How do you want to start the new year?

In Genesis 26, Isaac heard specifically from God not to go into the land of Egypt but to sow in the land where he was. In that land there was famine, water was scarce. But the word tells us that Isaac sowed in the land and sowed a hundredfold.

He prospered so much that the people of Philistine, the land in which he lived and sowed, became envious of him. The envy was filled with fear and the Ruler of that land, Abimelech, asked Isaac to leave the land because He had grown mightier than the owners of the land. So, Isaac moved.
The word tells us that as he sowed he dug a well, the people of the land strove with him; he dug another well and the same thing happen. He moved the first and second time, by the digging of the third well he had peace because the people did not fight him for that well.

Isaac moved on and kept moving without giving up after the first or second well was taken from him. He kept on until he got to the place where his work and profit was not in contention.
Until we get the truth that the bible uses failure to bring out the best in us we would always struggle

Why do we quit?

1. We quit because we rely on our power and effort. Jeremiah 17:5
2. We do not seek the consent of God. Proverb 3: 5
3. We take our cue from what happened to another person. Each and every one of us have our own cross to carry. 
4. We want things done in our own time, we do not want to wait for God’s time. 1 Peter 5: 10
5. We do not let God finish what he started. 

The success that we expect is right there at our finger tips. Proverbs 24: 10.
If need be go back to God, the potter, and let Him fix that which is not going well in your life.
Job said “For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.” Job 14: 7 KJV.

What has not destroyed you will and can only make you stronger. Can God trust us to trust Him? Would He be able to trust you to let Him do His will in your life so that you can have the success that He has promised you?

As we enter into the new year, let us give God a chance to work in us and through us. We have tried it our own way till date. As today ends 2017, let us enter the new ship called 2018, doing it God’s way and see the changes that will take place in our lives.

Where is the evidence of Your Christianity?

As Christians we are to be a reflection of Christ, for he is our perfect example. He said in his word “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” Matthew 25:40 KJV. Our going to church, praying and fasting is not a reflection of God. Reflecting God is seen in a selfless life of giving and doing that which pleases God.  The evidence of your Christianity is seen in your daily life.


The wise men’s purpose for seeking out the baby was to worship and to give. This is the full purpose of been a child of God. Worship and giving. The wise men gave a great evidence of their reflection of God by their worship and giving spirit. They were so focused on their mission that till date there is no mention of their names or linage save that they came from the east. “But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6: 3-4

If Christ happens to appear today dressed in dirty and tattered attire, looking hungry and homeless, how would you receive him? Would you even say hello? Would you give him a front row seat? A lot of us would be offended with such a person in our church, homes or place of work. We need to begin to live our life reflecting Christ.

The reason why we do not experience extra ordinary greatness is because most of us lack the capacity to sacrifice for the greatness. We need to be able to sacrifice for Christ. As we remember the story in Luke 16: 19-31. The rich man could

Starting the journey right

Saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel. Matthew 2: 2-6

Be sensitive to things around you. The bible says that Jesus was being born and the people in the midst where he was born didn’t know anything about him. A lot of us miss opportunities because we are not sensitive to the things around us. As a new year starts, we need to be sensitive and wise as we position ourselves for the future. Those things we want to achieve in the next year we need to have the focus in our sights now. This is the time to talk to God and ask him what His plans are for the next year, so that His plan and our plans will be in line.

The people have the knowledge, the had the information but they were not sensitive to the time. The leaders of Israel knew where Jesus was to be born because all the prophesies pointed to the town of Bethlehem. A lot of us know many things but we didn’t pay those things we know any attention. We are to be sensitive to our name, to the place we live in, to the times we live in, we are to be sensitive to the people around us. We need to understand the name we are given by our parents.

You have potential, you might be the least like Bethlehem was but one thing is sure; every one of us has potential for greatness. We need to recognize our potential and make use of it that we may become that which we were ordained and created to be. There is a great person coming out of each of us. It is not what we look like that is important, but what is inside us and what will come out of us is the important thing to achieving greatness. The problem with a lot of people and nations is the lack of understanding regarding the potentials of the people and the greatness that the people in a place could achieve.

Only those who fix their eyes on Jesus will to the end. If you follow the star contentiously you will get to Him. The bible says “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set.” Hebrew 12: 2
The wise men not only saw the star but they knew what to do and where prepared to do it. They were ready to go all the way till the end. Most of us come to church or place of worship for the wrong reasons; of all the reasons we have not many go to the place of worship just for the purpose of worshiping Jesus. The wise men went to the baby for 2 reasons only – to worship and give gifts to Jesus.

For us to start right and end well in 2018 we are to remember to do the following; be sensitive at all times, understand and realize that YOU have potential, fix your eyes on Jesus and finally have that spirit of worship and giving.

Where are you going?

What is happening in front of us and around us will not pass us by; what God has ordained us for will not pass us by. The wise men observed the star and followed it.

How many people in Israel knew that Jesus was born? Why didn’t the whole of Israel not know when he was born? They were nor discerning; not looking and watching. They were foretold of an opportunity; that the Messiah was coming around that time.
They were not focused enough; on the things of God, on things happening around us, on things happening with and to the people around us.

We need to ask God questions, to study the word, meditate on the word, live on and by it. There is a need for spiritual sensitivity.

What kind of a day was it when Jesus Christ was born? It was a normal day, a simple day, and ordinary day. Great things happen in simple ways, ways we never expected, imagined or thought of. This is how and when God shows up. An ordinary day can end up in an extra ordinary way. A lot of the time opportunities pass us by when we least expect it.
When you enter somewhere let your anthennas be up. When you are a in a place we need to be spiritually sensitive to what God is saying and what He wants us to get from it.

“Wise men came from the east saying”. What was it that made it possible for the wise mean to arrive safely at their destination? The beginning of a journey is not as important as arriving safely at the destination.

1. They followed the star
2. They were focused on where they were not going
3. They were united
4. The took collective responsibility (they traveled as wise men and arrived as wise men. When they were going to speak they all spoke together as the wise men.)

For us to get to where we are going we must be focused on the destination, be spiritually discerning, be conscious of opportunities around us.




Picture coutesy: http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Three-wise-men_2769.jpg

God gives us a sign

"Where is he who is born King of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him."  Matt 2:2 (WEB)

When God wants to do something important He shows a sign. When Jesus was born, a star led the Three wise men to the manger where he was born. This is why we have to be spiritually alert and mindful, so that we do not miss the sign that a thing is about to happen or has happened or is happening.

