they also pursue peace.
This is one of the things that separate Christianity from many other religions of the world. While Christians, true Christians, stand for peace and propagate it, others, in their so-called zeal for God or their gods, become destructive or violent. These ones are not peaceable at all, for they do not know the way of peace. And once you are not a part of their religion, they do not want to be at peace with you – they cannot be at peace with you. They are always violent. They are raised to be violent.
But the kingdom of God is not a kingdom of violence. It is a kingdom of peace. Our Lord Jesus, speaking to His disciples before going to the cross, said a time would come when someone would kill of them and would say that he was doing it for God. And all around the world today we hear of honour killings. These are situations in which people kill others because they want to preserve their religions or certain traditions. People would kill their family members – children, wives, husbands or relatives – because they want to preserve some religion or traditions. Such people do not know the way of peace. (Cf. John 16:2)
However, the children of God’s kingdom are children of peace. God has called us to peace. And those of us who are eager for Him will pursue peace. In the same book of Romans, chapter 12, verse 18, Paul says, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” (Romans 12:18NIV) That means there are times it is impossible to live at peace with some people. These ones do not just want peace. And there is nothing you can do to make peace with them, for they do not know the way of peace. So, you may have to stay away from such people in order to experience peace or you may have to use the instrument of the law to keep them where they belong in order to experience peace in dealing with them.
But as far as it depends on you, you are to labour to be at peace with everyone. So, pursue peace everyday. That is how to show that you are eager for God, for our God is a God of peace. In your neighbourhood pursue peace. In your office, pursue peace. In your family, pursue peace. Let the things you will commit yourself to doing everyday be things that will promote peace.
Peter, sharing with us in his epistle and quoting one of the psalmists, says one of the things anyone who wants to enjoy life and see many good days must do is to seek peace and to also pursue it (1Peter 3:10-11). So, be a person of peace. Let those around you know you as a person of peace. That is because you are a kingdom person. Your friends, neighbours, colleagues at work or in school and family members should know you as a person of peace. That is because that is what the kingdom you represent is about.
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WHY THE LONGER ROUTE?23/05/2023
Have you ever wondered why it is taking God so long to fulfil certain dreams of yours in life or to fulfil certain promises of His to you? At least, He is all-powerful and there is nothing too hard for Him to do. And we have examples in the bible of the manifestation of His great power in changing circumstances of life almost in no time. For instance, we are told in it of how, in the days of Prophet Elisha, He ended a very severe famine of some unspecified time in just one day. And since this is the case with Him, it really should not be taking Him long or forever to fix our problems or to exalt us from where we are to where we should be. (Cf. 2Kings 6&7)
Yet, often, it looks like it is taking Him forever to accomplish His good purpose for our lives. There are, in fact, times that we may feel like He may never get the job done in our entire lifetime. So, we are tempted to give up on Him and take our lives and future in our own hands. But once we do that, are bound to create problems for ourselves that may stay with us for generations to come.
Remember, for instance, what Abraham and Sarah’s impatience with God brought on them. God had told them that He would give them a child of their own, even in their old age (Gen 15). And though they believed Him when He made this promise to them, the older they got, the more impatient they became with Him. Eventually, at some point, based on Sarah’s suggestions, Hagar, her maidservant, was brought into the scene, so that they could build a family through her. Unfortunately, that decision almost ruined their beautiful marriage. It would, in fact, have ruined it, if Abraham had not truly loved his wife, Sarah, and listened to her. Nonetheless, it brought into the world generations of a man of violence, a man that does not know how to live at peace with anybody, even his own brothers. (Cf. Gen 16)
So, we need to learn to walk with God with patience. That is because if He has promised to do something for us or if He has shown us visions or dreams of His purpose for us, He will surely fulfil them, however long it might take Him. And remember that we are the ones that are often worried about time. He does not worry about it at all, for He is the author of time. So, as Peter says, whether it is a day or a thousand years, it makes no difference to Him – what He has promised to do, He will surely do. (Cf. 2Peter 3:8)
But then, for our comfort and encouragement, we are shown some reasons in the bible why it may take God a longer time than we expect to bring about the fulfilment of His purpose in our lives. And we have one of such reasons in our opening bible text. There we are plainly told why God led the children of Israel through a longer route, when He brought them out of Egypt.
