STILL DOUBTING?

" Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord says: About this time tomorrow, a seah of the finest flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.The Officer on whose arm the king was leaning said to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord should open the floodgates of the heavens, could this happen? You will see it with your own eyes answered Elisha, but you will not eat any of it!
And it came to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria: And that lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the Lord should make windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. And so it fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died." 2kings 7:1&2,18-20


The bible text above is from the bible text from July 13,2018 RCCG devotional. The spirit of God turned this message for me to understand better.

That Officer was full of data. He knew the extent of the famine. He knew how much money, effort, help and time the executive arm of governance had spent to arrest the situation all to no avail and what it will take for the citizens to feel A LITTLE ease from the famine pains. This information made him conclude that such turn-around is IMPOSSIBLE to man in 24 hours.....he died.

Likewise Peter on the sea had data on the in-and-out of the sea. He knows how fast he can sink of covered by the waves as high as what he was looking at, he knows that location of the sea is "bottomless" he knows that to survive such storm is IMPOSSIBLE and so, as he took his eyes off Jesus, and gazed at the waves (only God knows what was going through his mind at that moment)....... he sank.

Now, you, Pastor, Deacon, Prayer Coordinator, you  "on whose arm the king  (Jesus) leans". You have so much data about that sister/brother's situation. You known how long the rot has been going on. You know how much effort has been put in for there to be restoration all to no avail. Then you got that revelation from God for him/her..... do you doubt it?

You as an individual, even if your Pastor does not have all the details, you know what you have battled with for years. You know the extent of the rot/destruction and you know what you have done....prayer mountain and dry fasting all to no avail. You know where the rot had gotten to and what it will take to make just A LITTLE change/impact.......  then that prophesy came....."in 24hours" he said.... will you doubt it?

We are to be like little children in our Christian faith. Children don't have data that kills their faith; their thought is "Daddy said it? Then it is so".

Oh Lord, I believe, please help my unbelief Mark 9:24

PARABLE OF THE SOWER 2.0

Looking at the parable of the sower of Matthew 13 in another dimension: see the seeds as new converts being ministered to

1, Some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

These are the souls who were told about the love of Christ and their "friends" came and distract them saying "don't mind those holier-than-thou people" or "have they been to heaven, how did they know who will enter?" . These ones will be given one of his old vices (cigarette, sex, alcohol, etc) as distraction.... they finish by saying "don't mind them".

2, Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth. And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

These are the converts that received the word and was passionate about it....they join "a bible believing" church and such word-deprived churches interprete the convert's activity/passion to mean being-rooted and make them leaders....but when trials come to test the new faith, because they are not continually fed as babes in order to grow in faith...." ...they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away."

3, And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

These are converts who join churches full of strife, malice, jealousy and chaos... this type of environment will choke the convert's  passion for the things of God and will cause some to return to the world

4, But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

These are converts who join a bible believing church and is nutured as a baby christian and tended as such.... get the right word as at when due and exposed to the right athmosphere....they grow to be great and will flourish with eagerness to win more souls for the body of Christ.

So..... These is more to be done when the word has taken root,

Let every church endeavour to be a good ground for new converts.

Let all Christian ensure we are not stumbling blocks in the path of these new ones either by words, actions or inaction.

Let all soulwinners direct our converts to the right places and pray for our converts to be planted on good soil.

Remember... He who win souls is wise.

Shallom!

WONDERFUL, EXCELLENT, MIGHTY GOD

Today I had another view of God Almighty. I experienced His humility…. Not of Christ becoming man but of a born-of-Christ-man having the abilities listed below and more;
1. Being given God-like power (bind, loose, create, e.t.c).
2. Man calling on God day or night… not having to wait on queue.
3. God honouring the wish of man, His creation.
4. God honouring His word no matter His anger at that point. Just repeat it to Him.
5. His total acceptance of you ANY TIME you decide to follow Him (early life, mid-life or even on death bed)

 We, at one time or the other has been made to feel less than human after our encounter with some individuals who feel they are more superior and so have the “right” to Lord it over us…
1. Some parents/spouses/landlords are dictators in civilian uniform.
2. Some sponsors will remind you of ALL they’ve ever done to help you.
3. Some pastors will not attend to you until you pay a fee.
4. Some Managers, MDs, CEOs, Politicians will make you wait for days even if you have an appointment.