The three wise men saw the sign and followed it. Even though Israel was given the sign and the birth was foretold, they missed it because they did not use the knowledge. We do not pay enough attention to the knowledge and observation of the times; hence we find it hard to move on and to excel.

Something great was happening in Israel and the children of Israel did not even know about it. We said in one of our previous posts that life is a journey and that end of a journey is more important than how we started that journey.

It is important to lay the right foundation for a journey by being focused and speaking into the journey to ensure that the focus and outcome for the journey will manifest and be successful.

Habakkuk said “I will stand at my watch, and set myself on the ramparts, and will look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint. Hab 2:1 (WEB)”

A lot of us take too many things for granted and those things we take for granted end up as that important thing which matters. We must talk to God without stopping or hesitating. We must lay a solid foundation for our journey through life.

We must avoid trouble. The bible says Herod was troubled and as soon as the wise men saw this they avoided him. We are to not wine and dine with those things and persons that would give us trouble. We must not tolerate trouble and all those things that appears as trouble. There are some people who do not add value to your life, do not benefit you, people who frustrate you, people who don’t add value to your life; avoid these types of people.

Why do we need to avoid trouble? Trouble would take your focus away from the sign that God is about to do something great in your life. In some cases, when we dine with trouble we become distant from the opportunities that we would otherwise have seen and made good of.

God has given us the greatest sign to men...........Christ was born as messiah!

The journey through Bethlehem

It is the beginning of the journey that we know and not the end. The word says when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, the 3 wise men took a journey. Life is a journey and every one on this earth is on a pilgrimage. Everything physical are things that are temporal. For a while you are here, the next you are somewhere else. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18 KJV

This means also that our relationships are temporal. Friends we make sometimes we do not see them for the next couple of decades. The same way all problems are temporal. It does not matter how great or how insurmountable they may seem, those problems have an expiration date. They shall pass away.

Life is a journey because where you are going is more important than where you are or where you are coming from. The Bible said that the wise men came from the east, it didn’t tell us where in the east they came from but it told us where they are going to. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. Matthew 6:22 KJV

A lot of people go through life looking backward, sideways but we do not go through life looking forward. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Heb 12:2 KJV. We go through life thinking of pains, disappointment, mistakes, financial losses and challenges of the past and hang on to them. We find it difficult to move forward because we are holding on with both hands on the past and this makes it difficult for us to move forward.

Therefore we have lost focus not knowing that where we are going is better than where we are coming from. We need to set our goals, visions and what we want of life before us and move forward. We need to move forward with the the goals and vision that we have set for ourselves. Keep your focus on where you are going and ignore all distractions.

In the journey of life you must seek direction of that journey. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.Matthew 6:33 KJV. Arm yourself with wisdom. The reason why many of us have not moved forward it is because we have not sought direction. The wise men kept following the star and when the star was hidden they began to ask around to seek where the child would be born.

What kind of places to go for direction

1. Go to Jesus and say Jesus how did you do it that you made the right decisions in life
2. Go to the word of God. Those who succeeded in the word how did they do it
3. Go to an elderly person who is finishing well, sit at the feat of that person and learn how they were able to succeed in life. 

As we end 2017, set your eyes on the set goals and vision with a focus of single mindedness. Let Jesus be your guiding focus and you will see that everything will begin to work for your good!

Life is a privilege!

13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.4  14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. Hebrews 11: 13-16 KJV

A young man a few weeks ago woke up in the morning, got dressed and went out. He came back had a shower, changed and was home to relax after a hard day. But he didn’t live to see the end of the day. It is a privilege to be alive but a lot of us take this privilege for granted. If things are not working well for us we blame the circumstances or the people around us for the things happening in our life. It is nobody’s fault, but yourself. It boils down to our attitude to life. It is all about you and how we chose to react to and accept the things that happen in our life.

The Bible says the fore runners of faith believed God to the end. The earth is not your home and so we are to live our lives to count for the home we would spend eternity in. It is important for us to make sure that the life we live counts and is relevant.

You know what? When a person dies, those alive forgets about him/her. Even from the preparation of the funeral the forgetting begins because life is nothing and there is nothing in this life.

Whatever life you have let us use it well. Avoid all those things that would make you miss your way. Remove from you the spirit of arrogance, pride, lying and all other vices.

What you need is to “MAKE LIFE COUNT”. Set your priorities right. Serve God well and serve Him properly. If you are not interested in serving God, don’t bother, Serve God because He deserved to be served. Serve Him in spite of your pain, in spite of your suffering, in spite of whatever challenges you are going through.

It is important that that we take God serious if we want to take him serious. Go into communion with Him, be one with God.

Created by God and God alone Pt 2

Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. Daniel 1: 4 KJV

There are some things in our lives that does not seem good for or to us, but God permits those things to happen. Why? God knows that He will bring you out of those situation and His name will be glorified.

The scripture we have read in Daniel tells us how the world is. It opens to us what to expect of the world. On seeing the attributes of God’s gift in your life as alighted by Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 1: 3&4 -

1. Being of the king's seed, and of the princes; 
2. Children of God  in whom was no blemish, 
3. Well favoured, 
4. Skilful in all wisdom, 
5. Cunning in knowledge, 
6. With understanding, 
7. Such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, 

The world wants to teach you their evil ways “and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans”. A lot of time if you are a useless fellow the devil has no use for you, but if you are very brilliant, capable, intelligent and knowledgeable he is ready to attack you. Why? So that he can teach you his own language and change the direction of your life.

We need to watch out for the changes that may occur in the life of your children and even in your lives. The enemy tries to steal what is rightfully given to us by God who has created man and testified that is creation is “GOOD”. It is this goodness that the world tries to take away from the lives of men. The tension and pressures of the world is a tool that the enemy uses to take away the glory and goodness that God has deposited in us.

The enemy always wants to be in power in the life of those they put in bondage. A lot of us go through life thinking that we would get what we deserve, but we get what we ask for. If we are gentle about the works of the enemy in our life, they would have a field day in our lives.

The world wants to change the destiny of many. They start this by giving you a new name, They call you a name that suits the change they want to bring about in your life. The four Hebrew boys had their name changed as a precursor to changing their destiny. Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego. Daniel 1:7 KJV.

