Your Destination Remains The Same; Don’t lengthen The Journey

If you are like me this is a period for stock taking. I like self-examination so I do it rather frequently and I have found that if we are true and sincere with it, we can correct ourselves before we incur the wrath of God. Despite my frequent self-checks through the year, I have found that at times like this, i.e. about the end of the year, I instinctively get into that mode. I am definitely not one of the resolution making people and have always been bad at it but I make decisions and give God all of my weaknesses again believing that every New Year reveals a better me but this is a matter of opinion. So what about you reading this blog; do you feel the same way toward the end of the year or would you rather be sad and/or moody through that period because of the mistakes you made, or goals you did not achieve or even things you truly failed at? I understand calling to mind the failures with a view to taking another look at one’s decision making process just in case it may need some adjusting or complete over haul but it should never be such that leads to depression. History is important to the extent that it helps us refocus more accurately and make better decisions; where it fails to achieve that or makes us depressed instead, then it may not be very relevant. We are encouraged to forget the past as we press into the future. Holding unto the baggage of the past as we enter into the future is like hoping to go forward carrying heavy weights; it just makes going forward much tougher.

 

Philippians 3: 13b “but I focus on this one thing; forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race…”

 

Having lived on earth for a good number of years myself, albeit very few compared to some others whom I respect very much for surviving the dealings of life, I can say with a certainty that there is no avoiding the issues of life no matter how bad or perfect one is. No wonder God prepares us for warfare and counsels that we must be wise and quick to hear and understand. To successfully go through this journey of life as a believer, one must be fully focused on one’s purpose and/or goal which you can only see through God as well as be able to let go of the past easily as one presses forward which requires strength and/or stamina. I have realized that our destination never shifts; the Promised Land did not keep shifting to make the journey longer, the Israelites made it longer themselves. God chose His preferred route for their journey with their best interest at heart but then they made the journey even longer for themselves by the many bad decisions they made. I believe very much that a number of us have made our journey to our Promised Land even longer because of some of our bad decisions. For all of us that fall into this category, it is time to stop making those bad decisions. How long will it be okay to keep making the bad decisions? The truth is Christ is coming soon and even if He doesn’t come soon, the day we go to glory Christ has come for us and much as we would love to live on earth forever nobody knows when their journey on earth will end; so we are running out of time and must advise ourselves – circumspection is required in the way we live.

 

Ephesians 5: 15 – 17 “So be careful how you live. Don’t be live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.”

 

So please let us be focused on going forward in this New Year. I honestly believe every believer who desires to go forward shall indeed go forward. The word of God to us is “Go forward.” The situations do not change the word of God but God changes situations and causes them to align with His purpose for our lives. That which He spoke concerning us from the beginning is waiting for us. The manifestation point for each blessing that is ours has not changed. God has not made the journey to these blessings longer; they are still where they always were - that same place where you ought to have connected with them in the course of your journey of life but maybe you made a wrong detour somewhere and so may be needing “a course correction” to connect to them; be assured that it is never too late to make that correction. My Pastor always says “it is never too late to start again.” He translates a Yoruba adage to English which says “whenever you wake up or ‘come to yourself’ is your morning”. When ‘your morning comes’, do not be afraid to do what needs to be done. Please do not give up on the word God spoke to you whether it is about your life or a child or even a situation. In this year 2016, let us start to believe God all over again. Let us renew our faith and start our walk with God afresh. You may even want to buy a new bible just as a statement that we are renewing our faith and/or belief. Our God is still on the throne.

Merry Christmas – The Process That Birth the Season

Everything surrounding the birth of Christ remains a mystery “magical mystery,” if there is any such thing. From the conception to angels announcing his birth, to stars leading some people to the manger where He was born, everything sounds interesting and magical but it is all truth because it all happened. The more I think on it all, the more I realize it had to be magical because since the time of Adam and Eve when mankind lost fellowship with God, God was again coming down to earth to reconnect with man and this time, in a more involved way. It indeed was a magical night when heaven came down to earth, the beginning of a relationship that even God had never experienced; Him indwelling everyone that chose to have a relationship with Him. This fellowship was even much better and much more beneficial to man than the previous one He had with Adam and Eve. God must have been excited, Himself, for all His goodness that was coming in the way of man because His thoughts toward man are always of good. God, must have indeed been excited. He was again giving man a fresh opportunity to reciprocate the love He always felt for man. The thought of just having all that love returned by man must have pleased God immeasurably. All of this drama that took place in that one night often tends to make us forget that this is just the end of a process which started years before that day.