When my eyes got opened to see how God has come to (and He is still at) my level so that I can walk with Him, I can only sing…

You are great….great (x6)
Everything written about you is great.

My brethren, if you say that you are spirit-filled and some people are still categorised as “beneath your level”…. You still need to go back to Calvary and begin again. I am not saying you should leave important things and mingle with people so that you won’t be seen as arrogant but don’t intentionally make people wait/suffer while seeking your attention. It is not Christ-like.

For those who men has cast aside as lower-class….. Rejoice! Because to my God, you are worth the precious blood of His Son and He is not finished with you yet.

My God! You are humble as You are holy. It is who you are, I bow in awe of You.

Shallom!

ONE COUNTRY, TWO ECONOMY

After the death of King Solomon, 2Chronicles 10:1 says “And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for to Shechem were all Israel come to make him king.” After this, all Israel (2Chronicles 10:3) said to the new king (the dead king’s son) in 2Chronicles 10:4 “Thy father made our yoke grievous; now therefore, ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father and his heavy yoke that he put upon us and we will serve you”

This is weird to me because I expected Israel to be in wealth because of their wise and Godly king and also the report of 1Kings 10:27 that “And the king (Solomon) made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees that are in the vale for abundance” but clarity came when my eyes were opened to the fact that despite ALL ISRAEL being in “grievous servitude”, only Jerusalem (where the king resides) was in abundant abundance!

This is like what is happening in Nigeria, despite the hardship with increased taxes, levies, inflation, job loss all over the country, for those who are where the Lord resides, reigns and rules, they will not be in servitude but will be in abundant abundance such that it will not be as if they live in the same country!

One country, Two Economy.
Jesus Christ’s Economy or President Buhari’s Economy.
Choose Christ.

Shalom!

WHEN GOD VISITS

We all know that God is everywhere, even in our hearts; so, what do I mean by God visiting. Two bible passages led me to personally look forward to such visits to my home and I want you to do same.

The first passage is Mark 5 Verses 1-20 told us about Jesus healing the man with the legion of demons. It saw Jesus coming off a boat (verse1), healing the man, sitting with the man (verse 15) and leaving the town (verse 21). If this is not a personal visit, I don’t know what is!

The second passage is Genesis 18 Verses 1-15 told us of the visit of the 3 angels to Abraham while on their way to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. It saw the 3 men standing beside Abraham, his invitation for them to rest a little, the men ate, gave Abraham’s household a gift and left to destroy  Sodom and Gomorrah. That is also a personal visit!

I want us to take note of something…. For each of those visits, there was a divine impartation that made the receiver(s) a new person. When I said new person, I mean…;

And several other beautiful ways of newness.

Before that day, God’s promise of children to Abraham has never been said face-to-face; the day the promise was said face-to-face, nothing could delay it. Not even Sarah’s laugh of unbelief. Nor was the mad man’s aggression enough to cancel his appointment with The Destiny Changer. Done Deal!

Don’t forget that God will NOT visit a house that is not His own. Does your heart, home, TV (cable and DVD), laptop, desktop, phone, iPad, spouse, children, job, business, etc belong to Him? Surrender it all to Him now and expect your family’s day of visitation very soon, there is still so much hours before this year ends.

Shalom!

KEEP CALM, IT’S GOD’S SON’S BIRTHDAY!

I am yet to see a guest for an event preparing and putting effort into entertainment plans for his host’s event. So, Christians worldwide, why are you worried about how you will celebrate this Christmas (cloth, food, drinks, outings, e.t.c)? Do you think God does not know it’s the anniversary of His son’s birth on earth? The same God that gave Israelites’ daily, weekly, monthly and yearly feasts/festivals (feast of Unleavened bread, Passover, Pentecost, First fruits, e.t.c)?

Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever…. The bible told us what God can do with little or nothing. If He can feed 100 men with 20 loaves of barley bread and grain in a knapsack through Prophet Elisha (2Kings 4:42-44) and even did better with 5 loaves and 2 fishes for 5000 men through Jesus Christ (John 6:7-13), why can’t He cloth, feed, entertain, trip you with the little amount in your pocket. Don’t forget 2Kings 4:43b which says “They shall eat and have some leftover” and John 14:12 told us that we will do greater works than Jesus Christ.

With the “recession”, high cost of things and little money at hand you are worried about yourself or your family’s Christmas experience this year, maybe your business has not be moving well in months or you’ve even been laid-off during “right-sizing”, I am talking to myself and also to you…

#KeepCalm #God’sSon’sBirthdayLoading #He’sgotyourback

Note: He will only do this for those who are His own… Are you His? Does your plans glorify God or the devil? Choose Christ and watch Him give you a beautiful Christmas with beautiful leftovers of more than enough for the next 12months plus (#12baskets).


Shallom!

TURNAROUND

He is called The Unchangeable Changer; thinking about so many things this evening and I remembered the words I used to encourage a friend some months ago. “If this organization asked you to go today, has God told you that He is no longer in control? Don’t you know that this is part of His plan for you to get to where He wants to take you to?”

So many points in our lives which counts as “still waters” as said in Psalm 23 (stagnant situation), but let’s not forget that “He leads me”, He is still with you in it. The enemy might plan it for bad but God turns it around for your good.

So many examples in the bible of where God did a turnaround in people’s lives and destiny from “still waters” to living water. From seemingly hopeless situations to a wonderful turnaround, from nothing to something priceless.
1, Sarah (from barren to mother)
2, Jabez (son of sorrow’s destiny changed)
3, Joseph (sold to slavery becomes a savior)
4, Tomb Mad Man (from legions of demons to being at the foot of Christ)
5, Lazarus and Dorcas (dead and brought back to life)
6, Zaccheus (Corrupt official to a righteous philanthropist)
7, Apostle Paul (from Saul the prosecutor to Christ’s apostle)

The most amazing turnaround which we often overlook is the one in Genesis 1; from “the earth was void and without form and darkness covers the face of the deep” to the amazing sights we see around us to today; the 7 wonders of the world, water falls, hills, sunsets, exotic animals, flowers, foods, e.t.c.

God is still in the turnaround business; He has not retired nor is he asleep; Wait on Him, I say wait and He will not fail. The bible says “……the expectation of the righteous shall not be cut off”, the clause being “the righteous”. Without Christ, turnaround is not guaranteed from God.

Accept Christ as your Lord and Saviour today and let God “lead you” through it all, you can’t survive it alone.

Shalom!

FAITH WITH WORKS

Today we all want Abraham’s blessings but what did Abraham do to be blessed? Despite the various promises in Genesis 13:15-16, Genesis 15:5, Genesis 15:18-21 and Genesis 17:2,4,6-8, it took Abraham’s obedience to sacrifice his son for God to swear by Himself. This means that every other promise could be cancelled due to one reason or the other (most especially the sin of idolatry) but when God swears by himself, He will do it no matter what.

And said, by myself have I sworn saith the Lord, for because thou has done this thing and has not withheld thy son, thine only son. That in blessing, I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the sea shore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice (Genesis 22:16-18)

Abraham could have negotiated with God to accept a thousand cattles to redeem his son (he is wealthy enough to own such) and he could have lost his son’s bright future one way or another as Matthew wrote that For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. (Matthew 16:25)

For born-again Christians, we claim this promise God made to our father Abraham by faith due to the scripture that says that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (Galatians 3:14). Today, Christians also love to claim the promises of God for them that was revealed to them through men of God, through dreams or/and The Word of God but they sometimes forget that there is a test coming and the fulfillment of the promise is tied to our excelling in that test. That test is the WORK required for our FAITH to bring forth our blessing. James Chapter 2:14-26 spoke about how faith without works is dead. The sooner you are ready to face your TEST, the sooner your FAITH will WORK and the sooner you pass your test, the sooner you are moved to the NEXT LEVEL; are you ready for your WORK with FAITH?

