FOLLOWING GOD

Alertness and Patience is key

I was coming back from work one day and I so much wanted to attend the evening service in my church. Although it was already late and my church is very far from my work place, I figured I could still meet at the least, the last 15 minutes. When I got to the junction of my street, I had a nudge to stop (because my church is way beyond my street), but I said to myself, God wouldn't want me not to attend church, and so I kept on moving. This was already about 30 minutes to the end of the service and I still had several kilometers to cover. We got to another junction and I clearly heard the words 'come down here'. After much consideration, I came down a few kilometers beyond but I still hadn't yet gotten to church and I said to myself, 'maybe something is going to happen to that bus that's why He said I should come down', and so I boarded another bus. I didn't hear anymore instructions or get anymore nudging after this. I finally got to the church gate, but unfortunately, some few minutes after they had finished saying the grace. I slapped myself in the head and I felt very very bad. One more lesson learnt, STOP COMPLETING GOD'S SENTENCES FOR HIM.

Many of us are guilty of 'assuming' what we think God has said to us, or what God means in what He has said to us. That day, I learnt clarity. I didn't bother to ask Him why I was told to stop, in fact in the first place, I didn't ask Him if I should still bother going, because it was already late in the night. And then I remember what one of my Spiritual fathers said, don't judge what God is saying based only on what He said yesterday, because yesterday, He might have said 'go', but today, He might be saying 'don't go', in relation to the same situation, but if you aren't listening, you might just assume He is still saying what He said yesterday.

We always say the Lord's prayer...'give us this day our daily bread'. 'Daily bread' here is not just referring to material things, it is also referring to the spiritual, something like 'Father, what is your Word for me today?' 'What are You saying to me today?' 'What should I do today?' 'How should I go about this thing today?' Don't ever think God is tired of hearing your voice, that's why He's your father.

When Jesus said that except we are like little children, we cannot enter the Kingdom of God (Mat 18:3). Children (toddlers) are never in the state of thinking they know it all, they are always willing to follow the instructions of their dad and mum. This is how God wants it to be because we are His children. I would quote one of my Bishops "I would rather be a 'blind' with a Shepherd (Jesus), than seeing and without a Shepherd (Jesus)" and I concur with that. I would prefer running to God to get His opinions about the steps I want to take and follow His Instructions, than make my own decisions on my own and risk facing so many disappointments, or always getting less than the best of the best. Prov 37:5 and Prov 3:5-7 sums it all up. Regard your own 'wisdom' as 'foolishness' and it would make it easier for you to humble yourself enough to ask from the Master.

                                 

'FLEE' TEMPTATIONS!!!

Yeah, RUN!!!
                                                                                    
No one is too good or too bad to be tempted - Prophet T.B Joshua

Well, some people like to think that they are so strong spiritually and that they have overcome a lot of temptations, therefore, they can stand anything. The funny thing is that if the devil cannot get you from your weaknesses (because you are aware of them), he'll get you from your strengths (because you'd ignore them). This is the reason why you'd find many good Christians saying "but I didn't expect myself to do such thing", it is because these 'strengths are left unguarded.

Most times, falling into sin is not a one day affair, it usually takes some time. As a guy, if you think, oh well, I cannot fall into the sin of fornication and then you move around with females who dress less than decently, one day, you'd find yourself thinking it even if you can manage to avoid the real action. Guys are more moved by what they see. And if you think, man, I've done a lot a bad stuffs already, name it - is it drinking, or smoking, or sleeping with girls, prostitution, I've done them all. Well, the devil is right there around you to help you add more to your list of 'done sins'. Since you think those ones are 'big', then he'd help you add stealing, cheating, masturbation, etc.

The Bible has admonished us to 'ABSTAIN' ALL 'APPEARANCES' of evil (1Thess 5:22), It says to RESIST the devil (Jn 10:5). Those three words in capital letters are very important. Abstain, It didn't say, negotiate, or reject, It said ABSTAIN which means to deliberately refuse it!!!. It also didn't say some, or the 'serious' ones, It says ALL!!!. It also didn't say the act has to be done, It says once it looks like it!!!. We Christians know how to teach and practice confessions of the possessions we want in Christ but many hardly dispel evil thoughts from their minds. 

