“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” (Prov 3:7-8NIV)

What is our instruction here? It is that we should not be wise in our own eyes, as far as our dealings with God are concerned. In other words, we should never think that we know better than God, our Maker. That is because we don’t know better than Him or even as much as Him. And if we agree that we don’t know as much as Him in any matter, we will humble ourselves before Him and walk in His fear.

Unfortunately, even Solomon who said these words to us failed to keep them in handling his own marriages. How? Well, God, in His wisdom, had told the Israelites not to intermarry with the people of the nations around them. Why? Was it because He did not love those people? No! God loved them as well. But they were not worshipping Him but idols and demons. That being the case, if the Israelites should begin to intermarry with them, it would not be long at all before they started luring them too into idol worship. So, God warned them solemnly not to intermarry with them. (Cf. Ex 34:16; Deut 7:3-4)

But Solomon totally ignored this word of wisdom from God and went on to marry all kinds of foreign women. Why? It must have been because he felt that he was wise enough to handle those women. Remember that God had given him wisdom and understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. And that must have given him the impression that he would be the one leading those women to the worship of God and not the other way round.

However, it was the same God that had given him wisdom that instructed him and his people not to marry foreigners. And if he had believed his own words that say, “Do not be wise in your own eyes,” then, he would have known that any deviation from God’s instruction is not a demonstration of wisdom at all. Rather, it is acting wise in our own eyes. In other words, it is acting according to our own wisdom. And when we ignore the wisdom of God in order to act on our own wisdom, we will eventually find out that our wisdom is nothing but foolishness.

Now because Solomon ignored the wisdom of God and acted according to human wisdom in matters of his marriages, he ended up becoming a foolish king. Look at what the bible says about that:

“He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done.” (1Kings 11:3-6NIV)

Did you see that? Solomon’s foreign wives ended up leading him astray when he grew old and was no longer strong enough to handle their nagging. So, what God’s wisdom had said would happen was exactly what happened. And that made Solomon lose the larger part of his kingdom to one of his subordinates. What a shame! (Cf. 1Kings 11:26-39)

What, then, is the point of this? It is that once the wisdom of the word of God has spoken to us about a matter, we should just embrace it and not look for an alternative, whether it is a convenient alternative or not. That is because any alternative to the wisdom of God is foolishness. And that alternative will not bring health and peace to our lives but will drive them away, as it was the case with Solomon. So, be careful of acting wise in your own eyes in your business, workplace, school, neighbouhood, finances, Christian service, marriage or friendship. That is because doing so will prove to be nothing but foolishness in the end.

Have a lovely day.

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“…what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” (1John 3:2-3NIV)

I love that what John says in our opening text. And what is it? it is that we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him. This is sure knowledge for us. We are not guessing about it. Rather, we know for a fact that when Christ eventually appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

That means whatever He looks like, whatever He resembles when He is made known, is what we shall be transformed to. And we are not talking about our recreated spirits here. Our spirits have been made like His; our spirits have been recreated already. We are talking here about the totality of our person. So, when He shows up, whatever He looks like is what we are going to look like.

Now how should that affect us? Knowing that we will be like Him is good. But what impart should that knowledge have on us? How should that knowledge affect our conduct right now? Indeed, we don’t really know what we are going to look like, but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him. And what should that imply to us? John answers this for us in verse 3. He says:

“All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” (1John 3:3NIV)

That is what is important for us right now. All those who have this hope in the Lord purify themselves. That means if you have this hope that He will appear again to change us, what are you going to be doing? You are going to be purifying yourself. You are not going to be getting yourself contaminated.

What I am saying is that if you are truly expectant, if you are truly looking forward to becoming like the Lord Jesus when He appears, you will get yourself prepared by purifying yourself. Are you, then, doing that? Am I doing that? That is one of the most important things for us to be doing while we wait for the Lord Jesus. And I pray that your heart and my heart will be daily strengthened to be committed to doing so. Amen.

Have a pleasant day.

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“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10NIV)

It is plainly stated here in our opening bible text that in Christ Jesus we are God’s handiwork. If you are not in Christ Jesus, you are not God’s handiwork. That may be shocking. But that is what the word of God says.

See, though all the people in the world were created by God, all of them are not God’s handiwork. The thief is not God’s handiwork, for God does not make thieves. The fornicator is not God’s handiwork, for God does not make fornicators. The point I am making is that in Adam we are not God’s handiwork, but in Christ Jesus we are His handiwork. In Adam we are Old Creations. But in Christ Jesus we become New Creations.

And now, in the sight of God, this is what we are: New Creations! We are new. We have been created anew. That old nature of Adam had been taken out of us, and God’s nature has been implanted in us. So, we have now become partakers of God’s divine nature. And that is what makes us New Creations.

But then, even though that is what we are in reality, even though that is what we are in our very making, we must give expression to it. What I am saying is that we must give expression to what we are now. Otherwise, we will not be seen by others as exactly what we are.

In the sight of God, we are New Creations. In the sight of God, we are His handiwork. That is what we are right now. But we must live as New Creations. We must live as God’s handiwork. It must be revealed to the world that, indeed, we have become New Creations. That means we cannot say we are New Creations and still continue to live the old life. We cannot say we are New Creations and still be living as Old Creations. God did not make us New Creations so that we could continue the old life. He made us New Creations so that we could live the new life. And everyone that becomes a Christian must understand this.

That is why Paul says we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. Now this is not the first time he is talking about ‘works’ in this letter to the Ephesians. He first talks about the fact that we have not been saved by works; rather, we have been saved by grace. That means there was nothing that we did that brought us salvation; there was nothing that we did that made us New Creation. God did everything that was necessary for us to become New Creations. We are His handiwork. Everything came from Him. Our good works were not involved. Our activities were not involved. Everything was a function of God’s activity. And that is why we say that we have been saved by grace; we have been saved on the basis of what God did; we have been saved on the basis of what God provided.

However, having been saved, having become New Creations, we are expected to function as New Creations; we are expected to do good works, works different from the old ones that we have been doing. Our old works could not get us saved. Our old works could not bring us to God. God brought us to Himself; God saved us by Himself. But having saved us, He expects us to be doing works that are consistent with the new nature that we have received.

So, it is clearly stated right here that God re-created us to do good works. In fact, Paul says God prepared those works in advance for us to do them. That means, even before God saved us at all, He already had in mind the kinds of works He would require us to do. The Christian, then, is expected to do good works. He is not to do good works for His salvation; he is to do good works because that is what he has been created to do.

Therefore, the message that says ‘your good works are not necessary’ is not for the Christian. The message that says ‘your good works are not important’ is not for the Christian. That message is for that person that has not yet been re-created. His good works are not important [for his salvation]; his good works are not relevant [to his salvation]. But for the Christian, whatever message he hears must spur him towards doing good works. Whatever message he hears must stir him up towards doing good works or towards recognising the kinds of works God expects him to do and doing them.

If you, then, are a Christian, you must bear in mind the fact that your new life is all about doing good works. And may God daily equip you with everything you need to recognise the good works you are meant to do and begin to them. Amen.

Have a pleasant day.

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“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14NIV)

Paul, here in our opening text, says I forget what is behind. What does that mean to me? Well, it means I allow the past to remain in the past. My focus now is on what is ahead.

See, how you functioned in the past is of the past, and there is nothing you can do about the past. The past is already in the past. You cannot go back there. You cannot undo anything of the past. So don’t waste your time meditating on the failure of the past, for it is useless.

If you messed up in the past or almost ruined your own life in the past, that is still of the past. Don’t waste your time meditating on how painful it was. Yes, it may be painful. But don’t waste your time thinking about it, for it is useless.

Similarly, if you did well in the past, all that still belongs in the past. Perhaps you blessed people yesterday. That is still of the past. Today is a new day. It does not matter how many people God used you to bless in the past, it is still of the past.

So let the past remain with the past and focus now on what is before you. And that is what Paul is telling us here. He is saying, “My focus is on what is ahead of me. I am not meditating on the good things that God did through me in the past or the bad things I did myself in the past. I will not waste my time on such things. My focus now is on taking hold of that for which Christ took hold of me.”

Now that is how you too must reason and function, if you don’t want to waste the remaining years of your life. Forget what is behind and strain towards what is ahead. Yes, begin to press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called you heavenwards in Christ Jesus. And may God strengthen you to daily do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a pleasant day.

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“"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”” (John 4:34NIV)

What is Jesus’s food? It is to do the will of God and to finish His work. He says that is His food; that is what He is surviving on. We eat food to survive, is that not true? But Jesus is saying here that He survives on doing the will of God. He says I cannot function otherwise.

Now have you also come to that point where you see your food as doing the will of God? You need to come to that point. And until you come there, God cannot use you to do any kind of good work.

You know there are different kinds of good works. Good works go beyond healing the sick and raising the dead. Those are good works too. But they do not constitute everything about good works. There are works that are able to transform or change people’s lives too. There are works that are able to lift people up or transform whole families.

Then I am sure you know that it is not everybody that needs physical healing. What some people need is mental healing. Some others need marital healing. The paths some are walking in now are paths that will lead them to death in the next two or three years. And such people need us to say words or do things to them that will get them off such paths.

What I am saying is that God can use us to do works that will transform whole families or generations of people. But if there is no desire in your heart to do any kind of good work, not just some selected good works, it is not going to happen automatically. So, you need to desire to do good works, just as some people desire to do evil things. Yes, you need to be hungry to do them. In short, doing good works must become food for you. That way, God can make you fit for doing any kind of good work.

Have a lovely day.

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"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" (Matt 23:37-39NIV)

That was the lamentation of our Lord Jesus over the people of Jerusalem just before He went to the cross. And one main thing we see from what He said about these people is that He was unable to help them experience a fulfilment of God’s purpose for them. Yes, He wanted to help them. He had the ability to help them. But they were just unwilling to be helped. So, He had to leave their house to them desolate. He had to move on. What a shame!

Now if the Lord Jesus, who was full of God’s grace and truth, couldn’t just help certain people to witness the goodness of God and be saved, we must also know that there are people we cannot help, regardless of how hard we try. Yes, it is important that we always endeavour to do for others all that God lays on our hearts and also gives us the grace to do for them. That way, we can maintain a clean and clear conscience before Him that we have done our own bit for them.

However, we must also know when no further effort we make to help some people will amount to anything. And where that is the case, we need to stop wasting the time, energy and resources God has given to us on such people and move on. Otherwise, whatever harm or frustration that comes to us as a result of it will be self-inflicted.

As we see in the bible, after God had rejected Saul, Samuel did not stop mourning for him. But he did not go to visit him. Why did he not go to visit him? It was because he knew that the man had passed the point of no return. In other words, he had gone beyond where any help he offered him would work. So, he would not visit him. Yet he wouldn’t also stop mourning for him. (Cf. 1Sam 15:34-35)

Why did Samuel continue to mourn for this man? It was because he was the one that ordained him as king. Yes, he was the one that told everybody that the man was God’s chosen and anointed one. How, then, would he face these same people again and tell them that God had changed His mind about him? Would they not even think that he probably did not get it right in the first place?

But then, it was not Samuel’s fault that Saul turned out bad. It was not his fault that the man became unfaithful to God. And it was not his fault that no attempt he made to set him right worked. Yet he kept on blaming himself for him and mourning over his spiritual death. So, God had to step in at some time and say to him:

“How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king."” (1Sam 16:1NIV)

Did you see that? God stopped Samuel from worrying about Saul and praying for him. Why? All that he was doing for him was an effort in futility. It wouldn’t change anything about Saul, neither would it change God’s mind about him. God had already moved on. He had already chosen another man in place of Saul. So, it was only wise of Samuel too to move on. And that was exactly what God told him to do.

Now do you know that God also told Jeremiah more than once not to pray for the people of Judah anymore? Why? The reason was that He was not going to answer him. That means his prayers for them would not help or save them from what was coming for them. If Jeremiah, then, continued to pray to God for them, would he not just be wasting his energy and time? He would. (Cf. Jer 7:16 & 11:14)

In like manner, there are times that God will expect us too to just let some people be and move on with our lives. And that is because there is nothing we do for them at such times, however good or honourable it may be, that will help them change their ways or that will change God’s mind about them. God has already moved on, as far as their matters are concerned. So, we too should move on.

How, then, do we know when we need to do this in our dealings with others? It is by divine revelations. What I mean is that it is not in our place to just say, “I am done helping you or praying for you,” to anyone. Rather, it is for God to determine. In other words, if God has given us the responsibility of taking care of someone or supporting them, whether through our prayers, resources or the word of God, we can’t just wake up on morning and say that we are done with them, even if the person is terribly messing up. Instead, we must first go back to God who made that person our responsibility and report to Him. Then He will tell us what to do.

Remember that both Moses and Elijah, at some point during their lifetimes, try to abandon their duties to the Israelites because of the stiffness of the neck of the people. But God literally said to both of them, “No, you can’t do that. You have to finish what you started.” And they both went on to finish what they had started. (Cf. Num 11; 1Kings 19)

So, don’t use what I am sharing with you here as your excuse for abandoning your prayer duties to anyone or for turning away from giving them whatever help God has put you in the position to give them. That will be a sin against God (1Sam 12:23). But if God Himself has already shown you that you have no further help or assistance to give to someone to save them or lift them up, you had better move on and stop wasting your time on them.

Cheers!

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“So Jacob sent word to Rachel and Leah to come out to the fields where his flocks were. He said to them, "I see that your father's attitude toward me is not what it was before, but the God of my father has been with me. You know that I've worked for your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me by changing my wages ten times. However, God has not allowed him to harm me. If he said, 'The speckled ones will be your wages,' then all the flocks gave birth to speckled young; and if he said, 'The streaked ones will be your wages,' then all the flocks bore streaked young. So God has taken away your father's livestock and has given them to me.”” (Gen 31:4-9NIV)


I was speaking to someone the other day and she was trying to justify herself for stealing from certain individuals she used to live with. According to her, though these people were very rich, they were mean to all of them that were living with them. They would not provide them with the basic things they needed as teenagers. All they were after was using them to make more and more money in their business.

Therefore, they too decided to be stealing from them as often as they could. And it was easy for them to do so because those people had no system of monitoring what was going on in the shop. In fact, according to her, they really did not care about monitoring anything. That was because they were relying solely on the practice of witchcraft to promote their business. So, regardless of what was stolen from them or what they were cheated of, they didn’t feel a thing. Instead, they continued to make more money in business.

Sadly, like those people, there are many all around us that rely heavily on witchcraft, cheating, extortion, swindling, embezzling of public funds or some other wicked means to make money and get rich. We also have all around us and perhaps even in our lives people who are cruel and stingy and who only think about using others to advance themselves in life. And if we find ourselves working for or living with any of them, we too, like that woman, may find ourselves trying to justify stealing from them.

But if we begin to steal from someone because he is mean to us or because he is making his money in dubious ways, first, we are showing that we are not any better than him. In other words, if we should find ourselves in the same circumstances as the person, we would do exactly what he is doing or even worse than him. Second, we are giving God no reason to be quick in judging that person and vindicating us.

See, one of the reasons God is sometimes not quick to judge those who oppress others is that those who are being oppressed are not any better. They themselves are wicked, cruel and mean and will do worse things than their oppressors, if they too had their way. So, though they are crying for relief from the oppression of their oppressors, the truth is that they have no moral right to ask for relief. And unless God just decides to show them mercy, oppression will never be far from them. (Cf. Matt 7:1-5; 2Cor 10:5)

Well, the point I am making is that we must not use anybody’s unfaithfulness as our excuse for being unfaithful too. Otherwise, we will just be shutting against ourselves doors of God’s favour. And where that is the case, we may end up stagnant and unproductive for life.

As we see in our opening text, even though Laban was really cruel and mean in dealing with Jacob, the man still ended up becoming wealthy while working for him. Why was that so? It was so because God stepped into the situation and vindicated him. Yes, God, who saw all that Laban was doing to cheat him and keep him in poverty, moved in on his behalf and turned every evil scheme of Laban around for his good. In other words, God took away from Laban all that he was supposed to give to Jacob and gave it to him.

Now why was it alright and just for God to do that? It was alright and just for Him to do so because Jacob did not use Laban’s unfaithfulness to him as an excuse to be unfaithful to him or as an excuse to be stealing from him. If he too had been stealing from Laban, then, whenever God was ready to judge the matter, it would not be Laban alone that he would judge; He would also have to judge Jacob. Otherwise, He would not be a just God.

But Jacob was not stealing from the man. On the contrary, as he told his wives, he worked for him with all his strength. And when the time came for God to step into the situation, He vindicated him and balanced the scales. So, he left the house of Laban a prosperous man, not empty-handed.

Do you too want to leave that place where you are living or working a prosperous person? Then do whatever you are doing there wholeheartedly, as unto the Lord and not as unto man. Yes, your bosses or employers may be lying to you, cheating you, stealing from you or harassing you. But as long as you are there, don’t use their misbehaviour as an excuse for slothfulness or theft. Otherwise, you will be shutting the door against your own promotion from God.

Perhaps you know certain people that used to steal from their workplaces or employers. How are their lives faring? People like that never rise above the level of thieves. They will always need to steal to make all ends met in their lives, regardless of where they are or what positions they are occupying. So, they are bound to end their lives in emptiness, unless they are shown mercy by God.

So, don’t be like them. Instead, work wholeheartedly and with the fear of God wherever you are and regardless of what people may be doing to cheat or oppress you. That way, when the time is ripe, God, who sees and knows everything, will step in to vindicate you. And just as He took Laban’s wealth away from him and gave it to Jacob, He will also take away from all those who are cheating you all that is yours and give it to you.

Have a lovely day.

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“O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” (Ps 63:1NIV)

Those were the words of David. And where was he when he said these things? He was in a desert. He was in a dry and weary land where there was no water. And what did he do there to take care of himself and those with him? He earnestly sought God.

Now this man could have given up on life and killed himself in that desert. Then his enemies would have rejoiced over him. Or he could have given himself to frantically searching for water until all his strength was gone. Then, again, his enemies would have rejoiced over him.

But he did not give up to death in that desert or burn his energy fruitlessly on looking for water, when he had no revelation of where to look. Instead, he sought God earnestly and with his entire being. In other words, he shifted his focus and energy away from the problem, away from the dryness of the place he was, to God. He prayed to Him and also meditated on His word, with all his heart.

Why? It was because he knew that God was the source and giver of everything he needed for survival in that desert. So, it was only sensible or logical for him to seek His face. That way, he would be led by Him to everything that would make him comfortable and happy in that desert or led out of the desert to another place of comfort and rest. And that was exactly what happened. God took care of him and his men in that desert and also later cleared the way for him to sit on the throne of Israel, where he ruled over all that his heart desired.

In like manner, even If where we too currently are is an obviously dry and weary place, where nothing good or progressive seems to be happening, we can be adequately satisfied and comforted there. How? It is by doing exactly what David did. It is by earnestly seeking God through prayer and meditation on His word. And remember that the bible says that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him (Heb 11:6). So, if you earnestly or seriously seek Him, you will not be disappointed.

All of this is why you should not lose heart or give up because of the dryness or emptiness of the place you are. And don't resort to your own schemes in order to save, help or elevate yourself there. Doing so may result in fruitless toiling for you. Instead, give yourself to seeking God earnestly and faithfully. And as He has promised in the Scriptures, He will set a table for you in that dry and weary place and also make waters overflow there for your comfort and peace of mind (Ps 78:19; Is 41:17-18). Then you will be abundantly satisfied.

Have a pleasant day.

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“When Saul saw the Philistines army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. He enquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dream or Urim or prophets.” (1Samuel 28:5-6NIV)

Saul, as we see in our opening text, once wanted to hear God talk to him through a dream or the Urim or the prophets. But God was unwilling to talk to him. Perhaps God had been talking to him through these means mentioned before. But at that time, God refused to say a word to him.

Now that is telling us that we cannot force God to talk to us in any way. This man wanted God to talk to him through dreams, the Urim or the prophets. But God refused to say anything to him through any of these means. Why would God not talk him? He wanted to know the will of God. He was, in fact, desperate about it. But God was not going to say anything to him through any of the means he was expecting Him to use.

Is that to say that God did not want him to know His will? God wanted him to know his will. But it was just that He did not want to speak to him through the means he wanted. And that was because the Scriptures were already there for him to read, if he truly wanted to know the will of God about the matter at hand.

This, of course, is showing us how important it is for us to stay in the Scriptures in knowing the will of God. The Scriptures were always there for Saul, as I said earlier. And all he needed to do was consult them in order to know the will of God, instead of waiting for Him to talk to him through a dream, the Urim or a prophet. If he had consulted the Scriptures, he would have known the will of God for him at that time. And if he had acted on what he found in the Scriptures, he would have been fine.

So, get this into your spirit: even though God speaks to people through dreams, visions, the prophets and other means, it is not every time that He does this. But you can hear from Him every time through the Scriptures. Give yourself, then, to reading, studying and meditating on the Scriptures. And you will never be ignorant of the will of God for your life in any situation.

Have a pleasant day.

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“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.” (1Timothy 6:6-11NIV)

If you take what Paul says here, without considering the context in which he says it, you may just conclude that God does not want us to have earthly riches. But we need to look at the context in which he says this, so that we will know why he says it and understand the exact point he is communicating.

Remember that he was talking to Timothy, his son in the faith, here. Now Timothy was a pastor, a leader of God’s people, at the time the letter was written. And Paul was warning him about what his attitude towards earthly riches ought to be, so that he would not shipwreck his faith.

But why was Paul saying these things to him? We see the answer in some of the verses that precede the ones in our opening text, which read:

“If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.” (1Timothy 6:3-5NIV)

These verses show us the reason Paul says what he says to Timothy from verse 6 through 11 of this chapter. There were false teachers at that time, just as there are false teachers today. And one of the marks of these false teachers, as Paul points out, is greed. These individuals think godliness is a means to financial gain. That means they see what they are doing, as preachers or leaders of God’s people, as a means to becoming wealthy. So, their practice of godliness is to the end that they become wealthy. They are not doing the things they are doing because they want to please God. They are not involved in anything of the kingdom because they believe it is what God wants them to do. Rather, they are doing whatever they are doing because they are after money, earthly riches.

So, we are looking here at individuals who preach for money, hold meetings for money and so forth. We have all such things happening around us today. Yes, I know that many times we look at these things and say, “Oh, what is becoming of the church?” But really, these things are not new. There were people like that as well in the days of the apostles of old.

Talking to the Philippians in his letter to them, Paul speaks of people whose god is their belly (Philippians 3:18-19). Then, Peter, counselling church elders in his letter says:

“To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them – not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be, not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve…” (1Peter 5:1-2NIV)

You can see, then, that it is possible for a leader of God’s people to be pursuing dishonest gain. Of course, it is not wrong for a preacher or teacher of the word of God to be blessed with earthly resources by those that he is ministering to. In fact, the Lord Jesus has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from doing so (1Corinthians 9:14). And there are other passages of the bible that point to the fact that those who preach the gospel should be supported by those they are preaching to with their resources. So, it is perfectly okay for those who are preaching the gospel to receive gifts from those they are preaching to.

But it is equally possible for those who are preachers or leaders in the church in this way to be after money in everything they do. They can be holding programmes in order to make money for themselves. They can organise crusades, call for prayer meetings or do anything just to make money. That explains why we now raise money during funerals, weddings, naming and so forth. Even the books and tapes that many of our so-called church leaders now produce are, in most cases, for the sole purpose of making money for themselves. These things are not produced because they want God’s people to be blessed through them.

Am I saying it is wrong for preachers of the word of God to sell books and tapes of their sermons? No! I bought the bible I am using now. So, nothing is wrong with using your money to buy books or tapes that have been provided by certain preachers. But God sees every heart. And if I bring any book to you that you should buy it, He knows my reason for doing so. He can tell whether I have published it for the sole purpose of edifying the readers with the contents or as simply a means to make more money.

Unfortunately, it is clear to us today that many of our preachers are after money. They are thinking all the time about how they are going to ride very expensive cars or live in luxury houses or enjoy the beautiful things of this life. That is all they think about. And they twist the word of God in order to accomplish this. They abuse the position God has placed them in the church in order to do these things.

Well, it is such individuals that Paul is speaking about in his letter to Timothy, where he says these people think godliness is a means to financial gain. And his focus is to draw this man’s attention to the need for contentment in his life, to the need for him to give himself to living a life of contentment. So, he says godliness with contentment is great gain. God wants us to be content in life. This, of course, does not mean that God wants us to be average in life. It does not mean that He does not want us to think or work hard or study hard in order to have the beautiful things of this life. No, God is not against our having these things. But He does not want us to lose our mind because we do not have something. Otherwise, our souls may be lost in the process too. And may you not lose your soul, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

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“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.” (1Timothy 6:6-11NIV)

If you take what Paul says here, without considering the context in which he says it, you may just conclude that God does not want us to have earthly riches. But we need to look at the context in which he says this, so that we will know why he says it and understand the exact point he is communicating.

Remember that he was talking to Timothy, his son in the faith, here. Now Timothy was a pastor, a leader of God’s people, at the time the letter was written. And Paul was warning him about what his attitude towards earthly riches ought to be, so that he would not shipwreck his faith.

But why was Paul saying these things to him? We see the answer in some of the verses that precede the ones in our opening text, which read:

“If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.” (1Timothy 6:3-5NIV)

These verses show us the reason Paul says what he says to Timothy from verse 6 through 11 of this chapter. There were false teachers at that time, just as there are false teachers today. And one of the marks of these false teachers, as Paul points out, is greed. These individuals think godliness is a means to financial gain. That means they see what they are doing, as preachers or leaders of God’s people, as a means to becoming wealthy. So, their practice of godliness is to the end that they become wealthy. They are not doing the things they are doing because they want to please God. They are not involved in anything of the kingdom because they believe it is what God wants them to do. Rather, they are doing whatever they are doing because they are after money, earthly riches.

So, we are looking here at individuals who preach for money, hold meetings for money and so forth. We have all such things happening around us today. Yes, I know that many times we look at these things and say, “Oh, what is becoming of the church?” But really, these things are not new. There were people like that as well in the days of the apostles of old.

Talking to the Philippians in his letter to them, Paul speaks of people whose god is their belly (Philippians 3:18-19). Then, Peter, counselling church elders in his letter says:

“To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them – not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be, not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve…” (1Peter 5:1-2NIV)

You can see, then, that it is possible for a leader of God’s people to be pursuing dishonest gain. Of course, it is not wrong for a preacher or teacher of the word of God to be blessed with earthly resources by those that he is ministering to. In fact, the Lord Jesus has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from doing so (1Corinthians 9:14). And there are other passages of the bible that point to the fact that those who preach the gospel should be supported by those they are preaching to with their resources. So, it is perfectly okay for those who are preaching the gospel to receive gifts from those they are preaching to.

But it is equally possible for those who are preachers or leaders in the church in this way to be after money in everything they do. They can be holding programmes in order to make money for themselves. They can organise crusades, call for prayer meetings or do anything just to make money. That explains why we now raise money during funerals, weddings, naming and so forth. Even the books and tapes that many of our so-called church leaders now produce are, in most cases, for the sole purpose of making money for themselves. These things are not produced because they want God’s people to be blessed through them.

Am I saying it is wrong for preachers of the word of God to sell books and tapes of their sermons? No! I bought the bible I am using now. So, nothing is wrong with using your money to buy books or tapes that have been provided by certain preachers. But God sees every heart. And if I bring any book to you that you should buy it, He knows my reason for doing so. He can tell whether I have published it for the sole purpose of edifying the readers with the contents or as simply a means to make more money.

Unfortunately, it is clear to us today that many of our preachers are after money. They are thinking all the time about how they are going to ride very expensive cars or live in luxury houses or enjoy the beautiful things of this life. That is all they think about. And they twist the word of God in order to accomplish this. They abuse the position God has placed them in the church in order to do these things.

Well, it is such individuals that Paul is speaking about in his letter to Timothy, where he says these people think godliness is a means to financial gain. And his focus is to draw this man’s attention to the need for contentment in his life, to the need for him to give himself to living a life of contentment. So, he says godliness with contentment is great gain. God wants us to be content in life. This, of course, does not mean that God wants us to be average in life. It does not mean that He does not want us to think or work hard or study hard in order to have the beautiful things of this life. No, God is not against our having these things. But He does not want us to lose our mind because we do not have something. Otherwise, our souls may be lost in the process too. And may you not lose your soul, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

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“For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” (Romans 14:7-8NIV)

Who do we belong to, as we see in our opening text? The Lord! We belong to Him because He created us. This is meant to be common knowledge among believers. It should be a settled fact in your mind as a believer that you belong to God. That is because He created you. He created all of us.

Many may not be walking in this consciousness. But it does not change the fact that we all belong to Him, for He created us. In the book of Revelation, chapter 4, verse 11, we have the testimony of the living creatures before the throne of God and the twenty-four elders with them. They say of God:

“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” (Revelation 4:11NIV)

Look at that. God created all things, whether living or non-living, thrones, powers, dominions and so forth. God created all of them. Yes, there are many in the world that have issues with this. They don’t believe that God created them. So, we have those who worship different kinds of gods, stones, wood, the sun, the stars and so forth. And that is because this reality is hidden from them. It has not come home to them that the one who created them is an invisible being. He created them along with all the things they worship. And if there is anyone anybody ought to worship, He is the one, the living God, the one who created all of us.

Also, in Ezekiel, chapter 18, God Himself says in verse 4:

“For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child – both alike belong to me…” (Ezekiel 18:4NIV)

I actually prefer translations that say something like, “All souls are mine…” This is God talking here. And He says the souls of all men belong to me, the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son. So, we belong to God because He created us. And it is only when we embrace this and walk in the light of it that we can make sense out of living.

Have a lovely day.

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“He said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then entre his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” (Luke 24:25-27NIV)

What we have in our opening text shows us how Jesus enlightened two of His disciples about Himself after His resurrection. As we see in the text, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He began to explain all that has been said about Him in the Scriptures to those two men.

Now they did not know that He was the one talking to them. But He opened the Scriptures to them, those Scriptures that talk about Him. He showed them things that Scriptures say that He must do and that must happen to Him. So, much later, when those people got to know that it was He that had been talking with them, they exclaimed and said, “No wonder our hearts burned with fire within us, as He spoke to us.” (Cf. Luke 24:30-32)

The point I am making is that Jesus got to know His identity through the Scriptures. He knew what the Scriptures said about Him and functioned on that basis. And do you too want to know who you are? Then you need to function on the same basis. You need to know what Scriptures say about you. You need to know how God has described your life in them. You need to know what things He has said about the things you must do and the life you must live in this world. Otherwise, you are not going to live up to your identity.

One of the reasons many believers are not living up to what they are is that they are ignoring Scriptures. Just as the Scriptures talk about Jesus, they also talk about us. They have defined us. They have described us. They have made known our identity. So, we need to look into them, study them and meditate on them until our hearts burn with fire, as the hearts of those men burned as Jesus talked to them about Himself. And may you be strengthened to be daily devoted to doing this, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a lovely day.

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All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, "Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?"” (Dan 4:28-30NIV)

What made Nebuchadnezzar say such proud words to himself? The things he saw! What did he see? Well, he saw the beauty of his kingdom. And was anything wrong with that? No! Nothing is wrong with seeing beauty, the beauty of creation or the beauty of the works of our hands. But the conclusion we draw, having seen the beauty of creation or that of the works of our hands, may just be the difference between promotion and downfall for us.

As the account goes, when Nebuchadnezzar saw the beauty of his kingdom, his heart was lifted up with pride. He began to praise himself for being so mighty and powerful and for building everything he could see in Babylon for his own glory and majesty. But was he right? Did he actually have any power of his own to building himself anything? No, he didn’t!

Everything this king saw about Babylon that night, as beautiful as it was, was nothing but a gift to him from God. It did not come to him because he was some rare breed of humanity; neither did it come to him because he was better than the rest of mankind. But because he did not realize this, he allowed pride to fill his heart. So, he said what was too much for his mouth to say and was taught a very great lesson by God for it. He ran mad and lived like a beast in the jungle for some time. And if had not been for the mercy of God shown to him, he would have perished in that condition. (Cf. Dan 4:31-37)

But what led this man to experience all that? It was a walk on the roof. It was his walk on the roof of his palace one night that led him to see what he could not handle. Yes, being on the roof of his palace gave him an advantage to see what most people may not see in their entire lifetime. But he did not have enough humility to handle what he saw. So, the advantage he had turned into a disadvantage and almost cost him his life and his kingdom.

So, being in a position of advantage does not always prove advantageous to people. Yes, being in a position of advantage may give us the privilege of seeing, hearing or knowing what others may never know in their entire lifetime. But if we do not have the character to handle what we are privileged to see, hear or know, what is meant to be advantageous to us may end up becoming disastrous.

As we are further shown in the bible, David too experienced something similar to what King Nebuchadnezzar experienced. Look at how this is given to us in the bible:

“One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?"” (2Sam 11:2-3NIV)

What made David see beautiful Bathsheba while she was taking her bath that night? A walk on the roof of his palace! If he were not the king of Israel at the time, he may not have the advantage of walking on the roof of the palace. But he was the king. And was that a bad thing? No, it was not at all. In fact, it was God that chose him to be king. So, he had every right to walk on the roof of the palace.

However, because he did not have sufficient strength of character to handle what his walk on the roof of his palace gave him the privilege of seeing, he ended up becoming an adulterer, a deceiver and murderer. And if he too, like Nebuchadnezzar, had not been shown mercy, he would have lost his life and his kingdom because of the matter. (Cf. 2Sam 11&12)

So, don’t just desire to be in an advantageous position, where you can see things, hear things and know things, even the secrets of darkness. Also, learn to pray to God to build you up to be able to handle whatever your position of advantage in life may throw at you. Learn to pray as well that God will keep you from seeing, hearing or knowing things that you cannot handle without destroying yourself. Otherwise, someday, you may just realize that all the things that seem to be advantageous to you are nothing but curses to your life. And may that not be your portion, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a pleasant day.