 

Jeremiah 29: 11 “For I know the plans I have for you, ‘says the Lord.’ They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

God must have been “desperate” to have many children who could love Him so sincerely that He went to so much trouble to confirm that Jesus was the Messiah that was promised for the reconciliation of man to Him. Despite all the pains God took to prove that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Only Begotten of the Father, it is interesting to note that Jesus arrived very simply and as a child who was born like any other child and formed by the implantation of a seed. Such a great miracle that would affect the entire world forever and also impact on God adding to His own joy too came so simply and was also a process. One would have thought that it would all happen suddenly just like the return of Jesus Christ but God in His wisdom chose to start with a seed. Despite all the time that had passed from when prophets began to speak, by the Holy Spirit, of the coming of the Messiah to when He was actually born, God did not eliminate the process of His coming or do anything to hasten it. The miracle – Christ, came as a seed that grew for nine months in His mother’s womb, was born and then grew to maturity. God did not expedite the process despite that He, God, was one of the benefactors of the process. I wonder why then we often think God would expedite processes for us. Obviously, there must be some disadvantages to expediting a process that we are unaware of.

 

Habakkuk 2: 3 “The vision is for a future time…If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.”

 

Jeremiah 1: 12 AMP “Then said the Lord to me, you have seen well, for I am alert and active, watching over my word to perform it.”

This entire season is indeed a reminder of the fact that His word shall surely come to pass and there is nothing you need to be doing to make it happen other than be who He desires for you to be and doing what He desires for you to do; and He would then be working to ensure the performance of His word. When He said it, He intended to bring it to pass because He cannot lie. It’s just that He starts with a seed and in my opinion, the bigger the miracle the longer it seems to take to bring the entire thing to that conclusion that we call our miracle and/or blessing. Sometimes we forget that it takes a while when we see other people’s miracles manifesting; without thinking of how long they had been waiting and what they went through in that period, we start complaining and loose hope. Sometimes we even feel we have the right to speak things against God that should not be uttered because we are upset but we do ourselves harm in doing all of that because all that is referred to as murmuring and complaining which actually slows down the miracle and may actually cause an abortion of it. I guess it might help to remind ourselves of the process that gave us Christ and the fact that God let it all play out fully. I would dare to suggest that the best way to go through the process or wait for it to unfold is by having an attitude of thanksgiving. Waiting patiently is easier when one has the right attitude of mind.

Christ Was Born – Reason Enough To Celebrate

I am so glad I am able to write another blog. I have no excuse for this long absence other than I got caught up in other things so that typing became my least favorite past time. The past few days have been exhausting. Could it be age related? I hope not. Lol! So please bear with me. Here we are, again in that season when we give gifts and eat too much of all the things we ought to eat in little quantities – Its Christmas when we celebrate the birth of Christ. There is often a lot of argument about the actual birth day of Christ so much so that some people miss out on the joy of the season because they lose their Christmas joy from arguing about the accuracy of the date. This Christmas, I would like to remind every such person that whether or not 25^th of December is the accurate day, we choose to celebrate His birth on that day. Who cares about the accuracy of the date? We care that He was born so let us just celebrate His birth since we know, without a shadow of doubt, that He was and that is the reason for us having hope. Moreover, any day one chooses, to celebrate their birth is their business; after all, we just celebrate the fact that we were born. Too many arguments about Him already; please don’t add this trivial matter of date.

 

2 Timothy 2: 23 “Again I say, don’t get involved in foolish ignorant arguments that only start fights.”

When I was much younger, Christmas season was never one of my best. I felt the weather in my Country was at its worst in this season and I worked too hard helping my mum with the cooking and washing up. As an adult and a believer in today’s world where it would appear that there is full onslaught from hell against Christianity, it has become very important to me that Christmas is celebrated. I now love to see houses decorated, though mine isn’t for obvious reasons (laziness), and feel all the joy in the atmosphere with people just looking forward to visiting one another, giving gifts and showing the love of God. It is now to me, another way of ensuring that our faith and its origin are not forgotten. A lot of Christians don’t even remember what Christianity is all about anymore. It is fast deeming in our memory. It is no longer really taught in schools which makes it expedient to talk about its origin. I don’t care how funny several mangers or even Christmas trees I see may look, I am just excited that you have one anyway so that some other person who has never heard about it can ask a question and you can then explain to them about the birth of Christ because you love them enough to explain.

Galatians 4: 4 - 6 “God sent His son born of son, born of a woman, subject to law. God sent Him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that He could adopt us as his own very children. And because we are His children, God has sent the Spirit of His son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, Abba Father. Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.”

Now more than ever before Christmas has become very important. In a world where all sorts of people are celebrated for every evil thing; believers are left with no option but to greatly celebrate and make a lot of noise about everything concerning our faith. From the bible account, the celebration was loud even on the actual day He was born; both in heaven and on earth it was announced with a lot of noise. It is time to borrow a leaf from the bible account of the announcement of the birth of our Saviour. God is not coming down to earth to do it, He will do it through us so this is another opportunity to celebrate let us take advantage of it. No one who was once a slave and is now enjoying liberty should be silent at this time when the birth of the deliverer is celebrated. The unique thing about this deliverer is that He has the power, still desires to and is still delivering slaves from that same form of slavery today. Who knows, because of your announcement, somebody may get saved.

