The Contention Is Real – You Have An Enemy

There is no doubt that we are in the end times: these are definitely very troubling times. The activities we see around us are a strong reminder that the end is near. Whilst some saints rejoice about this truth, others wish it away and some others even argue that a God so good will not allow any of these “evil events” listed as part of all that will be unveiled in the last days.  It really does not matter what we prefer to or actually believe, God’s truth stands forever. The present times call for prudence on our path. A prudent man sees what is ahead and makes arrangement to hide from the evil thereof. We cannot over prepare for what is imminent – we are in the last days. It will be sad to have all the information that we have and yet pretend like these things will not happen for very selfish reasons because they will happen. We all wish we could live forever but we know also that we won’t; at least here on this earth, so it is wise to act accordingly.

Psalm 119: 89 “Your eternal word, O Lord stands firm in heaven.”

Isaiah 14: 27 “The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has spoken – who can change his plans? When his hand is raised, who can stop him?”

In the normal course of my day, I counsel with people very frequently; almost every day. Even if I did not hear from God directly, all of the counselling has confirmed to me that believers are definitely under very serious attack from our enemy – satan. Pressures are mounted against us from all sides - our marriages, finances, health, businesses, relationships etc. Meanwhile minds are greatly troubled; such great turmoil in the minds of many even to the point of them losing their peace. The number of believers with mental health issues that stem from lack of peace or troubled mind today is mind boggling especially when we have a Saviour who is Himself, The Prince of peace. The plan is for us to lose faith in our Saviour. Do you know that some even trust themselves now more than they trust God? No wonder, Jesus wondered if He would find faith on the earth when He returns. Our individual faith is seriously under attack; but people have experienced such things before and have come through, so we must not fail God. If you prepare yourself, you will be better equipped to deal successfully.

2 Corinthians 4: 8 – 10 “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not given to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodied.”

Much as I enjoy going to church and fellowshipping with believers, I have found that I need to ask myself some hard questions daily so that I do not unwittingly align with satan’s plans to ruin us. One has to be very deliberate to survive. In these present times, one cannot afford to assume that they are believers just because they confess that they are and have told themselves so. We need to test our own selves. Look at your works daily and ask yourself if they line up with the works expected of believers. The fruits tell who we are hence we are told that we shall be known by them. It is not just the works/fruits but also the reason you do that good work that you do. For it to be a “God work” it must be inspired by the Holy Spirit. Dead works, no matter how good will count for nothing. You have to think again on your works and see if it evidences the faith you claim to profess. Dead works do not spring from the Fountain of Living Waters and as such do not bring joy or satisfaction but drain them, also making the believer’s life dreary and burdensome which eventually leads to loss of faith. It may please you to know that Jesus came that we may have joy and the fullness thereof. Joy is indeed a necessary ingredient for our survival so that stealing it is an attempt by the enemy, to choke one to death.    

2 Corinthians 13: 5 “Test and evaluate yourselves to see whether you are in the faith and living your lives as committed believers. Examine yourselves not me! Or do you recognize his about yourselves by an ongoing experience that Jesus Christ is in you – unless indeed you fail the test and are rejected as counterfeit.”

James 2: 17 “So you see, faith by itself isn’t good enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.”

Armed with all these truth, we cannot afford to let satan stop us from enjoying the benefits of the victory we have in Christ. We must guard our hearts, living like pilgrims that we are, always prepared for the return of our Saviour, inspite of all that the enemy throws and will continue to throw at us. We must deploy all the instruments of war we know to ensure that we successfully enforce the victory Jesus won for us so that we do not live defeated lives here on earth. You cannot be passive about your faith anymore if you are a believer. It is time to contend earnestly for our faith. It is time to make up your mind what you want to do about your faith. We must do all we know to do to resist the enemy that he may flee from us. It is time to put on your strength “o Zion.”

When We Pray …. Saturday 10th March

If you know me, then you may want to plug into long suffering now because this is my favorite topic; you may have heard me talk about it again and again - Prayer. When things get tough or our enemies seem too strong for us, it is time to turn to our Big and Mighty God in whose name we not only find safety, but who also does all to ensure we enjoy the benefits to us of Christ victory. With all we hear today that goes on in our world, there’s no doubt that it is time to turn to our Big God. If you live in my part of the world, it is even more compelling to do so; not because it is the worst but because God is our only Helper. There is no doubt that there are other things one needs to do beyond praying but what better place to get and who better than God to receive instructions and/or directions from as to what other things need to be done? It is time, now more than ever before, to tarry in the place of prayer for our lives and nation. Whilst we commune with God at all times, it is another level of prayer to tarry; to wait on Him in the place of prayer. We have come into that season when we must do so. Believer or not, people are drawing strength like never before from whatever they believe, we must draw strength from our Mighty God.

 

Daniel 11: 32bamp “but the people who are spiritually mature and know their God will display strength and take action to resist.”

 

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

 

This is about a deeper level of prayer: that prayer where you hold onto God until you have a confident assurance that it is okay to leave the place of prayer. It is waiting on God, albeit, in prayer. To pray at this level, one must sincerely and seriously desire to see God move to alter a circumstance or challenge. We don’t just rush in and rush out. I have heard believers say we don’t need that depth of prayer for God to hear us, maybe true; some others even joke about it: but this and many more are some of the reasons our prayers seem ineffective and incapable of producing results. It is so bad now that evil and unbelieving people laugh when we say we are going to pray about a situation: but in this same Country there once lived a man amongst several others, Archbishop Idahosa, whose prayers even the witches feared. They feared the effectiveness of his prayers because of God’s consistent response. His God is the same God we worship who is just as powerful today as He was then. This is that season when we must shut out everything else more often than we would normally, to call on our God until He answers.

