DELAY NOT DENIAL

"Seven days from now I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.” Genesis 7:4, And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth. Genesis 7:10

Today, we are examining when God makes a promise. We have all heard the bible passage that God is "not a man that He should lie", i want us to also look at the passage which says "For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry." HABAKKUK 2:3

When Noah went into the ark, people would have laughed at him from the 1st day, laughed harder the 2nd day, hardest on the 3rd day. Noah knows God promised him the rain after 7  days but as the days pass by......1, 2 ,3, 4, Noah would have been very tensed-up. Then, the appointed time and God showed up... and their laughter turned to plea for help.

When Lazarus was sick, they sent for Jesus and alas, Lazarus died. When Jesus got there, even Lazarus' sisters lost their faith.

No matter what people are saying, no matter what the realities are showing, please don't doubt God. Hold on to the promises He made to you. He makes everything beautiful in his own time. He WILL come and silence the mockers.He NEVER fails.

Concerning the second coming, He is coming back again. Brethren, be prepared.

Shalom!

PRAISE NOT IN STOCK

Lola came to hug me of her own free will today and started kissing my face. .....left, right,up, down and as I sat receiving those kisses from my daughter, my love for her filled my heart to bursting point. I know she wants to play with my tablet but I just love what she did in order to achieve her goal.

This event made me understand what praise and worship does to God. If Lola had given me gifts, it would have been from what I have her. But this expression of love is out of my capacity to measure and give her with the instruction to return some.

God cannot give us praise (it's not in heaven's store house) that we will give Him 10% back. He cannot praise Himself and He loves praise. Why don't you give God praise without ulterior motive and watch Him open heavens store house for you.

If you think you have little to thank God for, start from that little and continue with Psalm 136.
                                             
                                                Sneak peek from my book


Shalom!

TRUTH AND MALICE

TRUTH!
Now there was a famine in the land—besides the previous famine in Abraham’s time—and Isaac went to Abimelek king of the Philistines in Gerar.......When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,”...........So Abimelek summoned Isaac and said, “She is really your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?” Isaac answered him, “Because I thought I might lose my life on account of her.” Then Abimelek said, “What is this you have done to us? One of the men might well have slept with your wife, and you would have brought guilt upon us.” Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. Genesis 26:1-12

MALICE!
......He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him..........So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.” Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!”.........Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also.......... Meanwhile, Abimelek had come to him from Gerar, with Ahuzzath his personal adviser and Phicol the commander of his forces............. Isaac then made a feast for them, and they ate and drank.  That day Isaac’s servants came and told him about the well they had dug. They said, “We’ve found water!”. Genesis 26:13-32

Today's bible passages buttress the point from the bible passage of the previous bible study. 1Peter2:19-21 http://olufunkeayorinde.blogspot.com/2019/04/suffering.html?m=1

Isaac had his 1st breakthrough in a strange land when his lies were exposed and he acknowledged it..... he planted during a famine and reaped a hundredfold........wow! He "suffered lack for a sin he committed".

Having a source of water is invaluable for a shepherd. Imagine Isaac's torment of being denied his own well with his large herd He probably would have to beg others to fetch from their well. He would have to agree to their terms too (fetch water after us, your boy must not come here again, your flock's faeces is disturbing is, your men must sweep the side of the wall,etc) and he kept cool.

Isaac's biggest breakthrough came because he suffered for a sin he did not commit and he did not keep malice or hold a grudge. God was busy moulding Isaac into a better man before he got a larger share of his father,Abraham's blessings.

For those of us who still have sin in our lives and we can give excuses for it like Isaac... i lie so that he will not be angry, i stole to feed my children, I'm doing yahoo yahoo because the white man stole from us, I'm doing runs to get revenge  over men, my employer also stole from the government,etc..... keept it up. You are only delaying God's blessing over your life.

Also, for those of us that can keep records of both real and perceived wrong done to us....let us learn from Isaac. He had the right to be bitter, but he chose to be better and embraced his adversaries with love. This unlocked the earth's resource for him and no one could contend with him over it.

Holy Spirit divine, help us so that Abraham's blessings will be ours. With man, it is impossible, with God, all things are possible.

Shalom! 

SUFFERING

Learnings from today's fellowship.

"For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called,because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps." 1Peter 2:19-21

The bible passage above tells us that we will suffer for doing the right thing. This does not mean the same suffering that Jesus suffered such that every one will witness it on the street; rather, each person's suffering (also called cross) is different.

As Christians who have left the "milk" of the word, the meat/bone of the word is that suffering is one of the "jewerries" of a child of God. It is a "rite of passage" to a higher level in Christ. Just like Christ, we "pass through" in order to have His power. "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death"Phil.3:10.

THE POWER COMES FROM THE SUFFERING.

These suffering is for us to be blessed and for God to be glorified. These sufferings can also be likened to the fire used to purify Gold. The heat required for low-carat gold is lower than the heat meant for a higher-carat gold, so why are you comparing your trials to your neighbours. 

Don't forget that He knows us because He knitted us in our mother's womb, so He will not allow us to be tempted more than we can bear 1Cor. 10:13 and He is ready to comfort us as Jesus was 2Cor. 1:5.

Some dirt/habits/attitudes need to be taken off permanently before we are blessed....failure to remove these filth will result into shame when we get promoted which God does not want.

From today, embrace your suffering and ensure you let go of the filth quickly so you don't stay too long in the fire and watch what Master-piece the Master will make of you.

To His glory and for your blessing/elevation.

Shalom!