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“Just as Gehazi was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, the woman whose son Elisha had brought back to life came to beg the king for her house and land. Gehazi said, "This is the woman, my lord the king, and this is her son whom Elisha restored to life." The king asked the woman about it, and she told him. Then he assigned an official to her case and said to him, "Give back everything that belonged to her, including all the income from her land from the day she left the country until now."” (2Kings 8:5-6NIV)

Solomon tells us in his book, Ecclesiastes, that there is a time for everything, a season for every activity under the sun. He also goes on to tell us that when things are done at the right time, God makes them beautiful. This, of course, explains why God hardly works with our schedule. We want things done when we want them done. We want things to happen in our lives when we think they should have happened already. But God does not do things just because we want them done. He does things at the right time, at a time when they will be most beautiful, at a time when they will accomplish His good intentions for us and for His entire creation. (Cf. Ecc 3:1&11)

So, we will do well to learn to patiently keep in step with God, as we go through this life. He may not be moving as fast as we think He should be moving. But if we will patiently walk with Him, He will make everything about our lives beautiful at the right time.

Unfortunately, because many of us don’t understand this, we often miss God’s provisions for us. Yes, we are praying and probably fasting too, asking God to do all kinds of things for us. And God always answers. The problem, however, is that we often don’t keep in step with Him, so that we can be guided to receive the manifestations of His answers to our prayers. If we are not ahead of Him, we will behind Him. And either way, we are bound to lose, unless we are shown mercy.

If we, then, don’t want to continue to be ahead of God or behind Him and be losing His abundant provisions of favour for us, we must learn to always pray that He will fill our hearts with the perfect knowledge of His will for us, so that every step we take in life will be a step taken in the right direction and at the right time. That is what will daily bring us to the right place for us to enjoy His provisions for us at the right time.

Look at our opening bible text, for example. The Shunamite woman that used to care for Prophet Elisha had just returned to the land of Israel after sojourning among the Philistines for seven years. Why did she go to live among these uncircumcised people? It was because the word of the Lord had come to her to do so. A famine was coming upon the land, and God did not want her and her family to suffer. Why? It was because she had been generous to a man of God. So, generosity pays. Generosity to ministers of God pays. You may not be able to tell in what ways God will reward you for it. But He will surely do so at the right time. (Cf. 2Kings 8:1-9)

Well, when this woman came back with her family, her properties had already been taken over by the government. So, she had to go and beg the king to release them. And think of how difficult that could have been for her. Think of the layers of palace officials she would have to see before gaining access to the king. Then, even if she eventually met the king, what was the guarantee that her matter would be favourably dealt with? There was none.

However, because God was guiding her steps on the day she went to see the king, the way was cleared for her to meet him. Then, to let us see that it was God Himself that was leading her that very day, she came into the king’s presence exactly when Gehazi was sharing her testimony. What testimony? It was the testimony of how God raised her son, her only son from the dead through Prophet Elisha. Interestingly, by the leading of the Spirit, she also took that son of hers that was raised from the dead along with her to see the king that day.

So, that woman and her son went in to the king at the exact time that God’s favour for them and their family was working. And without probing her about why she abandoned her country the way she did, the king simply assigned an official to see to it that she got her house back. Not only that, the official was told to make sure that all the money made on her properties since the time she left was given to her immediately.

Now what do you call that? Indescribable favour! And I declare that doors of such favour are opened for you too, in Jesus’ name. But then, what made that woman a recipient of that unusual and mind-blowing favour? It was the fact that she was in the right place at the right time. Yes, she was in God’s place of favour at the right time.

If we too are going to be experiencing similar favour in our lives, we must always be in the right place at the right time; we must be where God’s favour for us is happening when it is happening. And we can always be there, if we will keep in step with God, as I pointed out before. So, if there is any prayer we should daily offer, it is that our hearts will be taught and enabled every day to keep in step with God, so that we will always be in the right place and at the right time.

Have a splendid day.

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“As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep.” (Matt 10:7-10NIV)

As we see in our opening text, the Lord would not allow His apostles to take money with them on their missionary trips. Why? His reason was that the worker was worth his keep. In other words, when someone works, he should be paid for what he has done. That, then, means that He considered what He was sending those people to do as work. He considered the healing of sick people, the raising of dead persons, the cleansing of lepers and the driving out of demons as a kind of work that those doing them should be paid for.

However, we see that the Lord does not really want those who do these things to be paid for doing them. Why? He is actually the one doing these things through them. He is the one preaching, healing people, raising the dead, cleansing lepers and driving out demons through them. And He is doing these things through them free of charge – they do not pay Him any money to do them. So, they too have to do them free of charge and not expect to be paid for doing them.

Nevertheless, the Lord knows that their time, energy and intelligence are involved. Therefore, they must be taken care of. Otherwise, they will not live long for Him to keep using. Or they might become discouraged and not make themselves available for Him to use again.

So, He gives the command that those that they are ministering to should take care of them. They are not to pay them for preaching to them or for healing them or for doing anything to them in His name. Rather, they are to freely share with them whatever good thing they have and that can be shared. So, even though this is compulsory for them to do, it has to be done in a spirit of love and as the individual determines.

Well, the point I am making is that we must begin to see our spiritual leaders as people who are working. And who are they working for? God! Yes, we are the beneficiaries of what they are doing. But it is God who has employed them to serve us. So, as one man of God has rightly said, it is God, who has employed them, that should pay them. And He is going to pay them when they eventually stand before His eternal throne. Their labour will surely not be in vain, if it has indeed been done according to His will.

However, before they eventually stand before God's throne to receive payment for their labour, He needs them to be adequately taken care of while they are still here in the world and working for Him. And since He does not print money in heaven or grow rice and beans there – those things are done here in the world – He wants all of us that they are serving to take care of that business for Him. In fact, He commands us to take care of it for Him.

Are you, then, taking care of it for Him? If you are not, you are living in direct disobedience to His command. And that will have consequences. Repent, therefore, before it is too late. May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.

Have a lovely day.

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“Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, "Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury."” (2Kings 1:2NIV)

There is an adage among the Yorubas which, when translated, will read something like, “One can't stay in his own house and still have his neck broken.” What that means is that if you stay out of trouble, no evil will befall you at all. But is that true? Is it true that if you stay out of trouble, no evil will befall you at all?

Well, the answer is 'No, it is not true.' Yes, there are problems that may never come our way at all, if we stay out of trouble, if we stay in our own lane. But even if we stay out of trouble, evil can still visit and destroy us, if we don't have God's mercy and protection.

So, while it is important for us to stay out of trouble and always be careful in handling our lives' affairs, we must never put our trust in our carefulness or gentleness. Otherwise, unless God shows us mercy, where we least expect evil to harm us may just be where it will hurt and destroy us.

As we see in our opening bible text, King Ahaziah, the successor of King Ahab, fell one day through the lattice of his upper room and got himself terribly injured. How? Was there a problem with the lattice of his upper room? We are not told anything like that. Or was he fighting and struggling with anyone? No, nothing like that is reported in the account. Or perhaps he was trying to commit suicide. No, he wasn't! He just succeeded his father, Ahab, as king. So, if there was anything he wanted to desperately do, suicide would not be that thing.

What, then, happened? It was an accident. But the accident was so fatal that he feared for his life and decided to seek spiritual help from a foreign god. That, of course, was what took the healing he might have received from God completely away from him. So, he died before his time and without remedy. (Cf. 2Kings 1:2-18)

But what is the point of this? It is that accidents can happen where we least expect them to happen and through things that we don't expect them to happen. And many have lost their lives, body parts or prosperity by their own hands and through all kinds of home or workplace accidents. They did not intend to hurt themselves. But they did. And the rest is now history.

So, as God's children, we must learn to pray that God will keep us safe from ourselves. It is easy to pray that God should keep us safe from whatever those around us or in our lives may do to harm us, whether consciously or accidentally. But we too can mistakenly hurt ourselves. And if we do, who are we going to blame or take to court, if we are still alive? No one but ourselves.

But if we will learn to pray to God to keep us safe from our own mistakes or errors, just as we are praying that He will keep us safe from other people's mistakes or wickedness, He will answer us. And He will daily see to it that we do not carelessly or stubbornly compromise our own safety or the safety of others around us.

Have a wonderful day. 

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“Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.” (Heb 13:18NIV)
Here, in our opening text, the writer of the book of Hebrews asks that the brethren will pray for him and other church leaders. According to him, they have a clear conscience and also desire to do what is right. But they may not do what is right, if they are not strengthened by God to do so. Therefore, he says to the brethren, “We need you to pray for us that we will act continually according to our desire.”

See, our leaders are not exempt from the challenges of life that we are daily faced with. If our Lord Jesus was not exempt from them, then, none of us will be exempt from them. The bible says that Jesus was tried at every point – yet He was without sin (Hebrews 4:15).

It is interesting to know that our Lord was tempted at every point when He was here. There was nothing He was not tempted with. He was tempted with sexual immorality, for instance. Many don’t know this and may not even accept it as the fact. But we have the summary of it all in the words that say, “He was tempted at every point. Yet He was without sin.”

So, if you are tempted to steal, you must understand that Jesus was also tempted to steal. If you are tempted to tell lies, you must remember that He too was tempted to tell lies. Yet He was without sin.

Now the point I am making is that our leaders in the church are not exempt from challenges and trials of life. So, we need to pray for them that even when they are tempted, they will be strong to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions. This is why you must not be narrow-minded when praying. Let your prayers include all the people God wants you to pray for. And among those people are your leaders in the church.

Of course, we are instructed in Scriptures to pray for the leaders of our governments and institutions too (1Timothy 2:1-4). But we equally have the duty of praying for our leaders in the church. That is a major way to support them. And this cannot be overemphasised. They need our prayers so that they may continually stand strong in doing the will of God. So, make it a habit to daily say a word of prayer for your church leaders. And may God strengthen you to continually do so. Amen.

Have a lovely day. 

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“I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” (Rom 1:16NIV)

What is Paul telling us in our opening text? It is that through the word of God people can be saved from any kind of problem. Yes, through the gospel, people can be delivered from any kind of trouble.

But they first need to hear it, so that they can have faith to be delivered, so that they can have faith to be healed, so that they can have faith to be set free. Look, people are being introduced to different kinds of things where they are. Some are being introduced to soothsayers, witchdoctors and so forth. Sometimes, people that you don’t know will even freely offer you solutions to your problems.

But do we do that? Do we offer people solutions to their problems, as it is written in the Scriptures? Many of us are too self-occupied. And if we are self-occupied, we cannot be actively involved in this.

For example, the brethren in Ephesus were actively involved in taking the word to their world when Paul was with them. They were the ones coming to Paul and asking for prayers for those who were ill and taking handkerchiefs and aprons to them for their healing and deliverance. (Cf. Acts 19:1-12)

If we too are concerned about the evangelizing of the world, if we are concerned about the salvation of those around us, we must begin to take the word to them. We must utilize every opportunity we have to give them the word of God.

Also, we must let them see that we are serious about what we are telling them. Yes, we must let them see that we are excited about what we are telling them. And they should not see this excitement only through the words of our mouths but also through our behaviour. That way, we are going to begin to see our world being evangelized in ways that are beyond our comprehension.

Have a splendid day. 

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“With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand.” (Mark 4:33NIV)

Who was using parables to teach people? It was the Lord Jesus Christ. But then, as we also see in our opening text, He only spoke 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. He considered their level of understanding. And He 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, that is, the farmer that went to sow his seed, 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, you will be able to tell whether they can understand certain things or not. If they don’t understand what you are sharing with them, then, they cannot profit with it – it cannot bless them. And our Lord Jesus Christ was very conscious of this. So He only wanted to share with people what would benefit them.

Well, my point is that, in making the mind of God known to people, you must consider what they can understand. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, says, “We have not written to you anything you cannot understand.” (Cf. 2Corinthians 1:13) Why? The reason is that he wants them to be able to work with what he is making known to them.

In like manner, if you are making the mind of God known to people, it is important that you consider their need to work with it. If they don’t work with what is made known to them, they will not get any result – their lives will not change. And the only way they will be able to work with what is made known to them is for them to understand it. So, always aim at giving people only what they can understand about God. Otherwise, your effort in sharing His word with them may just be in vain.

Have a lovely day. 

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“For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war." (2Chron 16:9NIV)

What is the first thing we see in our opening text? It is that God is always on the lookout for certain individuals? And what sort of individuals is He on the lookout for? it is those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.

Now what we have here, of course, is similar to what our Lord Jesus says about Him. He says God is seeking those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). Why is He looking for such individuals? As we further see in our opening text, He is looking for them to equip them. And what does He want to equip them for? He wants to equip them with whatever they need to serve His purpose here on earth.

So, a man may not have great and shining abilities or opportunities to do big things in life. But if his heart is fully committed to God, He will take him up and equip him with all the abilities, opportunities, time and people he needs to do things that will shock those in his world.

Think of David, for example. What special abilities or advantages did he have that qualified him to be king over Israel? None! He was not the strongest in the land, neither was he the most handsome. He was not even the eldest son of his father. That explains why Samuel had already checked out all his elder brothers before he was eventually sent for. (Cf. 1Sam 16).

Now, of course, David had some abilities and advantages, and there is no man that does not have any at all. He could sing well and also play the harp well, for instance. And these abilities qualified him to be a top musician of the king. But did they qualify him to be king? No!

Nevertheless, because he was a young man after God’s heart, he was found and chosen by Him. Look at the way Samuel announced this to King Saul, when he began to misbehave:

“But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD's command." (1Sam 13:14NIV)

Did you see that? While Saul was busy doing his own thing, the Lord also was busy searching the whole land for someone after His heart that He may appoint to replace him as king over Israel. And in the process, He found David. So, even though he was but a boy, He anointed him with His Holy Spirit and began to equip him with the wisdom, boldness, skills and people that he would need to be the kind of king and leader he was meant to be. Then, years later, David would say this about how God raised and equipped him:

“For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great.” (Ps 18:31-35NIV)

Did you see that? David said that it was God that trained him to be a warrior and that it was His help that made him great. And all these things happened to him because his heart was fully devoted to God.

In like manner, if we will totally set our hearts on God, so that we may learn to please Him every day, He will equally set us apart to be equipped for great things in this life, regardless of what low place we are or how handicapped we may be. But are we going to totally set our hearts and affection on Him and on pleasing Him? Am I going to totally set my heart and affection on Him and on pleasing Him? That, as I pointed out before, is what will determine what things He is able to use me for and what heights He is able to take me to.

My prayer, then, for you and me is that our hearts will be daily drawn by the Holy Spirit to love God and to seek to please Him all the time. Amen.

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My prayer for you today is that God will visit you and your family with times of refreshing wherever you may be hurting, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

As we see in the bible, in the days that Judges ruled in Israel, there was a severe famine that made people start leaving the land for other places where they believed that they would be able to feed and live well. It was during this period that a man called Elimelech and his wife Naomi left the land with their two sons for Moab. Unfortunately, their relocation to Moab did not work well for them at all. That was because Elimelech and his two sons lost their lives there. Not only that, his sons died without leaving any children behind. So, the family was left with nothing but three poor widows. (Cf. Ruth 1)

Now there may have been others who relocated to Moab or some other places during the same period that did not have the kind of nasty experience that the family of Elimelech had. But one of the lessons of the story is that relocation to another place from our workplace, house, town or country is not always the right solution to famine or a period of hardship. If we change our job or location without divine revelations or guidance, we may end up regretting it.

Therefore, don’t be in a hurry to run out of this country in any time of famine, just because everyone you know is running out of it. That may not be God’s way of preserving you and causing you to prosper. For example, as we are also shown in the bible, there was a time that Isaac wanted to go down to Egypt because of the severe famine where he was. But God told him not to go but to stay where he was. Why? The reason was that even though there was a famine there, His provisions for him to prosper were there as well. All that Isaac needed, then, was for him to see those provisions and begin to utilize them. And when he saw them and began to utilize them, he became so wealthy that everyone around him became jealous of him. (Cf. Gen 26)

What is the point of that? It is that the fact that there is hardship in a place does not mean that God’s provisions for us to prosper are not there. So, before we consider changing our location because of the hardship where we are or because an opportunity to enjoy life better somewhere else shows up, we should first of all pray to God and hear from Him. Otherwise, we may find ourselves ignorantly running away from our place of prosperity to a land of emptiness.

Elimelech and his family left Israel for Moab because they thought the place would be a land of prosperity and rest for them. But they later found it to be a land of emptiness for them. So, even though they went there full, Naomi, who was the only one of them that survived, came back empty. May you not use up all your life, resources and devotion to pursue emptiness, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

In any case, while Naomi was still in Moab, not knowing what to do with her life and the lives of her two daughters-in-law, God visited the nation of Israel. The bible says:

“When she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there.” (Ruth 1:6NIV)

Did you see that? God eventually visited His people with help by providing food for them. And the visit was so great that someone like Naomi remembered home and set out to go back there.

So, regardless of how hard things may be for us in the country right now, God is still able to visit us with great help, the kind that will make all our people that have relocated to some other countries to start coming back home. And God will surely visit us with help because some of us are praying without ceasing for Him to do so. My prayer is that you will be where you are supposed to be when His help finally comes and times of refreshing are brought to us. Amen.

Have a great day.

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“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood but by my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 16:13-17NIV)

The Lord had asked a very simple question on this occasion, which was, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” And the disciples responded by telling Him the different popular views of people about Him. Then He went on to ask another question, which was, “Who do you say I am?” And without thinking about it, Peter quickly replied and said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” How did he know that? Was it because he was smarter than others? No! Or was it because someone told him? No! How, then, did he know it?

Well, according to the Lord, it was because God had revealed it to him. And the Lord went on to bless him and to say all kinds of beautiful things to him of the great roles he would be playing in the kingdom of God. But then, from verse 21, Matthew goes on to tell us this:

“From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”” (Matthew 16:21-23NIV)

What is happening here? Few moments ago, Peter received a revelation from God that Jesus is the Messiah. And the Lord blessed him for that. But now he has received another revelation, not from God but from the devil. The Lord is speaking to all of them about His death and resurrection. But Peter will not listen to any of that. So, he calls Him aside begins to rebuke Him. And how does the Lord respond to that? He responds by saying, “Get behind me, Satan!”

Now does Lord mean that Peter is the devil himself? No! He is simply showing us that Peter is speaking for Satan at the moment. In other words, it is Satan that is giving him the words that he is saying. Why? He is unable to tell the difference between what is coming from God and what is coming from the devil. So, he just says what comes to his mind.

Sadly, there are still many like Peter today. They too are ready to say anything that comes to their minds. They don’t bother to test what is coming into their minds whether it is of God or of the devil. But the word of God tells us to test every spirit to see whether they are from God or not (1John 4:4). Otherwise, you will often find yourself saying anything that comes to your mind. And that kind put you in very serious trouble.

So, always test with the word of God every thought that comes to your mind before you say it out or act on it. Otherwise, you may not know when Satan will hire you to say or do something that you will eventually regret. And may the Spirit of God daily strengthen you to act on these words. Amen.

Have a lovely day.

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“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:3NIV)

From what James says here, it is clear that you can be praying to God to satisfy your pleasure. Yes, what you are asking for is good. But why do you want it? Is it so that you can oppress or impress someone in your neighbourhood, office or family? Who are you trying to prove something to when you are praying to God?

Truly, there are times we want God to prove Himself as sovereign. But it is God we are seeking honour and praise for in such situations and not ourselves. Elijah once had a prayer tussle with the prophets of Baal in the days of King Ahab. He asked them to pray to their gods to bring down fire on their sacrifice. But their gods could not. So, he taunted them until they became weary. Then he prayed to God to bring down fire on his sacrifice and God did. What was he doing then? He was seeking honour for God and not himself. It was not his status as a man of God that he was concerned about but the honour of God among the Israelites. (Cf. 1Kings 18)

Also, we see Moses asking God to prove to the Israelites that he did not send himself. Why? Korah, Dathan, Abiram and On and the people with them were trying to discredit his ministry and Aaron’s ministry. They had said that it was not only Moses and Aaron that had revelations of God and that they too had revelations of God. And they had said that to discredit the ministries of Moses and Aaron among the Israelites. So, Moses had to pray that God would vindicate them and show that the things they were doing among the people and for them were not their ideas but God’s commands. And God answered him by causing the ground to swallow those men and all those with them. (Cf. Numbers 16)

There are times, then, that we may pray that God will prove Himself or defend His honour or the honour of His servants. But when it comes to praying for the sole purpose of impressing men or oppressing them or when we are motivated by jealousy, greed, selfishness or bitterness to pray, God is not under any obligation to answer such prayers. That is why James says when you ask you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives.

What I am saying, in any case, is that the motives behind our prayers are as important to God as the contents of our prayers. So, He is not going to answer our prayers just because everything we have said is theologically correct. Rather, He is going to answer our prayers because our words are not just right but our motives are also right. So, keep this in mind: when you pray, be sure you are not praying for a show or for your selfish, greedy or envious motives. Otherwise, God will not answer you.

Have a blessed day.

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“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood but by my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 16:13-17NIV)

The Lord had asked a very simple question on this occasion, which was, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” And the disciples responded by telling Him the different popular views of people about Him. Then He went on to ask another question, which was, “Who do you say I am?” And without thinking about it, Peter quickly replied and said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” How did he know that? Was it because he was smarter than others? No! Or was it because someone told him? No! How, then, did he know it?

Well, according to the Lord, it was because God had revealed it to him. And the Lord went on to bless him and to say all kinds of beautiful things to him of the great roles he would be playing in the kingdom of God. But then, from verse 21, Matthew goes on to tell us this:

“From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”” (Matthew 16:21-23NIV)

What is happening here? Few moments ago, Peter received a revelation from God that Jesus is the Messiah. And the Lord blessed him for that. But now he has received another revelation, not from God but from the devil. The Lord is speaking to all of them about His death and resurrection. But Peter will not listen to any of that. So, he calls Him aside begins to rebuke Him. And how does the Lord respond to that? He responds by saying, “Get behind me, Satan!”

Now does Lord mean that Peter is the devil himself? No! He is simply showing us that Peter is speaking for Satan at the moment. In other words, it is Satan that is giving him the words that he is saying. Why? He is unable to tell the difference between what is coming from God and what is coming from the devil. So, he just says what comes to his mind.

Sadly, there are still many like Peter today. They too are ready to say anything that comes to their minds. They don’t bother to test what is coming into their minds whether it is of God or of the devil. But the word of God tells us to test every spirit to see whether they are from God or not (1John 4:4). Otherwise, you will often find yourself saying anything that comes to your mind. And that kind put you in very serious trouble.

So, always test with the word of God every thought that comes to your mind before you say it out or act on it. Otherwise, you may not know when Satan will hire you to say or do something that you will eventually regret. And may the Spirit of God daily strengthen you to act on these words. Amen.

Have a lovely day.

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“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?” (Hebrews 12:7NIV)

What attitude are we to have towards hardship? Endurance! If any form of hardship comes to you, don't complain; don't grumble. Endure it. That's not to say that you just fold your arms and allow whatever form of hardship that has come to you to destroy you. That's not the point. The point here is that you need to walk in endurance. When you are faced with any form of hardship, as you are talking to God about it, as you are declaring the word of God about it, as you are handling it, don't complain; don't grumble. Endure! That is because you have resources to walk in victory over it.

Furthermore, you need to see hardship as one of God's ways of disciplining you, making you tougher, making you stronger. See it as one of His ways of establishing you in His will. For many believers, once certain challenges begin to come, they start saying nonsense. They start complaining. They start grumbling. They start cursing themselves. They think, “Why should this be coming into my life? Why should I be facing this kind of problems?”

You need to stop thinking or talking like that. Instead, take advantage of the grace of God. Take advantage of the word of God. Take advantage of the presence of God in your life to walk in victory over this. Don't complain. Don't grumble. See it as one of God's ways of disciplining you.

In the book of Judges, chapter 3, verse 1, we are told this

“These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath.” (Judges 3:1-3NIV)

Is that in your Bible? God had said that He was giving the entire land of Canaan to the Israelites. Yet there were certain nations that He left and did not deliver to Joshua when he was still alive. Why did God leave those nations? Why did He not deliver those nations to Joshua when he was still alive? We are given the reason here. God left those nations to teach battle experiences to the Israelites who had none. So, He deliberately left those ones so that those Israelites who had no battle experience could gain it. How would they gain it? By fighting! They had to learn to fight to keep what He had delivered to them and to also take what He had given to them.

See, there are realms of devotion to prayer that you don't get to, if you don't have certain experiences in life. There are ways you cannot devote yourself to the word of God, if you are not faced with certain challenges in life. It's easy to confess the word of God when things are smooth. It's easy to say all kinds of beautiful things that are said in Scriptures about yourself when you are not faced with challenges.

It's easy, for instance, to say, “The Lord supplies all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus,” when your bank accounts are full. It's also easy to say, “Jesus Christ is my health and by His wounds I have been healed,” when you are healthy. But if you have to deal with a bodily ailment for a month or two months, will you continue to do that? Will you continue to confess, “By His wounds I have been healed?” If you have to deal with the same trial every day for more than a year, will you continue to declare the Word of God that you are a victor, that in all these things you are more than a conqueror? Will you continue to confess those words?

Well, my point is that there are challenges or trials that God permits to teach you to apply all the things that He has been teaching you. So, don’t complain about them. Instead, endure them and also begin to take advantage of His grace to walk in victory over them. And victory shall surely be your experience.

God bless you.

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DON'T MAKE IT DIFFICULT FOR HIM
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding, but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you." (Psalm 32:8-9NIV)

Here in our opening text, God first announces to us that He is devoted to teaching and instructing us in the way we should go in life. So, He doesn't want to leave us to ourselves. He doesn't want us to live life all by ourselves. He doesn't want us to face life's challenges and opportunities all by ourselves. He wants to be available to guide us. And in fact, He is available to guide us. He is available to lead us. He wants to direct us in the path we should follow. And He has already committed Himself to doing this. He has said, “I will do it. I will instruct you. I will teach you. And I will counsel you.”

Well then, since God has made Himself available to us, if you are clueless about life, it's not because God is unavailable; the reason will be that you are not taking advantage of His availability. If you are confused in life, that's not because God wants us to be confused. He is available to us to make sure we are not confused. If we don't know what to do, the reason is not that we cannot know what to do. The reason is that we are failing to take advantage of God's availability to us.

From time to time, I will tell myself, “I don't know what to do.” But then, I will hear in my spirit, you know what to do. I can't remember the number of times I've heard that in my spirit, that I should stop saying that I don't know what to do. I know what to do. Why? I have God with me. I have His counsel. I only need to come to Him, and He will counsel and guide me.

But then, in this Psalm, God goes on to tell us not to be like the horse or the mule, which has no understanding, but must be controlled by bit and bridle, or they will not come to you. That means don't make it difficult for God. He wants to guide you. He wants to lead you, but don't make it difficult for Him. Don't make Him teach you the hard way.

You can learn the hard way. We all can learn the will of God the hard way. We can learn to pay attention to God the hard way. We don't have to learn the hard way. But sometimes, the only way to get the attention of some of us is the hard way. The only way God can set some of us right is the hard way. He has to use various life circumstances to teach us to pay attention to what He's saying to us. It doesn't have to be like that. That is because you can learn from God by revelation. But if you choose not to learn by revelation, you're going to have to learn by experience. And learning by experience is not often palatable; it's not often sweet.

So, yield yourself to be led by Him by giving yourself to His word, to prayer and to fellowshipping with His people. And you can be sure that He will lead you in the path you should follow until you arrive where He wants you to be in life.

Have a lovely day.

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“And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.” (1Sam 18:9NIV)

When did King Saul begin to keep a jealous eye on David? It was when all the armies of Israel returned to the land after David had killed Goliath. That means Saul was not always jealous or afraid of David. On the contrary, he once loved and cherished him.

First, he loved him as the anointed musician that used to comfort him with his music, especially when an evil spirit would come to torment him (1Sam 16:21-23). Second, he loved him as a vibrant upcoming Israelite warrior. Look at what the bible says about their relationship before jealousy tore them apart:

“After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father's house.” (1Sam 18:1-2NIV)

Can you see that Saul was already seeing David as a son and member of his family after his exploit in killing Goliath? How, then, did jealousy come in and separate them? Well, as we are further shown in the bible, it came in through the indiscreet singing of the women of the land that came to welcome them home after David had killed Goliath.

Before that time, Saul had been their champion. He had been the warrior king that was handling all their enemies for them. But when David showed up and defeated Goliath the giant, the selective memory of the people would not allow them to remember all that Saul had done for them. So, they began to talk everywhere about David and what he had done. There may have even been some exaggerations here and there, just to make the story of his fight against Goliath sweeter in the ear.

Then, to make matters worse, they brought their high praise of David to Saul’s doorsteps. They sang the song they had composed in his praise in his ears. Therefore, he did not need any prophet to let him see that the people had already begun to replace him with David in their hearts. (Cf. 1Sam 17:6-7)

Now, if Saul had not stopped being a spirit-led man at the time, he would, most likely, not have taken the matter to heart. But the Spirit of God had already left him. And as if that were not enough, a special evil spirit had begun to torment him. So, the song of those women irritated him. Not only that, it made him afraid that he might someday lose his kingdom to David, even though he was not yet aware that he had been ordained by God as king in his stead.

Therefore, he began to keep a jealous eye on him. And that, of course, made life miserable for David for the rest of this man’s life. That was because all that he wanted was to get rid of him and prevent him from taking over his kingdom.

What is the main point of all this? It is that we should be careful of how we use praise, especially when dealing with men. Praise that is not wisely handled or well directed can become a motivation for jealousy. Yes, we need to praise those that have done things deserving of praise. But we should watch where we praise them and how we praise them.

Don’t praise anyone beyond what they are meant to be given credit for. Don’t be selective in praising anybody, especially when you are dealing with a team. And don’t misappropriate praise. In other words, don’t give the praise that is meant for God to man or the praise that is meant for A to B. You may just be stirring up jealousy in others for the person you are praising and creating problems that are larger than them for them. And if they are not shown mercy and protected by God, the way David was shown mercy and protected by Him from King Saul, they may not live long to enjoy the fruit of what earned them your praise.

Mind you, as I already briefly mentioned, a misappropriation of praise can stir up jealousy even in God. Why was the Herod that wanted to kill Peter struck down by an angel of God? Was it because he had killed James and had also attempted to kill Peter? No! Rather, it was because when certain people began to give him the praise that was due to God, he accepted it instead of returning it to God. (Cf. Acts 12:19-23)

So, don’t arouse God’s jealousy against anyone by giving the praise that is due to Him to them. Otherwise, they too may have their lives cut short by Him, as Herod’s life was cut short by Him. What joy, then, would that give you?

Have a pleasant day.

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"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse — the whole nation of you — because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.” (Mal 3:8-12NIV)

Those were God’s own words to His people, the nation of Judah. And what point was He trying to get across to them by saying these words? It was the fact that they needed to stop stealing from Him. But is it possible to steal from God Almighty! Yes, it is possible.

Judas Iscariot, for instance, had a habit of stealing Jesus’ money that He was keeping with him. We would not know how much he ended up stealing from Him. But we do know that he was audacious and reckless enough to steal from the Lord of life. And we still have some like him in the church today, who are audacious and reckless enough to steal offerings meant for the church or anything else that can be stolen from their Christian assemblies. (Cf. John 12:4-6)

Also, as we see in our opening text, God accused the Jews of stealing from Him. How? It was by not bringing to Him all the tithes and offerings they were meant to be bringing into His house. But what was God going to do with their tithes and offerings? Was He going to use them to buy food and wears and build houses for Himself? No!

See, God has no personal need or use for any physical thing we bring to Him. That is because God is a Spirit. So, whatever we bring to Him is never for His personal use. What, then, is it for? It is to aid the work that He is doing in our lives and in our world and to also support those that He is using to do this work. If we, then, will not bring to Him whatever He has commanded us to bring to Him, we will be hurting His work and also those that He is using to do the work. And that is what He refers to as stealing.

But does God have any right to say that anyone is stealing from Him? Yes, He does. He does because He is the owner of our lives, the world we live in and everything we have. There was nothing we brought into this world when we came, just as there is nothing we will be taking out of this world when we are leaving it. Everything we have in the world and are using in it has been given to us by God. And anything we give to Him is simply what He has given to us. A clear understanding of this, of course, is what destroys greed and selfishness in people’s lives. (Cf. 1Chro 29:14-16; Ps 24:1; 1Tim 6:7&17)

In any case, because these Jews were stealing from God by not bringing to Him all the tithes and offerings they were supposed to be bringing to Him, He told them that they were under a curse. What sort of curse? The curse of the Law of Moses! The curse of poverty! The curse of vain labour! And the only way for them to get away from this curse was to repent and begin to bring to Him everything He had instructed them through the Law to bring.

Now is this applicable to us at all? Can we too rob God? Yes, we can rob Him. We can rob Him by not bringing to Him everything we are meant to bring to Him, based on the revelation of His word that we have. Of course, as we see in Scriptures, we don’t have the same instructions as the Jews on tithes, offerings and sacrifices. But we have very similar instructions on supporting the work of God and those that He is using for this work and also on how to do so. And if we are not obeying these instructions, we are robbing Him, regardless of what our excuses may be. (Cf. 1Cor 9:14; 2Cor 8:12; Gal 6:6)

All those Jews too may have had a million and one excuses for not obeying God’s instructions on matters of tithes and offerings. The unfaithfulness of their priests in handling their ministries may even be one of those excuses. Interestingly, God indeed accused the priests in land of unfaithfulness, negligence and corruption through the same messenger (Malachi) that He had sent to them. But He did not see that as an acceptable reason for the people to be stealing from Him. (Cf. Malachi 2:1-9)

So, even if your church leaders are unfaithful, negligent and corrupt, as far as you can see, it is not an excuse for you to be stealing from God. They will be the ones answering for their unfaithfulness, negligence and corruption, not you. And you too will be the one answering for stealing from God. Are you, then, prepared to answer for stealing from Him?