As the account shows, these Israelites came out of Egypt ready for battle. But were they really ready for battle? In their own estimation, they felt that they were ready for battle. But God knows that they were not ready for it. He knew that if they saw war in the state they were at the time, they would certainly change their minds and turn back to Egypt for help. Therefore, He did not take them through the land of the Philistines, though it was a shorter route. Instead, He took them through the desert road and towards the Red Sea.
Now was He right about them or not? He was right about them, for when Pharaoh came out with his army against them in order to bring them back into slavery, they did not march out to fight him. Instead, all they did was cry and blame Moses for delivering them. That shows that they were not ready for battle at all. And if God had not been the one behind their deliverance, they would not have escaped Pharaoh’s chains of slavery that day. (Cf. Ex 14:5-10)
So, there are times that we ourselves are the reasons God is taking long in fulfilling His purpose concerning us. We are not just ready to handle what is coming. We may think we are ready for it. But when we are confronted with some circumstances, we will see clearly that we are not just ready to handle the promotion, increase or independence our hearts are yearning for. And our failure at such times may so fill us with discouragement and fear that we may totally turn away from all that is meant to be ours. Can you relate to that?
Well, in order to prevent such things from happening to us, God, in His wisdom and patience, may decide to take us through a route where challenges and trials of life will not frighten us and drive us permanently away from His purpose for us. This route, however, may be long and winding. But if we are patient with the one leading us, he will surely bring us home in one piece and at the right time.
So, when next you are worried that the fulfilment of certain promises of God to you or certain dreams and visions of yours is taking too long, remember how God dealt with the Israelites and stay encouraged. Then keep on praying that He will perfect all that is lacking in your readiness to take and enjoy what He has prepared for you.
See you at the place of your dreams!
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IGNORE AN UNGODLY COMMAND 22/05/2023
Anyone under authority may, for one reason or the other, find himself in a situation in which he is instructed or commanded by his superior to abuse or misuse his office or power. And if there is no fear of God in his heart, he will succumb to such commands and do evil, especially if he feels that his superior can protect him from the reaction or protest of others against his wickedness.
But even if certain people are able to protect us from the judgment of men like us, can they also protect us from God? No man can protect us from God’s judgement. No man can save us from His hands. So, regardless of what measure of fear or respect we have for those who are superior to us in this life, we must never allow them to drive us to do anything that is contrary to the will of God. Otherwise, we will not fail to pay the penalty for allowing ourselves to be used to do evil.
As we see in our opening bible text, there was a time that King Saul, in his quest to get rid of David, was bent on destroying anyone that stood in his way or anyone that was associated with the young man. In fact, he once hauled his javelin at his son, Jonathan, because the latter was trying to protect David. So, when he heard that Ahimelech, the leading priest of God in a town of Israel called Nob, helped David with some food and a weapon, he was mad at him. He was so mad at him that he commanded his guards to execute him and all the people with him. And did Saul’s guards obey him on this occasion? No, they did not obey him.
Why did they not obey him? Why would these men, who were trained to take orders, even at the risk of their lives, not obey their lord the king? They would not obey him because they knew that even though he was their king and lord, they had yet another King and Lord over them and over him as well. That is God. And since his own command was an abuse of his office as king and contrary to the will of God, they had to ignore it.
Now were these men not afraid of the consequences of disobeying their king on this occasion? Maybe they were. But whatever measure of fear they had for him was not strong enough to make them disobey God, who is sovereign over all beings and things. And what did he do to them for disobeying him in this manner? The bible shows us that he did nothing to them. Yes, he got someone else to carry out his wicked desire for him. But he did nothing to those guards for not obeying him. Why? God was protecting them. How He made this mad king overlook their disobedience on this occasion is not something anyone can say. But He surely made him overlook it.