When you see a man of great destiny that the devil has changed his destiny, you will see him doing great thing but in a small scale. This category of persons would stand out even in poverty or in their downtrodden state. We should be very careful not to say negative things into the life of people and into our life.

It is up to us to do what Jacob did that gave him the name Israel.  And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. Genesis 32: 25 & 28
What if the enemy has been able to change your destiny, all is not lost. You must wrestle that destiny back from him and get back what is rightfully yours. God is waiting and their to make it happen, just talk to Him about it.

Created by God and God alone

Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. Daniel 1: 4 KJV

A lot of us for the love of money, the love of ourselves and the thirst for all things good, we have not being able to stand the test of time. The world dearly wants to attack the ones with the bright star, it wants to put the brightest in bondage. The world is ready to use your intelligence to advance themselves.

The point we are coming to today is that evil will always want to take the lead, take control and to seize power. The average person always wants to seek evil and get power. Everywhere you go in the world you tend to see that the wicked and the evil tend to take power. The irony is that generally, people tend to chose evil. When the Hebrews needed to chose between Christ and Barabbas; they chose the convicted criminal over Christ. So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?"Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor. "Barabbas," they answered." Matthew 27: 17, 21 KJV. The bible says the flesh lusts against the spirit and so we find it difficult to do those things that we desire to do. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. Galatians 5: 17 KJV. 


This is the war we find our self in almost all the time. The world seeks to and wants to change the destiny of many Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: 7 Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego. Dan 1: 6-7 KJV. The world gives the bright stars a new name, the world dearly wants to change your destiny. They change the direction in which you should follow. They use their wiles and every evil ways to take away that which God has imputed in you.

We are not to give in to the works of the enemy. God alone has given us all we need to be who we are created to be. No power or persons have the right to change what God has done. But it is important that we also stand firm and refuse to be derailed from our goal and from who we were created to be. We must say no to name change that the world wants to give us.

Do you need a makeover? (Where is our shine?)

And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. Exodus 34:29 KJV

Why do you come to church? A lot of people come to church for different reasons. Some people come to church to do business, some come because they are on the look-out for a spouse, others come to worship, and lots of other reasons.

The bible says the face of Moses shone, why? His face shined because he had an encounter with God. When we have an encounter with God we have a shine that is visible for everyone to see. Just as the children of Israel were not able to look at the glory of God that shone on Moses’ face, we would also have that shine of God reflected in all we do that darkness would not be able to have its way in our life.

Is your face shining? Can people see the glory of God reflected in your life?

Why do you come to church? Basically, we have come to church to seek God for ourselves. We are supposed to seek God by ourselves, whether the choir sings well or not, whether the minister’s sermon is good or not. We must have a personal relationship with God, spend time with God. We need to learn how to spend time with God.

Seeking God for yourself ensures that we are internally regenerated, and the glory of God in us is eternally proclaimed.
As you come out everybody would know you have had an encounter with God.

Why is it important to spend so much time with God? To get answers to questions that are bothering us and seems difficult for us. To worship God. To have a focal point in life, so that we can achieve much, succeed and excel in life. Spending time with God gives us control and puts us in a place of dominion.

Do you know that God is waiting for you? He wants you to have an encounter with him, so that you can have that change you desire from the inside of you.

Who or what is the god in your life?

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. Daniel 3:1 KJV

We serve a great God who does things that are strange to us and allows strange things and concurrences in the lives of men. Life and the circumstances we are faced with makes us to worship other Gods.

In Exodus 32, the children of Israel spoke to Aaron and asked that he makes them a god that they could control. A god that is in their control and one that they can be attached to. A god of convenience. The insecurity of men and aspiration for power pushes men to worship other gods. They would worship money, men, fame, power, food, and all the things of insignificance that they have around them.

A lot of times life would give us rules and regulation that don’t make sense. Sometimes we are moved to worship other gods because of the music we listen to and the culture we adhere to. Some people are tricked to worship other gods because they are ignorant of the one true God, while some others are moved to worship other gods using intimidation and fear.

How do you know that you are worshiping other gods?

1. Anybody that is not born again is worshiping other gods
2. If their is a groups, a person, an organization, material possession or something that you have placed as more important than God in your life
3. If we are in a group where things done do not glorify God, they are worshiping other gods
4. If your happiness is dependent on something and someone, that person or thing is a god in your life
5. If their aspects in your life that you can’t do without and takes you away from God, you are worshiping other gods
6. If you have something or someone that consumes all your time to the exemption of God, then you are worshiping other gods

To get out of worshiping other gods we need to have a relationship with God. We need to seek God, become a new being, ask God to take over our life and make God and God alone the center of your life.

It is God and God alone that can give you the turn around that you need in your life, He alone can destroy the works of every strange God controlling your life. All you need to do is invite Jesus into your heart and your life, dwell on His words and ask Him and Him alone to be the Lord

Guide for daily living

And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man. 1 Samuel 10:6 (KJV)

The Christian journey is one that needs us to be on the alert and live a fulfilled life. The word admonishes us to watch and pray. But to be fulfilled and not burn out living for God through the Holy Spirit, there are some things we need to note.

1. Speaking in tongues help us to pray. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Romans 8:26 (KJV)
2. Pray at least 1 hour daily building up your holy faith. Stay in a place of focus with God. When we pray and are focused we get inspiration, solution, direction and ideas for greatness. And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. Luke 6:12 (KJV)
3. Use the scripture to pray. E.g you did it for David, you can do it for me. Use bible verse quote. Remind him of what he has said in His word because He Himself said that His word will not return to Him void. Use scripture to pray saying according to previous precedence of happenings in the bible. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Isaiah 55:11
4. Stop saying negative things especially against yourself or against the things that concerns you. Don’t put yourself down. Don’t let the words of men put you down or stop you. Always be positive. Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Proverbs 18:21 (KJV)
5. Don’t destroy someone’s future with your own words. We do it knowingly and unknowingly. We must encourage ourselves in the Lord
6. Find time to rest, rest doesn’t mean that we are lazy. In the place of rest God also speaks to us. God will bless us in Jesus name. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. Genesis 2:2 (KJV)

Fulfilling your potential

The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of  Benjamin: ……………………………. Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Jeremiah 1:1-5

One thing we need to know is that the Bible says that God is no respecter of persons. The way He treats one is the way He will treat the other. He will treat you according to his word and according to His love for you. It is how we respond to the word and love that matters.