As I pointed out to you already, those Jews were under a curse for robbing God, the curse of disobeying the Law given to them by Moses. But we who are Christians have not been given that Law. So, we are not under any curse it has placed on those who steal from God. That, however, does not mean we won’t be facing any consequence for stealing from God or that we are not already facing the consequences of stealing from Him.

Anyone who is stealing from God in any way will surely face the consequences, if he does not repent while God’s mercy is still able to save or restore him. Ananias and Saphirah, for instance, received death penalties for arrogantly stealing from God. And only God knows how many Christians have also died before their time like them because they also were arrogantly stealing from Him. (Cf. Acts 5:1-10)

So, none of us can tell how God will deal with us for stealing from Him. None of us can tell how He is dealing with us for stealing from Him. Perhaps the reason our progress in life is slow or certain illnesses have refused to leave our bodies or we are afflicted with barrenness or we are continually making bad investments is that we are stealing from Him. Only God can tell. But if our minds are made up to do what is right, He will open our eyes to see those areas of our lives in which we are suffering because we are stealing from Him. He did so for the people of the time of Prophet Haggai. He will do so for us too, if we will humble ourselves and be ready to repent.

Have a pleasant day. 

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“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)

Why does Paul praise God in this bible text? He praises Him for being a comforter to him. Now have you also known God as a comforter? Paul tells us that He is a comforter. In fact, he tells us that God is more than a comforter – He is the Father of compassion and God of all true comfort. In other words, every form of true compassion and comfort emanates from God. So, if you need compassion and comfort in your life, turn to God wholeheartedly. And He will show you great compassion and also comfort you in every way, in spite of your weaknesses and failures.

As Paul points out to us in that bible text, even though he and his ministry companions had all kinds of troubles and trials in life, God comforted them in every one of them. How did God do that? He does not share the details us. But it is clear that the kind of comfort they received from God was so great that they were full of praise for it. Also, the kind of comfort they received from Him was so great that they were able to comfort others too who were in any trouble with it.

This is showing us that it is those who have truly experienced God’s compassion and comfort and are grateful for them that can truly comfort others. Those who don’t know God’s compassion and comfort cannot be true comforters to the suffering or troubled ones around them. Look at Job’s friends, for instance. Even though they were all wealthy, wise and righteous men, they could not comfort him in his time of distress. They simply added to his pains. Why? It was because they did not know that all the comfort they were enjoying in their lives did not come to them as a result of their righteous works and diligent labour but as a result of God’s compassion.

In like manner, if we too think that we have earned whatever measure of comfort we are enjoying in life, we will not see any reason to be compassionate towards others and comfort them. Instead, we will often assume that the reason they are suffering in life is that they are not righteous or hardworking enough. But we are not enjoying our lives because we are righteous and hardworking, even though God wants us to be righteous and hardworking. Rather, we are enjoying our lives because God has chosen to be compassionate to us and to comfort us. And if we fail to realise this and give Him praise for it, we may soon enough begin to lose whatever measure of comfort we have until we realise and admit that He is the true source of all comfort.

Well, the point I am making is that if you need any form of comfort in your life at the moment, turn to God, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort for it. And He will show you compassion and comfort you. Then, as you are daily experiencing His comfort in your life, open your eyes to those around you that you too can comfort with the comfort you are receiving from Him. This, of course, goes beyond giving people money. That is because there are people that will not have any relief, even if they are given all the money in the world. But a word of prayer or a word of admonition given to them by the leading of the Spirit of God can set them free from all their fears and troubles and fill their lives with comfort.

So, don’t rely on your money or position in comforting anybody. Instead, rely on God, who is the source of all true comfort, for everything you need to truly comfort those in your life. And my prayer is that God will make you a true comforter to all the people around you that are in distress, so that they can glorify His name because of you, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a splendid day.

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“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Matt 11:24NIV)

What is the condition for receiving answer to our prayers here? Faith! See, it is one thing for what we are praying for to be in line with the will of God; it is another thing for us to ask for it in faith. Jesus says when you ask God for something, you must believe that He has answered your prayer. And when you believe that He has answered you, you will have whatever you have asked for, which is in line with His will.

So, the first thing is for me to believe that I have received whatever I have asked God for. Why will I need to believe that I have received it? It is because I have not seen its physical manifestation. If I have seen its physical manifestation, I will not need to believe that I have received it – I will surely know that I have it. But because I have not seen its physical manifestation, I am told to believe that it is mine already. And when I believe, it will surely be mine.

Now, of course, there may be a time lag between the time I pray and receive by faith and the time the answer manifests in the natural. But the point the Lord is making is that there is no use praying to God, if I do not believe that He will answer me. If I am praying to Him, I am must believe that He is answering me right away.

Look at what the Lord says again. At what point does He say that I am to believe that I have received an answer to my prayer? At the point of praying! It is only if what I have asked for is not in line with His will that it becomes useless for me to believe that I have received it. And what if I am not sure that what I am asking for is in line with His will? Then I cannot believe with certainty that I have received what I have asked for.

So, what the Lord is dealing with here has to do with those things that we are sure are consistent with the will of God for us. As long as we are sure that what we asking of God is consistent with His will for us, we are told to believe that we have received it at the point of praying. Then it will be ours. So, even if I have not yet seen any physical manifestation of what I have prayed for, I must believe that it is mine already. And as often as I remember the case, I must thank God for already answering me and taking care of it.

Have a lovely day.

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“‘Unless you people see signs and wonders,’ Jesus told him, ‘you will never believe.’ The royal official said, ‘Sir, come down before my child dies.’ ‘Go.’ Jesus replied, ‘your son will live.’ The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he enquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, ‘Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.’ Then the father realised that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, ‘You son will live.’ So he and his whole household believed.” (John 4:48-53NIV)

The first thing we see in the account above is that Jesus told a man that came to him that unless he and others saw signs and wonders they would not believe. And that truly means that there are people that will not believe in the Lord Jesus unless they see signs and wonders.

But then, the Lord is not saying that we have to see signs and wonders before we believe. Rather, He is saying that we don’t have to wait until we see signs and wonders before we believe. We just need to act on His words, and we will experience signs and wonders.

Now, as we see in the above bible text, the royal official that had come to Jesus did not see any sign and wonder before leaving. The Lord did not follow him home or perform any sign and wonder for him to believe. Instead, he was told to go and that his son would live. And he took the Lord at his word and went home.

Was there any sign that would let him know that his son would live? No! Mind you, there was no mobile phone at the time to let him confirm the condition of his boy. He just had to take Jesus at His word and go home, believing that his son would indeed live. Then, when he got home, he saw that his son was living indeed. In fact, the boy began to recover the very moment Jesus said, “Your son will live.”

In like manner, if you too will act on what the word of God says about your healing, regardless of how you feel, regardless of what you see or do not see, you will be healed. Now His word says that by the wounds of Jesus you have been healed. So, stand on that, regardless of how you feel or do not feel, and you will experience healing in your body. Yes, your blind eyes will open. Your deaf ears will be unstopped. Your lame legs will be made whole and begin to walk. Whatever it is that you need healing for in your body will experience healing. All you need is to stand on the word of God and receive what He has made available to you.

Have a fabulous day.

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“The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favour in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.” (Genesis 39:2-4NIV)

Potiphar saw something in Joseph, which he did not see in other slaves he had. He saw that he was successful in all that he did. That means the man proved himself. How? It was by taking the instructions and responsibilities he was given seriously. When he was sent on an errand, he handled it with diligence and seriousness. And when his master saw that he was getting results, he promoted him. But why was he getting results? It was because he was submissive. His heart was fully in what he was doing. He would not do his tasks anyhow because he was a slave and did not like to be where he was. He did everything he was asked to do well.

You too may not like the office in which you work. But you have to be submissive there and do whatever task you are given there well. Also, at home, do whatever you are told to do by your parents or your husband well, as long as it is not contrary to the will of God. In like manner, whatever task you are given in your Christian assembly should also be handled well, in a spirit of submissiveness. That way, God can accomplish His good purpose in your life through those He has placed over you.

As Joseph submitted himself to his master, he was being built up. All the responsibilities he was given gave him an opportunity to build himself up to become a great manager of people and resources. So, his master eventually entrusted everything he had into his care. And when he was imprisoned, he was still submissive there. Because he had a different attitude, the prison administrator put him in charge of the prison. It was while he was in the prison, serving the prison administrator, that he met the man that God used in bringing him out of the prison and introducing him to Pharaoh.

Now look at how God turned everything around for the good of Joseph. Even the ugly incident between him and his master’s wife was turned around for his good. Why? It was because he was submissive. When he was in Potiphar’s house, he did not disrespect the man. Instead, he was submissive. Also, when he was in the prison, he submitted himself to the prison warden. He did not think that he was too smart to submit to the man. Of course, he was smarter than most of these people. In fact, it was later revealed that he was smarter than everyone in Egypt. But until he rose to become the second-in-command in Egypt, he submitted himself in every situation in which he found himself. That was how God was able to accomplish His good purpose in his life.

So, if you want God’s good purpose to be accomplished in your life, you need to submit yourself. As a wife, if you want God’s purpose to be accomplished in your life through your husband, you need to submit to him. As a child, if you want God’s purpose to be accomplished in your life through your parents, you need to submit to them.

Jesus, as we are told in Scriptures, submitted Himself to His parents. How was He able to know the word of God the way He did? One of the reasons was that His parents diligently taught Him. They did a good job of feeding Him with the word of God. They gave Him sound education, allowing Him to learn the things He was supposed to learn. Yes, the Spirit of God was involved in all that happened to Him. And His parents also did their own bit. But if He had not been submissive to them, He would not have become the kind of adult He became.

In like manner, you too must submit yourself to whatever form of authority that is over you. In your Christian assembly, for example, you need to submit yourself to the leaders there. Otherwise, God will not be able to accomplish His good purpose in your life through them. God wants to use them to build you up to become mature in Christ. There are all kinds of wonderful things He wants to do in your life through your church leaders. But you will need to embrace them and submit to their leadership. Otherwise, God will not be able to accomplish His good purpose for your life through them.

In a nutshell, if you want God’s purpose to be accomplished in your life, be submissive to those who have authority over you here on earth. That way, He can use them to fulfil in your life every good thing He has in mind for you.

Enjoy your day.

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“The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.” (Ps 24:1-2NIV)

As we see in our opening bible text, we are living here on God’s earth. This is His world. Everything we are using here belongs to Him. We brought nothing here. So, we literally own nothing in this world. He owns everything.

Also, we are using in this world the body and the brains He has given to us. There is, then, nothing we have that we can take credit for. All things come to us from Him. This is why it is foolish of us to try to live our lives independent of Him.

Sadly, we see many fighting hard to live their lives independent of God. Yes, we see many trying to possess the world independent of God. But the world that we want to possess independent of God is not one for us to possess. Let us just say God is testing us with it. It is like He wants to see how we are going to handle the things of this world that are temporary in order to see if we will be worthy to receive what is eternal.

This earth and everything being done in it is reserved for fire, as we are told in Scriptures. But there is an inheritance prepared by God for everyone that comes into this world. Peter says this inheritance never perishes, spoils or fades. So, what God really wants us to have is not something that can be lost. It is not something that will perish, spoil or fade. (Cf. 1Peter 1:4; 2Peter 3:10-13)

Now we know that there is nothing in this world that will not perish, spoil or fade. So, the things of this world are not for us to gain. It will be foolish of us, then, to choose to live without God simply because we want to gain what cannot be gained. Indeed, God put these things in the world for us to use for our comfort. But He also knows that they will not be forever. So, in their place, He has for us an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. It is now on us to choose either that which is eternal or that which is temporary.

If we what we want is that which is eternal, then, we will yield ourselves to Him. And once we do that, He will make us partakers of the inheritance of the children of His kingdom. My prayer is that you will not miss the enjoyment of this inheritance, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a lovely day.

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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 God’s words to King Amaziah of Judah. And they came to him as a warning not to take certain individuals to battle with him. Who were the people he was not supposed to take along with him? They were certain soldiers of Israel that he had hired with a lot of money.

But why would God tell him not to take with him these people that he had paid a lot of money to hire to fight his enemies? It was because He was not with them. But He was supposed to be with them, seeing that they were His people too. I mean that it was not only the people of Judah that were His people; the Israelites also were His people. So, He was supposed to be with them. But He said that He wasn’t with them.

Why, then, was He not with them? He was not with them because they had utterly given themselves to idolatry and vanity. That being the case, they could not expect His blessings to work in their lives and among them as they were supposed to be working. All they could expect were manifestations of the curses He had said would come upon them, if they should forsake Him. (Cf. Deut 28)

Now, if the people of Judah should join forces with them in that condition, would they not become partakers of the curses at work in their lives and among them? They would! That was why the man of God that came to Amaziah told him that even if he and his people fought courageously, they would still be overthrown by their enemies. And that would not be because they had sinned against God but because they joined forces with certain cursed individuals.

What is this teaching us? It is that we need to watch the kinds of individuals we team up with to do things in life. We need to be certain that they are not individuals that are under God’s judgment or operating under some terrible influences or curses. Otherwise, we may end up experiencing failure or losses where we should have prospered.

How, then, can we tell that we should not be joining forces with someone to do something? Or should we just conclude that we should not do anything together with anyone that is not a child of God? No! Yes, the word of God tells us not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers. But His word is also clear about the fact that we will need to leave this world, if we don’t want to have anything at all to do with unbelievers. (Cf. 1Cor 5:9-10; 2Cor 6:14-18)

So, there are situations in which we cannot avoid doing things with the unbelievers in our work places, schools or communities. And we must not make any issue out of doing things with them in such situations, if it is not going to affect our devotion to God and our usefulness in life. But where we are in a position to choose to either team up with them or not, the wise thing will be to choose not to do so. That is because, by doing so, we may be unconsciously exposing ourselves to certain destructive influences at work in their lives.

But then, it is not only unbelievers that we are to treat in this manner. We are also to treat in the same manner any so-called Christian that is obviously living contrary to the will of God. Look at what Paul says to us about this:

“I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.” (1Cor 5:9-11NIV)

Can you see that there is a clear distinction between how we are to relate to unbelievers and believers that are living contrary to the will of God? While we may freely eat with an unbelieving friend or family member, we may not freely eat with a believer that is living in sin. Why? The reason is that such a believer is already exposed to satanic presence and afflictions, even if that is not yet obvious. And if we should be careless in our dealings with them, even if we are working and praying hard and diligently, we may just become partakers of their sufferings and fail where we should have succeeded.

So, don’t just join hands with someone to do a business or carry out a project or in a marriage, just because the person claims to be a believer. Also watch the person’s life. And if it is obvious that they are involved in adultery, in the practice of witchcraft or in business, office or academic malpractices or are living in bitterness or jealousy, you may want to watch the kinds of things you do with them, even if they are your church member. Otherwise, you may end up having unspeakable regrets through your dealings with them.

Finally, there are times that it takes divine revelations to know when not to deal with certain individuals. That is because nothing seems wrong with them or harmful in teaming up with them. But their lives or hearts are not right. And unless God shows you the hidden secrets of their lives or hearts, you will not know that doing things with them will come with failure, regrets or even death.

So, before we make any decision to team up with someone to do anything, we should endeavour to talk to God about it. Yes, we should earnestly tell Him to fill our hearts with the perfect knowledge of His will about what we want to do, so that it will result in success and not in failure, pains and regrets. And He will answer us and make known to us whatever we need to know to prosper and not fail.

Cheers!

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“Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years of Jehoiada the priest.” (2Chron 24:2NIV)

Why did this man do what was right in the eyes of the Lord during the years of Jehoiada the priest? It was because this priest was guiding him in the path of righteousness. We are even told in the account of his life that it was this priest that chose the two wives he married for him (2Chro 24:3).

However, after the death of this priest, things changed for Joash. He forsook the Lord and began to do things as he pleased. Look at what is said in the bible about that:

“After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. They abandoned the temple of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God's anger came upon Judah and Jerusalem. Although the LORD sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.” (2Chron 24:17-19NIV)

Did you see that? After the death of Jehoiada, Joash was enticed by the leaders of the land into idolatry. And he followed them. Why did he follow them? He followed them because he himself did not have any serious personal relationship with God. So, he did whatever he did for God before that time because of Jehoiada and not because he truly believed in God or loved Him. That means he was simply doing eye-service. He was trying to please Jehoiada because he was the one that did not allow him to be killed when he was but an infant and also because he was the one that raised him and made it possible for him to be king. (Cf. 2Chro 22- 23)

But when the man died, and he no longer had any reason to please him, he abandoned God and followed others into idolatry. So, his reign was cut short and he died an untimely death. And this, as I said before, is showing us that it is important that we have our own personal relationship with God. In other words, don’t serve God, go for church meetings or act like a holy person simply because you are trying to please your parents, friends, husband, wife or employer. Instead, serve God and live a holy life because you have come to know Him as one that is truly worthy of your worship. Otherwise, a time will surely come when it will become clear to everyone that you have been a fraud all along.

More so, if you do not have your own personal relationship with God and are just living off the goodness of God in the lives of others, a time may come when their faith in God will only work for them and will not be able to work for you. Look at what God Himself has to say about this:

“The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men and their animals, even if these three men — Noah, Daniel and Job — were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign LORD.”” (Ezek 14:12-14NIV)

I am sure you can now see the explanation for the untimely death of all the children of Job in one day (Job 1). All along, they had been sustained by the faith of their father in God. But his faith could not protect them from the devil on the day that he came to strike the family; his faith could only protect him. What if they had taken God as seriously as he had taken God? Then the story would most likely have ended differently. So, have your faith in God instead of relying on the faith of others in Him. Then even if the faith of others in Him fail or become weak, your own faith in Him will take you over.

Have a lovely day.

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“God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer.” (Gen 21:20NIV)

Who was God with as he grew up? It was Ishmael. And who was Ishmael? He was the son that Hagar, the slave of Sarah, bore for Abraham. As bible accounts go, Abraham had sent both Ishmael and his mother away from his household because they were slaves and had no right to his inheritance. Was he happy to do this? No, not at all! But because God had said that it was the right thing for him to do, in the light of the promises He had made to him, he did it. (Cf. Gen 21:8-14)

So, there may be times when God will require us to do things that we are not happy about, things that may hurt us or hurt our relationships with some people deeply. And it will be wise of us to do as He says, in spite of how we feel or what injury our reputations may suffer. That is because God is never going to ask us to do anything that is not in agreement with His good purpose for us. If we, then, want to see that good purpose of His fulfilled in our lives, we should listen to Him and do as He says, regardless of what we think or how we feel about it.

See, even if what God tells us to do may ruin our relationships with certain people or bring some form of pains into the lives of others, the wise thing for us is to still do it. That is because as long as what we are doing is the will of God for us, we can be sure that He will be there to heal anyone that may be hurt in the process, if such a person will allow Him to heal them. So, if there is a wrong relationship you are meant to severe or end, don't allow your concern for the pains the person involved will suffer to prevent you from doing the will of God. That is because God will be there to heal the person, if they will allow Him. And if they will not, the fault will not be yours.

Abraham's decision to send Hagar and young Ishmael away with nothing and to nowhere in particular was terrible enough to ruin their lives. But God had said this to him before he sent them away: “I will make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring." (Gen 21:13NIV) In other words, God had plans of greatness for Ishmael and his mother too. And He did not need them to be in Abraham's house for those plans to be fulfilled. So, Abraham had no need to worry about them. God was ready to take full care of them.

Now did God actually take care of them or not? He did. As we see in our opening bible text, God was with Ishmael as he grew up. And where did he grow up? He grew up in the desert. Think about that. The fact that Ishmael was in the desert did not stop God from being with him or making him great. On the contrary, right there in the desert, God forged him into a great archer. And here is what is later written about him and his sons in the bible:

“Here is a list, in the order of their births, of the descendants of Ishmael, who was the son of Abraham and Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's slave girl: Nebaioth, Kedar, Abdeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, Kedemah. These twelve sons of his became the founders of twelve tribes that bore their names.” (Gen 25:12-17TLB)

Did you see that? All the sons that came from Ishmael were great men and leaders, founders of twelve tribes that carried their names. So, the fact that Ishmael was sent away by his own father as boy did not stop him from becoming great. Why? God was with him to guide him in life and make him great. And this agrees with what David says in one of his psalms, which reads, “Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.” (Ps 27:10NIV)

What is the point of all this? Well, it is that regardless of who accepts you or forsakes you, the most important thing is that you have God with you. As long as He accepts you and is with you, He will see to it that all His good plans for your life are fulfilled. Also, regardless of where circumstances of life lead you, even if it is a desert, God will still stand by you to make you all that He wants to make you. He will not choose where He will be with you. He will not choose to be with you in the palace and choose not to be with you in the desert or in the prison. His promise is to watch over your life both now and forevermore (Ps 121:7-8). And you can count on Him to fulfil it.

Therefore, there is no need for you to be bitter against anyone who rejects you or who does not want to associate with you, whether for the right reasons or the wrong ones. Remember that God stayed with Ishmael and made him great, even though his rich father was not there for him. And He is with you too to make you what you ought to be. All you need is to take your relationship with Him very seriously and make the most of every situation you may find yourself in, and we will soon meet at the top.

Have lovely day.

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“About Naphtali he said: "Naphtali is abounding with the favor of the LORD and is full of his blessing; he will inherit southward to the lake."” (Deut 33:23NIV)

Those were Moses' prophetic words of prayer concerning the tribe of Naphtali. And they precisely describe what God wants all His children to experience in this life. What does He want for us? He wants us to abound in His favour. In other words, He wants His favour on our lives to always be more than enough to take care of any situation in which we may find ourselves and cause us to be victorious. That, of course, is why He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Eph 1:3).

What we need, then, is to daily walk in the consciousness of the fact that we are full of His blessings and are increasing in His favour. Yes, there may be times in which our experiences may give us the impression that our lives are empty of God's blessings and favour. But we must never allow what we see, hear or feel to dictate to us how we are going to respond to the word of God. His word already tells us that we are full of His blessings and that we are increasing in His favour. So, whether our lives' circumstances agree with this or not, our confession every moment must be that we are full of His blessings and are increasing in His favour.

Look at Joseph's life, for example. Even though God had shown him through series of dreams that he was going to be great and mighty here on earth, he still found himself as a slave in the house of Potiphar. And that was because of the hostility and wickedness of his brothers, his blood brothers. Perhaps you too are like a slave where you are at the moment because of the hostility or jealousy of men. You don't need to lose heart or conclude that God and His blessings and favour are absent in your life. That, of course, is exactly how Satan will want you to reason. And if you should listen to him, despair and depression are bound to occupy your life at some point and permanently separate you from the goodness of God, if you are not shown mercy.

Joseph would not give in to despair or depression, even though he found himself in slavery. Instead, he chose to function as one who was full of God's blessings and favour. And was he full of His blessings and favour or not? He was! The bible says, “When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.” (Gen 39:3-5NIV)

Did you see that? Even Joseph's master was able to see God's presence and the working of His blessings in his life. Why? It was because Joseph did not allow his condition as a slave to paralyse him and turn him into a useless or irresponsible person. Instead, knowing that he was full of God's blessings and favour, he did whatever was entrusted to him with excitement and diligence. So, his master had no choice but to favour him above all his other slaves and servants by making him the manager of his household. (Cf. Gen 39)

Also, when the lust of his master's wife made him find himself in the prison, Joseph would still not allow his circumstances to make him think that God was no longer with him or that he was no longer blessed and favour. Instead, he did whatever his hands found to do in the prison with diligence and excitement. He functioned like a favoured man. And he found the favour of God abounding towards him. That favour, of course, kept on increasing until it led him to stand before Pharoah and to be made Pharoah's second in command. (Cf. Gen 40&41)

So, regardless of where you are right now, live and function as a child of God's favour and blessings. Don't live like one that has been abandoned by God, for He will never abandon you. Instead, live like one who has God in him, with him and for him and also like one who is full of His blessings and is continually increasing in His favour. Then, right where you are, you will see the blessings of God working mightily to prosper you and His favour increasing daily to make room for you at the top, where you truly belong.

Cheers!

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“What I mean, brothers and sisters, is that the time is short. From now on those who have wives should live as if they do not; those who mourn, as if they did not; those who are happy, as if they were not; those who buy something, as if it were not theirs to keep; those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.” (1Corinthians 7:29NIV)

As we see in our opening text, this world in its present form is passing away. Soon it is going to disappear. This world will not exist forever. So, the time we have to spend here is short. The time we have to minister or do the work of evangelists is short. So, we have to work fast.

Unfortunately, there are many that this fact has not dawned on yet. They live as though this world will be forever or throughout eternity. But this world will not be throughout eternity. Look at the way many are crazy today about material things, crazy about fame and crazy about influence and power. They think they are going to be here forever.

But they are not going to be here forever. Nobody is going to be here forever. Whether you are a Christian or not, you are not going to be here forever. We are not meant to be here forever. And you should allow that to sink into your spirit. As you are driving yourself around to do different kinds of things, don’t ever forget that you are not going to be here forever. No matter how long you live here on earth, you will still leave someday. So, Paul says the time is short. And we need to work with that consciousness that the time we have to do whatever God wants us to do is short.

When you are in an examination hall, and you have your question paper with you, the only thing you will have on mind is how to finish on time. Yes, you may look at all the questions and see that you can handle them. But that is not sufficient. Knowing how to answer all the questions before you is not sufficient; you must also be able to work within the amount of time you are given.

So, you don’t want anybody to distract you, especially if you know what you are doing. You don’t want anybody to talk to you. You don’t want your pencil to break or your pen to stop working. You just want to fix your mind on what you are doing. Why? You want to make sure that you finish on time. But, most times, we don’t function like that in life. We just act as though we had all the time.

And you know this is one of the reasons I love the bible. It is so realistic. It deals with realities. It brings truths home to us. Here it is showing us that we don’t have all the time to do what God wants us to do. And you must learn to function with that consciousness. Whatever God is asking you to do, don’t defer it; don’t wait until it is convenient for you.

Paul says to Timothy, “Be prepared to preach the word in season and out of season.” (Cf. 2Timothy 4:2) It will not always be convenient to do the work of God. But when you bear in mind the fact that you don’t have all the time to do it, you will be prompt about it. And may you be strengthened to daily function accordingly. Amen.

Have a lovely day

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“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” (2Corinthians 5:14-15NIV)
Who is talking to us here in our opening bible text? It is Paul the apostle. And one of the things he says is that he is convinced that Jesus Christ died for everybody. Jesus did not die for the Jews alone; He died for all the gentiles as well. That means His death was for the whole world.

But why did He die for us? The reason He died for all was that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them. Jesus died for everybody. He died for all these people that we see around, regardless of their religious background. He died for the thieves. He died for the robbers. He died for the kidnappers. He died for the terrorists. He died for the prostitutes. He died for all the wicked people around us – in our offices, schools, neighbourhoods and so forth.

But then, the reason they are living as they are living is that His purpose of dying for them has not yet been accomplished in their lives. He died for them so that they may live for Him. And are they living for Him now? No! So, we need to give them the gospel that they may have that opportunity to receive Him into their lives and be changed.

Now Paul says the love of Christ compels him to preach to these people. That is the motivation of love. It may not be convenient to preach to the unsaved. Many times, it is not convenient to preach the gospel. But when you are motivated by the love of Christ and do not want those around you to perish, you will give them the gospel. The same love that made God give His Son for us is what we are talking about. And we are saying that you should allow that love to motivate you to preach the gospel to the unsaved in your neighbourhood, office, school or family, even as you go through this new day. May you be strengthened to recognise and utilise the opportunities to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a pleasant day.

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“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)

Those are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. And they are showing us that it is not only the evil things that we see happening around us that come from the stores of people’s hearts; even the good things that we see people do are coming from the stores of their hearts.

Where did the GSM come from? It originated from someone’s heart. And now the whole world is enjoying its dividends. Where did automobiles and aircrafts come from? They came from the hearts of certain individuals who wanted transportation to be easier, faster and safer. And the whole world is now enjoying the dividends of these good things that they brought out of the stores of their hearts.

To say the fact, if we want to begin to list the good things that different kinds of good people have brought out of the stores of their hearts for the enjoyment of people everywhere, space will not permit us. It is just sufficient to say that if you are a child of God, then, as pointed out by our Lord Jesus Christ, there are good things God has deposited in the store of your heart. It is now up to you to either bring out these good things for your benefit and the benefit of those in your world or to let them perish in you.

Paul, writing to Timothy in a letter, says to him, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (2Tim 1:6-7NIV) What is Timothy’s instruction here? It is to fan into flame the gift of God, the good deposit of God in him. And what does that mean? It means that he is to bring that good thing God has given him out of the store of his heart and begin to utilise it, to the end that people may know about it and benefit from it.

Now you know that if you start a fire somewhere, people will surely see its flame, depending on how big the fire is. And they will not see its flame because you have invited them to come and see or watch it; rather, they will see its flame because flame always calls for attention.

In like manner, if we will bring out whatever good thing God has deposited in us and begin to adequately utilise it, those around us will soon see the flame and be drawn to it. And only God Himself can tell to what degree doing that will benefit us and them. When electricity was first brought out of the store of someone’s heart, nobody knew at the time that almost everything being done in the modern world would revolve around it. But look at its unspeakable benefits today.

In the same vein, no man may be able to tell today the benefits that will be derived by mankind through the good things that God has deposited in each of us. But if we will bring these things out of the stores of our hearts, then, they may just become what the whole world will be talking about and praising God for in the next couple years. So, begin to bring out of the store of your heart all the good things that God has deposited in it. Yes, begin to fan into flame all the gifts of God in you.

Why should you do that? First, it is because God will someday hold you accountable for every one of the gifts He has deposited in your life. And how you have fared with them is one of the things that will determine how He will reward you. Second, it is because the proper functioning of the world you are living in depends on it. See, the world cannot function as it ought to function, even if it is only one person in it that is hiding the good deposits of God in him and not utilising them. So, before you start complaining that the world is not good or safe enough, you should first ask yourself, “Am I bringing out all the good deposits of God in me to make the world better and safer to live in?” (Cf. Matt 25:14-30)

But then, can you actually bring out the good deposits of God in you to make your life and your world experience more goodness? Yes, you can. First, you can, if you know what those good things are. Timothy, evidently, knew the good deposit of God in him that he was supposed to fan into flame. It was a spiritual gift. But do you know yours? It does not matter whether it is a spiritual gift or a natural ability or an acquired skill. What matters is that you know that you have it. Until you know that you have it, you cannot bring it out for use.

Now one of the reasons God has given us His Holy Spirit is that we may know and understand all the things that He has freely given to us, spiritual, mental and material (1Cor 2:12). He has given us His Spirit to shine the light on all the hidden treasures and riches in the dark and secret places of our hearts. So, there is no excuse for us not to know the good things in the stores of our heart. What we need to do, then, is to first begin to pray that God, by His Spirit in us, will open our eyes to see these things, so that we can begin to utilise them for His glory and for the betterment of life for us. Then we also need to begin to speak to our lives that they will release every good deposit of God in them for His glory and for the enjoyment of our lives and our world.

Finally, the second reason we can bring out the good deposits of God in us, as Paul points out to us in one of the texts above, is that God has not given us the spirit of timidity or fear. Rather, what He has given us is the spirit of love, power and self-discipline. So, we have all the motivation we need to bring out the good deposits of God in us to do our lives and our world good and to also bring God praise. What are we waiting for, then?

Have a lovely day.

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“Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.”” (John 5:19-20NIV)

The first thing Jesus says here, responding to what the Jews were saying about Him, is that the Son can do nothing by Himself, except what He sees His Father doing. This is Jesus' own testimony: “I can do nothing by myself; I do only what I see my Father doing.”

So, Jesus Christ was drawing from the Father. The life that He lived, He lived it on the basis of His relationship with the Father. He said, “The Father loves the Son and shows Him what He does. In other words, He's saying, “God is teaching me how to live; God is teaching me how to walk. The things I'm doing, I'm not doing them because I just want to do them. They are the things that I learnt from my Father.” Think about that. That's powerful.

The point is that Jesus learnt how to love from the Father. He learnt patience from the Father. He learnt perseverance from the Father. He learnt humility from the Father. Self-control, He learnt it from Him. All the things He did, He learnt them from the Father. The healing of the sick, the raising of the dead, He learnt these things from the Father. He says, “The Father is working. He's showing me how to do these things. So, I'm doing what I see Him do.” In fact, He goes on to say, “Just as the Father gives life to the dead, the Son also gives life to the dead.” That was how he functioned. So, we admire His life.

Now if we also will be able to function the same way, we must adopt the same approach. We must see God as our source. We must see Him as the One from whom everything we need and need to be flows. And He's already told us, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.” So, if you're going to be the person God wants you to be, take your connection, your relationship with Him very seriously. Yes, see Him as your source. Then you will be able to freely draw from Him all that you need to be what you ought to be in life and to also do what you ought to do in life.

Have a pleasant day.

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My prayer for you today is that God will make room for you to flourish wherever you go or find yourself in life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now while it is true that God is able to make room for us to prosper anywhere, it does not mean that we may not encounter challenges at all. We cannot run away from challenges in life. The word of God tells us that in this world we will have trouble. However, it also tells us to cheer up. Why? The reason is that Jesus Christ has overcome the world for us. And because He has already overcome the world for us, He is able to lead us from victory to victory in life. (Cf. John 16:33)

Then the word of God also tells us that God will never allow us to face challenges that are beyond what we can handle. Instead, each time we face a challenge, He will provide a way of victory over it for us. So, when we are faced with any challenge, we don’t need to lose heart or give up on life. Instead, we just we need to pray to Him that He will open our eyes to see the way of victory that He has provided for us and strengthen us to take it. (Cf. 1Cor 10:13)

But then this rule is only applicable while we are walking in the will of God. I mean that it is only when we are walking in the will of God that we will not face challenges that are beyond us. If we will not walk in His will, then, we are bound to face challenges we are never meant to face in life.