 

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.” 

 

As we tarry in the place of prayer The Holy Spirit guides us such that we pray exactly as we should, remaining insistent as we take hold of all we desire, facilitating its physical manifestation. Unless and until we learn to tarry in the place of prayer, we may not fully enjoy dominion as God originally mandated. In these times, paying lip service to prayer “wont’ cut it.” Negative spiritual activity is risen significantly, we cannot continue like babes and the silliness of carnality is becoming more obvious. Today, many believers very quickly take their battles to the flesh because it seems easier; but the truth is, it is the worst turf for us because the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. Moreover, when we fight in the place of prayer, we deal at the very level where all things originate before they manifest in the physical and God is able to join forces with us to enforce the victory His son won, something He always wants to do. In truth, He does the enforcing and we are only instruments through whom He does it.  

 

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

We must make time for this level of prayer despite the efforts of our age old enemy to stop us from doing so which is why every step forward for us is a victory step. There is no doubt that various things contend for our time but believe me please, it is more often a trick of the enemy to distract us from true prayer. Indeed, it is often in the place of prayer that one remembers everything undone which all seem like they must be done immediately or something terrible will happen. The truth is nothing will happen; the enemy just wants to frustrate your desire to tarry in prayer. If you were “tarrying in gossip” he won’t have reminded you. Just remember even at such times that you are in control and can stop him. When believers sincerely and deeply commune with God, heaven cannot remain unmoved. So, you are invited to our WCO prayer conference. The secret is, men do sneak in too. Time is 9am prompt, Saturday 10th March at God’s Favourite House, Lekki – Epe Expressway, Opposite Oluwanisola Estate, by Chevron Toll gate.   

Yes You Are A Disciple; But Whose Disciple Are You?

I have been thinking about following Jesus and the way we follow Him today as against the way those who were first referred to as Christians followed Him such that they were called Christians. There is no doubt that their faith and/or belief in Christ must have consumed them so much, it altered their personalities such that they responded to situations in the same way - the way that Christ would have responded. They were without a shadow of doubt His disciples (a people who heard His words and obeyed such that their obedience could not be questioned). They rubbed minds with Him to the extent that His thoughts had become theirs. It was easy to tell that they followed Him. Interestingly, following Jesus, even from the beginning of time, has not been without its own challenges just as it is today. There has always been an “unhidden cost” to following Jesus Christ. Indeed, Jesus admonishes whoever wants to follow Him to count the cost of doing so. Believers in Christ today, complain so much about the Christian life that we often sound like a people lured or deceived into this Christianity.

 

Luke 14: 27b – 28 “…be my disciple … but don’t begin until you count the cost.”  

Hebrews 12: 1b – 2 “And let us run with endurance the God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the Champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame.”

In our day, our own journey with Jesus starts with us getting born again, a term coined to describe the process of getting born of the Spirit of God. This birth takes place when one believes and accepts the truth that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God who died and rose again and then ascended to His Father. As soon as this rebirth happens, the fullness of The God head (God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost) take their place in the person empowering such person to live their life according to The Spirit of God as well as enabling them become like Jesus Christ. This experience, also facilitates the opening of one’s spiritual eyes so that they can see Jesus (spiritual revelation) and only thereafter can they fix their eyes on and follow Him. It is impossible for Jesus Christ to be revealed to anyone who has not had the salvation experience without which we cannot have on earth the life that prepares us for a great life in eternity.

Luke 9: 23 “Then he said to the crowd, “if any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.”

I have come to realize, over time, that the fact that one has a revelation of Jesus is not necessarily a guarantee that they follow Him; they are two separate things. Revelation of Him only opens a door that facilitates following Him which is what it takes to His disciple. Following Jesus, unlike following anyone else does not happen randomly; it takes a deliberateness. This is because there is a properly laid down procedure to following Him. Jesus laid down clear steps to following Him which starts with giving up one’s own way and daily taking up of one’s cross. Anyone not aligned with this procedure isn’t a disciple notwithstanding the number of times they are in church. No wonder many claim to follow Him but appear not to because they truly don’t. They meet none of the prerequisites and have no intention of doing so. They do not intend to give up their own way. As long as Jesus way tallies with theirs, then they appear committed to Him, but when His way begins to differ from their preferred path, they dump His way. It is only to the extent that we deny self that we can carry our cross and only then can we follow Him.

Hebrews 12: 4b “let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”

Without a doubt, there is a cost to following Jesus Christ; but there is also gain in following Him. There is a self that must be denied and a cross to be carried daily. “Ugly” as the cross is, carrying it is apparently the privileged of only a few; it is not given to all. To be effective in carrying the cross, we must drop all weight and self is a major one. The cross of Jesus Christ is “very heavy”, we don’t any other added weight. One of the challenges of the faith we share today is the fact that self is allowed to mix with Truth even when the scriptures tell us that the two always are against each other. How can anyone succeed with a serious battle going on always in their mind? Many are backsliding because it gets too heavy; heavier than it is meant to be because the grace of God given to us can only help us bear the burden of the cross and not our own added burden.  Some of us even carry our own cross and not the cross of Christ so that we complain consistently against Christ and have no semblance to Him or His followers. We must begin to work out our salvation with fear and trembling and if one finds that they have built on faulty foundation, it is never too late to start again.

REMEMBER THAT THE RETURN OF CHRIST IS NEARER NOW THAN WHEN WE FIRST BELIEVED