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Showing posts from December, 2011

As We Match Into Year 2012… Part 2

As the year closes so many of us have done a soul searching of the year in retrospect and scored ourselves low, thus, hoping and praying to do very well in 2012. This hope will only become a reality if we can truly stand up and begin to adjust in areas of our lives that we did not please God. You might wonder how you would know if you had pleased God. You will know if you are truly born again. Not just mouthing it but living the experience of being born again. We are told in 1 Corinthians 2:15-16 that we have the ability to evaluate everything because we have the mind of Christ. So as not to go through the same route of spiritual, physical and emotional defeat, we must endeavor to remain in the premises of God for the blessings to come. Know this: each blessing of God carries a premise or condition. Once the condition is not met then the blessing is a counterfeit and time will tell it. The Lord is not promising us a problem free year but He tells us not to forget that through the whole

As We Match Into Year 2012…

It is tragic to watch children of God draw plans and resolutions for God on how He will bless them come 2012; so many have even started fretting concerning them. They have drawn up long plans and resolutions for the Lord, hoping that He would bless it. I can hear you argue you are doing this because you want to please the Lord. A good thing, but remember, Hebrews 11:6 clearly states that He rewards those who seek Him diligently, who come to Him . You don’t go into your mind to dig up ways you think is best to please Him come 2012, He must show you or your works will become idols detestable to Him! Romans 8:14 states clearly that only those led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. If I may ask, who led you to draw up those plans and resolutions for the year 2012? Over the years you have done this ‘good thing’, how has it prospered in your hands? Remember, a good thing is not necessarily a godly thing! God has no problem blessing you in the year 2012 if He tarries. It had been writt

Temporary Residents

Have you ever given it a thought that when all these around you passes away and you close your eyes in the sleep of death, you are actually going and ending somewhere? The truth is the time you arrived this world and the time you will be exiting it you have no idea, but you will leave one day no matter how you feign ignorance or try to plan it! Whichever way, the question is: where will you be when you wake up? The Bible talks about eternity – earth is just a point in eternity it is not the destination. Whether you agree or not is immaterial; every man will end up there either to spend it in Heaven or Hell. The choice of where to spend it is not made after one embarks on the sleep of death but is a conscious choice the person makes whilst still alive. One amusing but sad theory is that when people die, they go nowhere as they end up as manure or reincarnate in the form of an animal, become one of the angels or even the stars. This is a terrible deceit of the devil. So many that hold on

The Father’s Heart

The Heart desire of our God is to dwell amongst us, such that He will be our God and we will be His sons and daughters. This heart desire is clearly demonstrated in the parable of the Prodigal son found in Luke 15:11-32. We saw the heart of a Father that is not judgmental, that only sees what we were made to be. When the youngest son decided to leave his father’s house with what he had inherited, the father did not scold, argue or get angry with him. I am sure the father felt that the teachings and trainings that the son had received in his house should kick in at this crucial time. However, the young man’s heart never pondered on those teachings and trainings he had received from his father. The Bible says, based on the younger son’s request, the father divided his assets amongst his two sons happily without any prejudice. He did not feel sad, that his beloved son would ask for his inheritance whilst he was still alive. After all, you inherit a man’s possessions after his death. By hi

Remain…

How would you feel if the Lord tells you that the reason He had allowed you to go through some nasty experiences this year was to teach you lessons on being tenacious in your relationship with Him? Tough one! As the year runs to a close, how would you gauge your level of faith in light of these experiences? Are you waxing stronger or you have become faint? If you had become faint, don’t lose heart! The Lord knew you would come to this point that was why He said in Luke 18:1 - it is very important that we pray and not get discouraged, faint, or give up. In areas where it looked as if the situation got tougher as you prayed, don’t give up; it is only a smokescreen of the enemy to make you feel nothing was happening. Unfortunately, so many at this point feel unworthy because they feel they have failed God. That is not true! Friend, you have been chosen before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in the sight of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ according to Ephesians 1:3-4

The Accursed Thing – Part 2

The second poignant point we found in Joshua 6:18 is “… and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.” The accursed thing will not only bring a man under a curse but the whole camp. Look at the case of Jonah in Jonah 1:1-11, his sin brought calamity upon the passengers that were travelling with him. A bothersome issue in this narrative is in verse 5 the Bible says: “The mariners were afraid and cried every man unto his god and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.” This shows that Jonah was fast asleep, unaffected and unperturbed by the trouble threatening the lives of the crew and his fellow travelers. Same thing occurred in Joshua 7, Achan was unaffected by the calamities that befell the camp. I’m sure he would have joined the debate of finding out what could have brought such calamity to the nation of Israel. The Bible says, 36 men of Israel were slaughtere