Luke 2: 13 “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God”

Have you noticed that people are no longer subtle? Everyone fights to be loud so they can attract attention so that the subtle ones are drowned. We may not want to be loud all the time but when the season permits, like at Christmas, I believe it is time to go loud and also loudly proclaim the reason for the season. Even if ordinarily, we often look sad and defeated, this is one Christmas when we must make a decision to rejoice. I know that there are people who have very good reasons to be sad because of the recent turn of events in their lives; but I really would like to encourage you to rejoice. We don’t often rejoice because of the turn of events in our lives but because we have a hope and we know that He who has asked that we rejoice is always is working to give us even more reasons to do so. Today however, rejoice for Christ who came that He destroy every work of satan that we may have joy and that our joy may be full.

Stop Please!!! You Are Destroying Yourself

The rate of backbiting in the house of God is getting really bad and it makes me sad not just because of the backbiter or “backbitten” but because of the listener whose walk with God is threatened just because they listened. Sadly, this time nothing and no one is sacred. I suspect that if Jesus was still on earth these gossips, liars and destroyers of personalities would have attempted to ruin Him. I guess such people have always existed because they attempted to do the same to Jesus when He walked the face of the earth. My goodness! These people just lie. They rewrite the truth even in their minds, making it more interesting by coating it with lies just so that they don’t lose their audience. They are so desperate to hold onto their audience that even when they run out of stories to rewrite, they make up stories about things that never happened forgetting that if/when God reveals them, they would lose respect because of the number of lies they have told. The amount of lies and character assassinations going on in church today is certainly another pointer to the fact that “false brethren have indeed crept in unawares”. Interestingly, these liars actually think that the fact that they have reasons for telling those lies about others is enough reason but is this acceptable to God and can anyone sincerely love another and yet lie so much about them? What manner of love is that? Is this the most excellent way that the bible talks about? Even the unbelievers will be amazed at the level of hate, envy and dishonesty that exist amongst “brothers and sisters in Christ.’ The truth is, much as we may hate to admit this, we don’t love one another. We actually hate each other.  

 

I John 3: 15 “Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.”

 

1 John 4: 16b “God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them

 

Our understanding of love is definitely warped. It is impossible to tell a lie about a person you love and especially not destructive lies. It is strange to claim to be born again and yet have the capacity to hate anyone and if you didn’t know it, backstabbing, envy, lying and all the other ugly things hint at hatred. Sadly, the one thing which we ought to hate is some of the most attractive things to us. Though we are believers, we love sin and admire sinners for their sin; so what then are we doing pretending to be children of God? Some of us admire unbelievers so much that we make them our mentors or long for them to be. I wonder how one can look up to another who is travelling a path they turned their backs on because they were certain it ends in death and does not please God. How does one claim to behold God and yet behold one whose life is totally contrary at the same time? The word of God says it is impossible. No one can serve two masters; we will either choose to continue to be enslaved to God who purchased us with the blood of Jesus or return to the life of enslavement to the devil which is not God’s plan for us. No excuse in the world makes it okay for a believer to destroy another believer. You don’t know it but you are a murderer; the bible says so. Every time you tell those terribly destructive lies, God is against you because you are attempting to murder His own. Be careful.

 

Proverbs 25: 18 “Telling lies about others is as harmful as hitting them with an ax, wounding them with a sword, or shooting them with a sharp arrow.”

 

I John 2: 9 – 11 “if anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness. Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.” 

 

Unfortunately we hardly make progress in life when we are like that. Believers in this state, hate to even look inwards much less admit that they are liars and murderers. Such believers remain in darkness and so do not have clear direction even for their own lives. Hatred is blinding and facilitates bad decisions so that you are ruining your own life by making room for satan to ruin your life but you don’t see it. It is for the same reason that Cain was made a fugitive for life. Many of us hate our fellow believers so much that like Cain killed Abel, we are murdering them and God is calling out for us to do right that He may bless us. God hates this attitude so much that He responded to the cry of Abel’s blood. The pain of the cry of some believers has come up to God who is known to respond to such cries. We have to repent of this behavior and turn around before the judgment of God is poured out even against such “murderers.” Unfortunately, we don’t grasp the meaning of the love that God is. The world’s definition of love has totally warped our understanding of the God kind of love. It is time to stop!

 

1 John 3: 11 – 12NLT “This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous.”

The Ugliness of Stubbornness

Stubbornness appears to be one of the several wrongs fast becoming acceptable in the midst and lives of believers today. It has become normal and common practice for believers to reject correction because as we often say “I am a stubborn person” so that we reject correction not because such correction is incorrect but because we feel the need to do whatever we desire. Unfortunately, the word of God rejects this positon and makes it clear that it is unacceptable to God. I have heard the phrase “I am stubborn” so many times, and much more frequently in our present times, in the course of counselling with believers so much so that I was getting confused especially because the word can indeed be used in a good way. So I went to my dictionary as you know I often do and I would like to share some of what I found about the word stubborn in which stubbornness takes its root. Amongst several things, I found that stubbornness is being obstinate, unyielding, and resolute and is also characterized by a refusal to change one’s mind. The dictionary also says it could be used to describe one that is difficult to deal with and/or an illness or stain that is resistant to treatment which to my mind suggests that a stubborn person may need treatment to which they would remain resistant. The English dictionary indeed admits that it could be good for example when one is resolute in their pursuit of a good cause. I guess this is stubbornness that the bible says is required for taking the kingdom of God. Every believer knows this kind of stubbornness because we have an enemy who is also very stubborn but in a bad way so that we have to be very resolute in dealing with him to successfully enforce the victory Christ won for us.

