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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 “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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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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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“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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“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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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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“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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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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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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“…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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“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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"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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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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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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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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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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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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 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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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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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“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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“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 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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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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“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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“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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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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“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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"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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“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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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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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 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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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

“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 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 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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“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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“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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“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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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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“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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“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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“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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“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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“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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