So, anytime you are wondering what will become of you if you disobey a superior that is often commanding you to act against the will of God, remember these guards. Remember that God protected them against their ruthless and mad king, when they chose to honour Him by not touching His anointed ones. Also, remember that when the Hebrew midwives, because of their fear of God, disobeyed Pharaoh’s order to kill all the male boys of the Israelites, He not only protected them but also gave them families of their own. And He is able to protect you too, when you disobey men in order to honour Him. (Cf. Exodus 1:15-21)
However, He may not protect you in the manner that He protected those people I just mentioned. On the contrary, He may allow you to first be thrown into a lake of fire or a den of lions before He moves to rescue you (Dan 3&6). But as long as you choose to honour Him, even if it means disobeying those who have power to harm you, He will not let you down. So, don’t allow anyone, however highly placed or powerful they may be here on earth, to use you or your office to perpetuate evil. Instead, fear the Lord.
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RECEIVE STRENGTH THROUGH PRAYERS 21/05/2023
“Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation.’ He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. ‘Why are you sleeping?’ he asked them. ‘Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.’” (Luke 22:39-46NIV)
What do we see here? We see the Lord praying to be strengthened by God. He was faced with the death on the cross. So, His heart was in anguish because of the things He would experience. He knew what the things He would experience would do to Him. He knew that He would become sin for humanity. And His heart was in anguish because He knew that He was soon going to be separated from His Father because of our sins.
Now there was a part of Him that desired an alternative to that. So, He asked God if there was an alternative to dying. And even as He did that, He still maintained that He wanted the will of the Father to be done. As He prayed about this, an angel of the Lord appeared to strengthen Him. We too have access to the ministry of angels. And as we pray, God’s power can be released for us to do what is right. More so, His angels can be released to strengthen us to do His will.
Well, the Lord went on from that place to do the will of God. That is why we are enjoying the salvation He obtained for us today. So, instead of allowing sin to mess up your life or of allowing the circumstances around you to keep you from doing the will of God, you should pray to Him to release into your life the power to do His will. How this will work for you is not what I can explain. But I know that His power is dynamic in its working. So, when we pray, it will work for us.
Paul prays for the Ephesian church in his letter to them that God will strengthen them with His power by His Spirit in their inner man (Ephesians 3:16-17). Why? He says it is so that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith. We too should be offering that prayer for ourselves that we may be strengthened in our inner man, so that Christ’s life and love would fully find expression in us. Then we can be all that God wants us to be.
The point being made, at any rate, is that through prayers we are able to take advantage of God’s power to be the people He wants us to be, do the things He wants us to do and be safe and sound in this world. And I pray that your heart will be daily strengthened to pray as you ought to, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a blessed day.
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SIN IS LIKE YEAST 20/05/2023
“Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch – as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1Corinthians 5:6-8NIV)
What is this apostle saying here? It is that when we refuse to judge wickedness in the church, it will soon spread. Sin is like yeast. And whatever form of it we want to talk about is like yeast. Whether it is hypocrisy, greed, sexual immorality, divisions or sorcery, it is like yeast that, when applied to a batch of dough, will spread through it and make it rise. So, when we refuse to judge the sin of one person in the church, it may not be long before it becomes the sin of the majority.
If someone is involved in sexual immorality, for instance, and we will not deal with it, before we know it, others may follow in their steps. Or if someone is dividing the church through slander and words of bitterness or hatred, if we refuse to attend to it, before we know it, the church may become polarised along different lines. Then brethren will become bitter, envious, malicious and so forth. So, if we do not want the sin of one person to become the sin of many people in the church, we must deal with it decisively.
Look at what Paul says about this in Galatians 2, from verse 11:
“When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.” (Galatians 2:11-13NIV)
Can you see how one person’s sin can become the sin of many? The hypocrisy of Peter became the hypocrisy of all the Jewish brethren with him in Antioch. Even Barnabas was caught in the same trap. And this hypocrisy emanated from an apostle that was afraid of defending the truth. Paul, then, had to step in and set all of them right.
Today, we have assemblies in which similar things are happening. It may be one person that got involved in sexual immorality. But because it was not dealt with, others in the church began to indulge in the same thing. Or it may that a member was bitter or jealous of another. But because it was not dealt with, jealousy, bitterness and hatred began to spread through the church. And before they knew it, brethren could not sit down comfortably with one another again to discuss or to fellowship. Someone was poisoning their well. And by not dealing with that person decisively, everybody in the church got poisoned.