Stop acting 'My Anointing is too much' or 'I have been a Christian from birth' or 'I preach the Word every Sunday'. The Bible did not say pray away all appearances of evil, It says to abstain from them all. And we are supposed to be working towards perfection and not rating our sins - small, big, bigger, biggest, seriously!!!. Someone might say, ehn, before I was smoking marijuana, now I am smoking just cigarette, so I am OK like this. Funny, but sin is sin.

It is much easier to abstain when you have a good measure of the Holy Spirit and The Word of God in you. 1Jn 3:9 attests to the the fact that when the Word is in you, you can avoid sin. Jesus also said The Word is Spirit and life (Jn 6:63). Also, you should simply avoid going to places where you know if God is right beside you, you wouldn't go (because He's actually always right beside you, you simply do not take note of Him) and avoid doing things you know Jesus wouldn't do. It takes a lot of discipline to put your flesh under the power of your spirit.

Try as much as possible to always stay tuned-in to The Word and The Spirit.
                                                 

MY GOD OF VENGEANCE

Wow!... learnt something wonderful in church on Sunday and I want to share it with you

And then they ask... "why do Christians pray for their enemies to suffer,to die"? "Isn't that so heartless"? "But Jesus said Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing". The truth is that there is only one place and one instance in the Bible where Jesus said that (Lk 23:24). Now the question is, what about those that know what they are doing to you? What happens to them? 

If you read my previous post LET LOVE LEAD, you would notice that I tried to define 'enemies'. Once again, your enemies are not exactly your acquaintances who get you angry a lot or who tease you a lot. To define, I quote (paraphrased) one of my pastors - "your enemy is anyone and anything that is deterring you from making progress of any type in life". Therefore, your enemy can be a sickness, disease, poverty and anyone who is doing something against you, whether physically or spirituality to destroy your progress in life.

Now what does the Bible say about these enemies? Is 35:4 says that God will come with vengeance to save you. From who? Those that make you fearful. You would also see in Ps 94:1 when David cried out to God, referring to Him as the God of vengeance. We would also see in Ez 25:17 when God said He would visit the Philistine with furious vengeance because they had disturbed the people of Israel. Nahum 1:2 says God would revenge for you.

Until the vengeance of the Lord comes upon your 'enemies', your light might never shine, because the execution of God's vengeance brings about your liberation. Is 61:2, Is 34:8. Why should you be gentle with those that do not want your progress? If you keep on being gentle, it means you do not mind the suffering and they would continue oppressing you until you die a gentle death (no one would know the cause of your death).

And just so you'd know too, you are God's own and God takes care of His own. Therefore it is very dangerous to touch a true Christian. We would see in Gen 20:3 how God defended Abraham before Abimelech.

Therefore, cry out to the God of vengeance today to avenge you of your enemies that your glory may show forth, for vengeance is of the Lord God of Hosts who is a Consuming-Fire (Rom 12:19, Heb 10:30). Indeed, our light shall shine for Jesus is coming to meet a glorious church, one which faces the forces of evil head-on.

                                    

SAY, WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO INTEGRITY?

                       
We Christians like to bend the 'rules' a lot to suit our immediate needs. We quote sayings and Bible verses and render our own interpretations to them to favor our actions (Matt 15:9). This is just a deceit of the devil because no matter how much you bend the meanings of the verses in the Bible to suit you, that verse would still hold its originally intended meaning in God's Eyes (Matt 24:35). That's the integrity of the Word. 

So why do we prefer to suit our fleshy desires and justify ourselves? This bending of rules has affected the whole intention of Christianity. 'Christian' in actual fact means "Christ-like', so what is so Christ-like in satisfying your fleshy above the integrity of the Word.

It is actually this lack of integrity on the part of Christians that give unbelievers the audacity to castigate Christianity as a religion. If you as a Christian and an unbeliever are using the same methods to get the same results from the same situations, then what right do you have to call an 'unbeliever' an unbeliever?