 

Mathew 11: 12AMP “And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force (as a precious prize-a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense execution”

 

Stubbornness is often used though, in its negative form and this is the stubbornness I am writing about in this article. This is the one the dictionary refers to as being obstinate making one difficult to deal with. This stubbornness is so ugly that it has the power to actually translate one’s look in the physical making them ugly. This stubbornness is not always very obvious; indeed I would rather deal with those whose stubbornness is really obvious. It can be very salient so that appearing passive, it is in truth very aggressive and that to my mind, is the very worst because it takes a little longer for people who can provide the help one needs to realize that the person indeed has a problem – stubbornness. Unfortunately, many lives are getting ruined today because of this one matter of stubbornness. Interestingly, despite all the harm that it is doing to people, I have found that a number of people think it is cute and some kind of adornment and sadly, this includes even a lot of believers. Such people even happily make declarations about their children or child being stubborn and they laugh with some sort of glee looking like it is wonderful. This stubbornness is eating into the very fiber of the lives of several believers and slowly destroying them but unfortunately, they don’t realize.

 

1 Samuel 15” 23a “Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as worshipping idols.”

Proverbs 28: 14 “Blessed are those who fear to do wrong, but the stubborn are headed for serious trouble.”

 

Such believers will not take correction. Insisting on doing what they want to do, they refuse to think through any suggestion to improve their lives; some, even priding themselves in the fact that nothing can cause them to change their minds when it is made up and not even the word of God. Some such people actually say it but those who are a bit more laid back or passive will not say it boldly but express it in their actions and decision making. Such people definitely have not thought enough on the thoughts of God as revealed in His word concerning the matter of stubbornness otherwise, they would be doing all that is necessary to bring about the needed change in their lives. There is no doubt that no thoughtful believer would deliberately continue on that path that leads to destruction. It would be sad if this truth was revealed to them and yet, they continued in the way they have chosen because then, there will be no other remedy. It is time to begin to deal with the enemy within because if we don’t, how can we then deal with the enemy without and this we must do to live fullness of life that is our portion and go forward.

 

Proverbs 14: 12 “There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.”

 

Proverbs 29: 1 “Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be destroyed beyond recovery.”

Destroy the Enemies Within So They Don’t Destroy You

I have been thinking about this Russian plane that crashed on Mount Sinai in which everyone died. I have read articles on some of the people who died in the crash and it is obvious that there were kind souls amongst them. One of them was so kind that he even cared to rescue cats in trouble. I can’t but think of the pain their families must be going through but I can’t help but ponder along with several others on the cause of the crash. From listening to the different thoughts on the possible cause, I have learnt a lot including that an aircraft can only be brought down either by forces within or without. Furthermore, at a certain height, it is most unlikely that an external force can bring it down, not even turbulence because at that level, turbulence doesn’t get bad enough to bring down aircrafts. Such was the level at which the Russian aircraft was flying suggesting that whatever brought it down was inside it supporting the suspicions that a bomb must have been placed in it.

 

Psalm 91: 1, 3 - 4 “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty … For He will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with His feathers. He will shelter you with His wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.”

 

This entire thing reminds me of spiritual warfare. As we know, the devil is consistently trying to destroy man who is himself fighting by the Spirit of God to live and live the fullness of life which is the promise of God to us. The truth about this warfare is that our “standing” is a great part of it. To be fully equipped for victory, one has to be standing rightly in Christ and the things that go on inside us affect or impact greatly on our standing in Christ. So there is a fight on the inside of every believer: a fight between the Spirit of God and our “fleshly desire.” The desire referred to as fleshly is the longing based on thirst for things that belong in the group referred to by the bible as “worldly.” Many of us manage this battle within. We often do not think that the enemy within us needs to be defeated. We believe that those weaknesses in us and/or longing for things we ought not to long for, can be managed but that is not true hence God tells us to kill the flesh and its desires. They have to die because whichever one we do not kill later becomes a tool in the hands of the devil to destroy us. If we kill the flesh then we have good standing in Christ and fighting the external enemy then becomes easier. If the enemy within continues to live in us, in our very weak moments when are strength is too little to manage him effectively, he would definitely rise against us. The devil is one being that never misses an opportunity to wreak havoc. I have heard people say “when you dine with the devil, use a long spoon. My question is this; why even dine with him? The devil is not stupid as some of us like to believe and that is why we are called to a life of vigilance as believers.

 

1 Peter 5: 8 – 9 “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.”

Romans 8: 12 - 13 “Therefore, brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But of through the power of the Holy Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.”