The Accursed Thing Part 1

Do you know nothing happens to a child of God that he had no prior knowledge of? The Bible tells us in John 16:1 that these things the Lord reveals to us so that we will not stumble when we come face to face with them. In Joshua 7:5, the children of Israel were defeated by Ai, a small nation compared to the nations Israel had conquered and destroyed in the past. They were defeated because an accursed thing was found in the camp. Prior to that time, the Lord had given them an instruction concerning the accursed thing in Joshua 6:18 – “And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.” From the passage you would see that the accursed thing will make a man accursed. Have you not wondered why we are beaten in the face of minor battles, why the struggling in service to the Lord? The truth remains that God cannot dwell amongst an accursed people. Let us see two p

Escape Corruption

The reason God gave us the promises in 2 Peter1:3-10 is not just for us to be partakers of His divine nature, but that we can through them escape by flight the corruption that is in the world through lust. Look around you; corruption is the order of the day all over the world, either physically or spiritually. It is so rampant that it is increasingly looking as if there is no one that can escape it. In the days of the Roman Empire, when a man kills another man, the offender is made to carry the corpse of the dead person on his back as a way of punishing him. In fact he is made to sleep and even eat with the corpse on his back; he goes everywhere with it and does everything with it on his back. Until the stench and the decay of the dead gradually kills him. That is corruption! Same thing is happening with us in the world. The game plan of the enemy is that as we live in this world, the decay and stench of its customs and practices will gradually kill us. No wonder, Christ had to pray fo

Life Of Impact

We read and hear of great men and women that impacted their generation. We judge them on the actions they took or refused to take as a result so many have been adjudged by us before facing the judgment of God. If I may ask, have you wandered what would be said concerning your own tenure in the place you are right now or when your time is up and you are called into eternity? Acts 13:36a says “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep…” A lot had passed through this world unnoticed and unfruitful to the Kingdom of God. Everyone born of God must not only seek the will of God but must equally make an effort to fulfill it; the will of God is to cover the earth with His glory and righteousness. Thus, there is no glory in just living a life without touching the lives of others. No man was created to just fill a void or brought into this world devoid of purpose. Everything about our God is purposeful neither does He waste His resources; just take a look

Be Encouraged! 2

      In John 14:3, Jesus said “If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you to Myself, so that where I am you may be also.” He equally said in Luke 18:29 “…I assure you: there is no one who has left a house, wife or brothers, parents or children because of the Kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more at this time and eternal life in the age to come.” By the time we got to Revelations 22:12, He said: “Look! I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me to repay each person according to what he has done.” With these great promises, what manner of lives are we to live in order not to lose sight and fall short of these great and marvelous promises? We would be the most miserable if our hope is only for this life: to live a rich and great life whilst losing our place with the Father in eternity. This calls for a sober living and like the heroes of Hebrews 11, we must constantly look forward to the City whose Architect and Builder is God. 1 Corinth

Not My Will To Be Like This

Have you ever felt you needed help to get out of what or where you are but there is no one to help you? Unfortunately, when you look around you, you are surrounded by people that are just watching you yet offering no help. It is as if they enjoy seeing you in this terrible condition! They offer palliatives that only make you more painfully aware of your condition. How miserable would one feel, with so much water yet none to drink? That was the situation the invalid in John 5:1-15 found himself. He had an infirmity for thirty-eight long years with no help in sight. He was lying by a pool with other invalids surrounded by able bodied men – elders and Levites - yet no one to assist him into the pool to get healed. The Bible says the pool was by the Sheep gate; this is very significant because the Lord had come for the lost and hurting sheep to bring them back to Himself. At a point, the Lord had so much compassion on the people when He saw how harassed and distressed they were, that He li

Fiery Furnace

When all has been said and done, would it be on record that you walked in a manner that brought glory to our Lord Jesus Christ? Take a look around you; there is nothing to encourage us to serve God the more. On a daily basis, the enemy sets up all manner of statues for us to bow to and worship. As a result, so many have lost their identity in Christ. So many bear the name of Christ but refuse to key into the name. The Bible says at the name of Jesus Christ every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is Lord, in Heaven, on and under the earth. Praise God that the three Hebrew men in Daniel 3 did not forget their names and most importantly the name of Whom they bear. These men were surrounded by men that had no regard for God and were seen as strange for not joining the rest of the people in their evil. The Bible gave an account of how king Nebuchadnezzar erected a golden statue and commanded everyone under his rule to worship it. Hananiah meaning the Lord is gracious (Shad

How To Recover Your Lost Relationship With Christ

When you see someone talk about you in the past whilst claiming to know you, one will immediately realize that such a person had lost touch with you. When children of God talk about past experiences and glories with no recent experiences with the Lord, then they have lost contact with Him. As a result, their relationship with the Lord can be related to ash: dead! It only proves that something used to be there. Ash is good, but it cannot remain on the altar as it will put out the fire. The Bible tells us in Leviticus 6:12 that the fire on the altar which symbolizes our relationship with Him must be kept burning. Fresh wood must be added to the fire every morning to keep it burning. The fresh wood symbolizes the study of His Word and prayers: these must not be lacking in our lives or deadness will creep into our souls and spirits. So many yearn to recover the relationship they had with the Master but a lot cannot fathom at what point they lost Him or when they stopped putting fresh wood