So, if anyone is sinning in our church and will not repent, we must deal with them decisively. We must call everyone’s attention to what they are doing and ask them to withdraw from fellowshipping with them. This is so that their yeast will not work in the church.
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WHICH JOB IS GOD’S WILL FOR YOU? 19/05/2023
It is clear from this Scripture that the Lord wants us to work and to work hard. So, it can be any kind of work. But God wants us to be serious with it. What job, then, should it be? That is what we what we want to know.
As you can see, our opening bible text does not give us enough information about the specific job we should do. It just says we should work hard, so that we can help others. But there are thieves that work hard. There are equally robbers, swindlers and even prostitutes that work hard. Some of them even give from what they have made through these evil jobs to others to help them. So, if that is all we have in the bible about the kind of job we can do, then, we may say that swindling people or robbing banks is okay, as long as we are serious with it and share whatever we make from it with others, just like Robin Hood.
But that is not all that the bible says about work. So, we need to look at other parts of it to see what they say about work. Now, in Ephesians, chapter 4, from verse 28, Paul says, “Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.” (Ephesians 4:28NIV) The idea of sharing with others is coming up here again. That means God does not want us to work only to be able to take care of ourselves but also to be able to take care of others. So, any kind of work you are involved in must be one that makes enough resources available for you, not only to take care of yourself but also to take care of others.
But then, here you see that Paul says those who are stealing must no longer do so but must start doing something useful or honest with their hands. So, it is not any kind of job we are to be doing; it is one that is useful. That means swindling or robbing people is out of it. You can be a carpenter, a nurse or doctor or anything, as long as it is something honest or legitimate. Not only that, it must be something that you have aptitude for. See, God wants us to work hard. He wants us to do something legitimate. But it is not every legitimate work that we have the abilities or skills to handle.
So, if you want to know the will of God for you about the kind of job you should take, those are some of the things you should consider. Is the job an honest or useful one? Is it something praiseworthy? If it is something honest, useful and praiseworthy, then, you can go for it. Then is it something that will make resources available for you to take care of yourself and also others? There are jobs that may not make enough resources available for you to take care of yourself, not to talk of others. Is that to say that you cannot or should not take such jobs at all? No! It all depends on your circumstances. Sometimes, you may need to take certain jobs for a while before you find something better that you can do.
But it is clear that if the job you have is unable to make enough resources available for you to take care of yourself and to also help others, it is not yet in the will of God for you – it is not yet fulfilling the will of God in your life. That does not mean you have to drop it. Rather, it may mean that you need to find an additional job to it. And sometimes it may mean that you have to drop it. That is because even though you are putting your time, effort, skills and intelligence into it, it is not giving you what you need to take care of yourself and not be a burden to others, not to even talk of helping others around you.
Not only that, do you have aptitude for the job? Do you have the skills involved to handle it? People, for instance, don’t wake up and say, “I want to start working in a bank.” If you have not been trained to do so, it may not work. Then people don’t wake up and say, “I want to start working as a mechanical engineer.” If you have not be trained for it, you cannot just start opening people’s vehicles and begin to operate on them. So, we are looking at doing something that you have been trained for or something that you have the aptitude or skills to handle.
For instance, if you are a student and are always having issues with biology, chemistry and other related subjects, and a prophecy comes to you that you are going to be a doctor, what should you do? While it is okay for you to accept the prophecy, it is also important that you talk to God about it, saying, “If you do want me to be a doctor, then, you will need to give the ability to understand the subjects required for me to become one. Otherwise I will not be the doctor you want me to be.” Can you get the point?
I am saying this because a lot of God’s people have been misled through visions, dreams and prophetic instructions into doing things that are contrary to the will of God for them. That is because they will not study the Scriptures. Observe that the bible passages I showed you do not say anything suggesting that it is the fishing business or carpentry trade that is okay for any child of God – they do not specify at all.