One thing that helps to keep me in check is one very important question - what if the trumpet sounds now? And then I further ask myself, if God should now ask me, why did you miss the rapture, is any reason reasonable enough? Definitely no! Imagine missing rapture because of $50000 or even N500? Can that be compared to the wealth you would enjoy in heaven?

Let us reconstruct our focus. It would be really painful to miss rapture because you bribed someone, or because you cheated someone, or for greediness or for whatsoever reason (2Pet 3:10, Rev 16:15). Acting the way unbelievers do is an embarrassment to Christianity. So why are you a Christian? 

Haven't you yet seen the benefits of being a child of God? Why haven't you stayed connected and focused on your Source? Because really, whatever you need, you need not fear any man, Our God is able to supply ALL (not some) our needs according to HIS (not ours) riches in Glory, through Christ Jesus (your first connection to God) (Phil 4:19). 

Moreover, you need not lie to get out of any problem because if integrity was in place initially, you wouldn't have gotten into any problem in the first place. Let's say you are not guilty, then Glory to God because Lk 18:7 says God shall avenge His elect. But if you are guilty and you are ready to change, thumbs up, because Rom 3:23 says that all have sinned and come short of God's Glory and Is 1:18 says God will wash your sins as white as snow. Isn't that beautiful? God has made provisions for all.

                                        

SUCCESS REFLECTIONS

Just a little something to make you think

“Just know, when you truly want success, you’ll never give up on it. No matter how bad the situation may get.” - Unknown

“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” - Joshua J. Marine

“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.” – Bill Cosby

“Go where you are celebrated – not tolerated. If they can’t see the real value of you, it’s time for a new start.” – Unknown

"Dont be afraid to stand for what you believe in, even if that means standing alone".. - Unknown

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.” - James Neil Hollingworth

“No one can make you feel inferior without your permission.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure." - Hellen Keller

"Forgiveness doesn't change history; it makes living with it easier." - Unknown

“What you are is God's gift to you, what you become is your gift to God.”  ― Hans Urs von Balthasar

“True faith means holding nothing back. It means putting every hope in God's fidelity to His Promises.”  ― Francis Chan

“We never grow closer to God when we just live life. It takes deliberate pursuit and attentiveness.”  ― Francis Chan

“Being happy doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. it means that you’ve decided to look beyond the imperfections.” - Unknown

“Nobody ever wrote down a plan to be broke, fat, lazy, or stupid. Those things are what happen when you don’t have a plan.” – Larry Winget

“Three things you cannot recover in life: the WORD after it’s said, the MOMENT after it’s missed and the TIME after it’s gone. Be Careful!” – Unknown

“He said "Love...as I have loved you." We cannot love too much.”  ― Amy Carmichael

And finally,

"When Satan reminds us of our past, we should remind him of his future." - Unknown

                                     

I AIN'T PERFECT, JUST LOVED

          

The whole basis of Christianity is Christ's Love, God's Love (Rom 5:8, Mk 2:17). 

I have come to realize that God's Love for us knows no bound and He first demonstrated this when He sent His Son to die for the sins of the whole world, even if most people do not yet seem to realize this. God does not love us because we are perfect, nor for our good works, nor because we prayed yesterday, He loves us because He has chosen to (Matt 11:27)..... Oh, what a great privilege!

Therefore, when you make a mistake and the devil wants to hold you down with guilt, just tell him.... hello, God loves me! and go to God and make amends immediately. 2 Cor 12:9 explains this further, Christ is willing to help you through your weaknesses. The fact that He loved you while you were deep in sin is enough to tell you that a little fall would not make Him love you any less, so don't allow any devil to deceive you (Is 1:18).

Many Christians suffer down-time because they do not understand the magnitude of God's Love for them. Something goes wrong and God is blamed, lacking something and God is blamed once again. Blaming God does not solve problems, confessing His Love for you does a lot because it increases your confidence in Him. Many are poor not because they are lazy, but because they do not know their right in Christ for all-round prosperity (1Tim 5:18, 3Jn 1:2).

