YOU NEED HIS LEADING TO MAKE THE BEST MOVE

The world appears to be going crazy. Everybody is in a mad rush to get everything and young people just want to grow up in a hurry so they can enjoy everything they think adults enjoy. I know this is not one of the end time signs as listed in the bible but I wonder if something inside of us is letting us know the end of times is very close; not that I know when this will be but I know it will come.

I may not have had a problem with the mad rush but for the needless pain, anxiety and sickness it is causing people. Unfortunately, with all the rush through life and its several bad consequences, a number of people still fail to make their desired mark and even those who do, often find that they want more so they keep going on. I am by no means promoting laziness or a laid back attitude to life. All I am saying is that the lives of believers should not be like that – ‘crazy’. We must be people that are led by God so that we are bold and our hearts garrisoned with peace. 

Proverbs 28: 1 “The wicked run when no one is chasing them, but the godly are as bold as a lion.”

The unbeliever cannot help himself. He does not have clear cut direction so that he has to keep trying everything until one works. He does not know how much time he has so he works hard to ensure that he makes something of the time he has to live, a trait I admire. He does not have the Holy Spirit guiding and leading him in the way that he should go. He has to trusts his intuition to be his guide. But the believer should not be caught in this “rat race” for he has the spirit of God who is willing to show him where all the “treasures are laid up for the righteous.” So why is the righteous also “beating the air” very unlike Paul? I dare to suggest that we have been lured into believing that it is much easier to “make the mark” if you keep moving, even if it’s in no particular direction, rather than seek to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit leading you.

This is a lie of the devil that has troubled a number of people and lured them from God. It has made some others seek people who would hear God for them so they don’t have to bother or “waste time” trying to hear Him. The truth though, is that God is waiting for every one of us to come to Him and eager to give directions concerning our lives. He speaks to everyone and we all ought to hear Him. Sometimes we may make mistakes, thinking we hear God when we really haven’t heard Him; but that should not stop us. We must keep trying until we can accurately discern His voice. Sometimes someone else calls you and you think it’s one of your parents only to find it wasn’t but that doesn’t stop you from answering another call you think is theirs. God will keep trying until you discern His voice accurately.

1 Samuel 3: 8-9 “So the Lord called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” Then Eli realized it was the Lord who was calling the boy. So he said Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say ‘speak, Lord your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed. And the Lord came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.” 

One of the benefits of salvation is that we are not unnecessarily burdened or running from place to place and that, without direction. Why would you have that privilege and yet not access it?

OUR FAITH IS UNDER ATTACK PART 2

Most believers attend Pentecostal churches. Indeed it has become a hallmark of Christianity so that if you truly are a believer, it is expected that you will be part of a Pentecostal church. Don’t worry; I’m a member of one myself so I’m not putting you down for being a member. The problem though, is that even in the Pentecostal churches, our faith is under attack. Let me note here that when people get born again, I believe it is correct to encourage them to attend a bible believing church where proper biblical doctrines as well as the truth of the word of God are taught. Let me state further that I have since come to the realization that it does not have to be a Pentecostal church to teach the truth of the word of God; there are non-Pentecostal churches that do well or even better than some Pentecostal churches at preaching the unadulterated word of God and biblical doctrine; in my opinion, these are also bible believing churches. They preach salvation by grace through faith in the son of God.

Unfortunately, one is not saved because they attend a Pentecostal church just like “it does not have to be bread because it came from an oven in a bakery; to come out as bread it must have gone in as bread dough. The bakery oven would not make bread of everything that goes into it just because it’s in a bakery.” It is sad to observe that a number of believers whilst attending Pentecostal churches, and some despite being very committed to the church, are not committed to Christ so that they live a life of absolute disobedience to God. It is not the church that saves but Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Some have also deliberately reduced the word of God to “our level.” We decide the word is “too hard” and impossible to obey as it is in the bible plus the fact that we must do what we want to do, we then interpret it in a way that is more acceptable to us thereby altering the word. When you do that, you no longer walk in the word but in ignorance and futility of your own mind.  

Romans 1: 21 -22 & 24a “Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship Him as God or even give Him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools…so God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired.”

Even worse is the fact that in some Pentecostal churches the word of God has been watered down to make it more convenient. Such churches argue that “there is liberty in Christ” which is true; but they leave out the bit that says we should not use that liberty as a reason to please our flesh. Such people argue that if you continue in sin, the blood of Jesus is available to cleanse you; which again is true but they leave out the bit that says you have to be living and walking in Him and having unbroken fellowship with Him for the blood to cleanse you when you sin so that that falling into sin should not be a our way of life.  Such churches argue that if the word of God is preached as it is, membership of their churches will not increase because it will be too tough for people to take in. Such preachers work for their belly and not for God. They are walking assiduously to destroy our faith.  

Galatians 5: 13 “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature.”