But what we want is for God to think for us or to expressly tell us what job to do. Why, then, has He given us brains to think for ourselves? There are things that God will not think about for us. We need to think about those things ourselves. He has given us brains so that we may use them to think. The things we need light on, He has documented for us in the bible. And we are to take His light and shine it on ourselves, so that we can see the things He wants us to see and think properly about them.
I am not saying God cannot bring somebody a prophetic instruction or an angelic revelation about becoming a doctor or a nurse or anything else. But if God is speaking to you like that, it is because He has already given you the ability to be what He says. It is not that He will say that you are going to be a doctor and not furnish you with the ability to be one. If He has not furnished you with the ability to be one, then, that is not His will for you. If it is His will for you, He will provide you with the ability to do it. You can trust Him on this.
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THERE ARE DECEIVING SPIRITS IN THE WORLD 18/05/2023
Here Paul makes it clear that Satan is capable of masquerading himself as an angel of light. Why will he do this? It is so that he may mislead or confuse people. What we are saying is that there are times Satan comes to people in the form of an angel of God.
Unfortunately, many people have this weird idea that every time Satan shows up, he frightens people. So, when he shows up, it is always with horns on his head. Then we are going to see this dark figure, this terrible image that is frightening, with smoke coming out of his eyes, nostrils and so forth.
No, Satan does not always show up to people in that manner. Of course, he is able to appear to them like that. He is a beast. So, he can take on any appearance in order to frighten people. But we must understand that for him to succeed in misleading and confusing people, a lot of times, he has to appear to them in the form of an angel of light.
Think about it yourself. If he shows up before you like a beast, with horns on his head, you will definitely know that this is the devil. And if he tells you anything, you will know it is not God’s word but Satan’s word. But if appears to you in the form of an angel of light, very gentle and kind, you will most likely listen to him.
Mind you, as we are shown in Scriptures, when he was created, he was created to be awesome (Ezekiel 28:11-13). And he can still appear to people in awesome and magnificent ways. When he does this, if we are not careful and given to the word of God, he will definitely succeed in misleading or confusing us, something that will ultimately lead to our destruction.
Look at what Paul says in his first letter to Timothy, chapter 4, from verse 1: “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” (1Timothy 4:1NIV) There are deceiving spirits in the world. There are demons in the world. And Paul says the Spirit has made it clear that in the last days some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. That means there will be people talking about the things they have seen or heard from angels.
Now you must know that Paul is not referring to unbelievers here. Rather, he is referring to believers. Unbelievers have been following deceiving spirits all their lives. Unbelievers have been listening to demons and acting on the basis of their doctrines all their lives. But here he is talking about believers, those who are meant to be led and guided by the Spirit of God all their lives. And he is saying the days are coming, and we are now in those days, in which some among us will begin to follow deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.
So, you need to be careful. It is not every angelic appearance that is of God. It is not every angelic visitation that is of God. Satan can visit people. Satan does visit people. His demons can visit people. His demons do visit people. And they can come to them in the form of an angel of light to confuse them, mislead them or misguide them. There are religions of the world that have been started on the basis of angelic visitations. These are lies and are founded on errors. And adherents of such religions will end up destroying themselves. Many of them are already destroying themselves. This is so clear and evident.
Unfortunately, there are believers today too who worship angels. There are believers who pray in the names of angels. How did these things come to be? Also, there are people who teach things that are totally contrary to Scriptures. And they say that they have received these things from God’s angels. There is no angel of God that will teach people things that are contrary to Scriptures. There is no angel of God that will accept human worship. So, if you find anyone that is given to the worship of angels, you should know that person has been separated from Christ and His body (Colossians 2:16-19). And if you cannot get such a person to embrace the truth their error from the Scriptures, you should stay away from them, as far as faith matters are concerned.
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NOT EVERY DREAM IS FROM GOD 17/05/2023
“A dream comes when there are many cares, and many words mark the speech of a fool.” (Ecclesiastes 5:3NIV)
Did you see that? A dream comes when there are many cares. This, of course, is not true of every dream. There are actually dreams that come to us from God because He wants to instruct us. And such dreams will be consistent with the revealed will of God in Scriptures.