From time to time people have come out to say God has favorites and they are His favorite. But in truth we are all God’s favorite and what matters is the way we react to God. Whenever we long for and long after God and the things of God, He would come closer to us and we become His favorite. The reason why David was a favorite of God was because of the relationship he had with God.

Let us know that we are not a mistake no matter the circumstances of our birth. We are a deliberate creation of God, and He has created us with a lot of potential. God’s word says ye are God.
A lot of us have potentials but very few of us fulfil our potentials. There are many reasons why we do not fulfil our potential

1. Ignorance of who we are
2. Fear and anxiety
3. Laziness
4. Prevention by others
5. Not been born again. Been born again is going back to the manufacturer who formed us so that we can become a new creature. 

Questions that we ask God so we can fulfill our potential

1. Who am I?
2. What am supposed to do or what am I supposed to become?
3. What did you form me for?

A lot of people cannot fulfill their potential because of their ignorance of who they are and who they are in Christ. Some others don’t even know how to fulfill their potential.

How can you fulfill your potential?

1. From what you were told. From the things that people tell you and the things people say about you. You can be told or prophesied your potential. When you are born find out the meaning of your name and why your parents gave you your name.
2. From what you desire or we are passionate about.  
3. From what you have been born or gifted to do. A lot of us have been born and gifted to do certain things. 
4. Through the dawn of realization or the season and a time of reawakening. We have been born as gods but we might die of disappointment until we have that dawning and realization that we were born for more and to do more. I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. Psalm 82:6
5. Through the word of God.  Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Isaiah 3:10

How are you maximizing your potential?

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.2 Chronicles 7:14

Prior to the time of King Solomon’s reign, Israel had been slaves in Egypt, they were led by judges who came and died at the end of their time; the nation went through periods of trials in the land and the children of Israel cried unto God and He gave them judges who led them. Eventually they asked for a King which God gave them.

There is a formula for greatness just as we see in the bible verse above. There is a formula to make Nigeria Great, there is a formula to maximizing the potentials of Nigeria and of the people that make up the country called Nigeria. There is the need to be humble, to pray, to seek the face of God and to turn from our wicked ways. God Himself is asking this of us as a people and as a nation. After we have done these things He has promised to hear us from His throne in heaven, he will not only hear but will also forgive us as a people and heal our land.

There is nothing wrong with the land called Nigeria. Nigeria is not a mistake because it is a country that was brought together specially by God. 1 out of every 4 black person is a Nigerian. The state of Nigeria today is a reflection of the state of the people.

What do you need to have Nigeria maximize its potential? What do you need yourself as a person, a Nigerian, a citizen of the world to maximize your own potential? We must do all that we can to maximize our full potential. We must do all that we can to ensure that Nigeria as a nation fulfills its potential. We must do all that we can that we ensure that we make the best use of the talent that we have been blessed with.

1. People with knowledge, compassion and care for the nation and its people. People of faith, people with love for the nation and its people
2. Great leaders. Leaders that are self serving, truly love the nation and the citizens. Leaders that are conscious of the need of the land and works to bringing it to pass. Ezekiel 22: 29-30, Proverbs 29:2
3. Great partners; internal partners who will speak truth to power, establish industries, external partners who will be bring investment and funds to Nigeria
4. Knowledge, information and technology. Hosea 4: 6-7. 
5. Be ready to pray. Nehemiah prayed when he was re-building Jerusalem. He had prayer on one hand and the willingness to work on the other hand. 

God is looking for people. People who are ready to run with the vision of the country. He is looking for accountable people who would put his neighbour first, thinking first of his neighbour and what would benefit him.

As a people we must turn away from wickedness and from greed. We must begin to embrace contentment with what our hands and hard, smart work can do for you. A lot of us spend too much on earth that we forget that there is a heaven, therefore we don’t even work at getting there.

What is the foundation of your family?

And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.bondage. Exodus 20: 1-2 KJV

A lot of people have been born into bondage. The grandchild of a slave is a slave. The children of Israel went into slavery by an invitation of their forefathers. They were not conquered in war but they walked into it. They went in to solve a problem that came from famine and ended up as slaves in a place where they went in as free men.

In a lot of homes, mostly African homes, have altars that generations are tied to. This altars serve as a covenant between generations to come and the initiators of the altar.

Isaiah tells about the foolishness of man. He talks about the how man makes images to worship from those same things we make use of. Wood that we use as fire, furniture; the same we use as graven images. A lot of us do not have graven images in our homes, but our jewelry, paintings and other things we hold dear have become our own altar and graven image. Such that things begin to go wrong because these things have more importance in our homes and our lives.

Without our knowledge we bring into our lives idols and things that will become a door for which the enemy enters into our lives. Even some of us have unknowingly become a part of idol worship by a reason of where we come from, where we go, who we move with, and those things we hold dear.

God does not take kindly to those people who give more importance to images, lust, material thing above Him. Sometimes we may not have contributed to this, but the effect of it affects us generations after. Why? Because our bloodline has the remnant effect that affects the generations to come after.

Due to this effect a lot fail at the edge of breakthrough, a lot are faced with alcoholism, a lot are faced with lust. Most of these are as a result of the works of our forefathers. Leviticus 26:38-39
A lot of people are wasting away as a result of the iniquity of their fathers, or father’s house. Almost any family is under one of the following or the other

1. A family covenant - an agreement with something or one of the other to do something for with and for them
2. Ancestral yolk - similar to a covenant but different in that it is an attachment to something we are tied to. Some families are tied to alcoholism, some are tied to their women not marrying, and so on
3. Family curse
4. Family inheritance

Some of us bring on ourselves and the life of our children a curse by wanting to buy our way out of laid down family principles.
The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.~ Winston Churchhill
To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child.. ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero

What are the remedies to repairing this fault in your foundation? And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. Acts 16:25-26 KJV

• First we have to have identify what the problem is
• The we need to pray and praise. This shakes the foundations and opens doors. God's presence comes down when we praise and combining it with praying without ceasing seals it
• Repentance from all wrong doings
• Restitution
• Accepting Christ as your Lord and Saviour (be born again into the the new life that Christ offers with open arms)
• Take God seriously, do all you can to do what God wants you to do.

Have you discovered your potential?