 

Now what I find interesting is this, just like aircrafts, there is a certain level one gets to in their walk with God where the devil is unable to get them and that is what is referred to as God’s secret place. It’s that place where God fully becomes one’s shepherd. Interestingly, no one is compelled or dragged there, it is a place one enters willingly and can step out of it willingly also. Entrance into this place is facilitated by a very deep relationship. The more one’s love commitment to God is, the higher one goes in the realm of the spirit, entering into the holiest of all wherein God’s manifest presence is fully revealed. Satan cannot dare to come that high into that presence. It is the very presence of a God whose eyes will not behold iniquity. At that point there may be turbulence, but not enough to bring one down but only to ensure that one’s standing in Christ is maintained and God will not allow it to be so much it destroys the person. You can go to sleep when you get there and just be on cruise control. The only person that can bring you down when you get here is you and the only way that can happen is if the enemies within rise up against and defeat you. We often underestimate the power of these little things inside us to impact on our ultimate success in life. The sad thing is, as with the plane, if these things defeat and destroy us, many other people who are watching us also get destroyed. When the enemy takes down one believer, He takes down a number of people with Him so we must learn to be one another’s keeper and we have to accept that we need help to maintain our standing in Christ. A believer is definitely a light “set on a hill” and all whose sight is facilitated by your light may remain in darkness forever if your light goes out.

Christianity – A Fad or Faith?

I have been thinking about this faith that we now claim is Christianity and the way we live as believers. I wonder if what we now have is really what it is. If it is, why did people need to die for this faith? Were they just a bit too fanatical or are the ones who got it right? If this life we live now is what it rightly should be then what is there to die for? There won't be anything to die for if we can twist and bend the word of God to align with what is acceptable to us at every point in time. This entire thing is beginning to look like a joke and I know it is not. I wonder if we really believe that God is who He says He is. We act and talk like God is confused and says things He does not mean otherwise why would we live like we do and yet claim to be believers in this faith that is the opposite of what we do and then we laugh and argue that God understands our frail frame and will accept us just as we are. We give up nothing and so pay no price. The only thing that changes is the fact that we now say we are born again. We, like pigs rolling in mud, ravel in iniquity whilst He says anyone who goes by His name should depart from iniquity. Could that be a joke also?

 

2 Timothy 2: 19 "But God's truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: The Lord knows those who are his, and all who belong to the Lord must turn away from evil.

1Peter 1: 16 "For the scriptures say you must be holy as I am holy."

I have heard severally and even from preachers, for example that it is impossible for man even the regenerated man to be holy yet the word of God says God demands that we be holy. These things are confusing because I know God Is not confused and certainly expresses Himself very clearly but we sound like He may not quiet mean what he says or like we could help Him say what He intended to say much better than He has done. Indeed, how can we then be holy when we already insist that it is impossible to do so? Honestly, I don't think unbelievers are the greatest problem of our faith; we make nonsense of it ourselves thereby making our God appear smaller than He is. Like I heard a preacher say, the word of God is not a buffet where one is allowed to pick and choose what they prefer to eat, it is a served meal where we take on all that is served for the meal to be impactful. How can the word be powerful in the life of a believer who picks what word they want and then dumps the rest of it? The word is a personality who is either going to be powerful in our lives or powerless in a life because he is inhibited in that  life. God is unchanging but He will be in your life who you decide He should be and that is only in your life because in reality, He is unchanging and it is only to the extent that our existence is in Him that we experience His power. His desire is that we live totally in Him.

 

Acts 17: 28 "For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said we are his offspring.'

This faith has been so watered down that I wonder if the angels recognize who we are. We are not the world yet we are not what God's offspring should be so who really are we? When we are neither here nor there, we become an aberration - a being that doesn't exist anywhere but I guess in truth that means one is in the camp of the devil. How then do we expect the ministering spirits sent to minister to us as we speak the word to move when there is no power released in what we say because it is often not the word of God and even when it is, it is like the devil speaking the word because it is not coming from the right vessel- the vessel is not unto honor. Hence we often find ourselves wondering whether or not there is power in the word of God but it is this same word that released power in the time of the Apostles and the times of saints that have gone before us like Kenneth Hagin, Oral Roberts and is still releasing power in the mouth of some today. Unfortunately, instead of fixing our issues, believers are running from one lesser god to the other seeking power and help.

Hebrews 1: 14 "Therefore, angels are only servants-spirits sent to care for people who will inherit salvation."

What exactly is wrong? Is the problem with us, the word or the God of the word? I believe the problem is with us. God has not changed and will never change. If He was consistently changing then variableness would be found in Him which is not the case and that is why we can trust Him. We need to make decisions. God is not changing the faith to suit us. He loves us so much He is doing all to ensure we align with the faith.

The Word Of God – WCO Prayer Conference

Thank God for our last WCO Prayer Conference where we were reminded of and taught the word of God. For me, every minute at the Conference was an experience I would like to relieve but I guess God would prefer for me to go forward with what I received instead of relieving the experience. The one thing that was certain is that God desires for us to go forward so He let us know that He is all we need to go forward. Of course that does not mean that God does everything and we do nothing; it only means that because He is God who creates and also knows all the path we could ever take as well as the end of the journey, He is able and willing to provide all we need if we could trust Him enough to seek counsel from Him and just obey His instructions and I guess this is where it gets tough because His instructions sometimes can be very confusing particularly in the face of current day realities. Moreover, we live in a world that likes to believe that God is so outdated He does not understand the present day realities. Of course to the world, those instructions are totally silly. No wonder the hymn writer says “He works in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform.”