Remember Lot. Remember that he and his family could have had their faith ruined and their lives destroyed in Sodom, if God had not shown them mercy. But were they supposed to face all the terrible challenges that they faced while in Sodom? No! Why, then, did they face them? They faced them because they were out of line with the will of God for them. (Cf. Gen 13&19)

So, if you don’t want to face challenges that God has not prepared you to handle in life, stay in His will. Yes, God is able to show us mercy and protect us, even if we step outside His will for our lives. But there are pains that His mercy may not protect us from having, if we will not stay in His will for us.

In any case, the point I am making is that God is able to make room for us to flourish wherever we are, as long as we are in His will. So, even if we are being faced with challenges that want to slow us down or keep us from progressing, we must not be discouraged. Instead, we must keep trusting God for victory and also keep on pressing forward in the path of progress. And sooner or later, we will see every limitation crushed under our feet.

For example, even though it was God that told Isaac to stay in Gerah, the people of the place were hostile to him and did all they could to hinder his prosperity. But he did not give up or stop working to prosper. Why? It was because he knew that he was in the will of God and that God was with him. Therefore, God made room for him to flourish among his enemies. (Cf. Gen 26)

In like manner, God will make room for you too to flourish even among your enemies. So, don’t give up because of the challenges you are faced with. Don’t lose heart because you have many people opposing you. Instead, keep pressing forward in using every opportunity God brings your way to increase in usefulness and fruitfulness. And before long, you yourself will see that nothing can stop you because God is with you.

Have a lovely day.

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“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.” (1Peter 4:10NIV)

What is Peter’s point to us here? Use your spiritual gift to serve! You have been given that gift to do people good. So, start using it.

But then, we have brethren who will say, “I don’t know what my gift is.” You can know, if you want to know. And even if you believe that you have made enough effort to know what your gift is and still don’t know it, you can meet the leadership of your church to help you. Ask your leaders, “What gifts do you see in me? Or what can I do? Are there responsibilities I can carry out for the assembly?” Start like that. And before long, even if you do not see any gift in yourself, God’s people will start drawing your attention to what they see in you; they will start making a demand on God’s abilities in your life.

For example, Philip the deacon did not start out as an evangelist. And Stephen also did not start out as a great bible teacher. Those people started out as deacons. They were deacons appointed to take care of food matters. And as they did that, Stephen began to do great signs and wonders among the people. I mean that miracles started taking place while he was serving as a deacon. And God’s people began to note that he had some gifts that could bless the church. That is what we are talking about. (Cf. Acts 6-8)

Well, keep it in mind that the gift or gifts of the Spirit God has given to you are for you to do good works. They are part of the things God has given you to make you fit to do good works. And the fact is that there are good works you won’t be able to do without possessing these spiritual abilities. So, now that you already have them, it is on you to excel in their use.

See, nobody is really going to develop these gifts for you, if you would not acknowledge and develop them. No, nobody may acknowledge your gifts, if you yourself do not see them as relevant. Therefore, you must acknowledge them, exercise them and desire to excel in exercising them, putting in mind that people are being done good as you do so. And may you be strengthened to begin to act accordingly, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a lovely day.

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“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:25-26NIV)

Here Paul tells us how God made justification available through Christ Jesus. For centuries the Jews could not be justified through the Law. But now God has made justification available. He has made redemption from sin available to all men, not just to the Israelites. We are talking about a situation in which God is able to look at a sinful man and say to him, “You are not guilty.” And He does that to him, regardless of what he has done or how sinful he has been.

Our question is, “How is God able to do that?” And really many Christians are still finding this hard to embrace. For example, take one who was once a prostitute and now a Christian. Some people can’t accept that all her sins and the terrible things she has done are no longer to be reckoned with. They find it hard to agree that she now stands justified before God and not to be punished for all her sins. “Yes, she must be punished,” they are saying. But God says, “No, she will not be punished for her sins.”

But then, we need to understand that we are talking about God’s punishment here and not the natural consequences of people’s sins. For instance, if you have been an armed robber and now a Christian, that will not naturally stop the law of the land from sending you to jail. But that is not God punishing you. Or if you have been a prostitute and have lost your womb because of several abortions that you committed, you cannot say that it is God that is punishing you, if no man wants to marry you because of your history. You are just reaping the natural consequences of the things you have done in the past.

Here, however, we are talking about a situation in which God does not punish the sinner for his sins. And instead of punishing him, He calls him righteous and justified. He tells him that he is guiltless. This is someone that has been identified with the sin of Adam. Yet God calls him justified. How is He able to do that?

That is what Paul tells us in our opening text. He says God presented a sacrifice. The Jews had been doing this in types and shadows. But those types and shadows could not deal with their sin-problem. So, at the appropriate time, God decided to deal with their sins. And He did that by presenting Christ as the sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of His blood. So, a payment was actually made for the sins of humanity. And as Paul further tells us here, this is the only way God can stand justified.

In any case, the point we are making is that God can now freely call any sinner that comes to Him through faith in Christ Jesus justified. That is because He already made a full payment for their sins. And where that is the case, no one has any right to condemn the person.

So, if you have come to God through faith in Christ Jesus, know that your sins have been fully paid for and you now stand justified before God. Don’t, then, allow anyone to condemn you. Instead, begin to live as God’s justified one.

Do have a lovely day.

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“Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it – I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while – yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.” (2Corinthians 7:8-11NIV).

As we see in our opening text, there is godly sorrow and there is worldly sorrow. Worldly sorrow leads to death. That is the kind that Judas Iscariot had. His sorrow led to his death – it made him kill himself. But that is not what God wants. What He wants is repentance, a turning away from sin.

You have done what is wrong and also have admitted that you have. Then you seek God’s forgiveness, and He forgives you because of what Jesus has done. And perhaps you have also sought men’s forgiveness too, and they have forgiven you. But these are not sufficient. You also must turn away from that path of error – you must also repent. You must allow your sorrow about the wrong thing you have done lead to your repentance.

As Paul tells us about these Corinthians, their sorrow led to their repentance. It produced in them some kind of alarm about sin and anger against sin. So, they eagerly set out to do the right thing and correct their mistakes. So, it is not enough to ask God to forgive us; we must also repent of our sins.

Every day you are asking God to forgive you of the same sin. What is wrong with you? You need to repent. Yes, forgiveness is available in Christ. But you cannot continue in that path.

There are people who foolishly keep on living in sin because they know there is forgiveness in Christ Jesus. They will say to themselves, “Anyhow, God will forgive me of these sins. So, I can go ahead and commit them.” There is a message for such people in the bible. In Hebrews, chapter 10, from verse 26, we are told:

“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:26-29NIV)

Look at that. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left. So, those who say things like, “God will understand and forgive me, even if I do this,” are missing it. That is not how God wants us to live. You already know that what you are doing is wrong. Why, then, are you still doing it? Are you saying that the grace to stop sinning is not available to you? What exactly is your excuse?

If you are hurting your neighbour, and he says, “What you are doing is hurting me,” and though you keep saying, “I am sorry,” you will not stop hurting him, for how long will he cope with your unwillingness to repent? At some point, he will make you face the music. So, it is not enough to seek and obtain forgiveness from God; it is also important that we turn away from whatever wrong thing that we are doing. And may you find in the Spirit of God all the strength and boldness you need to repent of every wrong thing you need to repent of in your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a lovely day.

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“Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it – I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while – yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.” (2Corinthians 7:8-11NIV).

As we see in our opening text, there is godly sorrow and there is worldly sorrow. Worldly sorrow leads to death. That is the kind that Judas Iscariot had. His sorrow led to his death – it made him kill himself. But that is not what God wants. What He wants is repentance, a turning away from sin.

You have done what is wrong and also have admitted that you have. Then you seek God’s forgiveness, and He forgives you because of what Jesus has done. And perhaps you have also sought men’s forgiveness too, and they have forgiven you. But these are not sufficient. You also must turn away from that path of error – you must also repent. You must allow your sorrow about the wrong thing you have done lead to your repentance.

As Paul tells us about these Corinthians, their sorrow led to their repentance. It produced in them some kind of alarm about sin and anger against sin. So, they eagerly set out to do the right thing and correct their mistakes. So, it is not enough to ask God to forgive us; we must also repent of our sins.

Every day you are asking God to forgive you of the same sin. What is wrong with you? You need to repent. Yes, forgiveness is available in Christ. But you cannot continue in that path.

There are people who foolishly keep on living in sin because they know there is forgiveness in Christ Jesus. They will say to themselves, “Anyhow, God will forgive me of these sins. So, I can go ahead and commit them.” There is a message for such people in the bible. In Hebrews, chapter 10, from verse 26, we are told:

“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:26-29NIV)

Look at that. If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left. So, those who say things like, “God will understand and forgive me, even if I do this,” are missing it. That is not how God wants us to live. You already know that what you are doing is wrong. Why, then, are you still doing it? Are you saying that the grace to stop sinning is not available to you? What exactly is your excuse?

If you are hurting your neighbour, and he says, “What you are doing is hurting me,” and though you keep saying, “I am sorry,” you will not stop hurting him, for how long will he cope with your unwillingness to repent? At some point, he will make you face the music. So, it is not enough to seek and obtain forgiveness from God; it is also important that we turn away from whatever wrong thing that we are doing. And may you find in the Spirit of God all the strength and boldness you need to repent of every wrong thing you need to repent of in your life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a lovely day.

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“Now Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are setting out for the place about which the LORD said, 'I will give it to you.' Come with us and we will treat you well, for the LORD has promised good things to Israel." He answered, "No, I will not go; I am going back to my own land and my own people." But Moses said, "Please do not leave us. You know where we should camp in the desert, and you can be our eyes. If you come with us, we will share with you whatever good things the LORD gives us."” (Num 10:29-32NIV)

As we see in the bible, God Himself was the one that personally led the children all through the time they spent in the wilderness, that is, on their way to the land of Canaan. He led them using the cloud that was over His tabernacle to let them know when to move to a new place and when to stop moving and stay wherever they found themselves. And they never argued with Him because they knew that He had their best at heart and was committed to leading them to the place of rest He had promised them. (Cf. Num 9:15-23)

In like manner, God always has our best at heart and knows how to lead us to experience what is best for us. But we have to trust Him to lead us, just as the Israelites did. And if we trust Him, we will not move when He does not want us to move, even if everyone around us seems to be moving, and we will not settle down anywhere, however comfortable the place may be for us, when He wants us to move on. These are some of the main lessons we learn from the way God led the Israelites from Egypt into the Promised land.

But then, as we see in our opening bible text, even though God was fully with Moses and the Israelites to lead them through that dreadful wilderness into the land of Canaan, they still needed a human guide to show them how to follow Him in that wilderness and be safe in whatever direction He was leading them. None of them had been in that wilderness before. And none of them knew what part of it was safe for them, their children and their animals and what part of it was unsafe for them. So, having a human guide who could show them how to follow God in whatever way He was leading them was not a bad idea at all.

Now the only human guide with them that Moses recognised at that time was Hobab, his brother-in-law. We are not told in the bible how this man joined them in that desert. It may be that he came along with his father, Jethro, when he came to visit Moses, and decided to stay back a little longer. Or it may be that he came to visit Moses on his own. It is hard to say. (Cf. Ex 18)

In any case, as Moses points out in our opening text, it is clear that Hobab knew the desert they were in well. He knew the routes that were safe for them to pass and the ones that were unsafe for them to pass. He also knew the places that were safe for them to camp in that desert and those that were dangerous for them to camp in. So, though they would always know through God’s leading the direction they ought to go and the places they ought to stay, having someone like Hobab to tell them how to go in the direction they were being led and be safe and how to camp wherever God had led them and be safe would be a huge advantage.

Therefore, even though he was determined to go back to his father and his people, Moses did not want him to leave. Why? He must first of all have proved himself very useful to them during his short stay with them in that wilderness. I mean that he must have shown Moses and the people how invaluable his experience and understanding of how to handle the desert life was. So, allowing someone like him to leave them at that time would be a great mistake.

In the same vein, wherever you find yourself, prove yourself so useful that those you are with will not want you to leave. Hobab was with Moses simply on vacation. Yet Moses was not willing to let him go back home because he had proved himself highly useful to him and his people during his short stay. So, don’t ever again use the fact that you are only going to be in a place for a while as your excuse for being useless there. If you prove useless where you are, it is really because you are useless and not because your time of stay there is short. If you are a highly useful person, then, you will surely prove yourself useful wherever you go, even if you have only a few minutes or hours to be there.

Well, because Moses wanted Hobab to stay, he had to encourage him to do so. Hobab, during his short stay with them, had given them his services free of charge. But now that they wanted him to stay and continue to be of help to them, they needed to give him a good reason to do so. So, Moses offered to share with him whatever good things God gave to them. In other words, if he stayed with them, then, he too would have a share in the land that was flowing with milk and honey that God was giving them. And that, of course, was too good an offer for the man to refuse. So, he stayed.

Now what is the point of that? It is that we need to know how to sustain whatever favour we are enjoying from the people in our lives. People, out of love for God and for us, may be sacrificing their time and resources to do for us things that they are not under any obligation to do for us. And if, like Moses, we want to continue to enjoy their commitment to us, then we also, like Moses, should be willing to share the good things of our lives with them.

In fact, we should not wait until such people want to stop doing whatever they are doing for us before we begin to encourage them by sharing the good things of our lives with them or considering how we too may wisely support them. Otherwise, if, out of necessity or tiredness, they should decide to stop bearing our burdens or ministering to us in whatever way they have been doing, nothing we do to encourage them may work at such times. So, while there is still time for us to appreciate and encourage anyone in our lives that is freely doing us good, let us do so and sustain the favour. That is because tomorrow may just be too late.

Have a lovely day. 

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Have a lovely day. 

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“Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps.” (Jer 10:23NIV)

What do we see here in our opening text? It is that our lives are not our own and it is not in our place to direct our own steps. Who, then, is in the right place to direct our steps in life? God our creator! And is He interested in doing this? Yes, He is. In fact, the bible tells us that not only is God interested in directing us in the right path, He is also committed to doing so.

However, we must yield ourselves to be led by Him into what is best for us and not be stubborn or wise in our own eyes. Otherwise, we will lead ourselves into the valley of the shadow of death. And where that is the case, death and barrenness are the only things we can hope for, if we waste time before reaching out to God for His mercy. (Cf. Ps 32:8-9)

Look at Lot, for instance. When he was with Abraham, both of them never went anywhere God was not leading them. But from the very day he left Abraham, he began to lead himself. He began to make his choices based on what he saw and according to his wisdom. And the choices he made ultimately led to the loss of his wealth and wife and also the corruption of his family. (Cf. Gen 13&19)

So, don’t ever again attempt to lead yourself. Instead, let God lead you. And you will let him lead you, if you believe that He knows what He is doing and can never lead you to destruction but to the place of prosperity He has in mind for you. Yes, there may be times that God may lead you to the Red Sea. I mean that there may be situations in which God’s leading may put you right between the Red Sea and the army of Pharaoh. But as long as you continue to follow Him, knowing that He knows what He is doing, neither the Red Sea nor the army of Pharaoh will be able to stop you from getting to where you are meant to be in life.

But how will God lead me, seeing that I cannot see Him? Well, basically, God leads His children by His written word. Yes, He also sometimes leads them through visions, dreams, prophecies or angels. But He will never lead them to do anything contrary to His written word. That, of course, is why you must daily give yourself to His word and also to prayer. Once you are doing this, you can be sure that you will never be clueless about what direction to go in life. That is because God will make sure you are daily guided in the way to go.

So, give yourself every day to the word of God and also prayer. And you will surely be led by God into all that is best for your life.

Have a lovely day.
 

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“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” (1Cor 10:13NIV)

Did you see that? There is no challenge we may face in life that is unusual or peculiar. In other words, there is nothing we are facing in life at the moment that is new. Remember that Solomon says there is nothing new under the sun. And that is very true. There are no new problems in this world. Yes, our problems may come in different shades of colour or be combined in different ways. But fundamentally, they are not new.

What I am saying is that ever since man fell in the Garden of Eden, he has been faced with the same problems, generation after generation, century after century. Murder, hatred, bitterness, jealousy, hate, barrenness, flooding, earthquakes, plagues, sicknesses, famine, poverty, misfortunes, death and so forth are things that men of all ages have had their share of.

Therefore, the word of God says if you should be faced with any of these, don’t consider it strange. Instead, keep in mind the fact that God, your Father, is a faithful Father and protector. So, first, as long as you are living in His will, He will not allow you to face challenges that are beyond what He has prepared you to handle.

And that should not be hard for us to relate with. As loving parents, we will never want our children to face challenges that are beyond their ability to handle. In fact, sometimes, we can be overprotective of these children. I am talking about situations in which we want to protect them even from challenges that they have the ability to face and handle.

Now if we earthly parents, as wicked, negligent and foolish as we can be, know how to protect our children from challenges they are not prepared for, will God not even do far better in dealing with us? He will. But we will need to trust Him every day that He will never allow anything to come our way that He has not prepared us or that He is not willing to prepare us to handle. It is only when we are walking outside His will or when we will not allow Him to build us up with His word that we may find ourselves facing problems bigger than us or problems we are never supposed to face in life.

The second thing Paul says we must trust God for, as we see in our opening bible text, is the fact that He will always show us the way out of any problem we may be faced with. So, if we are faced with any challenge at the moment, all we need to do is to talk to God about the way out. And as a faithful Father, He will answer us and show us what to do.

Have a lovely day.
 

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“If you are eager to give, God will accept your gift on the basis of what you have to give, not on what you don't have.” (2Cor 8:12GNT)

As we in our opening text, in giving to God and to His people, there are two things God is looking out for. The first is your eagerness to give. Remember that God loves a cheerful giver. So, if you are not cheerful in giving to Him, you might as well keep your gift.

The second thing God is looking out for in your gift is what you really have. How much do you really have? Are you giving from your wealth or from your poverty? God is interested in these things. So, if you are eager and happy to give to God, He will accept your gift, however small it may seem, not on the basis of what you don’t have but on the basis of what you have.

This is why when Jesus once commented on the gift of a poor widow in a synagogue meeting that He attended, He said that the woman gave more than all the other people who threw into the treasury large amounts of money, even though she only gave a fraction of a penny. Why did He say that? He said so because the woman was giving out of her poverty – she was giving everything she had. So, though was she gave was almost nothing in the sight of men, it was more than what everyone else gave in the sight of God. (Cf. Mark 12:41-44)

This being the case, don’t let any prophet, pastor or preacher put you or your family in financial distress because of giving. I am saying this because it is not every preacher that understands this biblical principle. So, there are many of our preachers out there that will do all they can to make you give beyond your capability or the capability of your family. And you should watch out for them.

Am I saying you should never give everything you or your family has for the cause of the gospel? No! That widow gave everything she had on that occasion. But I am sure she did not do that all the time. So, there may be moments in your life when God may minister to you to give everything you have at home or to give something that is huge for your family to give. And you should obey Him at such times, for a reward will surely follow.

But in doing that, be sure you are not being manipulated by anybody to do so. Also, be sure that you and your spouse are on the same page about it, if you are married. Otherwise, the kind of chaos that will follow in your home may be unspeakable.

God will always accept your gift, if you are happy to give to Him, based on what you have and not what you don’t have. And you should get used to that. But don’t use this as an excuse to give less to God or less to His people than you can actually give. Remember Ananias and Sapphira.

Have a pleasant day.
 

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“Laban and Bethuel answered, "This is from the LORD; we can say nothing to you one way or the other. Here is Rebekah; take her and go, and let her become the wife of your master's son, as the LORD has directed."” (Gen 24:50-51NIV)

Today’s devotion is a direct address to those on the road to marriage. And its point is that they should not play hard-to-get or unduly waste their personal time, if they can see the hand of God leading them into a love relationship.

As we see in our opening text, Rebekah’s parents could see God’s hand in the love proposal that Abraham’s servant brought to their daughter on behalf of Isaac, even though neither they nor their daughter had ever met the young man. That, of course, may not be the right way to go today, with all the terrible news we hear that is warning us of the danger of blind dates and so forth. But it is important that you be able to genuinely and clearly see whether God’s hand is in a love proposal that is coming to you or that you are going to make.

If you can’t see God’s hand there, don’t waste your time considering it. But if you can see His hand in it, don’t lose time to make the proposal, as we see in Abraham’s servant’s case. Also, don’t waste time before you say ‘Yes’ to a love proposal, if you can see God’s hand in it. I am not saying you have to say ‘Yes’ right away. If you believe you need some time to pray and think and confirm some things about a love proposal, by all means, do so. But if it is clear to you that the right person has come, you won’t be belittling yourself by immediately saying ‘Yes’ to them.

When Abraham’s servant told Rebekah’s family that he was ready to leave with Rebekah the morning following the day he brought Isaac’s proposal to them, they were reluctant to let their daughter go. And look at their conversation:

“Then he and the men who were with him ate and drank and spent the night there. When they got up the next morning, he said, "Send me on my way to my master." But her brother and her mother replied, "Let the girl remain with us ten days or so; then you may go." But he said to them, "Do not detain me, now that the LORD has granted success to my journey. Send me on my way so I may go to my master." Then they said, "Let's call the girl and ask her about it." So they called Rebekah and asked her, "Will you go with this man?" "I will go," she said.” (Gen 24:54-58NIV)

Did you see that? Rebekah would not use her family members as an excuse to keep that man waiting for her. Why? She knew that God was at work in the whole thing. She also knew that she was ready for marriage. What is the point of wasting time, then? No point!

So, she told her people that she was ready to follow the man and start a new life with her husband-to-be. If God’s children today will also begin to follow these things, instead of playing hard-to-get or unduly wasting their own time, life will be a lot easier for many of them.

Have a lovely day.
 

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“Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (1Cor 6:18-20NIV)

As we see in our opening text, any form of sex outside a marriage relationship ruins our bodies. And our bodies are God’s temple. So, if we defile them, we make them unfit for God to use. And since sexual passions are like hunger or thirst, the only way to quench them once they are ignited or to prevent them from being ignited is to run away from the person involved. You can’t debate this. You can’t reason away this. You just have to run.

That was what Joseph did when dealing with Potiphar’s wife. First, he made sure he was never alone with her. And when the woman eventually wormed her way into being alone with him, he was the one on the run from her. Why? He knew that if he stayed long enough with her, he would fall, even against his wish. And many have fallen like that against their wish, when they found themselves in the wrong place and at the wrong time. (Cf. Gen 39)

So, once you can see that you are already having sexual feelings for someone that you are not married to and perhaps also making sexual moves towards them, your relationship with them is already becoming unclean. In like manner, if someone that you are not married to is already making sexual advances on you or is already talking you into having sexual relations with them, your relationship is already becoming unclean. That, of course, can be dealt with, if you both will come clean to yourselves about what you are dealing with and the need for both of you to stop being together alone, as long as you are not married to each other.

But if any of you is not ready to give the necessary gap for you to be cleansed of the evil passions that are consuming you, then, regardless of what that person says with their mouth, they are ready to drag you down into sexual sins. And if you fall for it, your walk with God may never remain the same again till your time here on earth will be done.

See, sexual relations have very subtle ways of building undue attachment between those who are involved. So, if it happens once, there is every tendency that it is going to happen again and again and again, regardless of how sorry those involved may be about it. And before they know what is going on, they would have made themselves so dirty before their own eyes that if care is not taken, they may end up ending their relationship in a very bitter way.

So, do the needful about that relationship in which unclean love passions are already building up in you or the other person. That is because it will not build you up to be the person God wants you to be. It will only ruin both of you in it.

Have a lovely day.
 

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“Moses said to the Lord, ‘You have been telling me, “Lead these people,” but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, “I know you by name and you have found favour with me.” If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favour with you. Remember that this nation is your people.’ The Lord replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.’ Then Moses said, ‘Now show me your glory.’” (Exodus 33:12-18NIV)

Moses, in our opening text, is praying to God that He will teach him His ways. He says, “If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favour with you.” Now Moses offered this prayer after God had used him in bringing Israel out of Egypt. Remember that it was not his choice to have God reveal Himself to him the way He did when He first appeared to him. God appeared to him for the first time when, at age eighty, he was tending the flocks of his father-in-law, Jethro. And that did not happen because he wanted to see God. I mean that he did not go out that day, expecting to see God. It was God’s choice to make Himself known to him. (Cf. Ex 3-4)

At any rate, God appeared to him and began to make Himself known to him in order to use him to deliver Israel out of Egypt. Remember also that Moses was reluctant about the whole thing. But when God gave him some signs, he got on his way to save Israel out of Egypt. And you can go through the Scriptures to see the many signs and wonders that God performed through His hands in order to bring those people out.

But this time around, Moses is personally expressing his desire to know God. And this is the way it is with every one of us. God first came to us to make Himself known to us. It was not that we all originally desired to know Him. He first came to us to reveal Himself to us. But then, if we want to continue to experience Him and His power in greater ways, we too must express our own desire to know Him. So, it is not for us to sit down and say, “Well, if God wants me to know Him, He will reveal Himself to me.” If that is your attitude, you will know Him but what you will know about Him will be little.

Many in the world today know one thing or the other about God. So, don’t assume that people who are not Christians don’t know anything about Him. The fact that people are not Christians does not mean that they don’t know anything about Him. Here and there, human beings know one thing or the other about God. But they don’t know enough. And that is not to say that those who are Christians already know enough of Him. They don’t. But they do know Him better than those who are not Christians.

Well, the point I am making is that we too need to continually express our desire to know God and to know Him better than we do now. And that is what we see Moses doing in our text. God has already revealed Himself to him in many ways and also done all kinds of wonders through him. Yet he prays, saying, “Teach me your ways, so that I may know you and continue to find favour with you.” And God said, “I will do this very thing you have asked.” In other words, God said to him, “I will make myself known to you and teach you my ways.”

Now did God do that or not? He did! He made Himself known to Moses. If we too will earnestly express our desire to know Him, He will make Himself known to us and our lives will never remain the same again.

Have a pleasant day. 

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“Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.” (Hebrews 13:17NIV)

What is the instruction in our opening bible text? It is to have confidence in our church leaders. And to have confidence in our leaders means to trust them. When you trust them, you will obey them. When you trust them, you will follow them.

So, the point here is that we are to obey our leaders and submit to their authority. And I am not talking here about a blind obedience or submission to someone in authority. That is not what I am talking about. I am not saying you should do just about anything they tell you to do, whether it is consistent with Scriptures or not. Remember that Paul says follow me as I follow Christ (1Corinthians 11:1). So, we are to follow our leaders as they follow Christ.

But we must know the Lord personally in order for this to work for us. If we do not know the Lord personally, when our leaders stop following Him, we will not know. That is why there are assemblies that have followed their leaders into the practice of witchcraft, sorcery and idolatry. So, they do all kinds of things that are not consistent with Scriptures because they do not know the Lord Jesus personally.

Every one of us ought to know the Lord Jesus personally. And that, in fact, is one of the responsibilities of the church leader. He is to work to the end that those he is leading come to know the Lord personally. Members should not remain spiritual babes forever. If at salvation they do not know certain things about Him, then, as they progress with Him, they ought to know what they ought to know about Him. That is what is called growth; that is what is called maturity.

So, we are not talking about blind obedience or foolish obedience here. Rather, we are saying that brethren should obey and follow their leaders to the degree that they obey and follow the Lord Jesus. This is why in verse 7 of this same chapter in the book of Hebrews we are told something noteworthy, which is:

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” (Hebrews 13:7NIV)

Did you see that? We are to look at the lives of those who are leading us and see whether they are producing the results of the word of God they are speaking to us or not. Check their lives yourself to see whether God’s word is working in them or not. Is His word bringing forth fruit in their lives? They are standing before you continually. Can you see the fruit of righteousness in them? Can you see the gentleness of Christ in them? Can you see the humility of Christ in them? Can you see His faithfulness and diligence in them? If you can see these things in their lives, then, have confidence in them and follow them. That way, you can reap the full benefits of their leadership.

Have a lovely day. 

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“Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.” (1Tim 4:15NIV)

Those are Paul’s words of admonition to Timothy. And he says them to him to show him how to make obvious progress in life. You know that it is possible for someone to think they are making progress in life, when they are actually not making any serious progress at all. It is also possible for someone to think they are making progress in life, when those around them cannot see them making any progress. And if that is the case with us, then, we may not expect those around us to give us the kind of attention or respect that we deserve.

In any case, if we want those around us to give us the kind of attention and respect that we deserve, our progress in whatever we are doing in life must be obvious to them. And that is what Paul is saying to Timothy in our opening bible text. He is telling him that if he wants to be taken seriously and also given the kind of respect that he deserves as a preacher and leader of God’s people, then, his progress must be obvious to all the people around him.

In other words, those who know Timothy and those around him must see that he is daily getting better in the way he lives, talks, behaves and handles his ministry. They must see that he is not stagnant in his walk with God and in handing the work that He has given to him. So, this is not about what he is saying to people concerning his progress; rather, it is about what everyone can see in his life.

How, then, will that happen? Well, as Paul points out, Timothy will need to diligently give himself to biblical instructions and their application. Once he is consistent and persistent in doing that, he will naturally begin to make obvious progress, a kind that everyone around him can testify to.

In like manner, if you want to make obvious progress in your spiritual walk as a child of God and in your ministry, you too must diligently give yourself to biblical instructions and their application. There is no other way. There are no shortcuts. So, if you won’t be diligent and earnest in giving yourself to these things, you won’t make any tangible or obvious spiritual progress. And even if you fake your progress, something that a lot of people are doing today, a day is coming when it will become clear to everyone around you that you have been nothing but stagnant all along.

Mind you, the principle Paul shares here with Timothy is not applicable to making obvious spiritual progress alone; it is also applicable to making obvious progress in every area of life. In other words, if we want to make obvious progress in our business or in our academics, what we need is to diligently and wholeheartedly give ourselves to doing the right things, things that will result in progress. We cannot afford to be slothful or lazy. We cannot afford to be taking half-measures. Otherwise, even if we make any progress, it won’t earn us the attention or respect of serious-minded people.

Remember that Solomon says, “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.” (Prov 22:29KJV) And he says this because, as a very wise man, he has learnt from experience that anything we diligently, carefully and attentively give ourselves to handling can only produce results that will sooner or later get people’s attention and respect. So, if we want to get out of the rot of stagnation in our business, trade or academics, we must begin to apply diligence in handling it.

Now, of course, unless God makes us progressive in our life, no measure of diligence will achieve obvious progress for us. So, don’t rely on your diligence for obvious progress in your spiritual walk or in other matters of life. Instead, rely solely on God. And He will honour your diligence and every other step of faith that you take towards accomplishing excellence in life.

Cheers!

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“But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem's walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.” (Neh 4:7-9NIV)

What is the first lesson for us in our opening bible text? It is the fact that it is not everyone around us that we can expect to be in support of our progress or welfare. When the walls of Jerusalem remained fallen and the people were exposed to all kinds of threats and attacks, nobody around the Jews bothered or disturbed them. But the moment they began to rebuild these walls, as a sign of their readiness to rebuild their national life and heritage, those around them started raising opposition against them. They started insulting them and plotting to fight them.

In like manner, if you are living a low life, a life of shame, ruin and poverty, those around you may not give you any special attention. But the moment you decide to take charge of things and begin to move in the direction God wants you to go, you will begin to see people who will want to insult you, talk you down or oppose your progress in any way they can. And if you allow that to discourage or deter you, you will soon find yourself back in your low state.

As we see in our opening text, the Jews, under the leadership of Nehemiah, would not allow the opposition of Sanballat and his men to discourage them or make them quit. Why? They knew that God was with them and would stand by them to give them success.

Therefore, instead of quitting or becoming discouraged in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and their national life, these Jews did two things. First, they prayed to God to handle their opposition for them. Second, they posted guards to watch what their enemies were up to. Eventually, they succeeded in what they had set out to do, without having to engage in any direct fight with these enemies. So, all the noise being made by Sanballat and his people was just for nothing.

In the same vein, we too must continually remind ourselves that God is with us and will never leave us or forsake us (Heb 13:5-6). So, no opposition against our progress or success will ever be successful. And as we function with this consciousness, we will know that quitting on the path of progress and excellence is not an option for us.

Then, as did those Jews, we too must learn to pray to God about whatever opposition we are encountering in life. We may not be able to stop people from opposing, abusing or threatening us. But we can cause their opposition, insults and threats to amount to nothing. And that is exactly what we will happen when we take up their matter with God.

Also, we must, as those Jews did, keep an eye on those who oppose us. That is so that we can be on our guard against whatever evil they may be plotting against us. We don’t have to foolishly or carelessly walk into anybody’s traps. And we will not walk into anyone’s traps, if we will learn to keep our eyes and ears open to what is going on around us.

In any case, because God is with us, no opposition, however mighty it may seem, will succeed in stopping us or pulling us down. So, don’t be afraid of opposition. Don’t stop your life because of opposition or threats. And don’t quit the path of progress because of opposition. That is because with God on your side, you can handle them all. So, cheer up and elbow the devil.

God bless you.

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“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28NIV)

What do we see here in our opening text? It is that in all things God is working for the good of those who love Him and who have been called according to His purpose. That means in order for God’s purpose to be fulfilled in our lives, He Himself has to work it out. He has not left us to fulfil His purpose for our lives all by our lives. And He has not left us to do that because it is practically impossible for us to fulfil His purpose for our lives all by ourselves.

Yes, we have our own responsibilities in the fulfilment of the purpose of God for our lives. The word of God shows us that there are responsibilities that we, individually and collectively, as members of the body of Christ must carry out in order for God’s purpose to be fulfilled in our lives. But there are things that God Himself must do for us, in us and through us in order of His purpose to be fulfilled in our lives. And that is what Paul is speaking to us about in that text, saying, “God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

Well, the point is that God is working in the believer. And Jesus said the same thing when He was here on earth. He said, “Up to this very moment my Father is working. And I, too, am working.” That means God has His own responsibilities that He must carry out, just as we too have our responsibilities that we must carry out. As God is working, we too must be working. Paul tells us that we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do the good works that God has prepared before time for us to do. (Cf. John 5:17; Ephesians 2:10)

So, there are responsibilities that God wants us to carry out here on earth. However, He must equip us for us to be able to carry them out. There are things He must do for us, do to us and do through us. Otherwise, His purpose will not be fulfilled in our lives and we will not be established in His will for us. My prayer is that He will daily work out in you all that is pleasing in His sight and also equip you with everything good for doing His will. Amen.