Come into the light of The Father's Love today! Allow the Holy Spirit to reveal more of the Father's Love to you (Rom 5:5), because only a Spirit can comprehend a Spirit. The Father's Love is sooooo..... great, our normal minds cannot comprehend it (Eph 3:18). And according to your understanding of this great Love, will you enjoy God on this earth (Eph 3:19), because God would not give you more than you can contain (Eph 3:20), He deals in sizes. 

You cannot command more than what you know. Comprehending more of God's Love gives you power over the evil forces in this world. Remember all those cartoons, where good always win evil? Love would always prevail all.

                                             

KNOW YOUR RIGHT!!!

The happiest people on earth
              

I just realized more vividly something exciting today that I'd like to share with you - The relationship between David and Jesus.

David was a man after God's heart (1Sam 16:7), God said about Jesus - "this is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased" (Matt 3:17).

David cared for his father's sheep (1Sam 17:34), Jesus cares for His Father's sheep (Christians) (1Pet 5:7).

David defended the sheep from lions and bears and wolves (1Sam 17:34-36), Jesus defends us from the attacks of the devil. In Him do we find our refuge (2Sam 22:3).

David's brothers thought him too small to kill Goliath (1Sam 17:28), Jesus was not well accepted by His brethren because He was merely the carpenter's son to them (Matt 13:54-58).

David carried a sling and five stones to kill Goliath (1Sam 17:40), Jesus - J E S U S - 5 - five means grace. Because of the Grace of God towards man, the unmerited favor of God that He showed and still shows to man, Jesus died on the Cross of Calvary for us, went to hell and conquered the devil, took all the 'keys' from him and came out victorious (Col 2:14-15).

The children of Israel chased the philistines for as long and took their spoils (1Sam 17:52-53), the Bible says that we are more than conquerors and now we can trample on the devil and his tactics. We are now have dominion over principalities and powers (Eph 3:10). Glory be to God!

Stop allowing the devil to toy with you, fight back because the battle has already been won. If you keep on condoning his rubbish  then you are saying, "don't worry, I'm gonna manage, it ain't that bad, at least I'm still alive"... Don't let the devil get a laugh off you. 

Start living the glorious life that Christ prepared for us today. We Christians are supposed to be, the happiest people on earth.

                                          

YOUR SUCCESS DEPENDS ON YOUR FOCUS

Don't be discouraged 

I was walking down the road one day and I was busy studying the peculiar dressing style of a particular lady. It was not so long after that I noticed I was following her exact footsteps and had missed my turn at the T-junction. And then the Holy Spirit said to me, that's what focus does. 

You remain on a path as long as you are focused on it. Let's take a few positive examples here:

Thomas Edison - he tried 999 times before he got the right combination for the electric light bulb. Abraham Lincoln - tried for so many years before he finally became the most influential president of America in 1861. John Davison Rockefeller - stayed with his oil company long enough to emerge the first billionaire in the world. Martin Luther King - stayed long enough with his dream for an America free of racism, his dream went on beyond him birthing Barack Obama as first black president of the USA. Nando Parrado - trekked 10 days at near death state over the Andes mountain with his friend in hope for a rescue after their plane crash. Jessica Cox - spent three years instead of six months to gain her lightweight aircraft license, had three flying instructors and practiced 89 hours of flying, and became the first pilot with no arms. Helen Keller - Despite disability of both deafness and blindness, she learned to read and write. I think this is long enough...lol.

Now going to the Bible, we have Christianity today because Jesus did not give up on His assignment, and the apostles did not give up on their assignments, even unto death. Looking at the other hand, Peter, as long as he kept his focus on Jesus, was able to walk on the sea. The moment he took notice of the storm around him, he began to sink (Matt 14:29-30). 

Looking at this from another stand point also, the Bible says looking unto Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2). Bishop David Oyedepo has a description of the scripture - ...let thine eye be single...(Lk 11:34). He says, you cannot look up and look down at the same time (don't try it), therefore you cannot serve God and Mammon. In essence, if you are looking to God as your source for a solution, then look to Him alone. Besides, He's the best source.