For those who are not born-again Christians, Jesus is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE, there is nowhere blessed/fruitful you wish to go on earth and for eternity that you can go without Christ. Accept Him today, confess Him as Lord and let Him take over your life and your life will be better for it. His word says “come unto me all who are burdened and heavy laden and I will give you rest”. Come to His rest and have life in abundance so that you also will be a partaker of Abraham’s blessings.

Shalom!

CHRIST OUR HIGH PRIEST

Most of us know the story of how Hannah ( wife of Elkanah, mate of Peninnah)got her son Samuel after being thought to be drunk by Prophet Eli.  The bible text for today: 1st Samuel Chapter 1 which tells us the persecution Hannah faced and how she got the solution to her problem, let's note verse 3 which says And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there.

Chapter 2 verse 12 tells us who the sons of Eli really were, Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD, this means Elkanah was giving his sacrifice to Yaweh under the supervision of priests who do not know Yaweh, year - in,  year - out and so, all Elkanah's sacrifices did not reach its intended recipient. .....Yaweh. Not until the prayers and supplication was done with the authority of a Godly Priest that the prayers were answered in Chapter 1 verse 17:Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.

I ask you today, who is the priest supervising your worship and sacrifice of praise to God, is he still in the faith or he no longer knows God Almighty but only serves his stomach/pocket. The death and resurrection of Christ has given us a High Priest Who is one with God and will always take our supplications to God. He is the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the father except through Him.  He is the solid rock that will never sink us unlike other god's who are sinking sand.

Let us forsake our efforts in futility by channeling our prayers through Jesus Christ who is The Way and our High Priest; then, will we "ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find,knock and the door shall be opened to you" "...for His hands are not too short to save nor His ear too dull to hear...."

Prayers to/through Christ can only be answered if you are of Christ's household; are you with Him? Anyone who is not for him is still outside the fold, He awaits you with open arms. Come home, His heart yearns for you, He wants to bless you, He wants you with Him in eternity...Come Home.

Shallom!

ADVISE WITH LOVE

Happy New Year 2016 to us all, this year will be a year of fruitfulness to us all in Jesus mighty name, Amen.

The bible says that the power of life and death is in the tongue; today we see how Koran and Jethro fared in advising/accusing a prophet. Some of us are bible scholars in our own right and are so passionate about God that we want to add our "2 cents" to any discussion about Him; we know what should be or should not be done at every situation and we have taken it upon ourselves to be vicious about it in the guise of "being truthful".  Let's not forget 1 Timothy 5: 1 Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren; But Koran and Co did not heed this. God Himself asked parents not to provoke their children (This goes to all elderly persons to their younger countrparts)because he knows that such is the case sometimes but He still did not permit us to dis - honour them.

Numbers 16:1-3 Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men.And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown. And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord?

Being a priest, Jethro knew that no matter how young Moses was, as God was using him to lead israel,he is the highest authority and so cannot  be spoken to anyhow; so Jethro adviced Moses; not accuse nor commanded, he advised Moses with love and prayed for him.

Exodus 18:17-20 And Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.

This write - up is to inform us that God qualify those He calls and if you had what God was looking for, He might have called you; don't cause the wrath of God  on yourself and household  by rising against God's chosen, he might pray Moses' prayer of verse 30 on you (invent a new punishment) which will teach others a lesson and you will have no time to repent which means hell. May God use us for good wonder and not bad and in any way you are rising against God ordained authority, there is still time to repent now. "Next time" Might be too late.

Shallom!