Have a lovely day.

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“Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife's full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles' feet. Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God." When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.” (Acts 5:1-6NIV)

Here, in our opening text, we have a man and his wife who teamed up to deceive God’s people. As we see in this same book of Acts, brethren, before this time, had been selling their houses and lands and fields and bringing the money from the sale of these things to the apostles of the Lord. This was so that they could use the money in helping the brethren and in carrying out their various ministries. And everybody loved this and was enjoying it, for many people were lifted out of poverty through it.

It was during this period, then, that Ananias and his wife Sapphira also pledged to sell a piece of property and went on to sell it. But after selling the land, they decided to keep back part of the money made from its sale. Why did they do that? We are not told in the account. Perhaps it was because they did not expect to make as much money as they did from the sale of the land. Whatever their reason was, they kept back part of the money for themselves.

Now when the man came with the money to the apostles, he did not say anything to them about what he and his wife had done. He did not call them aside to say, “Sirs, we did not know we would make as much money as we did from the sale of the land we had pledged to the church. But we did. And since we have some pressing needs in the family, we have decided to keep back for ourselves some part of the money.” If he had done that, all he would have got was a word of rebuke or correction from them, showing him that it was wrong of him and his wife to handle their pledge like that. And that, of course, would most likely have led to their repentance.

But he tried to deceive the apostles of the Lord. Unfortunately for him, he did not know that God was going to reveal what they had done to Peter. And he was shocked to find out that their secret was not hidden. The shock, of course, resulted in a heart failure for him. So, he died right there. And when his wife also came in and lied to corroborate what he had told the apostles, not knowing what had happened to him, she too fell down and died right there.

So, no one can lie to God or His Spirit. The Spirit of God knows all things and sees all things. It is not possible, then, to deceive the Spirit of God. And as He reveals the hidden secrets of people’s lives and hearts to us, we are able to protect ourselves from their deceit.

This is why God’s children should not be getting married to the wrong persons. This is why they should not be swindled, polluted, deceived or misled by anybody. We have the Spirit of God in us who is a revealer of secrets. He is able to reveal the deceit, hypocrisy, hate, bitterness and jealousy in people to us. And wherever He is obviously doing this, then, people will be careful of what they think, say and plan.

Have a pleasant day.

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Have a lovely day.

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“When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, "Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us," be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite.” (Deut 17:14-15NIV)

When the elders of Israel came to Samuel, who had been their judge for years, and requested that he give them a king, was he surprised? No, he was not surprised at all. Of course, he was not happy about it. Why was he not happy about it? First, it was because it showed that his sons, whom he had appointed as judges over the people, had terribly failed and disappointed them. (Cf. 1Sam 8:1-6)

Second, Samuel was not happy about their request because it showed that they were not after learning the will of God about the matter but had already come up with their own will. So, what they wanted was not for God to tell them anything about who would be their next judge but for Him to permit them to become like the nations around them and have their own king. That means they did not think that God’s philosophy of giving them judges was the best. They saw it as inferior to the philosophy of having kings, which the nations around them held.

But is man’s philosophy of having kings actually superior to God’s philosophy of giving him judges? No! As God told Samuel to tell the people, a king is not among his people as their equal; rather, he is among them as their ruler. So, he is going to exercise dominion over them, using whatever means he considers necessary. And they will just have to be subject to him, regardless of what they think about him and his ability to lead them. Otherwise, he will make sure their lives are utterly miserable. (Cf. 1Sam 8:6-18)

A judge, God’s chosen judge, however, is different from a king. He does not see himself as a ruler of his people but as their equal. So, he knows that for them to accept his leadership, he will have to earn it. And that was the case with all the judges that God had given the nation of Israel before they started having kings. All of them earned their right to lead the people and to be respected by them.

That, of course, also is how it ought to be in every place where democracy is practised today. Those who lead should be men and women who have earned their right to lead and to be respected through their persistence in doing good works and through their consistent display of wisdom and diligence in managing their own affairs. And is this the case where you are?

In any case, as I already pointed out, even though Samuel was not happy that the people were rejecting God’s plan and going for man’s plan, he was not surprised at all. Why? It was because, years before that happened, God had already said that a time would come when the people would do that. When did He say that? It was when the people were still with Moses in the wilderness and had not yet come into the Promised Land.

Now we see that in our opening bible verses. We see God announcing years ahead that the Israelites would one day demand to have a king over them, just like the nations around them. So, in addition to the points I already shared on Samuel’s unhappiness about their request for a king, another reason he was unhappy was that the word of God was eventually coming to pass in his own time. It was in his time that the people rejected God’s leadership plan for them and chose to adopt the plan of men.

In any event, since God had always known that the Israelites would someday ask for a king instead of a judge, their request for a king in Samuel’s time did not surprise Him. On the contrary, He was already prepared for them. In other words, before they made that request, He had been nurturing the man who would be their first king. So, when they made the request, He simply told Samuel to listen to them and give them what they wanted. And to make the job easy for the prophet, He lost no time at all in sending him Saul, the man who later became their first king. (Cf. 1Sam 9-10)

In like manner, when Saul began to misbehave, Samuel became unhappy again, not understanding why God’s choice would turn bad almost overnight. But again, as we see in the bible, Saul’s misbehaviour was not a surprise to God at all. Yes, He was very unhappy about it. But He was not surprised. Otherwise, He would not have prepared young David to replace him. (Cf. 1Sam 3-16)

What is the point of all this? It is that we cannot surprise God. Otherwise, He would not be God. But He is God. And as God, He knows everything, the end from the beginning. So, He is able to fix any situation for us, as long as we allow Him to fix it. Yes, we may have surprised ourselves and perhaps others around us with the mess we have made of our lives, homes or affairs. But God is not surprised at all. He has always known how things will turn out. He has always known where we will listen to Him and not fall and where we will not listen and fall. Also, He has always known where others will unduly interfere with our lives and mess things up for us.

So, He probably has a million and one solutions standing by for us for every problem. All He needs us to do is to just allow Him to fix things for us. And they will be fixed, however messed up they may seem. But as long as we keep thinking that He is always as surprised about the happenings of our lives as we are, we will continue to think of Him as a clueless God, as a God who has to settle down first to think of how to deal with our problems. And where that is the case, unless we are shown mercy by Him, we may never escape from the ruins of our lives.

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“In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.” (Isa 63:9NIV)

Who was distressed, as we are told in our opening bible text? It was the Israelites that Moses led out of Egypt that were distressed. And who was distressed along with them? It was God that was distressed along with them. How could God be distressed? Is that even possible?

Well, the word of God tells us plainly in our opening text that God too was distressed all the time that the Israelites were distressed in Egypt and on their way to the Promised Land. And it should not surprise us that God could be distressed in this manner or in any way at all. Don’t forget that He created us in His own image and after His likeness. And all the attributes of concern and grief that we have came to us from Him. So, it should not surprise us that He can be concerned or grieved about something as we can.

But then, did the Israelites that He was concerned about know these things? No! Most of them did not know that God was so concerned about them that everything that distressed them also distressed Him. And because they did not know this, they were often quick to complain and grumble against Him anytime they were faced with a challenge.

Nonetheless, God was always distressed whenever they were distressed. So, He told Moses this, when He was sending him to Egypt to deliver them:

“I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey — the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.” (Ex 3:7-9NIV)

Did you see that? God was concerned about the suffering and pains of His people. That, of course, was why, as we are told in our opening text, He sent the angel of His presence to be with Moses in saving them and in carrying them on eagles’ wings to the Promised Land.

Now what this is showing us is that God is ever-concerned about the condition of living of His people. So, if they are in distress, He too becomes distressed along with them. And what human father will not be distressed, if his son or daughter is in distress? What true human father will not be concerned about anything that may be hurting his child? None!

If human fathers, then, as wicked they may be, get distressed when their children are distressed, will God, the Father of all fathers and the God of all compassion, not be even more readily distressed by anything that distresses His children? He will. And because He will, He will take whatever necessary steps He has to take to rescue them from their distress and establish them in His rest.

Therefore, as a child of God, if you are in any kind of distress, I want you to know that you are not alone in it. God, your Father, is in it with you as well. He knows exactly what you are going through and how you feel about it. So, you can expect the angel of His presence, the Holy Spirit, to move on your behalf, save you and also carry you on eagles’ wings to experience divine rest.

Don’t give up, then. Instead, keep on praying and keep on meditating on the word of God. And don’t say, “I am too tired to pray or meditate on the word. I don’t even know what to say or do any more.” Instead, however tired, weary or confused you may be, still keep on praying and keep on meditating on God’s word and confessing it. That is because the Spirit of God is with you, even in your moment of tiredness and confusion, to pray with you and to also strengthen you to win.

Look at what the bible says about Him:

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.” (Rom 8:26-27NIV)

Did you see that? The Spirit of God is with us and in us to help us overcome every weakness, including our prayer weaknesses. Then observe that we are told that He too groans with us, when we are groaning because of our challenges. In other words, He can fully relate to whatever we are going through. Therefore, He is able to intercede for us with compassion and according to the will of God.

No wonder, then, that certain problems of our lives, problems that probably frightened us to our bones, were miraculously solved, even though we ourselves knew that we were too tired, weak or disturbed to pray about them as we would love to. What happened was that the Spirit of God, knowing what we were going through then, took over the praying for us and got us the victory and rest we needed. Hallelujah!

Can you now see that you have no reason to fail or give up on life? You are not alone in facing whatever you are facing in life. God, by His Spirit, is with you in facing it. And He is even more concerned about your experience of victory over it. So, cheer up and be encouraged to live and be victorious. And as long as you are encouraged like this, you will consider it no trouble to keep on praying and standing on the word of God in every situation of life.

Have a pleasant day.

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“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”(Matt 7:12NIV)

What is our Lord Jesus telling us in our opening text? It is that if we want to make life work for us, then, we must be ready to treat others the way we would want them to treat us. And that should start from our homes. In other words, it is from our homes that we should first learn how to build loving relationships.

See, most of those who have issues relating well to their neighbours, colleagues at work or in school or church members are people who have domestic problems. People who have learnt to live in peace and harmony with their spouses hardly have issues relating to others wherever they find themselves.

So, if you are married, you have a great opportunity to learn how to make human relationships work through your marriage and home. But the question is, “Will you utilize that opportunity to learn anything?”

Well, the point I am making is that you have no moral right to demand that your spouse or anybody should be exhibiting any good quality that you yourself are not exhibiting. So, let those good attributes that you want to see in others manifest in you first. Then you can begin to make demands on them to act similarly.

Have a great day.

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“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 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.” (Eph 6:11-13NIV)

Did you see that? Our real enemies are not humans; rather, they are demons. And these demons are wicked and powerful. They are wicked and powerful enough to fill people with evil thoughts, desires and schemes and to also make them restless until they carry them out.

So, when people say or do certain crazy or wicked things, we have to look beyond them. We have to understand that some evil beings are behind what they are doing. Otherwise, we may foolishly make enemies of them and also fall into the traps of the devil.

For instance, we are told in Scriptures that there was a time that Satan stood against the nation of Israel and moved David, their king, to number them. But David was a lover of God. David was not someone that would deliberately want to sin against God. Yet, on that occasion, Satan succeeded in capturing his heart and pressuring him to number Israel, against all sound counsel. And it was after he had done what was in his mind that his eyes were opened to see that he had sin against God. But the harm had already been done. And seventy thousand men of Israel died as a result of his error. (Cf. 1Chro 21)

Interestingly, David himself did not die on that occasion. In fact, no member of his household died because of his sin. It was other people that suffered for everything. This, of course, is one the reasons we must learn to regularly pray that we will not be victims of the errors of our leaders or of the errors of anyone in our lives.

In fact, we must learn to also pray for those in our lives that they will not do any wrong thing that will make us victims of whatever judgment that is meant to come on them. Remember the story of Hiel, the man thar rebuilt the city of Jericho. It was because of him that two of his sons came under Joshua’s curse and died. Those young men may have been good and upright people, just minding their own business. But the stubborn determination of their father to rebuilt a cursed city cost them their lives. (Cf. 1Kings 16:34)

My prayer for you, then, is that God will turn the hearts of all the people that have influence of your life away from any step they will take that will surely make you a victim. Amen.

Well, I am sharing these things with you to simply let you know that demons can use even good people to mislead us or to put us in trouble. That is why it is important we continually remind ourselves that our real enemies are not human beings but Satan and his demons. That way, we will be able to resist him, even if it is our loved ones that he is seeking to use to hurt us, instead of making enemies of them. And may God strengthen your heart to always walk in the consciousness of this. Amen.

Have a pleasant day.

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“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” (1Thess 4:11-12NIV)

What is Paul’s main point to us here? It is that it must be our ambition as children of God to live a quiet life and not a noisy one. It must also be our ambition to mind our own business and to be involved in a legitimate labour. Why? First, it is so that our daily life may win the respect of those around us. If you have no job that you are doing, there are many who won’t take you seriously or treat you with respect, even if you are as wise as Solomon.

So, even if you have not been able to secure a job in a formal organisation, find something to do. Solomon says whatsoever your hands find to do, do it with all your might (Ecc 9:10). In other words, inasmuch as that job is legitimate in the eyes of God and also in the eyes of men, go for it, instead of hanging around everyday doing nothing.

The second reason you are to be involved in a legitimate labour is so that you will not be dependent on anybody. We all started out in life being dependent on our parents, siblings, uncles, aunties, teachers, neighbours and so forth. But the older we get the less dependent on others we are expected to be. Of course, none of us can be entirely independent of others, for God did not create life to be that way. However, each of us can avoid being unduly dependent on those in our lives.

But we will surely be unduly dependent on others, if we have no job doing or if the job we are doing is not earning us enough money. And the will of God for us is that we will not be unduly dependent on anybody. The will of God is that we will all get to that point in our lives where we do not have to wait for our parents, siblings, friends, colleagues at work or church brethren before we can take care of our basic needs and responsibilities in life. Therefore, it is not enough for us to be working hard; it is also important that whatever work we are doing is earning us more money than we need to spend.

Now is your current job earning you more money than you need to spend? You need to have a fair knowledge of how much you need to be spending every week or every month. That way, you will be able to tell whether what you now earn is enough for you or not.

In any case, if your current job is not earning you more money than you need to take care of your bills or responsibilities, you need to begin to consider what to do in addition to it. Yes, of course, there are times that it may be okay for us to just quit certain jobs altogether, so that we focus our skills and energy on what is more profitable. But quitting a job that is making some money available for you, when you have nothing else to fall back on, may be quite a foolish thing to do. And only few people ever did that without regretting it.

So, I am not counselling that you should quit your job because it is not making enough money available for you to take care of your needs. Rather, I am asking you to do an honest assessment of your financial situation. I am asking you to see what honest things you need to do in order not to be unduly dependent on anyone. And may God help you in doing so, to the end that His will can be fully realised in your life. Amen.

Have a lovely day.

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“Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” (1Tim 4:12NIV)

What is Paul saying here? Is he saying that Timothy should be ready to insult anyone that wants to look down on him or talk down to him because he is young? No! What, then, is he saying?

Well, he is saying that Timothy should conduct himself in such a way that nobody will be able to use the fact that he is young as an excuse to despise or abuse him. That is why he tells him to make himself an example to other believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.

How, then, is this applicable to you? It is applicable to you in the sense that God expects you to conduct yourself in all your relationships in such a way that those around will respect and not despise you. Why do godly wealthy people respect their church pastors? Why do they speak to them with much reverence? Is it because those pastors are richer than them? No! Rather, it is because of the way of life those pastors or church leaders are leading.

Wealthy people hardly show respect for preachers who lack character, who are gluttons and who don’t know what to say and what not to say. So, if you see a wealthy person paying much respect to a church leader, you have to realize that the person must have earned it.

When Joseph came to stand before Pharaoh for the very first time, he had nothing to his credit. He had no name, no money and no status. He simply stood before this monarch as a common prisoner. Yet by the time the king was done talking to him, he had proved himself to him and to all his officials as one that was worthy of governing an entire nation. So, he was made a sort of the prime minister of the country that same day. (Cf. Gen 41)

Think about that. Nobody lobbied for Joseph to be in that position. He simply earned it through the way he conducted himself. If you too, then, want people to respect you, to speak highly of you or to lift you up to certain positions of honour in life, you have to earn it. And may God daily equip you with everything you need to earn His praise and honour in this life. Amen.

Have a lovely day.

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“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power over the enemy. And nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10:19NIV)

Who said these words? Our Lord Jesus! And to whom did He say them? To all His disciples! But is that a valid statement? Yes, it is a valid statement.

Unfortunately, a lot of times, we forget this. When we are confronted with challenges of life, when pressure of life begins to mount up, we can actually forget this -- we can forget what we have. We can forget that we have become one with the Lord. We can forget that we can now use His authority. It is not our own authority. It is His own authority. The power that we have over the devil is not our own power; it is His own power.

So, we are not saying that we have any power in ourselves over the devil. What we have is borrowed power, borrowed authority, to simply put it. We have Christ’s authority; He has delivered it to us. In legal terms that will be called delegated authority. He has delegated His authority to us. So, we can exercise that authority over the devil now. We can exercise that authority over His works now.

But how often do we remember this? When sicknesses strike, do we remember that we have authority over them? When pressures of life begin to arise, do we remember that we have authority over them?

But Jesus says, “I have given you my authority over the devil to use. It is now yours.” The authority to trample over snakes and scorpions and over all the power and schemes of the enemy is now ours—and nothing shall by any means hurt us.

Now you ought to remind yourself of that every day. Truly, we may be frightened by the works of the devil. But the truth is that we have authority over them. So, you ought to learn to say to yourself every day, “As I go this morning, I exercise dominion over all the works of the devil, whatever they may be. And nothing shall by any means hurt me.”

Have a pleasant day.

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“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built…” 1Peter 3:18-20NIV)

One of the things we learn in the bible is that the timing of God’s move to save or prosper His people doesn’t always depend on Him – there are times that it depends on the people He wants to save or prosper as well. For example, when the angels God sent to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah were ready to do their job, they told Lot to take his family and flee out of those cities immediately. Why? It was God because had shown him mercy and was not willing to destroy him and his family along with the wicked people of those cities.

However, we are told that Lot hesitated to leave. Why? Was it because he did not believe what the angels had told him? No! Rather, it must have been because of his possessions, for he was a very wealthy man. Well, because God was determined to show him mercy, the angels had to grasp his hand and the hands of his wife and daughters and lead them safely out of Sodom. Then, having told them to run for their lives to the city of Zoar, one of the angels said something very instructive to them, which was, “I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (Cf. Gen 19:18-22)  

What does that mean? What it means is that even though God was determined to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah that very day, the timing of their judgment was resting on the quickness of Lot and his family in getting away from them. In like manner, there are times that we are the ones God is waiting for in order to judge the wickedness of certain people in our world. Yes, we are praying that He should judge them. And He wants to judge them. But He cannot judge them until we take the steps He wants us to take to be safe. Otherwise, we may just be swept away with them during judgment.

We also see something similar in the story of Noah. God wanted to destroy mankind from the face of the earth during this man’s time. And that was because of their wickedness. But He did not want to destroy Noah and his family along with them. So, He told him what He was going to do and what he would need to do in order to save himself and his family from the destruction that was coming. 

Now we are told in the bible that Noah did everything God commanded him to do (Gen 6:22). That means he built the ark that God told him to build and got ready everything he, his family and all the animals and birds that would be with them in the ark would need while they were in the ark. What we are not told, however, was how long it took Noah to get ready. Of course, God did not set any time for him to finish the work of the ark and be ready. And God also did not complain that the man was slow or not diligent in handling the work He had given him.

Nevertheless, as we see in our opening bible text, God had to patiently wait for Noah to be ready with the ark before He brought destruction on the rest of mankind. Can you relate to what it means to patiently wait for someone? That means you just should settle it in your mind that you will give the person as much time as it is going to take them to be ready before you act. And that was exactly what God did in Noah’s case. He may have thought that he was the one waiting for God to end the wickedness of the people of his time. But the truth is that it was actually God that was waiting for him. 

God is always ready to act. He is always ready to promote us. He is always ready to rescue us. But there are times that He has to wait for us to be ready for Him to act on our behalf. And there are many of us that He has been patiently waiting for years for us to be ready to receive His elevation in our lives, to be entrusted with certain resources or to experience His salvation from certain problems that are harassing us. Yet we think we are the ones waiting for Him. Therefore, we are not doing anything about our slowness in doing the things He wants us to do or in separating ourselves from the things or people He wants us to separate ourselves from. 

In any case, until we are ready for God in certain areas of our lives, He also will not be ready to do for us those things that are necessary for our promotion, prosperity or salvation. Do you know that even the return of our Lord Jesus Christ is to some extent based on our readiness as God’s people? That is why Peter says this to us: “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)

Can you see that we have a duty of speeding up the coming of the day of the Lord by devoting ourselves to living holy and godly lives? In like manner, we have a duty to ourselves to speed up God’s work of promotion, prosperity and salvation in our lives. And we can do that by separating ourselves from all forms of unrighteousness and by being diligent in handling our jobs and Christian ministries. My prayer is that our hearts will daily receive adequate strength, determination, boldness, encouragement and resources to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a lovely day.

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“The LORD had seen how bitterly everyone in Israel, whether slave or free, was suffering; there was no one to help them. And since the LORD had not said he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven, he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam son of Jehoash.” (2Kings 14:26-27NIV)

Who did God use in saving the people of Israel from their suffering, as we are told in our opening text? It was their King, Jeroboam son of Jehoash. And what kind of man was he? Here is what is said about him in the bible: 

“In the fifteenth year of Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash king of Israel became king in Samaria, and he reigned forty-one years. He did evil in the eyes of the LORD and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit.” (2Kings 14:23-25NIV) 

So, Jeroboam was an evil and sinful man. Yet God used him in saving His people from their suffering. What is that telling us? It is that it is not only good people that God can use to save, help or lift us. He can use bad and wicked people too. 

To say the fact, there are times that God may not find any good person in a place to use to save or help the oppressed. For instance, David says this in a Psalm of his:

“The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Ps 14:2-3NIV) 

Did you see that? It is possible for God to look down from heaven on a particular town, city or country and not see anyone who is not corrupt or who is devoted to doing good that He can use to build that country. What, then, would be the fate of those suffering in that country, if God were to wait until He finds or raises up a good and righteous person to help them? They may have to suffer for a much longer time.

However, because He is a compassionate God, even if using a wicked and ungodly person is what will bring urgent relief and comfort to the oppressed that are crying out to Him, He may decide to use him. And this is one of the reasons He commands us to be submissive to anyone that is in a position of authority, whether he isa good person or a bad one (Rom 13:1-5). He knows that we often resent those who are evil, believing that they are incapable of doing anything good. So, we may not want to give them the respect and honour they deserve, if they happen to be in a position of authority over us.

But the fact that someone is evil does not mean that God cannot borrow them to do good. God can borrow them to do good and He does sometimes borrow evil people to do good. That, of course, does not change the fact that they are evil and will ultimately be judged as such, if they never repent from their evil till they die. But if they are the only tools available for Him to do certain good things He wants to do for mankind, He may not hesitate to borrow and use them.

Also, the fact that someone is evil does not mean that the person does not deserve our respect. The word of God tells us to show proper respect to everyone. So, even if someone is evil, as long as he is occupying a position of authority or advantage, give him the respect and honour he deserves. It is not because of him that you are doing that; rather, it is because God, who has permitted him to be in that position, has ordered you to do so. And by obeying Him, you will be making it easy for Him to borrow him to do you good, even though he is a wicked person. (Cf. 1Pet 1:13-17)

At least, as we are shown in Scriptures, one of the reasons God places people in positions of authority is that He may use them to do good to those under them. And all that He wants from those under such people is to be submissive to them, based on the measure of their authority. That way, even if they are wicked and unreasonable, He will have just reasons to borrow and use them to do good to those under them or to replace them, if they will not allow themselves to be used by Him.

But if those under authority will not be submissive to their leaders, in line with the will of God, even if all those who are leading them are good and righteous people, God may not be able to use them to make life sweet or safe for them. So, don’t look at the goodness or evil in the lives of those who have authority over you before you submit to them. Instead, submit to them because God has ordered you to do so. 

Also, don’t insist that it is only good people that God should use to do you good. Otherwise, you may have to wait forever for that to happen. Instead, respect God’s wisdom in determining whom He uses in helping or saving you. And as long as He is the one working, He will not offer you corrupt help or salvation, even if He has to use an evil person.   

Have a pleasant day.

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“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:3NIV) 

From what James tells us here in our opening text, it is clear that we can be praying to God to satisfy our pleasure. Yes, what we are asking for is good. But why do we want it? Is it so that we can oppress or impress someone in our neighbourhood, office or family? Who exactly are you trying to prove something to when you are praying to God?

Truly, there are times we want God to prove Himself as sovereign. But it is God we are seeking honour and praise for in such situations and not ourselves. Elijah, for example, once had a prayer tussle with the prophets of Baal in the days of King Ahab. He asked them to pray to their gods to bring down fire on their sacrifice. But their gods could not. So, he taunted them until they became weary. Then he prayed to God to bring down fire on his sacrifice, and God did. (Cf. 1Kings 18)

Now what was Elijah doing then? He was seeking honour for God and not himself. It was not his honour as a man of God that he was concerned about but the honour of God among the Israelites. 

Also, we see Moses asking God to prove to the Israelites that he did not send himself. Why? Korah, Dathan, Abiram, On and the people with them were trying to discredit his ministry and Aaron’s ministry. They had said that it was not only Moses and Aaron that had revelations of God and that they too had revelations of God. And they had said that to discredit the ministries of Moses and Aaron among the Israelites. So, Moses had to pray that God would vindicate them and show that the things they were doing among the people and for them were not their ideas but God’s commands. And God answered him by causing the ground to swallow those men and all those with them. (Cf. Numbers 16)

Therefore, there are indeed times in which we may pray that God will prove Himself or defend His honour or the honour of His servants. But when it comes to praying for the sole purpose of impressing men or oppressing them or when we are motivated by jealousy, greed, selfishness or bitterness to pray, God is not under any obligation to answer such prayers. That is why James says when you ask you do not receive because you ask with wrong motives.

What I am saying, in any case, is that the motives behind our prayers are as important to God as the contents of our prayers. So, He is not going to answer our prayers just because everything we have said is theologically correct. Rather, He is going to answer our prayers because our words are not just right but our motives are also right. So, keep this in mind: when you pray, be sure you are not praying for a show or for your selfish, greedy or envious motives.

Have a pleasant day.

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“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."” (Isa 30:21-22NIV) 

Whose voice are we to expect to hear, as we see in our opening text? It is the voice of God. But it is not only God’s voice that we can expect to hear, as we journey through this life; we can expect to hear the voice of the devil as well. And if we cannot tell the difference between God’s voice and Satan’s voice, we may find ourselves listening to Satan and doing his bidding.

Now the world is in this mess today because our forebears listened to the devil. And if you don’t want your home or your generation to be ruined in this same manner, then, be careful whom you are listening to. If you don’t want to be driven away from that beautiful place prepared by God for you, you cannot afford to be listening to the devil.

You may think that things are not looking good for you at the moment. But if you keep on listening to the devil, things will only get worse for you. If it is God you are listening, on the contrary, things can only get better for you. 

The Garden of Eden was meant to be the starting point of prosperity for Adam and Eve. It was meant to be their headquarters, where they would launch out to the remaining part of the earth and build it. But when they stopped listening to God and started listening to the devil, they were driven out of that garden and had to start life afresh, all over again, and under difficult conditions. What a shame! (Cf. Gen 3)

We are also told of a man in the bible by the name Amnon. He was the first son of King David and should naturally have been king after him. But because he once listened to a friend of his called Jonadab, he raped his sister Tamar. And because he raped her, he was assassinated by Absalom, the girl’s brother. So, he lost his life and his place in the kingdom of his father. (Cf. 2Samuel 13)

So, if you don’t want things to go bad or worse for you and if you don’t want to lose your place in God’s scheme of things, you cannot afford to be listening to the devil. The one you are to be listening to is God. And you can hear Him every moment by giving yourself to His word. Give yourself, then, to His word, and not only will you be able to hear Him talk to you clearly, you will also be able to recognise and reject the voice of the devil.

Have a pleasant day.

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“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.” (Hebrews 1:1-4NIV)

We are told here that Jesus is the one appointed by God to be heir of all things. In other words, He is the inheritor of everything God has. And we too who believe in Him have become joint-heirs with Him, as we are equally shown in Scriptures (Rom 8:17). So, everything that belongs to Jesus now belongs to us equally. We are now sharers in His inheritance. That means God wants us too to have whatever He wants Him to have. And as long as we are praying on that basis, there is nothing that will not be ours that is meant to be ours.

Then this man of God goes on to tell us in our opening text that Jesus is superior to all the angels as His name is superior to theirs. Why, then, should anyone be praying in the name of any angel? All the angels, however powerful they may be, are servants sent by God to serve us (Hebrews 1:14). It is wrong, then, to pray in any of their names. Yes, people may have been doing this for decades or centuries. It does not change the fact that they are wrong and that God has not been answering prayers they have been offering on this basis.

What about those who pray in the names of certain saints of old? They too have missed. Some even pray in the name of Mary the mother of Jesus and also to her. That too is a miss. It does not matter what you think about it. It is wrong. You may not agree that you are wrong. But the word of God says that you are wrong. 

You are to pray to God only in the name of Jesus. Only in His name do we have complete, absolute and free access to God. And praying in His name has to do with standing on His merits before God and saying only those things that are consistent with His will. When you pray on that basis, God cannot but answer you.

So, approach God only in the name of Jesus. Pray to God only in the name of Jesus. That is because He is superior to every being and to everything God has created. Then it is only through Him that you can be all that God wants you to be and also inherit and enjoy all that He wants you to have.

Have a lovely day.

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“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them – bringing swift destruction on themselves.” (2Peter 2:1-2NIV)

Who is speaking to us here in our opening text? It is Peter. And what is he telling us? It is that we can expect to encounter false prophets and prophecies and can also expect to encounter false teachers and false teachings. And all these people are going to be claiming that they and what they are saying are of God. But they are liars. And we must be able to tell genuine prophets and teachers of the word of God from fake ones. How? It is by relying on Scriptures. We check out what they are saying in Scriptures, to see if it is consistent with them or not.

When Paul went to minister in Berea, the Jews he met there took out time to verify what he was teaching them in Scriptures to see if it was true. They did not just accept him as a true man of God, just because he said that he was one. Instead, they settled down with Scriptures to see the consistency of what he was saying with what was in them. (Cf. Acts 17:10-12)

Now what other way did they have of verifying what the man was sharing with them, to see if it was true? None but the Scripture! They could not wait until God showed them a vision or a dream in order to know if Paul was right or wrong. Even if God showed them something, how would they know that it was actually from God? They would still have to rely on Scriptures. And it was only after they had seen that he was in line with Scriptures that they embraced his message. 

Mind you, Paul himself did not prevent them from examining the Scripture to see if what he had shared with them was true and to be embraced. So, if a prophet or anybody is telling you that it is an insult for you to verify what they are teaching you or proclaiming to you as the word of God, then, know that they are most likely a deceitful worker. And you should not listen to them. There are all kinds of things that preachers ask God’s people to do today, things that are totally foreign to what we have in Scriptures. Such things must be rejected, regardless of who they are coming from.

Have a pleasant day.

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“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (Romans 1:18-20NIV)

Paul tells us here in our opening text that God’s wrath is already being revealed from heaven against the wickedness of men. But many don’t know this. Why? It is because they do not know the features of the wrath of God. But then, why is His wrath being made known against men’s wickedness? The reason is that there is no excuse for their wickedness. And why is there no excuse for their wickedness? It is because what needs to be known about God, their creator and judge, has already been made plain to them.

What this means, of course, is that if people are ignoring God or denying His existence, it is because they deliberately want to do so. They do not have to do so. And they do not have to do so because there is sufficient evidence around them that God exists and that He is going to reward everyone according to His works, good or bad, when the time is ripe. 

What evidence, then, are we talking about? It is the evidence presented to us by nature. So, we are not talking about hearing about Jesus and believing Him here, though that is very important. If you do not get to hear about Jesus at all till you leave this world, God is not going to judge you on the basis of your relationship with someone you never related to. That, however, will be a sufficient reason for you not go to hell for your wickedness and rejection of God.

As Paul shows us in that text, if you want to know God and take Him seriously, you can. You can because God Himself has already made plain what needs to be known about Him. In other words, God has been speaking to us about Himself. And we are not talking about the time of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, when God used to speak to them directly. Rather, I am saying that even after the fall of man, God did not stop speaking to man. How? One of the ways He has been speaking to them is through nature. He has been making known to us things about Himself through nature.

As we further see in that text, God’s invisible qualities are begin displayed to us through nature every day. And what are these invisible qualities of His? His eternal power and His divine nature! God’s eternal power is invisible. But when it is working, we can tell that something beyond us is working. His power, for instance, is what is responsible for the life and growth of all living things. Have you ever asked yourself where the power of life and growth comes from? Well, they are from God.

Also, God’s divine nature is invisible. But when it settles in a man, it changes his life. As we are shown in Scriptures, we who believe in Christ Jesus have been made partakers of God’s divine nature (2Peter 1:4). And because we are now partakers of His divine nature, we are able to live upright, godly and self-controlled lives in this present age. But that nature in us is invisible. Unbelievers cannot even handle the fact that we possess God’s divine nature. Yet it does not change the fact that we got that nature at new birth and that it has been working in us since then.