 

1 Corinthians 1: 27 – 28 “Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important.”

 

So we were counseled to listen out for instructions from the Word and the Word is Jesus Christ the son of God. He can choose to speak to us directly or through His written word which suggests that we must pay attention to His written word. The only way we learn the voice of God is by building on our relationship with Him and there is no achieving that without building a relationship with the written word. No one who stands afar would be able to discern His voice accurately. The stronger our relationship is with people, the easier and faster we are able to recognize their voices even when we can’t see them and in the midst of many voices. Relationship definitely plays a major part in identifying the voice of Christ not withstanding how and when He speaks. Sometimes we hope to learn to discern His voice without building on our relationship with Him but that isn’t really possible. It is like saying you will know when I speak without knowing me. You have to have heard me a number of times to recognize my voice when you hear it. You can get to know me so well that even when I write you recognize me even without seeing my name.

 

John 10: 26 - 27 “But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

 

Voice is very powerful because man is greatly impacted by what he hears. God speaks to His own and this has nothing to do with what generation one exist in but has everything to do with whether or not one belongs to Him. In every generation, there are people born of the Spirit, as a result of which they are known as the children of God, with whom God certainly communicates. These are people to whom God is Father and Redeemer and a father would definitely communicate with his children. No father consistently communicates with his child through another except if he is unhappy with the child. Sometimes we might be a little confused as to what our father is saying which is why he has other children that you can speak to with a view to getting a clearer understanding of what he is saying but he would speak to you. When we desire better understanding it is wise to speak to those children who also have a good relationship with Him but we very often prefer to speak to children who barely themselves speak to Him or have a relationship with Him; how then can they help us understand what God is saying? The mind of God is often times not revealed in one word. You put many words or sentences together to get a clear picture. You need to wait patiently to get a good understanding instead of rushing of with half a sentence.

 

1 Samuel 3: 9 “So he said to Samuel, ‘go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.’ So Samuel went back to bed.”

 

We must listen to God in an attitude of obedience. Very often we already conceived what we want and how we will get it so that unwittingly we already put ourselves in that place of disobedience. When we make that decision to truly walk with God, we must be open to His instructions. Preconceived notions are usually a problem with walking with God. Our minds are made up in a particular direction so that it is even difficult to realize that God is saying something totally different from what we think He is saying all because of what we had assumed He would say. It is time to return to listening to God if we desire to go forward by Him. God definitely still leads His own.

Neither God Nor His Word have Changed; Don’t Change His Worship

I think every believer knows that the way of God is not compatible with the way of the world. In bible parlance the Spirit and the flesh are always at war. The flesh always wants to rule even in places where the Spirit of God is legitimately in control. Meanwhile the Spirit of God Is not unruly; He waits to be invited and given room to take charge but when He is in charge, He is absolutely in charge. No wonder the bible says when light comes, darkness has no choice but to leave. The truth is, darkness hates that and is consistently trying to return. Unfortunately, unlike light, darkness is not a gentleman and will go as far as it can push. It does not wait to be permitted but tries very hard to force his way into every life, space or anywhere he finds room. The life of a believer is therefore one of consistent struggle to ensure that He is permitting light into His life and exposing Himself fully to light. As we yield to light, He increases in us and impacts our life even more; but darkness is consistently trying to bring us under his control attempting to enslave us. Darkness is a mean slave master.

 

John 1: 4 – 5 “The word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.”

 

The last time I checked, worship service is church organized gathering of Christians and unbelievers for the sole purpose of fellowshipping with the light. It is a time when our sole focus is to worship God who is Spirit in the Spirit thereby exposing ourselves to the light who is God so that our spirit man is empowered and our flesh is brought under control of our spirit which is controlled by the Spirit of God. God clearly demands to be worshipped in the Spirit and we Pentecostals lay strong claim to doing that very well: also accusing non-Pentecostal churches of not having the Spirit of God. It is therefore getting a little confusing to me when instead of exposing our spirit man to the spirit of God, in some of our worship services we fan the flesh. The excuse we often make give for this is that we feel a need to do everything during these our worship services because that is when we catch everybody so every and anything is allowed during these services and by the time we are done, we leave church even more carnal than we came in. It is not possible to leave a worship service filled with the spirit when all we did almost through it all, was feed our flesh. Could it be that we have lost sight of the purpose for this gathering? Believers came together for a purpose which certainly did not include feeding the flesh. Is it really correct to assume that the two can flow together despite that the spirit and the flesh war against one another?

 

Ephesians 5: 18b “Instead be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.”