That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.  Let the people praise thee, O God; let all the people praise thee. O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Psalm 67:1-7 KJV

Everyone has potential! The question this morning is.......….What is potential? Inherent value in something. Everybody has the ability to do something. Everyone has potential, no matter how you are born or where you are born. Potential is your unused strength (dormant strength) and untapped ability.

Can a nation have potential? Yes a nation can have potential. If this is true, then what is a nation? A group of people with a common vision, common goals, common mission, common purpose moving together towards a common direction. The most important thing about a nation is the commonality of purpose towards a given direction.

Is Nigeria a nation? Nigeria is not a nation because we did not willingly come together but was amalgamated to fulfill certain designs. Nigeria does not have a common purpose but we can be a nation. Everybody is moving in separate direction with their own common purpose. This is the basis of the Nigerian problem and if we don’t identify their and work with it we cannot become a nation. In spite of our diversity we can move in the same direction by having a common goal and purpose. Nigeria has the potential to become a great nation and develop its full potential.

How many of the people on earth achieve or fulfill their potential? Most likely less than 10% of people in the world fulfill their potential. But why is it that very few people are able to fulfill potential? How come only about 10% of the people alive will fulfill their potential? There is no self discovery. The richest places in the world is the grave yard! ~ Miles Monroe.

The word tells us this for a fact - Ye are gods_ and we have the capacity to function as gods. However a lot of us we die like mere men not using out ability as gods.
Your used strength , your hidden talent, untapped ability and dormant talent. Most people don’t even know how to use their ability and they limit themselves by themselves to the limitation of their immediate self.

One of the reason the world is struggling under a lot of pain is because a lot of people have not fulfilled their potential. What we need is inspiration, vision and aspiration to fulfill our potential. How do you know that we all have individual potential?

1. Before you were created God created you with potential Jeremiah 1:5. Therefore we know this for a fact, nobody is a mistake. We all have potential to do something great. 
2. You can be imparted with potential. People can impart you with potential. Mary spoke into the womb of Elizabeth, the baby leaped with joy. Luke 1:39-45
3. You can genetically induced or inherited potential. A lot of time we hear people say it runs in my family or this is how our family does things. 

The challenge is - have you discovered your potential

Training your child in this times Pt 3

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 KJV

The first problem is that we have misplaced values in the family. The candidate is a reflection of the majority in a nation. But the quality of the candidate is built from the foundation, which is the family. The goal of knowledge is transformation and not recall. We are supposed to be able to test how we apply for this is the essence of knowledge. Most parents want their children to be able to recall and so they groom them to excel in academics. They grow up not being able to question the life they live and the product of that life. Yet we complain that our children are not at par with their contemporaries all over the world.

Vision is the commitment of human being to alter the course of his life. Our children need authentic models, people who they can really trust, people that can help them get to where they are meant to be. Children need help and those to help them are called adults. A child that is 5 years today would be 35 in 30 years and what you build in his life today would determine who he would be at the age of 35 years. So many people are aging and not growing, and we do not want to train our children in this direction. We need to teach them how to grow so that at that time they look back would not be looking for aids or begging for money to pay bills.

There is no such thing as a stubborn child, there are only ignorant parents. Once a child is 18 he should be old enough and ready for responsibilities. We know that first in class is not first in life, children should not go to school to be the best in class, he goes to school for network which would help them for the future. As parents we need to change our standards, we need to change our goal. We need to change how we train our children and how we impact their life. Our children must be universal in their outlook and not local. They must be relevant on the global market.

This is the asset we must give to our children. Your children should not be like you; we need globally competitive children. A child is born with 4 natural quality, ignorance, fearlessness, spontaneity and curiosity. We as parents must nurture these 3 qualities in our children. Correct your child and not lose control by punishing them. Correction leaves the channel open that no matter what they do, they can come to you for love and understanding. That in spite of all that is happening anytime they come to you, they get solution. The most powerful word in the world is a word “NO”. Teach your child to say no. The second most powerful is “WHY”. They must be able to question the obvious, the status quo. If they dare to ask why they would be able to overcome a lot in life. You must also allow your children to say “NO” and “WHY” to you. From home they would be able to take it outside, because when they ask, you respect it and answer them, the confidence to ask outside would not be lacking.
don’t get so busy and delegate your responsibility to your children. Anything that doesn’t allow you to perform your duty to your child is a stronghold waiting to destroy the life of your child.

Train a child today so that when he is old he would yield great fruit. Your job as parent is to sow the seed, water the seed and continue sowing the seed. The job of God is the fruit and harvest. What really gets children off is the fear of the parents that they are doing something wrong and will go the wrong way. Do not let your fear control who your children would be.

Training your child in this times Pt 2

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6 KJV

So many parents are training kids not in the wrong way but in the way that is not peculiar with the purpose of the child. At the end of the day we are surprised when the children don’t turn out right. We live in a very complex time, and the only way to respond to complexity is knowledge.
The African belief system is dram sensitive; it is impossible to exemplify a belief without infusing a form of drama into it. For over 50 years we still receive aid and beg, still we are still the poorest continent. Favour is not free and nothing is free in the world. We mistake the Favour we get in aid for good will, but what we lose with aid more than what we get. Helplessness is a thing of the mind and the colour of oppression is played in the mind. It is important for us to show strength in a new way when we relate with and train our children. The impact of principle is received and seen as oppression by most, if we are not careful we would be seen as an oppressor by our children and all. This is what we see in this world we live in now. Presently, the realities of many are upside down. This set would want to drag you into their own way of life.

God does not have love, He is love and in the presence of love He has not compromised His values. Therefore we need to begin to culture a new kind of discipline, one that shows the kind of people we are and will be. We need to exemplify this disciple and love with our children. These days parents out of love for their children will walk them to the edge of destruction. The fact that we love our children doesn’t mean we would watch them ruin their lives.

Our assets and material things we acquire is not the important part of life that gives the meaning of life. When we place the value of material things over life and people, children would see this. As they grow they would display or demonstrate these in their actions. Yet we wonder why children are turning our bad even though we have continually made installments of destruction in their lives.