But most of the dreams that come to us come because of our cares and anxieties. If you think too much about a particular matter, there is every tendency that you will dream about it. If you think too much about a man or a woman, there is every tendency that you will dream about them. It does not mean that it is God that is talking to you about them.
This is why we need to be careful, for there are many that have actually have been misguided along this line. Here is someone that wants to marry. And he wants God to make his will known to him about the right partner. Then he sees a sister that he likes and keeps thinking of her and perhaps also praying about her. Before you know it, he starts having dreams about her, all kinds of dreams. He may dream about the sister helping him to fix one thing or the other or dream about the two of them doing all kinds of things together. And he can take that as meaning that God approves of that kind of relationship. But God may not even be saying anything to him about her in that manner. However, because he has been thinking much about her, he starts having dreams about her. And that is one sure way to get misled.
I am saying when you think too much about something, you can begin to have dreams about it. And if you are not careful, you can mistake that as God talking to you or instructing you about that thing. Many have been misguided in the past because of this. So, you must be careful. It is not every dream you have that has come to you from God. It is not every dream you have that God intends to use to instruct you about His will.
You can have a dream for many reasons. Think, for instance, of those who dream about certain individuals who have died coming to talk to them or of them doing things with those dead persons. And they take such dreams very seriously. So, they start saying things like, “My father appeared to me in a dream and told me this and that,” or “My mother appeared to me in a dream and told me such and such about so and so.”
See, you need to be careful of all such things. Even demons can bring you dreams. They can give you misleading dreams. So, first, you must understand that it is not every dream you have that is from God or that is intended to instruct you in the will of God. That is why you must not try to find a meaning for every dream you have or read a meaning to every dream you have. There are people who are like that. Every time they have a dream, they are looking for an interpreter that will interpret it for them. They want a Joseph in everyone they see or tell their dreams to. And that is not meant to be. You can get misled that way or get yourself into trouble.
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DEALING WITH THE UNREASONABLE 16/05/2023
“…and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith.” (2Thess 3:2NKJV)
Why does Paul ask that this kind of prayer be offered for him and his companions? It is because he acknowledges that the world is not in shortage of wicked and unreasonable people, who have no fear of God in their hearts. And unless God Himself rescues us from their schemes, if we encounter them, we cannot be safe.
Recently, an uncle of mind shared with some of us in the family an account concerning a friend of his who had lost a large portion of his land to some wicked and unreasonable fellow. According to him, this friend of his had bought a large portion of land a number of years ago and had perfected its papers. He even got the Certificate of Ownership (C of O) for the land from the government, so that he would forever have rest over it.
But to his surprise, some years later, out of the blues, a man showed up and gave a huge sum of money to those who had sold the land to him in order to have it. He simply insisted that he must have it and that there was nothing anybody could do to stop him from having it. In response, my uncle’s friend decided to take up the matter legally and put an end to the nonsense. But some people who knew the person he was dealing with well and who also cared about him came to warn him to drop the case and accept whatever portion of the land he was given. Otherwise, he may lose his life in the process. And that was how he gave up and accepted defeat.
Now what that means is that there are times that even the law of the land or the agents enforcing it may not be able to save us, if we are dealing with wicked and unreasonable people. That is because these are individuals who care only about themselves and what they want. They don’t care about what they do to have what then want, who gets hurt in their process of getting what they want or what repercussions may follow the steps they take in getting what they want. Such people are nothing but a law to themselves.
So, you cannot threaten them or make them change their minds with the law. They know their way around the law. They know how to break or bend the law and get away with doing so. Sometimes, they do not even care about being caught or punished by the law. So, unless you are like them and are ready to fight dirty with them, regardless of it might cost you, you will have to entrust yourself and all that is yours to God to keep you safe from them.
Remember Jezebel of bible days. Remember how she killed Naboth and took his land for her husband, Ahab. Interestingly, it was the judges of Naboth’s city that she used to get rid of him. And they succeeded. Yes, God eventually judged Ahab and his household for this wickedness. But that did not bring Naboth back to life or restore his land to his family. (Cf. 1Kings 21)
So, if you have to deal with an unreasonable and wicked person at any point in this life, don’t ever rely on your wisdom, wealth, influence or the law of the land. It won’t work, for they don’t play by the rules. Instead, rely on God solely for your safety and victory. Then know when to give up or lose what can be bought or replaced in order to preserve what cannot be bought or replaced (Luke 12:13-15; 1Cor 6:7). That will be a sign that you are not greedy or foolish., And God who sees every heart and who has power over all things will vindicate and honour you at the right time.