Romans 14: 17 “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

 

Some leaders argue that congregation have very short attention span these days so they need to be engaged fully with activity during the service. It is interesting to note that we are talking about adults who should be controlled and disciplined enough to sit through these things. If this is a real problem then maybe we need to look inwards with a view to ascertaining whether or not God is still in our services. Unlike many would like us to believe, God is not boring; but if we must indeed do something to arrest the situation urgently, it would probably be wiser to spend less time in these services than to engage worldly means bearing in mind that these ways do not align with the ways of God and if anything, will make the Holy Spirit leave. If we so desperately want activities, then we must choose godly ones instead of the ones that make it difficult for the Holy Spirit to remain and definitely fan our flesh. Very often, the same people that complain about the length of worship services, sit for hours without end gossiping or doing other ungodly things feeding their flesh. Worship services must remain what they are and if we must entertain people then we must do it outside of these services. It is disheartening to see the way the church is going today even to the extent where comedians albeit Christian comedians are invited to minister. Please do not misunderstand me, I am not opposed to godly humor and have nothing against the comedians. I am only saying that they would serve their purpose in other church functions and events or Christian events. We appear to be getting everything mixed up and need to sort them out. As it is often said, the line between the flesh and the Spirit is really thin making it easy to crossover from the spirit to the flesh without really meaning to; we need to check to see if we have not crossed that line.

 

James 4: 4 “Ye adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: if you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.”

 

The traditional churches which we often refer to as worldly appear to be doing better. They even understand about creating the right atmosphere for God. One enters these churches even when there is no service and one feels the presence of God; this is no longer a common experience in our Pentecostal churches. I understand that God loves us all with all our different personalities which He would have us express, but the worship of God has not changed. It could be done with a lot of noise or solemnity but it is still worship of our God and has to be spiritual for He whom we worship demands that He will be worshipped in the Spirit. I know that churches struggle to keep people in church but the longing of man will not be satisfied carnally. He will only get worse because He will yearn for more and more and would need to be entertained with even more carnality as time goes on. Any satisfaction carnality may appear to provide is very temporary; such people soon become restless again because this craving is for something deeply spiritual and can only be satisfied by the Spirit. Worship services must remain what they are - worship service; otherwise let us call them something else. We can’t claim to worship God applying the things He hates so much.

To Be Led By Emotions Or By The Spirit?

Today was one of “one of those days” for me so I chose to listen to Podcast by one of my favorite Pastors where he talked about emotions and being emotional. In summary he was saying emotions are real and have their place in our lives but they must not run our lives. He discouraged believers from responding to life or circumstances emotionally or based on emotions and insists that no one can fulfill their destinies by living life like that. Interestingly, I found that even my dictionary aligns with him. It says to be compassionate is to be touched by the pain/difficulties of another, to empathize and desire to do something about the difficulty of others. Whilst, to be emotional, is to be excessively affected by emotion rather than reason or an insincere and effusive demonstration of sentimental friendship and an involuntary physiological response to a situation, based on or tied to physical state and sensory data which in bible parlance is flesh. So that when our lives are based on emotions, it is based on flesh or the sinful nature. Such believers often stir up emotions to gain attention and those who respond to them emotionally often end up helping them cripple their lives just like the onlooker who feeling the pain of the butterfly as it struggles to get out it’s cocoon, breaks the cocoon thereby inhibiting the butterfly for life not realizing that God in His wisdom had worked things out such that in that process, the butterfly is strengthened to fly and fulfill its destiny. Unfortunately, that quick relief would cripple the butterfly making it impossible for it to fulfill its destiny which is the fate of many believers today.

 

Romans 8: 8 “That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.”

It is so easy to want to live by emotions. It is such a cheap and easy way to get by in life and very often, it seems to work for us. When we appeal to emotions, it is easier to get people who would be sympathetic to your cause without considering the merits and/or demerits of it. Unfortunately, we often albeit unwittingly, give the devil room in our lives when we do this and even those who think they help us by responding to our emotional tirades or appeal often like the onlooker in the butterfly story help us ruin ourselves. The truth though is that we all owe ourselves a duty to be honest with ourselves because unlike the butterfly, we can think and know when we are appealing to people’s emotions. Indeed, some of us get very frustrated when people resist responding to our emotional outburst so it is just easier for everyone to let us have what we want especially if it doesn’t hurt them and then they can move on with their lives. I admit that our intentions are often not to cripple or facilitate the crippling of a believer but that is the ultimate result. Sadly, the fact that you did not know your assistance will ultimately cripple the believer, does not change the consequence.

Romans 8: 6 “So letting you sinful nature control your mind leads to life and peace.”

 

I am not by any means suggesting that we are not emotional beings. Jesus was full of compassion and had emotions; He also could be emotional like when He wept for Lazarus but He was not guided by emotions so that He always did the will of His Father despite how He felt. Indeed, going to the cross was so tough but despite the strength of the emotion that overwhelmed Him as He thought on the pain of the cross, He yielded to the will of the father. He put all the emotions aside and did what He had to do. If His decisions were based on emotions, we probably won’t be saved today. Emotional people often do not go the long hull. Going wherever their emotions go, they must leave whenever they feel hurt or run out of steam. Such people are often whimsical and life is all about them and how they feel. Often very selfish, they smolder you with what they insist is love and which it isn’t, unwittingly crippling you making it impossible for you also to fulfill your destiny and that is for as long as they feel like doing so.  They struggle with divine counsel and don’t listen to the voice of reason because they are overwhelmed by emotions and every person who does not agree with them is wicked and mean or at best, too tough on them. This is the height of selfishness but I guess it is hard to face up to one’s own weaknesses. Such people prefer to forget that all men are mortals and also feel like giving in to their feelings; it is always a fight not to do so. They act like they are the only ones built with emotions. We all have emotions but we must refrain from letting them determine our responses. The price we pay for that is too much.