Well, Paul’s point is that God’s eternal qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, are already being made known to people. How? One of the ways is through nature, through the things that have been created. Therefore, people are without excuse. In other words, no one is going to have any excuse for not believing God or for not living in His fear. That is because even if you do not get to hear about God through a preacher, you are daily hearing about Him through nature. And if you won’t take Him seriously on that basis, you will someday have yourself to blame. May that not be your portion, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

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“Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion's carcass. In it was a swarm of bees and some honey, which he scooped out with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion's carcass.” (Judg 14:8-9NIV)

Who is the bible referring to in our opening text? It is Samson. He was the one that scooped out some honey from a lion’s carcass and ate it. Of course, as the story goes, he was the one that had killed that lion sometimes before that particular day. But did that make it right for him to eat honey taken from its carcass? No!

According to what God says to the children of Israel in the law of Moses, it is wrong of them to eat any animal that He has referred to as unclean for them. And even if they have to touch the carcass of such an animal, they will be unclean till the evening of the day and will have to take a ceremonial bath to make themselves clean. Then if the carcass of such an animal touches anything with water in it that can be eaten, that food becomes unclean and must be thrown away. In fact, if its carcass touches a cooking pot or oven, it has to be broken and thrown away. It is as serious as that. (Cf. Lev 11)

The question now is, “Is a lion unclean for the Israelites to eat?” Yes, according to the Law of Moses, a lion is unclean for them to eat. That is because it walks on its paws (Lev 11:27). That being the case, it was wrong of Samson to touch the carcass of that lion, not to even talk of take honey from it to eat.  

But he took honey from its carcass, ate it and did not bother at all about the fact that doing so made him ceremonially unclean before God. And did he eat that honey that day because he had no alternative and was fainting? No! The bible does not tell us that he was fainting or dying when he saw that honey. Also, the bible does not tell us that an emergency necessitated what he did. On the contrary, the bible shows us that he was on his way to marry a woman in the land of the Philistines that day. So, he did what he did that day because he did not have much regard for the law of the Lord. The only thing he had any regard for at all was the special anointing of might that the Spirit of God had given him.

Sadly, there are still many like Samson today. They have no serious regard for the word of God. Why? For the most part, it is because they think that certain gifts of the Spirit that they have, perhaps healing gifts, prophetic gifts, teaching gifts or miracle gifts, are a substitute for the word of God. But no spiritual gift, however useful it may be, is given to take the place of the word of God in our lives. On the contrary, if we are going to please God in using whatever gifts He gives to us, we must use them in line with what He has said to us in His word. Otherwise, as it was the case with Samson, we may end up messing up His work, our lives and even others’ lives in using those gifts.

Well, apart from the fact that Samson made himself unclean that day by eating honey from a lion’s carcass, he also made his parents unclean by sharing the honey with them to eat as well. As we see in our opening text, this young man did not tell his parents where he had gotten the sweet honey he was eating from. Why? He knew that they would not have joined him in eating it but would have reprimanded him. So, he kept quiet about its source and just gave them to eat. And they ate it and were made unclean, even though it was unknown to them at the time that they had been made unclean.

Now were Samson’s parents guiltless because they did not know the source of the honey their son had given them to eat? No, they were not. They would have been guiltless, if they had asked him where the honey had come from and he had told them a lie. That means they would have eaten the honey in good conscience. 

But they too did not ask him a thing. They just collected the honey from him and started eating it. Why? Maybe they trusted him too much to think that he would give them something that would make them unclean to eat. Or maybe they felt it was totally irrelevant to do so. In short, there may have been several reasons they did not ask him for the source of the honey he gave them to eat. 

One thing, however, is clear, which is that by not asking him for the source of the honey that their son gave them to eat, they exposed themselves to spiritual pollution. And if it was a matter that God was going to judge immediately and severely, they would have had only themselves to blame.

In like manner, we can expose ourselves to uncleanness, danger or the destruction of our reputation by not asking relevant questions about the source of what people are giving to us or sharing with us. Yes, we may trust someone with our lives because of our history or relationship with them. But if we are not clear about the source of certain good things they are enjoying or sharing, we should ask relevant questions. That is because even an anointed man or woman of God may deliberately ignore the word of God and allow greed or lust to take over her life for a moment. And if we partake of the reward of her lust, simply because we choose to be ignorant of what she is up to, even if it is a human that is judging the matter, he will most likely not fail to hold us guilty. 

There are parents today that are enjoying with their children the riches that they got from robbery, kidnapping, money rituals or some other vices. And there are people enjoying with their spouses, friends or siblings their ill-gotten gains. No, these people will not tell them where their wealth is coming from. But they too will not ask. And they will not ask because they have chosen to be ignorant. But on the day that trouble will come upon these people, they too will surely have their own share of it. Then their claim of ignorance will not move anyone or make sense to them. 

So, before you settle down with anyone, however close they may be to you, to enjoy riches or honour that you don’t know its source, you had better remember this story and let it be your wisdom. And may God keep you from foolishly or ignorantly making yourself a partaker of others’ sins or trouble, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a pleasant day.

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“"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.” (Mark 1:17-18NIV)

Those were Jesus’ words to the first set of disciples that He called. He told them to come and follow Him. Why? It was so that He could make them fishers of men. 

Now why did Jesus want to make these people fishers of men? It was because that was God’s purpose for their lives. They had been fishermen all their all lives. But from the moment that Jesus called them to Himself, He indicated His intention to make them into those individuals that God had always wanted them to be.  

What is this telling us? It is telling us that the only one that can make us who we are meant to be in life is the Lord Himself. And if He does not make us who we are meant to be, there is nothing we do that will make it happen. 

However, once He is committed to making us who we are meant to be, there is no force strong enough in this life to hinder Him, as long as we ourselves cooperate with Him. Those disciples called by the Lord cooperated with Him. So, He made them fishers of men, as He had promised to do, even though they faced several challenges in life. 

Also, as we see in the bible, David was anointed by God to be king over Israel. But the king at the time, Saul, persecuted him severely. He went after him with all his might in order to get rid of him. And did he succeed? No, he did not. Instead, he failed terribly and eventually lost his life in his sins. So, David ended up becoming the king God had always wanted him to be.

But how did David become king, according to God’s plan for his life? Was it by his wisdom, strength and diligence? No! Rather, it was through the equipping of the Lord. Look at what he said about how God prepared and made him the man that he became:

“It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great.” (Ps 18:32-35NIV)

Did you see that? Who equipped David to become the warrior king that he became? It was God! Who made him great? It was God! And why did God succeed in making him great? Was it because he was all perfect and without any mistakes? No, he was not a perfect man. He, in fact, made some very terrible mistakes in life. But because he cooperated with God, even where he missed it, God was able to make him great, as He had planned to do.

Therefore, God is able to make us all that He intends for us to be in life, in spite of our imperfections. He is able to equip us with all that we need to be all that He wants us to be and to also attain the heights that He wants us to attain in life. All we need is to cooperate with Him, as David and those apostles of old did. And He will take care of our imperfections and weaknesses and build us up to be men and women that will bring glory and praise to Him.

Have a lovely day.

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My prayer for you today is that your eyes will be daily opened by God to see what things you need to give yourself to in order to continually increase in usefulness in His hand, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Now one main way to increase in usefulness in God’s hand, apart from offering prayers to Him, is to recognise His gifts in our lives and make the most of them. As the bible shows us, it is only those who are putting to meaningful usage what God has given to them, whether spiritual things or natural things, that He gives more things to, so that they may increase in usefulness with them. Those who are not doing much or anything with what He has given to them will not receive additional revelations, abilities, resources or opportunities from Him. In fact, if they are not careful, He may end up taking away from them what He has given them. (Cf. Mark 4:24-25; Luke 19:11-26) 

So, if we want to continually increase in usefulness in God’s kingdom, we must carefully look into our lives to see what things He has given to us that we can use to serve Him or do His work. And this is not just about using our spiritual gifts to serve Him. It is also about using our natural or acquired abilities, education, resources and positions to serve Him.

For example, Luke, who wrote one of gospel books and also ‘The Acts of the Apostles’, was not known as an apostle, prophet, evangelist or pastor. Rather, he was known as a trained physician or doctor. But he made use of his education and his love for history in serving the Lord by writing an orderly account of the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. He also put these things to work in giving us a brief history of the church and of the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world. So, though he was not an acclaimed preacher like Paul, he made himself useful to God in preserving for us the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. (Cf. Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1-2; Col 4:14)  

Also, Dorcas was not a preacher or church leader. But she was always using her resources to help the poor, especially in the church. And that made her popular among the brethren. Therefore, when she died, they could not accept her death. They had to immediately send for Peter, who came to them and prayed for her to be brought back to life. And God answered him. Why? It was because He knew that if He gave that woman more years to live, she would not waste them in unproductive living. Instead, she would increase in usefulness and fruitfulness with them. (Cf. Acts 9:36-42)

So, you do not have to have preaching or healing gifts to be useful in God’s kingdom or to increase in usefulness in it. You just need to adequately and continually put to use whatever your spiritual gift is. And you will be amazed at what things God will accomplish through you. Then, even if you don’t seem to know what your spiritual gift is at the moment, consider how you can use your education, skills or resources to move forward the work of God. 

For example, if you are a furniture maker, see what you can make for the use of the church of God or how you can use your abilities to save the church some unnecessary spending. Or maybe you are good with writing or artwork. Think of how you can regularly use your skills in these things to support the church and promote the gospel, instead of making excuses for not being responsible to God in any way. It is unfortunate, however, that many in our churches today don’t want to use their abilities to serve God, if it will not result in much material profit for them. In fact, some don’t mind cheating the church in matters like this. That is because their god is their stomach. (Cf. Ex 35:4-36:3; Philippians 3:18-19)

Now I know that it is wrong for any church too to underpay or cheat anyone who does any work for her simply because the person is a church member or believer. If a believer wants to give his church some discounts on goods or services supplied by him, it is fine. But it has to be as he purposes in his heart and not something he is manipulated, threatened or forced to do (2Cor 9:7). Yet we all must learn to make available everything we have that is of use in doing the Lord’s work and in increasing in usefulness in His kingdom. Otherwise, we may end up being regarded by Him someday as lazy and unprofitable servants. And may things not end like that for you and me, in Jesus’ name. 

Have a lovely day.

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“The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” (John 3:35-36NIV) 

In today’s opening text, John says whoever believes in the Lord Jesus has eternal life. That means the person has a relationship with God. That is because having eternal life actually means having a relationship with God. And anyone who believes in Jesus Christ is in that relationship—He has eternal life. 

But John also tells us here that anyone who rejects the Son of God, Jesus Christ, will not see life. Instead, God’s wrath remains on him. 

Now you know there are people who complain when we say that it is only through Jesus that they can come to God. It upsets them; it gets them angry. And because of that they don’t want to be reconciled to God. They say, “If it is only through Jesus Christ that I can come to God, then, I don’t want to come to Him; I don’t want to be reconciled to Him.” 

The name of Jesus offends such people. His name irritates them. But very clearly, the bible says, “There is no other name under heaven by which man must be saved except the name of Jesus.” And we are equally being told in our opening text that if anyone will not accept the offer of God, if he will not be reconciled to God through Jesus, then, the wrath of God will remain on his head. 

Again, this is something people don’t want to hear. But it is the truth. It is the truth that the wrath of God remains on the head of anyone that will not accept Jesus as their Lord. So, if you have not accepted Him as your Lord and are reading this, you need to do so before it is too late. 

Then if you have people around you that will not accept Jesus as their Lord for any reason, you need to let them know that the wrath of God remains on their heads. That, of course, is not what God wants for them. What He wants is to forgive them of all their sins. But if they will not accept His offer of salvation, there is no way He can help them. And they need to learn this from someone. So, be that person that will tell them, even if doing so may make you unpopular with them. That may just be their only way to be saved. May God strengthen you to do so without delay. Amen.

Have a pleasant day. 

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“Eli’s sons were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord.” (1Samuel 2:12NIV) 

What a way to describe people! These fellows were priests. But they were sons of Belial. They were scoundrels; they were irresponsible. They had no regard whatsoever for the Lord. 

Well, from verse 22 of the same chapter, we are further told this: 

“Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. So he said to them, ‘Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. No, my sons; the report I hear spreading among the Lord’s people is not good. If one person sins against another, God will mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will intercede for them?’ His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death.” (1Samuel 2:22-25NIV)

Imagine the audacity these young men had. They were priests. Yet they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting as they liked. Now you can also see that their father actually spoke against their activities. He was not happy about what they were doing. 

But was it enough to speak against their evil activities? No! Indeed, he spoke against what they were doing, but they did not repent. So, should he have kept quiet about the matter because they would not listen? Or should he have ignored the matter? Should he have said to them, “Well, since you would not listen to me, I leave you to act as you like. Keep on corrupting the people; keep on polluting the people?” No!

But you know that is what we usually do. Once in a while, we may speak up against certain wrong things in our churches or in the lives of those around us. But we don’t take any step to put an end to the practice of those things. We are tolerating wickedness, and the Lord is not happy about it. 

In our relationship with one another, as believers, we must not tolerate wrong things; we must not keep quiet about wrong things. Just because you don’t want to offend someone, you allow the person to destroy himself and to destroy others—that is wrong. The Lord is going to hold you responsible. We need to understand that most of the things we do don’t affect us alone; they also affect the people around us. 

Now, in chapter 3 of 1Samuel, verse 11, still on the issue of the sons of Eli, we are told this:

“And the Lord said to Samuel: ‘See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle. At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family – from beginning to end. For I told him that I would judge his family for ever because of the sin he knew about; his sons uttered blasphemies against God, and he failed to restrain them. Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, “The guilt of Eli’s house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.”’” (1Samuel 3:11-14NIV) 

Can you see that? What was the sin of Eli? It was the failure to restrain his sons. That means Eli could have put them out of office. He could have stopped them from ministering in Israel. He had the right to do so. But he did not. He failed to restrain them.

You can now see why the Lord says the guilt of Eli’s house would never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering. That means no amount of sacrifices would take away the sins of that house. No amount of offering made to the Lord would take away the guilt of that house. And is that to say that the Lord is no longer a forgiving God? No! It just shows that the matter at hand had nothing to do with a giving of sacrifices or offerings. This is a matter of restraining evil. 

So, it is not about coming to the Lord and saying, “O Lord, we are sorry for all our wrongdoings.” No! You have to stop the wrong thing. Don’t permit it. Don’t allow it; don’t tolerate it. And may God help you to do this wherever it is necessary, so that you don’t end up partaking in the judgment of others. Amen.

Have a lovely day.

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“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously, if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” (Romans 12:4-8NIV)

Observe that Paul’s focus in this text is not just to let us know that each of us has at least a spiritual gift; it is also to let us know that God expects us to use these gifts. He did not give us these gifts for the fun of giving them. He gave them to us so that we may use them to serve His people and others in our world and bring about the fulfilment of His purpose in their lives.

Furthermore, in 1Peter, chapter 4, from verse 10, we are told:

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” (1Peter 4:10-11NIV)

Peter is telling us that each of us must use the gift he has received to serve. Then he says your using your gift shows that you are a faithful steward of God’s grace. That means if you are not using your gift, you are not being faithful. Remember that, in the parable of the man that gave his servants talents to work with, the one who did not use his talent was referred to as wicked and slothful.

So, if you are not using the gift God has given you, we may as well refer to you as wicked and slothful. That is because you are denying a lot of people the blessings that should flow into their lives through the exercise of your gift.

What I mean is that there are things God wants to do through you in the lives of those around you. That is why He gave you that gift, whatever it may be. You, then, need to show yourself as faithful in using it, so that His purpose of giving it to you may be accomplished.

Have a lovely day.

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“But to each of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: ‘When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.’” (Ephesians 4:7NIV) 

The focus of Apostle Paul here in our opening text is on the fact that all of us have received at least one spiritual gift from God and the Spirit of God is seeking to manifest this gift through us. Since we all, then, have at least a spiritual gift, we are expected to use it. If we are not using our spiritual gifts, we have no right to covet more gifts or to desire any other gift that someone else has. 

A lot of times, some of us want to be like certain saints that have been mightily or are being mightily used by God. We want to be like Apostle Paul, Apostle Joseph Ayo Babalola, Kenneth Hagin, Bishop David Oyedepo and so forth. That, of course, is because we love what these people have done or are doing. And that is a good thing. It is a good thing to love the good and great things other people of God are doing and to also celebrate them. 

But you do not have to be any one of them. You cannot even be any one of them. You have your own spiritual gifts. And no one can use your gifts the way you can use them. Even if someone else has the same gifts you have, he cannot possibly use them the way you will use yours. You have your own uniqueness, which God has created you with. If you, then, will use your gifts in your own unique way, people will love you and praise God for it. They will even desire to have what you have. 

Why do we desire what the great men and women of God around us are doing or what the great saints of old who have gone to be with the Lord have done? It is because they did something with their gifts. If they did not do anything with their gifts, we are not going to be talking about them. That is because we will not know how much God is able to do with such gifts.

But what about our own gifts? We need to use them. And until we begin to put them to adequate use, we have no moral right to ask God to give us more or additional gifts. The apostles did not show us the gifts present in the church just so we could be aware of them; rather, they showed us so that we also can begin to use them. 

Now there is a rule in the kingdom of God, which is that it is the one that is using what he is given that will receive more. Read the parable of the man that gave his servants some talents to work with while he was away, which we have in Matthew 25 and Luke 19, and you will see that it is only those that used what he gave them that he rewarded and praised. The man that did not use what he was given was not praised at all. Instead, he was condemned and referred to as lazy, worthless and wicked. In fact, he was eventually driven out.

So, the Lord, in giving His closing thoughts on that parable, says the one who has will be given more in order that he may have even much more; but the one who does not have, even the little he has will be taken away from him. It is the same thing that applies to the exercise of our spiritual gifts. If we are not using them, we will become redundant with them. At some point, we may even begin to feel that we do not have them at all or again. But if we are using them, then, God will increase us in usefulness with them or increase our sphere of influence through them. And of course, if we are using the gifts we already possess, God is able to give us greater gifts than what we already have and in addition to them.

All of this is why I want you to consider what Paul says to Timothy here: 

“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.” (2Timothy 1:6NIV) 

Look at that. Timothy is reminded here to fan into flame the gift of God in him. You too need to fan into flame the gift of God in you. You need to use that gift. You need to begin to work with it, reach out to people with it and bless people with it. Yes, you need to allow the Spirit of God to cause this gift to fully find expression in you. That way, you can expect God to answer your prayers for certain gifts of the Spirit that you desire to have. And I pray that the Spirit of God will open your eyes to recognise His gifts that are in you and also strengthen you to begin to put them to use, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a lovely day.

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“And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"” (Luke 18:7-8NIV)

Those were the words that the Lord used in closing the parable He told to His disciples about a widow and an unjust judge. And He said those words to let us know that God is never slow in answering the prayers of His people. Instead, He is always quick to answer them and to give them justice. (Cf. Luke 18:1-6)

Why, then, does it often look like God is slow in answering the prayers of His people? Why does it often look like He loves to take His time before attending to the cries and desires of His people? The reason God often appears to be slow in dealing with the matters of His children is that we are ignorant of most of the happenings in the invisible realm of the spirit that is all around us. If our eyes should be opened to see what is happening in that realm, especially as it concerns a matter that we have prayed about, it will become very clear to us that God is never slow in attending to anything that concerns us.

For instance, in chapter 10 of his book, Daniel shares an experience of his with us, one in which he prayed about a matter for twenty-one days (three weeks) before the answer to his prayer came. And it was when his answer came that he realised that God actually answered his prayer the very moment he offered it. But the angel that was bringing the answer to him was resisted by the devil for twenty-one days. Therefore, this angel could not come to Daniel with the answer to his prayer until another angel, Michael, came there to support him.

That is telling us that it is not only our physical world that is busy; the invisible realm around us is also busy with activities, in fact, busier than we can ever appreciate as humans. Angels and demons too are always on the move, doing all kinds of things that are impacting our physical world. And if we are not given a revelation of how the activities of these beings are affecting us, just as Daniel was given one, we may continue to misunderstand God and His commitment to taking care of us.

Apart from that, there are times that our own readiness or the readiness of others in our lives to do certain things may be the reason it looks as if God were slow in answering our prayers. For instance, when God was going to deliver the Israelites from the oppressive rule of the Philistines, He answered their prayers by sending Samson to them. But did Samson begin to deliver them the very moment his mother conceived him? No! Or did he begin to deliver them the very moment he was born? No! He had to first grow up to a certain age before the Spirit of God began to stir him up to do the job he had been born to do. (Cf. Judges 13)

So, there are times that God’s answer to a prayer we have offered is like a baby. And that baby first has to be conceived, born and nurtured, so that he may grow up to become a responsible adult that is fit to do what he has been born to do. That, of course, will take time. And if we are not aware of anything about the birth or growth of that child, we may think God is not doing anything about our prayer, even though, all along, He has been doing everything that needs to be done about it.

All of this is why what God expects from all of us is absolute faith in Him, when we pray to Him about any matter. He expects this from us because it is not every time that He will make known to us the process that is involved in bringing us answers to our prayers. To say the fact, in most cases, the processes through which answers to our prayers may come to us need to be hidden from us. Otherwise, we may unduly interfere with them and mess things up.

Remember that it was Rebekah that encouraged Jacob to rob Esau of his blessing. And why did she do that? It was because it had been revealed to her by God that Esau was going to serve Jacob. So, she tried to play God by controlling everything happening in the family to favour Jacob. That, of course, turned her two children into eternal enemies. (Cf. Gen 26-27)

So, what God really requires of us is faith in Him, even if our circumstances present Him as a slow God or as an absent God. And will He always find that in us? That is the question our Lord Jesus is asking in our opening text. He says, “When the Son of man returns, will He find faith on the earth? Will He meet His people praying without fainting?”

Now when is He going to return? It could be today. And if it is today, will He find faith in me? Will He find me still praying to God and trusting Him to move on my behalf and on behalf of my country, even though everything happening is giving me the impression that God is not listening to my prayers or that God has no interest in answering them? I pray that God will see to it that He does find faith in you and me, regardless of when He comes.

Have a lovely day.

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“And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"” (Luke 18:7-8NIV)

Those were the words that the Lord used in closing the parable He told to His disciples about a widow and an unjust judge. And He said those words to let us know that God is never slow in answering the prayers of His people. Instead, He is always quick to answer them and to give them justice. (Cf. Luke 18:1-6)

Why, then, does it often look like God is slow in answering the prayers of His people? Why does it often look like He loves to take His time before attending to the cries and desires of His people? The reason God often appears to be slow in dealing with the matters of His children is that we are ignorant of most of the happenings in the invisible realm of the spirit that is all around us. If our eyes should be opened to see what is happening in that realm, especially as it concerns a matter that we have prayed about, it will become very clear to us that God is never slow in attending to anything that concerns us.

For instance, in chapter 10 of his book, Daniel shares an experience of his with us, one in which he prayed about a matter for twenty-one days (three weeks) before the answer to his prayer came. And it was when his answer came that he realised that God actually answered his prayer the very moment he offered it. But the angel that was bringing the answer to him was resisted by the devil for twenty-one days. Therefore, this angel could not come to Daniel with the answer to his prayer until another angel, Michael, came there to support him.

That is telling us that it is not only our physical world that is busy; the invisible realm around us is also busy with activities, in fact, busier than we can ever appreciate as humans. Angels and demons too are always on the move, doing all kinds of things that are impacting our physical world. And if we are not given a revelation of how the activities of these beings are affecting us, just as Daniel was given one, we may continue to misunderstand God and His commitment to taking care of us.

Apart from that, there are times that our own readiness or the readiness of others in our lives to do certain things may be the reason it looks as if God were slow in answering our prayers. For instance, when God was going to deliver the Israelites from the oppressive rule of the Philistines, He answered their prayers by sending Samson to them. But did Samson begin to deliver them the very moment his mother conceived him? No! Or did he begin to deliver them the very moment he was born? No! He had to first grow up to a certain age before the Spirit of God began to stir him up to do the job he had been born to do. (Cf. Judges 13)

So, there are times that God’s answer to a prayer we have offered is like a baby. And that baby first has to be conceived, born and nurtured, so that he may grow up to become a responsible adult that is fit to do what he has been born to do. That, of course, will take time. And if we are not aware of anything about the birth or growth of that child, we may think God is not doing anything about our prayer, even though, all along, He has been doing everything that needs to be done about it.

All of this is why what God expects from all of us is absolute faith in Him, when we pray to Him about any matter. He expects this from us because it is not every time that He will make known to us the process that is involved in bringing us answers to our prayers. To say the fact, in most cases, the processes through which answers to our prayers may come to us need to be hidden from us. Otherwise, we may unduly interfere with them and mess things up.

Remember that it was Rebekah that encouraged Jacob to rob Esau of his blessing. And why did she do that? It was because it had been revealed to her by God that Esau was going to serve Jacob. So, she tried to play God by controlling everything happening in the family to favour Jacob. That, of course, turned her two children into eternal enemies. (Cf. Gen 26-27)

So, what God really requires of us is faith in Him, even if our circumstances present Him as a slow God or as an absent God. And will He always find that in us? That is the question our Lord Jesus is asking in our opening text. He says, “When the Son of man returns, will He find faith on the earth? Will He meet His people praying without fainting?”

Now when is He going to return? It could be today. And if it is today, will He find faith in me? Will He find me still praying to God and trusting Him to move on my behalf and on behalf of my country, even though everything happening is giving me the impression that God is not listening to my prayers or that God has no interest in answering them? I pray that God will see to it that He does find faith in you and me, regardless of when He comes.

Have a lovely day.

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“And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"” (Luke 18:7-8NIV)

Those were the words that the Lord used in closing the parable He told to His disciples about a widow and an unjust judge. And He said those words to let us know that God is never slow in answering the prayers of His people. Instead, He is always quick to answer them and to give them justice. (Cf. Luke 18:1-6)

Why, then, does it often look like God is slow in answering the prayers of His people? Why does it often look like He loves to take His time before attending to the cries and desires of His people? The reason God often appears to be slow in dealing with the matters of His children is that we are ignorant of most of the happenings in the invisible realm of the spirit that is all around us. If our eyes should be opened to see what is happening in that realm, especially as it concerns a matter that we have prayed about, it will become very clear to us that God is never slow in attending to anything that concerns us.

For instance, in chapter 10 of his book, Daniel shares an experience of his with us, one in which he prayed about a matter for twenty-one days (three weeks) before the answer to his prayer came. And it was when his answer came that he realised that God actually answered his prayer the very moment he offered it. But the angel that was bringing the answer to him was resisted by the devil for twenty-one days. Therefore, this angel could not come to Daniel with the answer to his prayer until another angel, Michael, came there to support him.

That is telling us that it is not only our physical world that is busy; the invisible realm around us is also busy with activities, in fact, busier than we can ever appreciate as humans. Angels and demons too are always on the move, doing all kinds of things that are impacting our physical world. And if we are not given a revelation of how the activities of these beings are affecting us, just as Daniel was given one, we may continue to misunderstand God and His commitment to taking care of us.

Apart from that, there are times that our own readiness or the readiness of others in our lives to do certain things may be the reason it looks as if God were slow in answering our prayers. For instance, when God was going to deliver the Israelites from the oppressive rule of the Philistines, He answered their prayers by sending Samson to them. But did Samson begin to deliver them the very moment his mother conceived him? No! Or did he begin to deliver them the very moment he was born? No! He had to first grow up to a certain age before the Spirit of God began to stir him up to do the job he had been born to do. (Cf. Judges 13)

So, there are times that God’s answer to a prayer we have offered is like a baby. And that baby first has to be conceived, born and nurtured, so that he may grow up to become a responsible adult that is fit to do what he has been born to do. That, of course, will take time. And if we are not aware of anything about the birth or growth of that child, we may think God is not doing anything about our prayer, even though, all along, He has been doing everything that needs to be done about it.

All of this is why what God expects from all of us is absolute faith in Him, when we pray to Him about any matter. He expects this from us because it is not every time that He will make known to us the process that is involved in bringing us answers to our prayers. To say the fact, in most cases, the processes through which answers to our prayers may come to us need to be hidden from us. Otherwise, we may unduly interfere with them and mess things up.

Remember that it was Rebekah that encouraged Jacob to rob Esau of his blessing. And why did she do that? It was because it had been revealed to her by God that Esau was going to serve Jacob. So, she tried to play God by controlling everything happening in the family to favour Jacob. That, of course, turned her two children into eternal enemies. (Cf. Gen 26-27)

So, what God really requires of us is faith in Him, even if our circumstances present Him as a slow God or as an absent God. And will He always find that in us? That is the question our Lord Jesus is asking in our opening text. He says, “When the Son of man returns, will He find faith on the earth? Will He meet His people praying without fainting?”

Now when is He going to return? It could be today. And if it is today, will He find faith in me? Will He find me still praying to God and trusting Him to move on my behalf and on behalf of my country, even though everything happening is giving me the impression that God is not listening to my prayers or that God has no interest in answering them? I pray that God will see to it that He does find faith in you and me, regardless of when He comes.

Have a lovely day.

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“…If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." (Mark 9:35NIV)

From what the Lord says here, it is clear that God is not against His children becoming the best or first in life. In fact, among the things He promised to do for the children of Israel, if they would obey His commandments, was to make them the head and not the tail among the nations of the world (Deut 28:13). So, it is not against His wish for you and me to be the head and not the tail wherever we find ourselves in life.

However, how do we become the kind of head God wants us to be, not just in this world but also in His eternal kingdom? How do we occupy a place of significance in His scheme of things? That is what the Lord is speaking to us about in that bible text. And He says it is by functioning as everybody’s servant.

Now what does it mean to function as a servant of everybody? Does it mean to become an errand boy or girl for everyone? Or does it mean for to become everybody’s waste bin, to become someone that everyone feels free to treat shamefully? No! What, then, does it mean?

Well, we can understand what it means by looking at the way our Lord Jesus Himself functioned when He was here in the world. Remember that He said that He did not come into the world to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). How, then, did He serve men? Was it by becoming their errand boy or someone that they could always treat as they liked? No! Rather, it was by going from place to place, doing those things that would bring about the fulfilment of the will of God in people’s lives.

Of course, there were times that He was insulted and despised by people because of the things He said about His relationship with God. In fact, He was eventually treated shamefully and killed because He called Himself the Son of God. But all through the period that He ministered among His people, He was highly respected by all of them, including His enemies.

So, being a servant of everyone is not about presenting ourselves as individuals that have no sense of worth and that people can treat anyhow. Rather, it is about living in such a way that the things we do and say are directly or indirectly bringing about the fulfilment of God’s purpose in the lives of those around us and those with whom we are in fellowship. And if this is the way we are functioning, then, we will never mind doing even things that are meant for slaves or errand boys and girls, inasmuch as they will result in the fulfilment of God’s purpose in the lives of others.

There was a time, for example, in which our Lord Jesus washed the feet of all His apostles, a job that was meant for slaves, for the most part. He did that to show them that what makes a man great is not merely his title or position but his willingness to do whatever was necessary to serve those under his authority, even if it means for him to wash their feet. And did that make those apostles despise Him? No! Rather, it made them respect Him all the more. Also, it illustrated to them what He had been teaching them all along that anyone who wants to become first or great in the kingdom of His Father must be willing to serve others in any way that would bring about the fulfilment of God’s will in their lives. (Cf. John 13:1-17)

If we too, then, want to occupy great positions in the kingdom of God our Father, we must be willing to serve one another and those in our world in any way that will bring the will of God to pass in their lives. But are we going to humble ourselves to function like this or are we going to keep functioning with an exaggerated opinion of ourselves? My prayer is that our hearts will be made humble to serve all the people God wants us to serve in ways that will result in our greatness in His eternal kingdom. Amen.

Have a splendid day. 

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“But Manasseh did not drive out the people of Beth Shan or Taanach or Dor or Ibleam or Megiddo and their surrounding settlements, for the Canaanites were determined to live in that land.” (Judg 1:27NIV)

Why did the tribe of Manasseh not drive out the Canaanites in the land God had given to them? It was because those Canaanites were determined not to give up their land.

But God had already given that land to the Israelites? Not only that, God had given them the ability to take the land for themselves. Why, then, did they not proceed to drive out all the Canaanites there? At least, we are not told that they could not drive them out. If that were the case, then, it would mean that they attempted to drive them out but failed to do so.

What we are told, however, implies that they did not show much serious commitment in driving out those people. Why? Evidently, it was not because those people had enough power to resist them. Rather, it was because they found some ways to make them allow them to continue to live in the land.

What exactly did they do, then, to make the Israelites disobey God’s command to drive them out? What did they do to appease them and make them continue to live in the land? We would not know everything they did to make that happen, for we are not told in plain terms. But we do know from bible accounts that they somehow succeeded in making the Israelites fall in love with their girls and marry them. They also succeeded in making their men capture the hearts of Israelites girls and marry them. And they did that to save themselves; they did that because they were determined to stay in the land. (Cf. Judges 3:5-6)

So, determination is a force. It is a force that is powerful enough to prevent people from giving up. It is a force that drives people to think outside the box to find ways for themselves where there seems to be none. And where people are determined to do something, it will be hard, if not impossible, for you to stop them, if you are not more determined than they are, even if you have all the armies of God with you. That, then, means that determination is a virtue we all must possess, if we are going to get anything meaningful done in life and if we will not allow ourselves to be enslaved by anyone or anything.

However, it is not enough for us to be determined to do something or not to do something; it is also important that we trust God to make our determination count. Otherwise, we may end up being destroyed through our determination. For instance, we are told in the book of Daniel that he was determined not to be defiled through the eating of the king’s food and wine. And because he was determined in this way, he found a way to talk to the chief official that was handling them about giving him and his friends permission not to eat what others were eating. (Cf. Dan 1:8)

Now did the man give him audience at all? He did! And did he grant his request? He did! Why? As we see in the account, it was because God granted him favour in the sight of the man and also brought about circumstances that encouraged the man to continue to favour him. If God had not granted him favour before the man, then, his determination could only have earned him trouble. (Cf. Dan 1:8-16)

So, while it is important that you are determined to do the will of God in your life, to be prosperous and to not be a slave of anyone or anything, don’t ever count on your determination. Instead, count on God. Determination is a powerful force indeed. But it cannot take the place of God in our lives, for it is actually a gift of God to us. Therefore, if we want it to work in our favour, our trust should not be in it but in the one who has given it to us. That way, He will be glad to make it count in our lives.