We cannot afford to turn a blind eye. The only way to fight this type of attack is to stand for the truth. To withstand such people when they lie against God in our presence

OUR FAITH IS UNDER ATTACK (PT 1)

As a Pastor, I counsel with people frequently and in recent times I have come to the conclusion that our faith is seriously under attack. These are truly perilous times and the saints are under siege. Pressures are mounted on us from all sides; our finances, health, businesses etc. are all under attack. Indeed anything that can take away one’s joy is sent against us by hell whilst unbelievers appear to be living the life and we don’t understand how. Yet we need joy to draw from the wells of salvation. Moreover, Christ came that we may have fullness of joy. Clearly our joy is a necessary ingredient for our survival.

Again if you live in Nigeria, you must know about the attacks on the lives of believers in the North and in the middle belt area. They say it is a fight against western civilization yet most of the people funding this fight, as we have been told, are learned men who have acquired western education and/or civilization and whose children are currently in those western countries acquiring the said western education. This fight must then be about more than civilization; it appears to be a jihad against our faith. It may seem far away from those in the Southern part of our nation now but according to history, it is a fight that spreads. It is spiritual and there is only one principality behind it whose purpose is to destroy our faith that his kingdom may be established on earth.

In the Southern part of this Country, we see again another manifestation; the attack on the church by those who pretended to be a part of us but have never really been which is why they have come up with another doctrine which the bible says is not really another doctrine but that of the devil. These people are luring away believers with enticing words and promises of liberty which is not the liberty that Christ gives. Sadly, a lot of believers are been lured away because of the seeming siege that the enemy had mounted against us. Though some know deep down in their hearts that it does not sound so right, their desire to put an urgent end to their current difficulty has made it difficult for them to ignore those enticing words.

What do you intend to do? What can you contribute to end all that is going on? I admit that we are not all expected to do the same ting but we can do something. It is time to contend earnestly for our faith. Like Esther, you may have “come into the kingdom for a time such as this”; but will you ignore everything because it appears to be far from you? What is even sadder is when we pretend like we are helping God but in truth vaunting ourselves. Now everyone has a calling to preach and if they are not given room to do so in their churches, they create various avenues. Every other person has a calling to make music albums just because they can sing and the others have a calling to write books; really, is that God? Could it be that your own part is to send letters of comfort to the troubled ones; letters that may never get published? Could you own part be to assist with raising funds for programs instigated by God or reaching out in love to those on the frontlines?

This is no longer about our denomination; it is about our faith. If you think it is far from you, I tell you it is much closer than you think. We need to rise up and contend earnestly for our faith. Even if you manage to protect yourself, your children are out there, your family too. We can’t afford to continue to think only of ourselves, image and comfort.

GOD IS STILL WORKING; HIS CALENDAR IS NOT SHUTTING DOWN

Has anyone else noticed that this year appears to have run too fast? It appears to be in a hurry to shut down. Sadly, as the year hurries to its end, some of us are getting into a panic and even sad. We are worried because our expectations are yet unmet, goals still pending and yet the year isn’t waiting. Please calm down; there is enough time for God to move to bring to pass His word. For some, it appears nothing they trusted God for this year has come to pass and they feel like they are exactly where they were at the beginning of the year so that they have good reasons to be anxious; they also feel the need to try in their strength to see what can still be done in these last days of the year. Again I say, God does not need all the time in the world to do what He needs to do. I do not say this to excite you; it is truth. Moreover, you are more likely to make wrong decisions when of anxiety.

Generally, all over the world, the countdown has started and the joy of some is already beginning to evaporate because all they see are the things pending and they are thinking – if they have not come to pass in the past ten months, is two months enough to get them done? Yes it is, He may have even started work a long time ago. The devil’s trick is to cause us to lose hope so that we kill our expectations for the year ourselves. We close on the year even before it actually shuts down and lie to ourselves that it is the smart thing to do but is it really? Even the world teaches that ‘it is not over until it is over’ so why close the year before it closes when you still have some things pending? Does that make sense?

I have often worried about the fact that God does not live in time so that He may not understand why time is of essence to me and so may be taking His time. I have since realized that those thoughts are not only daft but very human and God is not a man; though our calendar closes at the end of the year and His is endless, He is sensitive to the fact that we live in time. You would recall that time is often recorded in the bible so God is well aware of and works with our timing. He even had to interfere with our time to ensure that Joshua was given enough time to defeat the enemies of Israel. He understands the constraints of dwelling in time and He will never be late. He is not a lazy God and will not procrastinate so He is always ‘right on time’; though I must admit that I often wish He would be a little earlier. 

Isaiah 12: 3 “with joy you will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation!”

At this time, I want to encourage you to take your focus off the fact that the year is coming to an end and keep your eyes on the God that is control of time and is able to hold the calendar for you and I. Do not let anything, whether circumstances, time or even the enemy still your joy; for therein lies your strength. You need that joy to draw good things from the wells of salvation. Don’t let the fact that companies are winding down business for this year cause your hopes to be wound down; He is not winding down business for the year until He has completed all His promises for this year and He can even keep the companies open for you just so that you can get what is yours this year.

Philippians 4: 6 “Don’t worry about anything; pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.”

Don’t be anxious and if you do get anxious, remember to cast your cares on Him. Let me assure you, there is plenty of time left for Him. He only has to speak it, and it is done.