Romans 6: 12 “Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires.”

We often delude ourselves arguing that being compassionate is being emotional which is not correct. Both the bible and my dictionary affirm this. It is good to be compassionate but our responses must be divinely guided or carefully thought through at the very least. Even smart unbelievers would listen to the voice of reason so that though they may not be led by God, they often provide reasonable responses even garnering help from others where they think they are unable to individually provide all the necessary help not caring who gets the glory. Emotional people, believers or unbelievers, will respond according to their feeling not thinking of the ultimate impact. Of course when such people are caught up on this emotional ride, they don’t reason and the word of God is furthest from their minds so they do not adequately assess the situation before they swing into emotional activity assuaging their emotion and/or conscience. We have to get used to turning to the Holy Spirit, who is the best teacher and guide. e is the best and most sincere guide and/or support but we sometimes do not even want to hear His truth. I realize that the easiest thing is to feed people’s emotions and everyone is happy but maybe when we start to look beyond ourselves to the crippling effect of our fleshly responses to situations in the lives of others, we will see the compelling need to turn to the Holy Ghost for appropriate responses.  

When Women Pray …. Saturday 10th October

If you are a follower of this blog then I am certain you know that the place of prayer is the place of communion with God. Sometimes I am afraid that I have worn you out with this topic but please accommodate me because that is our one sure battle ground, that place where we would ultimately always win. God already empowered us to win every battle fought on this turf as long as we do all that we need to do. Beyond that though is the fact that every believer should long to commune with God and prayer is that place of communion. So whenever God is meeting with man, it is prayer taking place so that one form of prayer or the other ought to take place consistently in our lives. Indeed in spiritual warfare, one is still meeting with God but in warfare, God joins forces with God to enforce victory against the enemy. Whether it is worship, thanksgiving or joining forces with Him to enforce the victory He already won for us; it would be prayer in various forms. It could even be God speaking whilst man listens. The point is man is communing with His God. Prayer is therefore, that place where man rubs mind with God allowing his mind to be influenced or impacted by God. Hence it is impossible for any man who prays very often to remain the same. He is constantly being changed; becoming more and more like God.

 

2 Corinthians 10: 3 “We are humans but we don’t wage war as humans do.”

 

God expressed a strong desire to enjoy communion with man in Jesus shedding His blood and ensured that every regenerated man has in his DNA a yearning for communion with His maker and/or Father. So our God is never tired of hearing us as some would like us to believe; He longs to commune with us. I am aware that we often make fun of people who we think pray too often; we act like believers don’t need to pray to make good success of their lives and fulfill their destiny but the truth is, it is only to the extent that one communes with God that one is able to enjoy the benefits of the victory that Christ worked for us by living and dying on earth. Every step forward for a believer is evidence of victory because there is an enemy whose job it is to frustrate our every move forward in life. The times we live in are tough; only those who know their God can do exploits. Prayer does get tedious sometimes, even just “busyness” and challenges of life make it difficult to pray; but these are all tricks of the enemy working through our flesh to keep us from our Father and the place of strength.

 

2 Corinthians 10: 4 “We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.” 

 

Moreover, for a believer to operate in dominion, as is our mandate, we need information that only God can give us. Our relationship with God gives us the added advantage of accessing privileged information known to God alone and cannot be accessed by the ordinary man but would put us far ahead of the ordinary man if correctly applied. Countries are known as powerful because they are well informed and use the information they have to their advantage. Spending time with Him sharpens our hearing making it easier for us to receive all the information we need to facilitate our greatness so the devil works to frustrate that communion using our flesh. Sometimes we are even deceived into thinking we can resolve our issues faster than God would so we would rather try resolving ourselves instead of praying. Such thoughts are suggestions from the enemy. These are all distractions, meant to frustrate us and kill our desire to commune with our maker. 

 

Luke 18: 1 “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.”

 

We need to pray now more than ever before. There are things happening even in this Country that make it compelling to call on He who alone can deliver us. God has already started a work that needs to be perfected but He always desires intercession. Women, as scriptures show, have been an integral part of God’s move; it remains the same today. When women sincerely and deeply commune with God, heaven has not been known to remain unmoved. So please come out to God’s Favorite House on Saturday 10^th October from 9qm – 3pm so that together we can, on a Pentecostal platform, call on God concerning our families, nation and society. God’s Favorite House is behind Wesley Methodist Church, immediately after the 2^nd Lekki Toll gate which is in front of Chevron on Lekki-Epe Expressway. Please come and bring a friend too.