Finally, I must warn you not to employ determination in doing evil or anything contrary to the will of God. That is stubbornness. And it can only earn you sudden destruction, if you are not shown mercy. Then don’t misrepresent determination for desperation or recklessness. Otherwise, you will not only fail at whatever you are up to, you may also end up killing yourself before your time. Therefore, mind yourself.

Have a pleasant day.

Have a splendid day.

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“So the five men left and came to Laish, where they saw that the people were living in safety, like the Sidonians, unsuspecting and secure. And since their land lacked nothing, they were prosperous. Also, they lived a long way from the Sidonians and had no relationship with anyone else. When they returned to Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers asked them, "How did you find things?" They answered, "Come on, let's attack them! We have seen that the land is very good. Aren't you going to do something? Don't hesitate to go there and take it over. When you get there, you will find an unsuspecting people and a spacious land that God has put into your hands, a land that lacks nothing whatever."” (Judg 18:7-10NIV)

From what we see in our opening bible text for today, it is possible to some degree to live in isolation and be prosperous and fine. In fact, one of the reasons people often choose to live in isolation is that they may control the number of those that will be sharing in their prosperity. Then there are those who believe that once they allow others in their lives, they will begin to unduly interfere with their affairs, monitoring or controlling them in ways they do not like. So, in order that they may not have reasons to quarrel with anyone, they will altogether keep a low profile and refuse to have any special relationship with anyone.

Now it is indeed true that allowing people, even good people, in our lives may expose us to situations in which some of them may want to unduly interfere with our lives. But it is better to learn to deal with the excesses of the people in our lives by the wisdom of the Sprit of God than not to have anyone in our lives at all.

Those people mentioned in the bible text above would not relate to anyone. They were just on their own. Yes, they were happy and prosperous. But they would not share their happiness and prosperity with anybody. Therefore, when disaster came upon them suddenly, there was no one to come to their aid and share their trouble with them. Look at how the bible puts it:

“Then they took what Micah had made, and his priest, and went on to Laish, against a peaceful and unsuspecting people. They attacked them with the sword and burned down their city. There was no one to rescue them because they lived a long way from Sidon and had no relationship with anyone else. The city was in a valley near Beth Rehob.” (Judg 18:27-28NIV)

Why was there no one to rescue those people in Laish? It was because they had no relationship with anyone else. So, there was no one to warn them of the danger that was about to come upon them. And there was no one for them to reach out to for help. Therefore, they perished and their name was forever wiped out from the face of the earth.

Why am I showing you this? I am showing you to let you know that even though the people in our lives sometimes or many times can be a terrible burden to us, God still has good reasons for planting them in our lives. So, we should not try to get rid of them. Instead, what we need is to define the roles they will be playing in our lives or the place we will allow them to occupy in our lives. That is because there may be times in which our relationships with them may be the tool God will use to save us from certain life problems or to elevate us to certain heights He wants to take us to in life. And may God fill you with sufficient divine wisdom to deal with everyone in your life, even the difficult one, so that you may continually enjoy their presence. Amen

Have a lovely day.

Have a splendid day.

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“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24NIV)

Who said these words? It was our Lord Jesus Christ. And He said them to make clear to His audience how important it was for Him, the only begotten Son of God, to die in order for God to have many sons in His glory (Heb 2:10). So, what He said on this occasion was addressing something spiritual.

However, we must not forget that these words of our Lord are first of all pointing to something natural, something every farmer knows. Every farmer knows that in order to multiply any seed, you have to first plant it somewhere. In other words, you have to first give it up to death. Otherwise, it will remain nothing but a single seed and not multiply in your hands. But the moment you plant it in some good soil, you have given it an opportunity to grow and multiply itself back to you. And with the working of the blessing of God, that seed you have planted will, of course, multiply itself back to you.

But then, it is not only in farming that this principle is applicable. It is also applicable in almost every area of life. For example, if you want to increase in wealth, one of the things you must be given to is planting your money into one form of business or the other. Otherwise, what you have will not increase. It can only decrease.

The bible says this of a certain king of Tyre that was reigning during the days of Ezekiel: “By your great skill in trading you have increased your wealth…” (Ezek 28:5NIV) How did this king increase his wealth? It was through trading. Yes, he traded with great skill. But if he was not trading the things he had, his trading skills would most likely have remained useless and dormant in him.

Unfortunately, many of God’s people don’t understand this. Yes, they want to increase in wealth and be able to do all the great things God wants them to do with money. So, they are praying, fasting and even giving to men of God. But they are not planting the money God is giving to them in any business or venture, so that it can be multiplied back to them. Instead, most of the time, they just eat everything that comes to them from God and wait for Him to send more.

Now that will not result in prosperity. It is, indeed, good to pray, for through prayers we are able to receive God’s provisions for us to enjoy our lives. And it is good to give to those feeding us with the word of God, for by doing so we can receive miracles that will save us from famine or that will grant us speed for accomplishment. But we must also understand that prayers will not make seeds that we have not planted grow.

Then there are miracles of supply that God does not perform every day. Even the miracle of Manna did not last forever for the Israelites. It stopped at some point. It stopped when the Israelites came to where they could plant to harvest the milk and honey God had provided for them.

Therefore, even though God is ever ready to miraculously supply what we need and multiply it for us, He has also made it clear to us through His word that it is not everything He gives to us that is bread for us to eat. There are parts of His provisions for us that are seeds for us to plant, so that we can sustain His provisions in our lives. But if we continue to ignorantly eat what we are supposed to plant, we won’t be able to multiply and sustain God’s provisions for us. So, instead of continually receiving a bountiful harvest of what we have planted, which is a miracle on its own, we will often find ourselves waiting for another miracle of supply that we will consume as usual. (Cf. 2Cor 9:9-10)

You can now see why many of God’s people usually end up dying in poverty. It is not meant to be so. But it will continue to be so as long as we remain ignorant of the will of God for us about our prosperity. And what is His will for us about our prosperity? First, it is that we trust Him alone for our prosperity, for it is He that gives the ability to become wealthy. Second, it is that we separate our seeds from our bread. Third, it is that we plant our seeds in the right places, in the right ventures and in the right people. That way, His word of blessing that says, “As long as the earth remains, seed time and harvest will never cease,” will not fail to be operational in our lives for our prosperity (Gen 8:22).

Have a great day.

Have a splendid day.

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“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them — bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” (2Peter 2:1-3NIV)

Did you observe that the people Peter is talking about here are leaders in the church? And what does he say about them? He says they will be secretly polluting the church. So, when we are talking about secret polluters of the church, we are not excluding church leaders. A church leader can be secretly polluting the people of God through false doctrines, doctrines that promote greed, immorality or rebellion.

For instance, a sister once told me of how her pastor told her that part of her spiritual duty was to take care of him sexually. And what did he use to support this nonsense talk? Scriptures! That, of course, is a secret polluter of the people of God.

Also, a preacher can pollute God’s people through fabricated dreams, visions, prophecies or stories, just to poison their minds against other people, including their family members. There are people today who have turned their back on their husbands, wives, parents or children because certain preachers lied to them. And unless such people are cleansed with the word of God and by the power of the Spirit of God, they may remain polluted and useless to God for the rest of their lives.

Then another thing that secret polluters use in polluting the church is sexual immorality. Jude has this to say about that:

“For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.” (Jude 4NIV)

Did you see that? Even though secret polluters claim to be Christians, they are actually nothing but godless people. And because they have no fear of God in them, they are always using all kinds of cleverness to seduce God’s people into sexual immorality or the practice of sorcery. And where the leadership of an assembly is not sensitive or is distracted by activities, a lot of lives and homes in that assembly may have been ruined before they know what is happening.

Furthermore, secret polluters often secretly use backbiting to divide God’s people and pollute them. There are churches today that have been struggling for years to come out of spiritual infancy and increase in usefulness in God’s hand and have not been able to do so. Why? Secret polluters will not let them rest. They are always fighting one another and settling disputes among themselves. So, they cannot concentrate on building themselves up with the word of God and growing in the grace of Jesus Christ.

Now the word of God already tells us that there is only one sentence from God for secret polluters. And that is swift destruction. Remember Korah, Dathan, Abiram and On, who wanted to pollute the Israelites through rebellion. They and their families were quickly wiped out. Remember also Ananias and Sapphira, who wanted to pollute the early church through hypocritical giving. They were quickly killed by God. (Cf. Num 16; Acts 5:1-11)

So, don’t be a secret polluter of the church of God. You will not go far at all before you are judged. Also, have nothing to do with anyone that is a secret polluter in the church, in your family, in your neighbourhood or in your workplace. Otherwise, you may end up sharing in their judgment. And may the Spirit of God keep you blameless till the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Have a splendid day.

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“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” (Eph 1:18-21NIV)

What is the focus of Paul’s prayer here? First, it is that God will open our eyes to know the eternal hope to which He has called us. Second, it is that He will make us understand how rich and glorious God’s inheritance, the beautiful things He has deposited in us, is. Third, it is that God will make us know His incomparably great power for those of us who believe.

Now what does Paul say about God’s incomparably great power? He says it is for those of us who believe. In other words, God’s great power is available for you and me to utilise. But we will not utilise it the way we ought to, if we do not know how great and powerful it is.

So, Paul gives us an example of the working and greatness of this power. And it is that of the raising of our Lord Jesus Chrit from the dead. According to him, it is this power that God released into Jesus when He wanted to raise Him from the dead. So, without anybody praying or fasting for Him and without anybody laying hands on Him, this power released Him from the jaws of death, even though He had been dead for three days. Hallelujah!

Then Paul goes on to also tell us that it was this same power that enabled Jesus to ascend on high and seat at the right hand of God, far above every authority and power and far above every name and title that can be given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. So, we are looking at a kind of power before which death cannot stand. Yes, we are looking at a kind of power that cannot be kept from exalting people to where God wants them to be. And this power has been made available for those of us who believe. Not only that, it is now at work in us as well. (Cf. Eph 3:20)

Therefore, first, we should continually give thanks to God for making this power, the power of Christ’s resurrection and ascension, available to us. Second, we should, like Paul, always pray that God will cause us to appreciate this power and how it works, so that we can daily utilise it to destroy anything that is called death in our lives and also utilise it to rise above every challenge of life and be the people God wants us to be. And may we be strengthened by the Spirit of God to give ourselves to doing these things, so that the benefits of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ will not elude us. Amen.

Have a great day.

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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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“Because he loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.” (Deut 4:37-38NIV)

Why did God bring the children of Israel out of Egypt by His mighty hand? It was because of His love for their forefathers and also for them. And why did He drive out the inhabitants of Canaan in order for them to take over their land? It was also because of His love for them. So, all that they enjoyed from God’s hand had nothing to do with their righteousness or holiness or integrity; instead, it had everything to do with God’s love for them. (Cf. Deut 9:5)

In like manner, because of God’s love for us, we can trust Him to take us from where we are to where we ought to be. What if there are forces that will not want us to leave where we are for where we are supposed to be? Then God will have to handle them, as He handled the Egyptians when they would not allow the Israelites to leave their land. He compelled them with His mighty hand until they had no choice but to let them leave.

So, if there are people or circumstances that are trying to keep you in stagnation, all you need is to hand them over to God. You don’t need to tell Him what to do about them. He knows what to do about them. Remember that the Israelites did not need to tell God what to do to their Egyptian oppressors to let them go. God knew what to do to them. And He did it. He knows what to do to those preventing you from rising or moving forward in life as well. And you can trust Him to do it.

But what if there are people or forces that are already occupying where God wants you to be and are unwilling to leave there? Then God will have to drive them out of there, as He did to the Canaanites when He was bringing the Israelites to occupy their land. Yes, the Canaanites were stronger and more powerful than the Israelites. Yet because God had already given the land they were occupying to the Israelites, He drove them out before them. So, they took over the land, settled in it and became possessors of it for all time.

In the same vein, if God has already given a place or position to you in life, then, even if someone is at the moment occupying it, you can trust Him to drive the person away from there, if they will not leave there peacefully. That, of course, may not happen overnight. King Saul was not removed from the throne of Israel the very day David was anointed to take his place. In fact, he spent some more years on that throne afterwards. But God still removed him from the throne so that the man He had chosen could occupy it.

So, sometimes, it may take a while for God to dislodge those occupying the positions or places He has appointed for you in life. But He will surely dislodge them for you to take over. You just need to be patient and allow Him to do things His own way. Otherwise, you will most likely get yourself into trouble.

Remember that Jacob got himself into trouble with his brother, Esau. How? It was by trying to use his own wisdom and schemes to displace him from his position as the firstborn of the family and heir to the promises given to Abraham, their forefather. Indeed, even before they were both born, God had already said that Esau would serve him. In other words, God would make him greater than Esau. But did He tell him he to buy his brother’s firstborn place or to steal his blessing in order for that to happen? No! Those were the schemes that he and his mother came up with. And they would have cost him his life years later, if God had not stepped in and saved him. (Cf. Gen 26-27&32-33)

So, if God has made it clear to you that certain things are yours in life, then, allow Him to also handle the processes through which you will possess them. Yes, those things may be in the hands of some individuals at the moment. Yet He knows how to take them for you without exposing you to destruction or shame. But if you resort to using your own wisdom or schemes or strength to take for yourself what God ought to take for you, you may end up destroying your life or character in the process.

Mind you, God is not giving anything to us because of our righteousness but because of His love for us. So, even where He has to give to us what already belongs to others, it will not be because we are more righteous or better than them. Rather, it may be because they have been abusing His grace or because He has something better for them. Therefore, we should not allow arrogance to drive us to set aside God’s ways in taking over His provisions for us. Otherwise, as I said before, we may ruin ourselves in the process, if we are not shown mercy.

Then we need to seriously keep in mind the fact that it is not in every situation that God has to dislodge someone or take away something from someone in order to deliver His provisions to us. The children of Israel did not just wake up one morning and begin to desire the land of Canaan. They knew the land was theirs by revelation, the revelation given by God to their forefathers and later to Moses. That was why they went for it. And that, of course, was why God gave it to them.

But when, on their way to Canaan, they approached the lands of the descendants of Lot and those of Esau, God warned them not to go near them or desire them. Why? He was not going to give those lands to them, even if they exercised their faith for them. In fact, He told them not to harass the inhabitants of those lands for any reason and to also make sure they pay for anything they took from them. Otherwise, they would get into trouble with Him. (Cf. Deut 2)

I quickly drew your attention to that because there are believers who often go after possessing what belongs to others, all in the name of exercising their faith in God. Our faith in God can only deliver to us what God has given or provided. If we exercise faith for what He has not provided, we are going to get nothing. And if we do get something that He has not provided, we must know that it is our greed and evil scheming that has gotten it for us. That, of course, will come with consequences.

So, unless there is a direct revelation from God that He is using you to replace someone or that He is taking for you what currently belongs to another, don’t allow greed or selfishness to make you start offering prayers of wickedness. Remember that God does not need to displace anyone in order to promote you, neither does He need to take away what belongs to another in order to make you prosperous. Therefore, you can ask Him for your own promotion and also for your own prosperity, without expecting Him to make someone else suffer. And may the Spirit of God keep your heart right always, as far as this matter is concerned. Amen.

Have a lovely day.

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“From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, this is the twenty-third year in which the word of the LORD has come to me; and I have spoken to you, rising early and speaking, but you have not listened.” (Jer 25:3NKJV)

As we see in today’s opening bible text, Jeremiah brought the word of God again and again to the people of Judah for twenty-three years, day after day. And did they listen to him? No! Did the word of God that came to them all those twenty-three years change their lives? No! Was His word that they heard able to prevent them from eventually going into slavery? No! Why? The reason was that they did not take His word that came to them with seriousness.

Also, consider the children of Israel that Moses brought out of Egypt. Did the word of God that they heard again and again from Moses’ mouth benefit all of them? No! Did all the miracles that they saw and enjoyed day after day help them in quickly securing the land God had promised to give to them? No! Why did these things not help or benefit them? The reason was that they did not take them seriously. (Cf. Heb 4:2)

If they had taken the word of God that was daily brought to them and the miracles that God daily performed for them seriously, their faith in Him would been increasing every day. Then it would not have taken long at all before they entered the Promised Land and possessed it. But because they would not take what God saying to them and doing for them seriously, they ended up wandering in the wilderness for forty years. Yet many of them did not make it into the Promised land.

So, being exposed to God’s word and God’s grace and power day after day and year after year is not really what is important. What is important is how this exposure changes or transforms our lives. That is what I want you to begin to consider, as we come to this new day. And I pray that, as you do so, God will open your eyes to see whatever is lacking in your seriousness in relating to Him and also strengthen you to do the right thing about it, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a lovely day.

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“Remember this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2Corinthians 9:6-7NIV)

What we have here in our opening text is the nature every kind of giving you do as a child of God must take. This must be the character of your giving. You give what you have decided in your heart to give; and you give willingly, not reluctantly.

So, nobody should force you to give anything you don’t want to give, just as no one should dictate to you what to give. You should decide what to give, that is, as far as Christian giving is concerned. And this is also the rule you are to apply even when giving to ministers of the gospel. Whatever material support you give to them must have this character. First, you must not treat them like the needy or some poor persons. Then, in giving to them, give what you have decided in your heart to give, willingly not reluctantly.

You know there are times we are reluctant to give certain things to certain people or certain causes. If, for instance, you are being pressured to give, you may be reluctant about giving. Have you ever been reluctant to give anything before? Why were you reluctant? We don’t often ask ourselves questions of this nature. And it is important we learn to do so.

If I am reluctant to give to someone, then, I should know why. Sometimes you meet some needy person in the streets and, even though you know that you have the means to help them, you are simply reluctant to do so. Why? There will certainly be reasons you are reluctant to do so.

Well, as far as giving to support the work of God, our leaders or other people with material things is concerned, don’t give reluctantly. Give willingly. Give cheerfully, for God loves a cheerful giver. It is the one that gives willingly and cheerfully that will have the praise of God. So, don’t let anyone pressure, manipulate or threaten you to give anything; rather, give because you love to give and do so willingly.

Have a lovely day.

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“Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” (2Corinthians 7:1NIV)

What promises do we have, as we see in our opening text? Promises about an eternity with God in a new earth and a new heaven! Since we, then, have these promises, what should we do? We should purify ourselves. We are to cleanse ourselves from everything that contaminates our body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reference for God.

Then, in Peter’s second epistle, the third chapter, he says from verse 10:

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” (2Peter 3:10NIV)

Can you see that? These heavens and the earth that we now see will someday disappear with a roar, and their elements will be destroyed by fire. Then everything done in them will be ended, laid bare and burnt up. So, all these things that we see and use will someday disappear. The best of our mansions is reserved for fire. All these things that we admire, all these things that we adore, all these things that we want to kill for, are someday going to be burnt up. And not one of them will be left untouched.

All of this is why we must not allow ourselves to be corrupted by the things of the world. This is why we must not allow ourselves to be ruined by them. Don’t destroy your place in eternity because of things that won’t last. Don’t allow these things that are going to be around only temporarily to take away from you that which is eternal. Don’t ruin yourself just because you want to lay hold on something that is not going to last, something that will not be forever. All these things that we see are reserved for fire, according to Peter.

Therefore, through prayer and the word of God, see to it that you are daily purified from everything that contaminates. And may you be kept pure and blameless at the appearing of our Lord Jesus. Amen.

Have a lovely day. 

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“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked…” (John 5:8-9NIV)

The man that the Lord spoke to in our opening text had been in this condition for thirty-eight years. Yet, in what seemed to be like one minute, the Lord came and said to him, “Get up! Pick up you mat and walk.” And he got up and walked! So, the Lord can heal anybody. He can cure anybody of his illness, regardless of the nature of the illness or how long the person has been ill.

But then, in verse 14 John says:

“Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’” (John 5:14NIV)

In other words, what happened to that man happened to him because of sin. Sin was responsible for his paralysis. In any case, the Lord did not need him to repent of his sins in order to heal him of his paralysis. Instead, He healed him of his paralysis in spite of his sins. But having healed him, He said to him, “Stop sinning. Repent.”

In like manner, Jesus does not need people to repent in order to heal them today. That is because He has already paid the price for their healing. So, whether someone is a believer or not, he can be prayed for in the name of Jesus, and he will become well. That is because Jesus Christ already paid the price for everybody’s health.

What that means is that everyone now has a legitimate right to health because of what Jesus did. So, you don’t really have to repent in order for you to be healed. But in order for you to stay healthy, you need to stay away from sin. That is what the Lord is telling this man. He says, “You need to stop sinning. Otherwise something worse may happen to you.”

Now perhaps you too have been healed by the Lord in spite of your sins. You, then, need to stop healing, if you will stay healthy. Otherwise, something worse than what you have been healed of may happen to you. My prayer is that such will not be your lot, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a lovely day. 

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“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12NIV)

Who did the Lord give the right to become children of God to? Those who believed in Him! So, when you too believed in Him, when you demonstrated your faith in Him, you became a child of God.

But are you still a child of God today? Yes! How do you know that? It is by faith. And if Jesus tarries, will you still be a child of God tomorrow? Yes! How do you know that? It is also by faith.

Now this has nothing to do with your feelings, for there may be days in which you don’t feel like you are a child of God. Even when you became born again, you probably did not feel like you are a child of God. As you were confronted with your many sins, trespasses and transgressions, you probably didn’t feel like you are a child of God. Yet you looked away from your sins, you looked away from your transgressions unto Jesus and accepted Him as God’s provision for your righteousness and justification. So, you were saved and taken in as a child of God.

Then, going forward, there were probably days in which you did terrible things, things that did not make you feel like you are a child of God. Yet, because you know that God already provided for your righteousness, you kept faith and turned to Him for forgiveness.

Remember also that John says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all our unrighteousness.” (Cf. 1John 1:9) And when you turned to God in that manner, you were forgiven. You may not feel like you were forgiven, but you were. You may still feel terrible about the things you did, but you knew you had been forgiven because Scriptures say so. So, you took your forgiveness and moved on. Then, later, the feelings disappeared.

But there are people who had problems because of such things. Yes, they became born again by faith, but they did not continue in faith. When they sinned, they felt that they were no longer children of God. That explains why they keep getting born again. Some, in fact, have been born again ten times, twenty times, thirty times or more. And what was the problem? Faith! They got born again by faith but did not know that they must continue to walk in faith in order to keep walking with God.

But we all must continue to walk in faith in order to keep on walking with God. Otherwise, we will not be walking with Him at all. So, feelings or no feelings, stand on what the word of God says about you and about your relationship with Him. That will be your faith. Yes, that will be your way to walk with Him into eternity.

Have a lovely day. 

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“Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea and he was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus' body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid.” (Luke 23:50-54NIV)

You may have heard this before: “If you cannot beat them, join them.” In other words, if you cannot convince a group of people to see things or do things as you deem fit, you should forget about your own principles and join them. Why should you be in the minority? Why should you stand all alone?

But nothing wrong is with being in the minority, if the minority is right. Nothing is wrong with standing all alone, if you are convinced that you are standing for the right thing. And how will you know whether what you are standing for is right or wrong? It is by considering what God says about it. 

God is always the ultimate judge of what is right and what is wrong. So, if He says something is right, then, it is right, even if the whole world says it is wrong. And if He says something is wrong, then, it is wrong, regardless of what everyone else says about it.

Therefore, once you know what God has said about a matter, take your stand on it, even if it is going to make you unpopular. That is because God will never honour the majority just because it is the majority. He will only honour the majority because it is standing for what is right. 

Now that, of course, does not mean that God will stop the majority from carrying out their desires. For instance, as we see in our opening text, it was the wish of the majority that prevailed when the religious leaders of the Jews sat in judgment over our Lord Jesus and not that of the minority. And did God stop the majority from carrying out their wish, even though it would result in the death of any innocent man? No! Instead, He allowed them to have their way in order to fulfil His divine purpose of salvation for humanity.

So, don’t think that God will surely stop the majority from doing what is wrong, simply because what they want to do is wrong. He may not stop them. However, He will surely take note of those who separate themselves from the majority that are bent on doing evil. And when the time of reckoning comes, it is such people who will not follow a crowd to do evil that will be praised and honoured by Him and not the hell-bent crowd.

As we again see in our opening bible text, it was not every one of the religious leaders of the Jews that condemned Jesus to death. Some would not follow the majority to do what was wrong. And one of them was a man named Jospeh from Arimathea. He publicly stood against other council men when they wanted to kill Jesus and would not cast his vote in their support. Besides, after Jesus had died on the cross, to prove that this man was utterly against the majority in killing him, he boldly went to meet Pilate to ask for his body, so that he may give him a befitting burial.

Now it is clear that Joseph’s refusal to join with other Jewish councilmen in condemning and killing Jesus did stop them from taking His life. However, it will always be on record with God and with men that he did not take sides with evil men in destroying an innocent person. And that is what God wants from each of us. The outcome of our decision to stand for what is right is not what is important to Him; rather, it is the devotion of our heart to stand for it that is important to Him. And it is that devotion that He is going to reward here in this world and also in His eternal kingdom.

So, don’t be afraid to separate yourself from a crowd or a majority that is bent on doing what is wrong, simply because the outcome will not favour you. No, don’t be afraid to ‘waste your vote’, as some will say, on what is right, as long as you are convinced it is what is right. Yes, of course, you may not have men’s praise or reward for doing that. But it will be on record with God and with men that when everyone else was going in the wrong direction, you chose to go in the right direction. And when the time is ripe, God will reward you for doing so.

Cheers!

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“"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!” (Isa 49:15NIV)

God is the one speaking to us in our opening text today. He is saying that even though a mother may sometimes get carried away by all the things she has to do and forget to do certain things for her baby on time, He will never forget to do what is right for us at the right time. And because He will never forget us, we must never give up on life because things are not yet as smooth for us as we will want them to be. Instead, we must continually pray to Him that He will perfect all that concerns us and also strengthen our hearts to walk with Him with patience, so that we will not mess up His work in our lives.

Also, we must learn to pray that God will clear the way for all the people that He has appointed to do for us things that will result in the fulfilment of His good purpose for our lives to do His will in our lives. This is because it is not everything that God wants to do for us that He will do personally. There are things that He will do for us through people. And if such people should get distracted or carried away by the things of this life, they may not remember to do what God has sent them to do for us in time or at all.

For instance, it was God that appointed that official of Pharaoh that Joseph met in the prison to help him come out of the prison and to also work for his elevation in Egypt. The man at the time, of course, did not know that it was God that had brought the two of them together or how God intended to use him to help Joseph. But he was surely determined to help him, if things turned out favourably for him. This is showing us that for some people to help us as God will want them to, things must be going on smoothly for them. Otherwise, they may be too distracted or discouraged to think about us at all. (Cf. Gen 40)

Well, things did turn out favourably for that man, as Joseph had already predicted. He got out of prison and was restored to his former high position in Egypt. Nevertheless, for reasons unspoken of in the account, he totally forgot Joseph. In fact, he forgot him for two full years. 

Now did Joseph lose his mind because of that? No! Did he give up on God and on life because of that, thinking all hope of his freedom was lost? No! Instead, he continued to do what was right in the prison and to be patient with God. So, at the right time, God, who never forgets His own people, brought about circumstances that cleared the way for that man to remember him and to do the needful in bringing him out of prison. That, of course, was how all the dreams of greatness God had given to him as a boy began to be fulfilled. (Cf. Gen 41)

In like manner, God will not forget you. So, you can trust Him to fulfil all the dreams of greatness He has shown you and all His beautiful plans for your life. You, like Joseph, just need to be patient with Him and to continue to do what is right in His sight. And among those right things you must be doing is praying to Him that He will clear the way for all the people He wants to use for you to do you all the good they are meant to do you without delay. May the Spirit of God, then, strengthen you to keep these things in mind and daily act accordingly, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a splendid day.

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“His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!"” (Job 2:9NIV) 

As we see in our opening bible text, Job's wife had no word of faith or strength for him in the days of his adversity. All she could do was wish him death. How did a man of God like Job end up with that kind of woman? I wouldn't know. 

But similar things are still happening today. Men of faith and women of faith are still ending up in marriages with spouses of little faith or no faith at all. And it is in their time of need that will know what great disservice they have done to themselves, when they realise that the closest persons to them have no word of faith or strength or comfort to uphold them to walk in victory or receive the provisions of God.

Now, of course, your loved ones may not wish you the worst in your situation, as Job's wife did. But they may also not strengthen your faith in God. Instead, they may offer you an alternative to will of God or to the best He has for you. 

For example, was Sarah not willing to stand by Abraham till the very end in their barrenness? She was! Was she not a woman of God and of faith? She was! But did she strengthen her husband to hold fast to the promise of God in their situation? No! Instead, she offered him an alternative to faith in God. And that alternative almost ruined everything for both of them. 

So, if you are no yet married, be certain that you go for someone whose faith will continually offer strength to yours. Otherwise, a day may come when you would wish you had someone else as your spouse. And may that not be your experience, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Have a lovely day.

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“There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.'” (Luke 16:1-2NIV)

What was the manager of the rich man in our opening bible text accused of? He was accused of wasting his resources. And how did he respond to the accusation? He said that he was going to sack him. Notice that the man did not ignore the accusation of mismanagement of his resources, even though he was a rich man. Instead, he responded by deciding to sack the person involved.

Now Jesus told that story to teach us faithfulness in managing anything that is entrusted to us. And everything we have in this life, big or small, has been entrusted to us by Him. So, we must not mismanage or waste it. Or we will be sinning against Him.

In John 6, we are told of how Jesus fed five thousand men, without counting the women and the children, with five loaves of bread and two small fish. And when the people were done eating, He told his disciples to gather everything left and allow nothing to be wasted (John 6:12).

So, it is not in line with the will of God for us to mismanage or waste our family resources or anybody’s resources. If you, then, are being rebuked or corrected by people for wasting resources, you should listen to them and repent, instead of starting a fight or quarrel. Otherwise, you may just be the access door that Satan will using to steal God’s blessings from you or from others.

Think about that, and have yourself a lovely day.

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“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…” (Gen 16:3-4NIV)

From our opening text today, we can see that it is possible for us to follow plans that are totally foreign to God's plans for our lives and still have results that look like the very ones God wants us to have. But will God be able to use our results to accomplish His good purpose for our lives? And will those results give us the satisfaction, enjoyment and peace that we think they will give us? Those are the questions we should be asking ourselves.

Well, even though the plan of Abraham and Sarah to have a son through Hagar worked, it ended up filling them with regrets. How? First, as soon as Hagar realised that she had become pregnant for Abraham, she began to despise her mistress, Sarah. And if the love between Abraham and Sarah had not been real and great, she would have scattered their home. But they were able to fix her. (Cf. Gen 16:4-16)

So, we may replace God's plans with our plans, just because we are in a hurry, and still get results. But are we going to be able to handle the pains, sorrow and humiliation that may accompany such results? We may not. So, what is best for us is to patiently embrace and follow God's plans to the end. Doing so is what we will guarantee our having results that are good, perfect and without sorrow. (Cf. Prov 10:22; James 1:17)

Second, as we see in our opening bible text, when God eventually showed up to Abraham again, after the Hagar incident, He told him clearly that he would still need to wait one more year for Isaac, the son He had promised him. And he was around ninety-nine years old at the time. But what about Ishmael? Was he not the promised child? No! What, then, was he?

Well, according to God, He had plans for Ishmael too and was going to make him great, since he was Abraham's son and because his father had prayed for him. But he was not the one God was going to use to bless the whole world. He was a product of man's will and plan, not a product of God's will and plan. And how painful that must have been for Abraham! I mean that it must have hurt his heart to know that all those years of taking care of Ishmael, thinking that he was the answer to God's promise, were nothing but years of delusion. He still had to wait for Isaac, the real deal, and let go of his beloved Ishmael.

But then, what could he do? If he trusted God indeed, he must forget about Ishmael, wait for Isaac and also hold fast to him. And that was what he did. He renewed his patience in waiting for Isaac and eventually had him through his wife, Sarah, just the way God had said that it was going to happen. But Ishmael would remain alive till the end of the world to constantly remind him of the folly of growing impatient with God and replacing His plans with our plans.

Perhaps we too are like Abraham. We love God and have faith in Him indeed. But our faith is growing weak and impatient with Him in certain matters of our lives. It may be matters about our marriage, our job, our finances, our barrenness, our health or even our ministry. And we want them fixed right away because we think time is running out on us. So, our hearts are opened to anything that will bring us immediate or quick relief, as long as it is not something God has spoken against.

But that something has come to us with immediate or quick relief does not mean that it is God's Isaac to us. And how are we going to know it is not God's Isaac to us? Well, it will not be consistent with God's promise to us or with His revealed will that we have in Scriptures. That means it will be less than God's best for us or set us against the will of God for us or seek to put us in some bondage or slavery or stand as a threat to other good things God has done for us.

Now where that is the case, we should know that we are confronted with another Hagar. And all that we can expect from her is a troubling of our lives and a bringing forth of Ishmael. So, while she is comforting us with Ishmael on the one hand, she will be troubling our lives on the other hand with her evil scheming. To make matters worse, God cannot fulfil His good purpose in our lives with Ishmael. So, we will still have to wait for Isaac.

It is not better, then, to patiently wait for as long as we need to wait for Isaac and to receive and enjoy him without any pain than to impatiently welcome into our lives Hagar and Ishmael and all the troubles accompanying them and still have to wait for Isaac? I am sure you know the answer. So, wait patiently for Isaac, for God will bring him to you at the right time.

Have a pleasant day.

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“For this is what the LORD Almighty says: "After he has honored me and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you — for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye”” (Zech 2:8NIV)

Who says the words of the above text? God Almighty! And who does He say them to? All His children! In other words, it is God Himself that is referring to us as the apple of His eye. And why? It is so that we may assure our hearts of His constant and faithful protection, regardless of where we may find ourselves.

As we all know, our eyes are among the parts of our bodies that we give utmost care and protection to. That is because they are the lamps of our bodies and play invaluable roles in our proper functioning in this world. So, we will always do whatever is within our ability to care for them and to protect them.