When the curriculum in the home is faulty the effect on the community is devastating. Children are growing up to become handsome fools, beautiful fools. Who we are is intangible and invisible. The personality is not in the clothing or the makeup, but in the inner content of the person. We do not need formal training to be handsome, angry or foolish; it is just what makes a container. What we need for our children is the content, what makes up the man. What is needed in a man is the ability to sit in other people’s shoes, feel what they feel, take what he feels put that in his shoe before you begin to judge them. This is called empathy, if it is impossible to feel what others feel before we judge them them we are not fit to lead or train a child in the path he/she should follow.

Training your child in this times Pt 1

Every environment is not the right environment,in the same vein every time is not the right time. It is not that there is something wrong with the environment, or that there is something wrong with the time. This way we get to know that there are different environment and different times. Life recognizes this similarities and differences.

However, life does not recognize us for our similarity. We are rewarded for our differences. If we are going to succeed in life it would be because we have focused on our differences. Our differences are backed by the intangible and the potency of the intangibles in our life. When it comes to projects and the things we need to do in our life, we must focus on our differences. A child is complicated and must be dealt with focusing on the differences that makes the child a unique human being.

There are two things that we should allow control in relationships either as parent or part of any relationship. Emotion and quest for freedom. Emotion is not a factor of production. When emotion becomes the driving factor of the decision making a lot of errors would occur. At the same time, freedom is not an independent variable it is a dependent variable. We are in a time where freedom is receiving the best articulation support and push where ever. Too much of emotion is dealing with life and its challenges puts us on the road to nowhere; giving too much freedom to yourself and to the people around you is a recipe to things going upside down. What we need is education, not academics.
Education is superior to academics, it is the ability of the human spirit to experience his environment to question it deep enough to know the options that exist in it and to know the ones to embrace as a matter of supreme importance.

There is something higher than education and it is revelation. You don’t need to be born again for you to know how to lead a child and have a complete marriage. Give what belongs to Cesar what belongs to Cesar and to God what belongs to God. You don’t need God to do all things. When Jesus was at the tomb of Lazarus, he did what he could do and allowed people do what they could. He told them to roll away the stone and went close and called Lazarus out. But when it was time for him to rise from the dead he had to roll away the stone.

God has created us and created all those things just for us, however He would not do for us those things we are to do for ourselves. The economics of the home and the country is determined by man and the success of the economy is dependent on man. Even though God created it, he has handed it over to man. This is the same thing with our marriages and how we raise our children.

We Can Win The Battle Of Life!

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:10-11 KJV

Life is a battle! Whether you know it or not, whether you are aware of not, whether you are prepared or not. The battle of life will go on and we are all in the army of life, fighting the battles of life.
If somehow or the other we don’t seem to be winning or getting ahead, then there is either something not right with you or something not right with the battle you are fighting.

What at the things that makes a person a good soldier

1. Training
2. Good health
3. Preparation 
4. Discipline 

Why do they insist so much on discipline in the military?

1. Without discipline there cannot be any cohesion or moving in the same direction 
2. Lack of discipline can pull the whole army down Joshua 7:1-5
3. Discipline is a sign of obedience to law and rules 1 Samuel 15:22
4. To protect yourself so you are not kicked out

We have to be disciplined. If we are going to be a child of God, if we are going to win the battle we have to be disciplined/ When the battle is toughest been the right type of soldier will help us in going far.

When David was going to fight Goliath what did Saul tell David? That he was not a soldier and Goliath has been a soldier from young. The devil we fight with has been fighting battles even before we were born, before man was banished to the earth. He waged a war on Adam, on Abraham, on David and a lot of others.

The enemy has different battle strategies, they are not weary but keep coming. Many Christians do not like battles because we have become lazy. This laziness has affected the whole world. The enemy knew what and who we would be from where we were born and the major goal of their battle is that we do not become who we were created to become.

We are the greatest and best creation of God must not lose the battle! We just need to be more disciplined. What we need is a little more push to push it through. We need to take the battle more seriously for our own good.

How can we fight the battle? How can we win the battle? All that we need is as seen in Ephesians 6:13-18. This gives us a complete picture of what the soldiers of Christ need to win over the enemy and to fulfill purpose and reach our destined promised land.

• Taking unto yourself the whole armour of God
• Having your loins girt about with truth
• Having on the breastplate of righteousness 
• Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace 
• Taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked
• Take on the helmet of salvation
• The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
• Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit
• Watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints

The Battle of Life

And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. 1 Sam 17:4,43,50 KJV

A lot of us have great potential and a lot more have great battle arrays. But we still are not able to win against the enemy and this is why we face so much difficulties in life. The enemy has someone who will always champion their fight. They are battle ready and are ready to fight with all they have.
Why does the enemy fight each one of us?

• The enemy wants to possess your land
• The enemy want to subdue you
• The enemy wants to make slaves of you; to enslave you
• The enemy does not want you to succeed and to fulfill your purpose

This is why we are working so hard each day and we do not see the fruit of our labour. For 430 years the Israelites were slaves in Egypt but the Egyptians were enjoying the fruit of their labour. In the same way, a lot of us work day and night, with hard labour but we do not enjoy the rewards of our hard labour. This is why we must fight to get our freedom. The world fights those who are not ready to fight.

The Philistines saw the start of Israel and were determined that they would not get there. They therefore used the bullying and intimidation that is common to the enemy -devil. He bullies you into thinking you can’t win. He begins by sending a champion, in the form of sin and vices. To take away your strength, then you begin to doubt yourself and you believe that he is right.

This strategy is to cover up their own weakness. Just like Goliath was not the strength of the Philistines, so also whatsoever the enemy is using to trick you is his weakness. All we need is to see it as what it is, the weakness of the enemy. This is because no matter how cunning or strong the enemy thinks he is, his strength can be overcome by the sling and stone of David.

What is this sling and stone? These are the word of God, fasting and prayer. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. Matthew 17:21 KJV. Know God’s word for yourself, accept it for what and who it is (God’s word is God himself) and believe in the word. Live by it and pray His words, remind God of them through fasting and praying!

Why are Christians not on top of their game?

And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: Deuteronomy 28:1 KJV

If you look around the world today, who are those people in position of authority? The richest men in the world, the ones in the corridors of power. The people serving as role models, teaching and inspiring people on being the best they can be..........these people at the top that youths of this day look up to are mostly not born again Christians. Some may even go to church but in all sense of the word are not followers of Christ. Why is it that Christians are not at the top of their game?