Therefore, in all your pursuits, remain focused and determined, and look to God alone. It simply takes patience and perseverance. See you at the top. Cheers!!!

                   

KEEP IN MIND THAT WE ARE JUST TRAVELLERS

Do you know that you are just passing by?

           

Cars, houses, money, marriage, job... all these characteristics of this world, consuming our mind day-in day-out. It's like you just keep going round and round and round. It's all just a rat-race. You go to pre-school, then to grade-school, then suddenly you are done with high-school. You go to university or college, then what next?, you are either starting a business or looking for a job, then comes marriage and the kids, and the race continues.

If you really just sit and think about all these, it's really consuming. The Bible says, vanity of vanities, all is vanity (Eccl 1:2). Not saying here that you shouldn't have all these, it would be mere ignorance to live a suffering life while on earth when our Almighty Father has provided us with so much (3Jn 1:2).

But the thing is, most of us have taken things too far. You chase all these things until your 'Final Destination' is totally robbed off your mind. It's just like in a video game... you are totally in another world for the period of the game, once it is over, you go back to reality. We are all in a virtual world of the 'Real Thing'. In video games, there are always the 'bad guys' and the 'good guys'... same as we have in this world.

The Bible says, but seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matt 6:33).... It's not saying that it is bad to have wealth or other material things, it's simply saying that while in that, God and His Kingdom should be your ultimate focus. You shouldn't allow anything to come between you and God (Rom 8:38-39). Your real possessions are in heaven. All you 'have' here are just virtual, just like in a video game too!

Constantly we should always ask ourselves, 'if rapture should occur in the next one minute, were would I go'? Not to live in fear but to live in consciousness of the World beyond - Heaven or Hell? That's the big question that most of us try to avoid. We find ourselves giving unnecessary descriptions to our actions, 'trying' to justify them with the Word.

Whether we'd admit it or not, we are in the end-time. Or are you waiting for God to come down Himself before you accept that there is more to these 'enjoyments'? You check the signs for yourself (Matt 24:5)..., what more?

Let us all live our lives with a consciousness of where we want to end-up after this 'game' is over. I for one, I would like to end up in Heaven, what about you?
                            

FAITH

Just a little something about Faith...

 

Quite popular: 'Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen', and I really do hope it's not just a chant, but something we practice. Naturally, it's quite difficult believing something that is obviously (physically) not existing, and the devil does not make the process of faith any easy, when he keeps on helping you to see and reason the physical obvious. 

So how do we improve our capacity to trust God?

The first and simplest method is by filling yourself with the Word of God (Rom 10:8) and thinking it. Here, the saying that knowledge is power definitely applies. This is simply because what you do not know you have, or what you are not sure you have is difficult to claim confidently. This would help your confidence and would help you to counter any form of doubt that the devil might bring your way (Matt 21:21).

You should also speak that which you believe (2Cor 4:13). "You need to stop describing your present situation and start declaring your future expectations", Bishop David Abioye. There's just something about what you speak, it pulls unknown forces together to bring it to pass, and that it why it is said, 'say not before an angel that it was an error. Therefore, make positive confessions, speak the Word.

Also, it is definitely important to walk in love (1Cor 13:13). This is because anything that has to do with God has to do with love, for God is Love (1Jn 4:16). In this, it is love for God and love for those around you. With respect to God, it implies obeying Him and keeping His laws, for love is the fulfillment of the law (1Jn 5:3, Jn 14:15, 1Jn5:2). This way, the devil has nothing to hold against you before God and besides that, sin does have a way of reducing your confidence. With respect to those around you, it implies forgiveness (Ps 66:18, Matt 18:21&22) and generally walking in love.

Sometimes, we do need the extra help of the HolySpirit, this is what is referred to as the gift of faith. This is when you do ask the HolySpirit to help strengthen your faith like the man here: Mark 9:24, or sometimes, He just does it to perform a miracle. For example, passing an exam you did not sit for due to an illness.

It takes faith to get it all. God bless you.