Now, if, as human beings, we have enough sense to give utter care and protection to our eyes, will God not even do better in caring for those that He refers to as the apple of His eye? Surely, He will do much better. Also, we know that human beings, regardless of how hard they try, may still fail in keeping their eyes safe. And that is because of their many limitations.

But what about God? Is He too limited in power, knowledge or wisdom to keep His people that He refers to as the apple of His eye safe? No, He is not. Therefore, we can expect Him to do whatever He has to do to see to it that they are always protected and kept safe from anything that could hurt them, destroy them or limit their usefulness in life.

However, they too must see themselves as He sees them. In other words, all of us who are God's children must see ourselves as the apple of His eye. We must see ourselves as precious and special to Him. Otherwise, we will not continually trust Him to take care of us and keep us safe.

Why did Abraham lie on two different occasions about the relationship between him and Sarah? Why did he not want both Pharaoh and King Abimelech to know that Sarah was his wife? Was it because he did not see God as powerful enough to protect him and his family? No! He had no doubt about God's power to protect them. But he was not completely sure that God would use His power to protect them. And why was he not sure of that? He was not sure of it because he did not appreciate how special he and his family were to God. He did not know that God saw them all as the apple of His eye. (Cf. Gen 12 & 20)

But in His mercy, God showed them how special they were to Him on those two occasions by rebuking the kings involved for them. He stretched forth His mighty hands to afflict them until they did the needful, even though both of them had acted on the basis of Abraham's lies. And concerning that the bible says, “He allowed no one to oppress them; for their sake he rebuked kings: "Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm."” (Ps 105:14-15NIV)

In like manner, because we too are the apple of His eye, because we too are special to Him, He will not allow anyone to oppress us or terrorise us. And if anyone wants to insist on doing so, He is ever ready to lay hands on that person and show him that we are His people and must not be touched, oppressed, cheated or tormented. Remember that He did not hesitate at all to kill Uzzah for irreverently touching the Ark of His Covenant, even though the young man's intentions were right. And if He did not hesitate to kill that young man for merely touching a symbol of His presence among the Israelites, do you think He will hesitate to deal with anyone that is insisting on oppressing, cheating or harassing His people? No! (Cf. 2Sam 6:6-7; 1Chro 13:9-10)

But will God's people trust Him to do this? Will His people think of themselves as special for Him enough to rise up and defend their cause? If they won't see themselves as special to Him as He sees them, then, they may surrender to fear, oppression and defeat, instead of asking Him to unleash His power on their behalf.

Now if we surrender to oppression, terror or defeat because we do not think of ourselves as special enough for God to defend us, He may just let things be the way we want them. For example, He did not stop Herod from beheading Apostle James, as we see in the bible. But when the church prayed to Him about Peter and told Him that he must not suffer the same fate as James did, He proved that they were special enough for Him to answer them and move on their behalf. (Cf. Acts 12)

We too are special enough for Him to answer us and deal with any threatening situation on our behalf any time we call on Him. We just need to daily function with this consciousness wherever we go or find ourselves. And if He has to rebuke or punish the most powerful of all His creatures for us to be safe and at peace, He will do so.

Do have a fabulous day.

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“When Solomon had finished building the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, the LORD appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.” (1Kings 9:1-2NIV)

When did the Lord appear to Solomon for the second time? It was after he had achieved all that he had desired to do. And what were the things he desired to do? First, he desired to build a magnificent temple for the Lord. Second, he desired to build a magnificent palace for himself. And as we see in Scriptures, he succeeded in achieving these two desires of his heart.

Now why did Solomon succeed in achieving all that he desired to do? For the most part, he succeeded because all those desires of his were in agreement with the will of God. It was the will of God for him to build Him a temple. It was also the will of God for him to have a befitting palace for himself. And we see that in building these two structures, he put God first – he first of all built the temple of the Lord before building his own temple. It is no big wonder, then, that God made it possible for him to achieve all that He had in mind to do.

But how did God make it possible for him to achieve all that he had in mind to do? He did that, first, by giving him all the wisdom, people and resources that he needed to achieve his desires. Solomon alone could not have built the Lord's temple and his own palace without the support of many people. But he had the support of his people and also their resources. In fact, the people of the land had begun to express their willingness to support him with their resources, expertise and time before his father, David, died. Then he also had the wisdom to lead all these people that supported him. So, he was able to achieve what he purposed in his heart. (Cf. 1Chro 28-29)

Another thing God did for Solomon was to give him rest of mind and peace on every side. As we are shown in the bible, the idea of building God a temple was not originally Solomon's. It was his father, David, that came up with the idea. And he drew the plans of the temple by the leading of the Spirit of God and also set aside a lot of money and resources for its building. But God did not permit him to build it? Why? It was because he shed much blood as a warrior. And why did he shed as much blood as he did? It was because he was constantly at war with the enemies of Israel. Yes, the land had peace and rest during his reign. But their peace and rest came at the cost of the lives of many people. (Cf. 1Chro 28:2-3)

Solomon, however, testified himself that God had given him rest on every side. And that rest did not come to him as a result of war; rather, it came to him as a gift from God. All the nations around just respected and feared him because of the wisdom God had given to him. So, nobody troubled him. And because nobody troubled him, he was able to focus on achieving all the good and righteous desires of his heart.

In the same vein, we too can achieve all the desires of our hearts, however many and grand they may be. But first, every desire of ours must be in agreement with the will of God for us. And how will that happen? It is by taking delight in the Lord. The bible says:

“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Ps 37:4NIV)

That means if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will make His will for our lives known to us, so that we can build our desires on it.

Now as we build our desires on the will of God for us, we can be sure that He is going grant them for us. How? As He did for Solomon, He will daily provide us with all the wisdom, knowledge, understanding, determination, people and resources we need to achieve those desires. Not only that, He will make available for us all the opportunities and peace of mind that we need to achieve them. So, everyone will see that our achievement is simply by the grace of God and not a function of our wisdom, effort or influence. And I declare that this shall be the case for you and for your home, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Have a blessed day.

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“Noah, who was a farmer, was the first man to plant a vineyard. After he drank some of the wine, he became drunk, took off his clothes, and lay naked in his tent.” (Gen 9:20-21GNT)

Why did Noah get drunk on the wine he had made? He got drunk on it because he did not know that too much of wine was capable of getting someone drunk. Truly, he was the one that discovered that wine could be gotten from fruits. And he made that discovery because God’s blessing of fruitfulness was at work in him.

However, it is not enough for us to discover anything, good or bad; it is also important that we possess adequate wisdom to handle our discovery. Otherwise, a discovery that is meant to be a blessing may end up being a curse.

Noah indeed discovered how wine could be made. And that discovery was meant to be a blessing to him. But it ended up exposing him to disgrace because he did not have sufficient wisdom to manage it. Yes, the wine he made must have tasted very sweet in his mouth and also felt quite refreshing in his body. But since he had never tasted or drunk it before, there was no way he would have known how his body would respond to it.

So, he should not have started by consuming a lot of it. That would have been his wisdom. But without knowing how his body would respond to the wine he had just made, Noah kept on consuming it until it he got drunk on it. So, he unknowingly exposed his nakedness and also ended up placing a curse on one of his grandchildren. (Cf. Gen 9:20-25)

What is this teaching us? Well, as I pointed out before, it is teaching us that it is not enough for us to possess the knowledge of anything, good or bad; it is equally important that we possess adequate wisdom to handle that knowledge. Otherwise, our possession of it may after all not do us any significant good. On the contrary, it may even end up harming us.

The discovery of crude oil in Nigeria, for instance, was meant to be a blessing, a very good thing to us as a nation. But has it been a blessing to us? No! Why? It is because, as a people, we do not have the wisdom to manage it. Yes, we know where the crude oil is located in our land. And we also know how to explore it. In fact, we explore and even export it every day. But has this improved our quality of living significantly as a nation? No! Why? Insufficient wisdom to manage it!

Personally, I am of the opinion that if we had not discovered crude oil as early as we had done, things would most likely have been better for us as a nation. At least, the country was doing relatively well before crude oil was discovered. And that was because those leading us at the time had sufficient wisdom to make use of the raw materials, which were mostly agricultural produce, that were available to them to make life better for us. If we had gotten much wiser, then, before discovering crude oil and the kind of money its exploration could make available to us, we may have been able to manage it better in making our nation great.

Well, my point is that it is not enough for you to labour to discover things or to acquire knowledge; it is also important you continually pray to God to fill you with the wisdom to handle whatever knowledge you receive. Otherwise, as Paul tells the Corinthians, knowledge without adequate wisdom to handle it may end up making you proud, insensitive and reckless (1Cor 8). And these things are bound to make you stagnant or destroy you. Is that, then, what you want? Do you want that which is meant to be a blessing to become a curse for you? I am sure that is not want you want. So, don’t just seek to know; also seek to be made wise enough to handle whatever you know.

Cheers!

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“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.” (Eccl 5:1-2NIV)

What is the first thing Solomon tells us here about how to make the most of any church meeting? It is that we are to guard our steps when going for it. In other words, we must go for every church meeting with a sense of thoughtfulness and carefulness. Yes, we must know why we are attending this meeting and what we intend to gain from doing so. Why is that important? It is so that we do not waste our time, energy and whatever other resources we may expend in attending the meeting.

Unfortunately, many who attend church meetings today just attend to fulfil all righteousness. They have been told that it is a good practice to attend church meetings. And it is indeed a good practice to do so. But what do you intend to gain by attending any church meeting? Is there even anything to gain by doing so? If there are things to gain by doing so, how do you position yourself to gain them? Many don’t keep any of these things in mind when they are going for church meetings. So, they end up gaining nothing and also wasting their time, energy and even money. What a shame!

The second thing Solomon tells us in that bible text about how to make the most of church meetings is the need for us to be more interested in what God has to say to us than in what we have to say to Him or give to Him. Are we not supposed to say anything at all to God in our church meetings? Yes, we are to say things to Him, all kinds of things. And are we not to give to God in our church meetings? Yes, we are to give to Him, anything our hearts desire to give to Him.

However, we must always remember that God is more interested in what He wants to do to our lives than in whatever we want to offer to Him. Therefore, we must put listening to Him and learning from Him above everything else. That way, He will be able to show us how to talk to Him and give to Him in ways that are acceptable in His sight.

For instance, Jesus once visited the house of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. And while Mary sat down at His feet to learn from Him how to live to please God, Martha was busy running up and down, trying to get a meal ready for Him. Then when Martha saw that Mary would not join her in what she was doing, she came to protest to the Lord to rebuke her sister and ask her to join her in the work. But to her surprise, the Lord did not do that at all. Instead, this is how He responded to her:

“"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."” (Luke 10:41-42NIV)

Did you see that? We may be busy about many things for God and still not really be making sense to Him. And that will be the case, if we will not first yield ourselves to learn from Him what He really wants from us. Martha, evidently, on that occasion wanted to make Jesus happy by cooking some delicious meal for Him and His disciples. But she should have first sat down to learn from Him what He really wanted. Then she may even realise that He did not need her food at all at that moment and that it was something else that He needed.

In like manner, we too must take learning from the Lord more seriously than any other thing, especially in our church meetings. We must make sure nothing robs us of our opportunity to learn from Him. Otherwise, as Solomon tells us in that bible text, we may end up offering Him prayers, songs, money and services that are nothing but sacrifices of fools. And will He reward us for any foolish sacrifice we bring to Him? No! So, when next you are going for any church meeting, keep these things in mind. And may the Spirit of God always strengthen you to do so. Amen.

Have a great day.

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“Honor your father and mother, that you may have a long, good life in the land the Lord your God will give you.” (Exodus 20:12TLB)

Some years ago, I was coming back from my workplace with a colleague, and on our way home, we witnessed a terrible manifestation of character breakdown. A young commercial motorcyclist was hitting and slapping another one because the latter rode his bike in a manner that upset him. And even though the man was trying to apologise to him, he totally disregarded what he was saying and went on hitting and slapping him.

Now, though it was bad enough that the young man behaved like that, what made the case even worse was the fact that the man he was hitting and slapping could pass for his father. “How could a young man be so heartless and disrespectful?” I thought to myself. And without thinking any further, I said to my colleague, “This young man cannot live long, if he does not repent. He is sowing a terrible seed, and he will certainly eat its fruit in abundance.”

Today many young people are dying before their time. Sicknesses and diseases that once were associated with old age are now afflicting and taking the lives of many young men and women, and we are not seriously asking ‘Why?’ We think the reasons for all such deaths can be explained away with some medical terminologies. But we are wrong.

Yes, I believe in our health workers and respect their work. However, medical explanations are not sufficient for determining the causes of some illnesses, diseases and deaths. According to the scriptures, a breaking of some spiritual laws and principles could result in illnesses, weaknesses, accidents and even death. And one of such spiritual laws is what is given to us in our opening text. God Himself commands us to honour, respect, hold in high regards, our parents, if we want to live long and live good.

Now this is not a suggestion to us; it is a command. And we must understand that, when God speaks to us like this, it is not only our parents that He has in mind. He also has in mind every elderly person we may come in contact with and every person in a position of authority around us. He wants us to respect these people, not just with words of mouth but also with our actions. And our attitude to this command from the Lord will go a long way, not only in determining the length of our days but also in determining the quality of life we live.

Dear friend, I am sure you don’t want to die before your time. I am also sure you don’t want to grow up and find out that you cannot do what most people of your age are doing because you are down with some incurable sickness or disease caused by your disregard for God’s command concerning how to treat elderly ones. I am equally certain that you will not like some foolish young boy or girl to molest you when you are old and are no longer physically strong to take care of yourself.

Therefore, don’t be among those who insult, beat or molest elderly persons for any reason. And don’t laugh or rejoice with those who are doing so. You will be bringing a curse on yourself if you are doing such. Even if your friends are enticing you and telling you that nothing will go wrong, don’t join them. For when things start going wrong, most of them will not be there to help you.

And perhaps you have acted shamefully and disrespectfully to some elders in the past, it is not too late for you to repent and ask for God’s forgiveness and their forgiveness and prayers, if they are people you can still locate. But even if you can’t locate them, our God is a merciful God. He will forgive you, have mercy on you and cleanse you from all your errors, so that you don’t regret your foolish acts in the future. My point, in any case, is that this matter concerns your very life and future. So, don’t take it lightly.

Have a blessed day.

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“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (2Tim 1:6-7NIV)

Paul is simply telling Timothy here to use his gift. He wants him to fulfil his ministry. And why is he reminding him to do this? It is because there is a possibility of Timothy neglecting his ministry. See, there is none of us who cannot make the mistake of neglecting his ministry. And one main reason a man or woman may neglect their ministry is fear.

Now, of course, a ministry that is neglected cannot be effective. If you are not fulfilling your ministry, you are not being effective. Even those who are fulfilling their ministry, who are doing something with the gifts God has given them or carrying out the responsibilities God has entrusted to their hands can still fail in terms of effectiveness. How much less one who is not doing anything at all?

So, in our opening text, Paul says:

“…I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid…”

Look at that. Paul says the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid. That means the Spirit God gave us is not a spirit of cowardice. He is not a spirit of fear. Rather, He is a Spirit that gives us power, love and self-discipline.

So, if you are afraid, you must first understand that your fear is not from the Spirit of God. Fear is not of God. That is why, all through the pages of the Scriptures, you will see God saying to people, “Fear not”. That is because fear is not consistent with the character of God. Fear has a way of making people sluggish; it has a way of making people slow; it has a way of making people ineffective. Fear has a way of robbing people of initiatives. So, even when you have opportunities to minister, you may not take advantage of them because of fear.

It may be that you are afraid of what people will say or afraid of what they will think of you. And I doubt if there is any one of us who has never experienced something of this kind of fear. You wanted to do something that you were certain God would be pleased with. But because you are afraid of the opinions of men, you did not do anything. If you continue like that, you will never be an effective minister of Christ Jesus.

So, say ‘No’ to whatever form of fear that is robbing you of effectiveness in serving God. Yes, say, “I refuse to fear, in the name of Jesus.” And you can do that. That is because the Spirit of God in you is not the spirit of fear or timidity; rather, He is a Spirit of power, love and self-discipline.

Have a blessed day.

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“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’” (Luke 10:38-40NIV)

Jesus had come to visit with these people, to share in their lives and fellowship with them. And we are told in verse 39 that Martha’s sister, Mary, sat down at Jesus’ feet, listening to what He was saying. She was taking advantage of Jesus’ presence in their house. She was listening to Him.

But her elder sister was busy with something else. I am sure she was preparing some meal for the Lord and His entourage. And was that wrong? Was it wrong for her to get things ready for Jesus in that manner? If the Lord should visit you, would you not entertain Him? You should entertain Him, even if all you had was a cup of water. That is because there is a reward for it, as He Himself has clearly expressed. (Cf. Matthew 10:42)

However, when things are done, they must be done at the right time. Otherwise, their purpose might just be defeated. See, even though it was not wrong for Martha to get things prepared for the Lord and His disciples, she missed the point of the Lord’s visit at the time. The Lord was not there in their house essentially to eat their food; rather, of most importance, He was there to fellowship with them. So, Martha should first have given Jesus her attention, as Mary did.

But she did not do that. Instead, she was busy with other things. And as she would pace the floor up and down and see Mary sitting at the Lord’s feet, she would get mad. “Why would this girl not just wake up?” she must have said. “She is so disrespectful. Look at me: I am running up and down doing all the work, and she is just sitting down there.”

So, she would go over to get Mary’s attention, but she just couldn’t; Mary refused to be distracted. Why? She was learning. I am sure Jesus was not visiting them every day. So, that was an opportunity for Mary to learn from Him. And she must have thought to herself, “I have gotten this man today. Let me learn all I can from Him.”

Well, Martha got so upset, at some point, that she went to meet Jesus and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself?” Now who was she doing the work for? Jesus! But look at Jesus’ response to her protest in verse 41:

“‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’” (Luke 10:41-42NIV)

What is the Lord saying here? He is saying that what Mary was doing at that moment was better than was Martha was doing. You know, sometimes, you could look at some people and see them as unserious believers, because they are not doing what you are doing. You may just be missing it.

Yes, it may be that you go out every day, evangelising your street from one door to another. Then you look at another brother around you who does not do that and conclude that he is not serious or passionate about the things of God. You may just be missing it. I am not saying what you are doing, as far as evangelising your world is concerned, is not important or relevant. I only want you to know that God does not measure your effectiveness on that basis.

Do you even have time to fellowship with Him? What makes you think that what you are doing is exactly what He wants you to be doing? So, don’t just get yourself busy with all kinds of activities; learn to fellowship with the Lord, first, as Mary did on that occasion. That is one sure way to be effective in your ministry.

Have a lovely day.

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““Then out came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent. (She is loud and defiant, her feet never stay at home; now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks.) She took hold of him and kissed him and with a brazen face she said: "I have fellowship offerings at home; today I fulfilled my vows. So I came out to meet you; I looked for you and have found you! I have covered my bed with colored linens from Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come, let's drink deep of love till morning; let's enjoy ourselves with love!” (Prov 7:10-18NIV)

Those were Solomon’s words about how an adulteress once seduced a young man. And from what he shows us, the woman in question went through a lot just to get the man to come to her. She prepared sumptuous meal for him to eat. She took out time to beautify her room and her bed of adultery. She even perfumed her bed with all kinds of expensive perfume, so that staying with her in that room would be irresistible for any man that she caught. No wonder the foolish young man fell into her trap.

In like manner, many men, even the god-fearing ones, are falling into the traps of immoral women because of the effort those women are making to get them. And this is not always about the use of witchcraft or sorcery. Children of God who are walking in His will for their lives cannot be bewitched by anyone. It will not work. But they can be manipulated. They can be seduced.

Now, to say the fact, seduction is the most powerful form of witchcraft anyone can employ against another. And there are women who understand that. So, they will do all they can to seduce responsible men and capture them. They will dress for them. They will smell well for them. Sometimes, they will even spend money on them, showering them with gifts or offering them financial support in their moments of financial crises.

Then when these women eventually get their victims to be sexually involved with them, they will introduce them to all kinds of things that will make them get stuck with them for life. And unless such men are delivered by the power of the Spirit of God, they may never again take their housewives seriously.

If certain women, then, are doing all that they can to get your husband, what are you doing to keep him? Or do you think the fact that you are legally married is enough to keep him? Or maybe you think the fact that he is a child of God means that he cannot fall into adultery. You are self-deluded, if you are thinking like that. And if you don’t wake up on time, your home may soon be gone.

My prayer is that your home will not fall into ruins, in Jesus’ name. But you too must give yourself to the word of God and to prayer in order to keep your home secure. Then you must take your place in your home very seriously and give no room for any other person to occupy it. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you and your home. Amen.

Have a lovely day.

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“Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites – Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab and On son of Peleth – became insolent and rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well-known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council. They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them. ‘You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly.’” (Numbers 16:1-3NIV)

What were those men whose names are mentioned in our opening bible text doing? They were staging a rebellion. They were challenging the authority of Moses and Aaron. Why? They felt that they also were qualified to lead the people of God. So, they said to Moses and Aaron, “You have gone too far! You have set yourselves above this assembly. Do you think you are the only ones God approves of? He approves of us too.” And observe that they gathered around themselves other leaders to stage that rebellion.

That, of course, is showing us something, which is that anyone who has no regard for those who have authority over him can only be expected to lead people into rebellion. These people gathered around themselves 250 other leaders to follow them in their rebellion. And you can read the rest of the chapter to see what became of them. God rejected them. He would not have them as leaders over His people.

As the account goes, Moses had actually instructed them to bring censers filled with incense to before the Lord. That way, the Lord would choose whom among them He approved of. But God did not even give them the opportunity or privilege to offer anything to Him. Instead, He allowed the ground to open up and swallow them alive, they, their families and all their possessions. And the 250 leaders they gathered around them were also consumed by the fire of God.

Now we may not have such happenings in the church today. That, however, does not mean that people are no longer suffering for being rebellious. The truth is that many of God’s people are suffering today because of their rebellion. They are going through problems and trials they ought not to be going through in their lives because they are rebellious. So, it is not enough to desire to be a leader over God’s people; you must also have what it takes to do so. Otherwise, you are going to be leading God’s people into rebellion or activism.

And I should say this: Church leadership is not set up to raise up activists. There are pastors or church leaders today who see themselves as activists and have equally turned all their members into activists. As far as they are concerned, they must go against everything that the government is doing.

Now I am not saying we are to accept whatever our government or its officials are doing. But there are proper ways of rejecting whatever we don’t like or want from the government under our laws. And we can take those ways. But the church is not a place for raising activists. That is not what a leader is sent to do to or for God’s people. So, don’t lead the people of God under your care into rebellion or activism. Otherwise, you may just expose them to destruction.

Have a lovely day. 

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“Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don't let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.” (Ps 19:13NLT)

As we see in the bible, there was a time that King Abimelech of Gerah took Sarah, Abraham’s wife, to be his wife. Why did he do this? It was, for the most part, because Abraham did not tell him the whole truth about his relationship with Sarah. He had said of her in that place, “She is my sister.” And indeed, Sarah was his sister, his half-sister. But she was also his wife. (Cf. Gen 20)

At any rate, because this man took the wife of a man of God, God was set to destroy him and his household. And He started by first shutting the wombs of all the women in his household, including his wife. So, none of them could conceive or have children all the time Sarah was with them. We wouldn’t know how long she stayed with them. But for the bible to note that no woman in that palace could conceive while Sarah was with them, it must have meant that she was there for a number of months. (Cf. Gen 20:17-18)

Then God came to Abimelech in a night dream and said to him, “You are a dead man because of the woman you have taken, for she is a married woman.” That, of course, surprised the man, who pleaded not guilty. He said, “But I acted in complete innocence; I did not know that the woman was Abraham’s wife.” And in response to that, God said, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her.” (Gen 20:6NIV)

Now think about that. God showed Abimelech mercy and did not allow him to commit adultery with Sarah all the time she was with him. That actually sounds unbelievable, but it was the truth. Somehow, he just kept on treating Sarah like an angel and would not be in a hurry to have any intimate knowledge of her. He himself may not have understood why he was just taking his time with her. But when God showed up and told him the kind of trouble he was in, he understood that it was He that had kept him from doing something that would have resulted in his destruction and that of his entire household.

But why did God prevent this man from sinning against Him, that is, beyond sinning against Abraham? It was because it was never his desire to take another man’s wife for himself. The only reason Sarah was in his palace was that Abraham did not tell him the whole truth about who she was to him. What this, then, is showing us is that God is able to keep us from doing the wrong thing, inasmuch as our hearts are not bent on doing evil.

We see another example in the way God prevented David from killing a man called Nabal and his entire household and thereby sinning against Him. Nabal, indeed, had behaved very badly towards David and his men, who had in the past been kind to his servants and possessions. And in David’s anger, he wanted to teach him the lesson of his life. He wanted to kill him and all the men in his household. But the truth is that though the man did not behave well, David also had no right to take his life or the lives of members of his household. So, it was a needless bloodshed that he and his men were out to carry out. (Cf. 1Sam 25:1-22)

However, because God knew that David was not that kind of person in his heart – he was not someone that would want to take undue advantage of anyone, even his enemy – He sent Abigail, Nabal’s wife, to stop him on his reckless mission. God knew that it was out of anger and frustration that David and his men wanted to act like wicked people and destroy Nabal and his household. If they had not been under the kind of pressure they were at the time, they would not have thought of doing anything like that. So, to prevent them from sinning against Him, He inspired Abigail to meet them and say soothing words to them, words that would open their eyes to see the foolishness and recklessness of their mission. That, of course, was how they were saved. (Cf. 1Sam 25:23-35)

But then, we see that this same man, David, was not prevented by God from committing adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah. Why? It was because he was not under any pressure to do so, neither was he deceived or seduced to do so. He did what he did because he deliberately wanted to do it. And before he knew it, he went on from being an adulterer to becoming a manipulator and murderer. If he, then, had not been shown mercy by God, he and his household would have been wiped out. But even then, what he did still gave the devil an opportunity to afflict him and his family in very terrible and painful ways in his lifetime. (Cf. 1Sam 11-18)

You can now see why his prayer, which we have in our opening bible text, is very relevant. There he says to God, “Keep your servant from deliberate sins! Don't let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.” Why? It is because though any sin can ruin us, the ones that are most dangerous to our lives and faith are those that have taken charge of us and we deliberately and stubbornly want to carry out. That is because it is such sins that make God give people over to do more and more wrong things that would ultimately ruin them. (Cf. Rom 1:21-32)

Look at the way He, for a while, gave David over to go on from being an adulterer to becoming a deceiver and then a murderer. And if He had not shown him mercy and drawn his attention to the evil in his life, maybe his life’s story would have ended differently. So, when we know that something is entirely against the will of God, yet we find this strong and stubborn urge in us to go for it, we need to know that destruction or disgrace is coming for us. And unless God, in His mercy, stops us somehow on our reckless mission, we can only, at some point, see that we have ruined ourselves. This is why we too, like David, must continually pray that we will be kept from stubbornly setting our hearts on paths that will lead to our destruction.

Have a lovely day.

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“When the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here; the LORD has sent me to Bethel." But Elisha said, "As surely as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel.” (2Kings 2:1-2NIV)

One of the things we learn from Scriptures about God is that He appreciates determination. Yes, He is a God that gives freely to people without complaining about them (James 1:5). However, there are times that He considers people’s determination to receive from Him before giving certain things to them.

Why did many of the children of Israel that Moses brought out of Egypt perish in the wilderness and did not make it into the Promised Land? One of the reasons for this, as we are shown in the bible, is unbelief. They did not believe that God was able to give the land to them. But something also assisted their unbelief. That was insufficient determination to take what God wanted to give to them. (Cf. Numbers 13&14; Hebrews 3:19)

But there were two people from that same generation that made it into the Promised Land. They were Joshua and Caleb. Why did they make it there? They made it there because apart from the fact that they had faith in God, they were also determined to make it there.

So, it is not enough for God to promise to give us something or to show us visions of what He wants us to be or enjoy in life; It is also important that we are determined to have what He wants us to have. If we are determined to have what He wants us to have, we will be willing to go all the day in doing whatever legitimate thing we can do to take what He is giving to us. But if we are not determined, there is every tendency that the challenges that we will encounter on our way (and we will surely encounter challenges) will bring discouragement to our hearts. We might, then, stop believing and taking steps of faith towards taking for ourselves what He wants us to have.

As we see in our opening bible text, even though Elijah had made it clear to Elisha that God had chosen him to take his place as the lead prophet in Israel, he was still prompted by God to test his determination to take the place He had already chosen for him. So, when the time came for him to be taken to heaven, he told Elisha to stay in Gilgal and not bother to follow him to Bethel, where God had sent him to go. But did Elisha agree to stay? No! Instead, he told him that he would not leave him until he was eventually caught up to the heavens.

Also, when they got to Bethel and Elijah told him to wait there, since God had sent him to Jericho, he told him that he would still not leave him. And though the prophets there also tried to discourage him from following this man of God, he did not listen to them. The same thing happened when they got to Jericho and Elijah told him to wait there, he would not leave him or pay attention to the words spoken by the prophets there to discourage him. Instead, he followed this man of God on to the Jordan. (Cf. 2Kings 2:1-6)

Why did Elisha act like that? It was because he knew that he had not yet received the spiritual authority and power to function in the prophetic position Elijah had publicly anointed him for. And he was determined to receive these things before the man was taken away from him. Otherwise, all that he would have was just a prophetic title; he would have no authority and power to back it up. Then everything he left behind in order to follow this man of God would have amount to nothing.

Thankfully, because of Elisha’s determination to take the place God had chosen for him, he eventually received from God the authority and power to function as the lead prophet in Israel. But do you know that Elijah had a servant that was serving him before God asked him to go and anoint Elisha in his place? He did. Why, then, was this servant not chosen by God to take his place? We are not told the reason in Scriptures. We are not even given his name. Why? It may be that God saw that he was not someone that was determined enough to serve Him in his master’s place.

Look at all that is said about him in the bible: “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there.” (1Kings 19:3NIV) It was after this, of course, that he received an instruction from God to go and anoint Elisha in his place instead of looking for the servant that he had left in Beersheba. But why, in the first place, was this man not with Elijah when God was talking to him? Why did he agree to stay in Beersheba instead of following his master all the way, regardless of where his path may lead them?

We have no direct answers in Scriptures for these questions. But it is clear from Scriptures that Elisha was utterly different from him. He was not going to leave the man God had appointed him to follow and serve until God’s reason for placing him under his leadership was fully accomplished, regardless of the level of stress that may place on his life. That is determination. And it paid off for him.

In like manner, we too need to be determined to have certain things God wants us to have in order for us to have them. Yes, we need to pass His tests of determination for certain things He has already chosen for us to be ours to possess and enjoy. We may, of course, be faced with all kinds of challenges on our way to taking for ourselves what He has chosen for us. But as long as we trust Him and are determined to have what He wants us to have, He will surely clear the way for us to have it.

So, be determined to see God’s promises to you and the visions He has shown you come to pass in your life. Be determined to go all the way in praying, meditating on Scriptures and taking all the legitimate steps you can take to be that person God has shown you that you can be. And my prayer is that He will count you worthy of His purpose for you and also fulfil every step of faith you take towards becoming all that He wants you to be in this life. Amen.

Enjoy your day.

Have a lovely day.

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“Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.’ Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, ‘Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.’ The woman came and knelt before him. ‘Lord, help me!’ she said. He replied, ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.’ ‘Yes, it is, Lord,’ she said. ‘Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.’ Then Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.’ And her daughter was healed at that moment.” (Matthew 15:21-28NIV)

The Lord was clear on this occasion about the boundaries of His ministry. He said I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. That is not to say that He had no business ministering to the rest of the world. He was just saying that, at that time, His ministry was solely to the house of Israel.

Therefore, it was not right for Him to be ministering to that woman that came to Him, even though He had the power to do so. Otherwise, He would be going outside the scope of His ministry. It would be like taking what is meant for the children and tossing it to their dogs.

But the woman said: “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table. I know you have not been sent to me. But since you are here now and your power is available here, why don’t you just heal my daughter?” And the Lord said, “Woman, you have great faith!” In other words, her faith did not recognise any limitation or boundary or obstacle. It was simply concerned about receiving from God, taking from Him what He has already made available.

So, with great faith, there is no telling of what we can receive from God. And this has to do with having a great level of confidence in God, having a great level of confidence in what His power can accomplish for us.

Now, of course, any kind of faith in God will work. But if we do not want our experience of God’s power to be short-circuited or limited in any way, we must have great confidence in Him – our faith in Him must be great. We must continually think of what His power can accomplish for us and take advantage of it in our lives, homes, education, business and so forth.

See, just as our faith in God can be little in any area of our lives, it can also be great. And we should ask ourselves, “Which do I want, little faith or great?” I pray that God will daily strengthen your heart to meditate on His word and on His power, so that your faith can be built up to be great.

Have a lovely day.

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“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1Peter 2:9-10NIV)

Peter is telling us here that God has chosen us to be His own. Also, he says that He has chosen us be holy, to be precious to Him and to declare His praises in this world of darkness. More than these, he says God has chosen us to be His priests.

Under the Old Covenant, it was not everybody that could serve as a priest of God. Only those who came from the tribe of Levi could serve as priests. God chose that tribe to represent the twelve tribes of Israel in serving Him. So, all their priests came from that tribe. Mind you, it was not even everyone from that tribe that was permitted to serve as a priest of God. What I am saying is that not all Levites were priests of God but all His priests were Levites.

But now, in Christ Jesus, God is saying that every one of us is His priests. I know there are assemblies of God today in which certain individuals are referred to as priests. But that is unscriptural; it is unbiblical. You do not have to be a pastor to be a priest of God. You just need to be a child of God; you just need to be born again. Then you are God’s priest.

So, it is not just our pastors, evangelists, prophets, apostles and so forth that are priests of God. Every child of God is a priest. And if you are a child of God, then, you are one of His priests.

Have a lovely day. 

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