We don’t find serious born again Christians in commanding heights of the economy. Why is this? Why is it that no born again, spirit filled person is in a place of authority in the Nigerian government? This is due to a variety of things but in this particular part we will look at one of the major reason behind this. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Hosea 4:6 KJV. The lack of knowledge of God and who we are in God has limited the growth of Christians and stopped us from getting to the top. We rely on what word comes from the pulpit and refuse to search the word for ourselves.

Our founding christian fathers didn’t have the right knowledge and taught us based on their own understanding, in most cases this is still happening. Some taught doctrines that is not in the bible or things that are just a part of the Bible and they leave others out to suit themselves. This lack of knowledge has sent people out of the fold and stopped some from coming in. As a creation of God who seek him, we have to do it right. Doing it right means seeking out the knowledge of God for yourself and to authenticate every word that comes from the pulpit using the Bible as the control and check.

It is the duty of the christian to read the Bible, hold on to it and live the Bible. It is our responsibility to seek knowledge for ourselves. Other things they (Christian leaders) teach us is that we are irrelevant to the world and heaven bound so we should focus on heaven only. The truth is that our purpose here on earth is linked to us making heaven. We are created to be a blessing to others. Make sure that our life has an impact on the life of others and makes their life better.
Nobody has the monopoly of anointing or Rhema from God. We are to know for ourselves what God says and wants of us, because it is in this knowing that we would be able to be who God wants us to be.

What do you need? Seek God for yourself! Seek out the secrets of God. Find out what you need to become, what make you who you are or should be. How can you as a person be a christian in truth and be influential in the government of the day? The knowledge of this would go a long way in bridging the gap for us and bringing people to God. The knowledge of who you are would open your eyes to truly see God and take you closer to Him.

Questions to ask yourself as you go about your day and week….

1. Who does God want you to be?
2. What do we do to be who God wants us to be?

LIFE! as we see it

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Ephesians 6:10-12 KJV

As we tend to get a bit more casual with Christianity the older we are I our faith. We become a bit more relaxed and get a bit lazy here and there; we tend to forget that we are in a battle for life and of life. The heat of the battle does not reduce the closer we are to the finish line, in fact the enemy fights harder to see that we don’t finish the race well.

Apostle Paul was telling them in the early church that life is not easy. He said that life is a wrestle; according to him our problems are not the people (not against flesh and blood) we see but against spiritual authorities. Your brother is not your enemy, not your mother, your husband, your children, or that member in church. Paul described this authorities as

1. Principalities
2. Powers
3. Rulers of darkness of this world
4. Spiritual wickedness in high places

So he says we should put on the whole amour of God so we can win over the wiles of the devil. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6:13 KJV. He says the devil is not coming to you frontally. It is not just a boxing match but a wrestling match, an intimate (body to body contact) fight. This means that the enemy is closer to you than you think. It means that we must be attentive, watchful, prepared, we must be able to resist the wiles of the enemy. Why? Because we fight a no -holds-barred match with spiritual authorities which works through the people around us.

In fact their is a principality, power and rulers of darkness operating in the spiritual that is holding us down. The principles that helps us overcome in this wrestling match are

1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Obedience
4. Dwelling in the word

We are to bring every thought we have to the obedience of Christ. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you Phil 4:8-9 KJV. We need to fight our battles in our thoughts and begin to bring under submission and obedience to Christ every one of those thoughts that gives the enemy a leg in the door.

At the end of our journey here on earth our desires should be that after we have done all, we are able to stand before Christ and the father knowing that we have fought a good fight and finished our race.

The Principle of Aspiring PT 2

And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them. 24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. 1 Samuel 17:23-24 KJV

The victory over Goliath required a counter challenge by the children of Israel. David had an understanding of what Elisha said to his servant. And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. 2 King 6:16 KJV. 

Everybody has a Goliath that is speaking against our face saying we will see how you succeed. To counter this however, in every home, nation and place there is a David that has been looked down on. It is up to us to let go of our fear and let David overcome the uncircumcised philistine that is enslaving us  and trying hold us back that we may not succeed.

There is nothing wrong in aspiring in life, career, family. It is human nature to aspire to succeed. The challenge in life is that even as we aspire we are frightened by the Goliath in our life, We are afraid to come out of our comfort zone. We have become enslaved by the circumstances of our life, we listen to what people say. The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets. Proverbs 26:13 KJV. 

Too many people have very little aspiration and most people aspire to nothing. In 1 Samuel 17 the children of Israel saw the giant and ran away, their aspiration of victory in battle over the philistines were dashed by a goliath. They were gripped by fear. Life is for the bold and the brave, and the life we are not strong to protect will run away from us. Goliath means an exile, a wanderer from the wine press. Goliath was therefore not worthy of the fear because he was a nobody in the land, all he had was the noise he made. A lot of the Goliath in our life has no substance and is not worthy of the fear and attention we give to it.

For us, that challenge we face may seem like a big and insurmountable but the truth of the Word of God tells us that nothing can be too big for the God who is lord over all we can see or think. The mystery of challenges is anything that is big is only so in our imagination. It is like smoke in the wind, like chaff. Whatever is big in our eyes is very tiny before God, all we need to do is to give David a chance in our life to express himself and to try what he wants to try so he can bring the Goliath in your life down.

Today speak to God and ask that where ever your David is, the Lord should bring him forth and let him take on the Goliath and put an end to him. Stand today with the believe that every Goliath in your life is of no significance because Christ has already nailed them to the cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets. Colosians 2:15 MSG. Therefore that Goliath in your life has already lost its power; all it has are barks with no bite. Move on and live the victorious life of Christ that lives in you.

As children of God we have the answer to the Goliath that is holding us back from overcoming.

1. Having an understanding of who God is- God is all powerful, all encompassing and can do all things which includes overcoming trillions of Goliaths with just the move of a finger
2. Having an understanding of who we are - He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world 
3. Have the ability to aspire to greater things- aspire and take action, move in the trust in the God who holds you in the palm of His hands
4. We must get away from those things that is holding us down
5. You must know and differentiate the fact from the truth - fact was that Goliath was a giant who was a champion fighter but truth is that God is greater and mightier than every Goliath combined
6. All that we need to know is that God can do all things and he can make little things to solve dig problems - David was a small young man before a giant but Goliath was so big that a small stone could not miss.