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BE WISE DEALING WITH THEM 15/05/2023
“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.” (Col 4:5NIV)
Our Lord Jesus once told His disciples that the children of this world are more shrewd or clever in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light (Luke 16:8). What does this mean? Well, it means that those of the world use their head when dealing with unbelievers like them. They don’t ever assume that that they are nice, kind or trustworthy. Instead, they see each of them as unkind and someone not to be trusted. So, in dealing with them, they put up measures, systems and boundaries that will prevent them from being cheated, robbed or hurt by them.
But many of us who are Christians don’t often relate to those of the world in this manner. Having become Christians and filled with the love of God, we somehow and deliberately begin to assume that everyone is like us, nice, trustworthy, patient and peace loving. So, we find ourselves entrusting precious things to people that are not trustworthy or competent at all, without putting in place measures, systems and boundaries that will prevent them from putting us in trouble. And it is after they have hurt us or injured us in some big way that we will wake up. Then we will go to the extreme of being hostile and loveless in dealing with others in our lives, including believers.
Now God does not want us to live like that, to live like fools or ignorant persons in this world. He does not want us to function in ways that will make it easy for wicked, unreasonable or godless people to continually mess us up and rob us of our peace, joy and goodness. That is why, as we see in our opening bible text, He instructs us to be wise in the way we deal with unbelievers. Otherwise, they will constantly take us for granted and abuse our kindness, generosity, trust or tolerance. Then when we react, they will be the first to say, “And he calls himself a Christian.”
So, first, whether at work, in school, in the neighbourhood or anywhere, when dealing with an unbeliever, always remember that they are not Christians. So, don’t try to treat them like a child of God that you know well and that is full of the fruit of the Spirit. Instead, relate to them just as they are. Is that to say you are not to walk in love with them? No! You must always walk in love with them, however terrible they may be.
However, always put up measures, systems and boundaries that will prevent them from turning you into a victim of their wickedness. For instance, if you want to lend an unbeliever some money, lend them only what you can afford to lose. Don’t assume that they will be diligent to pay back, just the way you would do. That is because they may not even have it in mind to return your money. And if you have given them what you cannot afford to lose, you may end up in a messy quarrel or fight with them that will ruin your testimony as a child of God or that will further endanger your life or faith.
Of if you must do business with an unbeliever, it won’t not be a bad idea at all to document everything or to involve a lawyer. That is what a clever unbeliever will naturally do, if he does not want to be cheated. He doesn’t trust himself. So, he does not trust anybody. If he will do business with anyone, then, he will make sure everything that needs to be documented is well documented, even if the person is his family member. That way, it becomes difficult for anyone to cheat or unduly take advantage of him.
Then if you set up a business and have to employ unbelievers, don’t assume that they will be nice to you, just because you are nice to them. All they may have at heart is how to steal from you the fruit of your labour. I was once told of certain poultry employees that used to steal eggs from their employer. And anytime the man came around and complained that the eggs they were getting were too small for the number of birds they had, they would secretly throw some crates of eggs into a nearby river, just to justify their claims that the birds were not performing. That is how wicked people can be.
Am I now saying that it is only unbelievers that always act like this? No! There are also many so-called believers that are capable of doing even worse things. So, whether you are dealing with an unbeliever or a believer, give no room for the devil to work (Eph 4:27). Yes, give no place for Satan to use anyone to steal from you, abuse your goodness or injure you.
How, then, do you do that? First, always make a distinction between favours and responsibilities. That means when you are doing people favour, let them know that is what you are doing. But when you are giving them responsibilities, put in place sound measures that will make them accountable and responsible for their actions or inactions. That way, there are problems you will never have with them.
Furthermore, always be vigilant when dealing with people that have not proved themselves over a long period of time to be trustworthy and when you are around th