The Principle of Aspiring PT 1

And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them. 24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. 1 Samuel 17:23-24 KJV

Goliath was a champion, one who had won so many battles, who had been challenging the children of Israel for days on end. He would come out every day and challenge the Isrealites to chose a person to battle. He made fun of the children of Israel. He promised that his people shall be slaves to Israel if just one of the soldiers of Israel could beat him in battle. Every one of us has a Goliath shouting against our success and breakthrough, saying and making us believe we would not enjoy the promises of God.

Goliath stood out and kept the Isrealites in a state of fears and trembling. In Nigeria one of our Goliaths is called corruption, it is shouting that Nigeria would not progress. It is frightening the children of God and making it difficult for the Christians in Nigeria to progress.

David was a young man of 17 years and he heard the challenge of Goliath and asked about what is happening. To him Goliath may be a giant, he may be tall and a champion in battle; but in all of this achievements and victory reports all was is an uncircumcised philistine. And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him. 1 Samuel 17:26-27 KJV.

The spirit of Goliath is a spirit of

1. Threatening
2. Fear 
3. Enslavement 
4. Shame 
5. Reproach 

David's aspiration was to face the giant who spoke against the chosen one of God. To him the battle was against the Holy one of Israel and therefore the battle was already won. Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 46 This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 1 Samuel 17:45-46 KJV. 

David looked the enemy in the face, stood before him with a complete trust in God and knew that the battle was already won. He saw Goliath and he saw a man of no significance and so he didn't even allow fear to have any place in his heart. David knew God was bigger than Goliath, God had won more victories than Goliath could ever fight in, God had all lives in his hands and so the goliath had already been defeated.

The Glory of His Presence PT 2

Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest

Exodus 33:13-14 KJV

 Moses said, having a discussion with God, that God has not given him a helper. He asked God to show him his ways and God said that His presence will go with him and will make the work easy with him. Moses then told God that if His presence will not go with them, He should therefore not take them out of where they are. 

Life can be extremely difficult but can also be outstandingly easy. It can be extremely difficult if we:

• Make the wrong assumption
• Do things the wrong way
• Have the wrong approach
• Do things the way we know how

Whatever God has asked you to do is just for you to do it. Whenever God gives you an assignment you have to go back to God and ask Him how you are to do and carry out this assignment. To do this we must have a close and intimate relationship with God. To have a relationship with God we must then understand the secret to life. Having a close relationship with God is not about how holy we are, how righteous we are, or how wise we are.

Even King Solomon in the bible said that in wisdom is a lot of grief. Sometimes when we know too much and too full of wisdom we become burdened. Then he said that the job of a man is to please God. Every morning when you wake up, you ask yourself how can I please God? What do say that will please God? Where do I go to please God? What do I wear to please God? Ask such questions about each step and everything you are about to do to know if it will please God.

Ask yourself, ‘what would Jesus do?’ If you can ask yourself consistently before we react or take action on things living our life would become easy and free of stress. This might be difficult to adjust to at the beginning but the end of the matter would be that we would have pleased God.

It is not our business to know how things get done, that is God’s business. It is God who will work through us to make things happen. That’s why God sad to Abram, “walk before me and be thou perfect”. What does the presence of God do?

1. It brings about prosperity 1 King 5:2-6. This is an all round prosperity; financial prosperity, marital prosperity, emotional prosperity, social prosperity. 
2. It will bring about grace and promotion. There would be a grace and favour around you that will bring about promotion. You would just have that favour which even you won't understand and people just promote you and lift you up. 
3. It will bless you and bless the people around you when you are in God’s presence. The bible said that the Lord blessed the house of Portiphar because of Joseph. You become a blessing to generation yet unborn
4. It leads us in His presence. 
5. When we are in the presence of God we can do no wrong
6. The presence of God brings about deliverance out of a problem
7. The presence of God gives you complete of joy Psalm 16:11

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

The Secret of Life

There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.should make…: or, delight his senses. For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I? For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit. Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 KJV

What is the secret of life? Is it to obey God’s commandment, to do God’s will, live a holy life, live a content life, living in God’s favour, have the fear of God and love your neighbour as yourself? If you obey all the commandment of the law, does that mean that all things would work out fine for you? Is living a fulfilled life hinged on righteousness?

Life is very delicate, small things can cause big problems. Just hissing at an old woman and moving on, can cause us problems in our life. Just by ignoring to help the neighbour beside you can result in a major challenge in our life. But then who can know which of this things can be a trigger? Except we know that secret of life that puts us right before God at all times.

What then is the secret thing that we can do in life that would make everything go our way? If we look at the word of God we can x-ray our life, we can see who we are in God’s eyes. We can see the little areas where we are not doing things right in accordance to the will of God. As children of God we have that mirror which helps us see who we are in God’s eyes. Seeing who we are helps us have an understanding of where we have to adjust.

Solomon was the wisest and richest man who ever lived. According to him wisdom is not the best thing in life. Therefore it is not the secret of life. Then he goes further and talks about pleasure of life, looking at this he sees that this is not the key to having a fulfilled life. He says that the accumulation of wealth and doing good works does not also give us fulfillment.

The secret of life is pleasing God. When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. Proverb 16:7 KJV. So pleasing God is the secret of the Christians life. Every morning as we wake up we must ask God what it is we can do to please Him. According to Solomon and Jesus Christ pleasing God is the key to living a fulfilled life. For us to be able to please God we must first seek the kingdom of God. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you Matthew 6:33 KJV. 

The Glory of His Presence

 And Moses said unto the Lord, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. 

Exodus 33:12-14 KJV

God’s presence will always go with us and we shall have our rest. In the passage Moses a prophet of God was having a conversation with God, so much so that he heard God clearly. Moses was talking to God and he heard a 7 point agenda

1. Asked to bring up the people. We all have the mandate to lift up the people. To change life
2. God will send a helper our way; to help us fulfil our purpose and God’s assignment for our life
3. God knows our name. He know who we are, what we are and what our capabilities are. Therefore it mean we are not a mistake but a deliberate creation of God
4. God’s grace and favour is always available to them who knows the ways of God
5. Prayer is important if we want the presence of God to go with us. 
6. Asked that God show him the way. The ward says and we believe that Christ is the way. With Christ in our life we would always walk on the path that leads to life
7. He asked that the presence of God go with the people

The presence of God does quite a few things in the life of his people. The presence of God in our life brings and opens the doors to prosperity. To prosper, just make sure that God is with you. Luke 5:1-12. The fortunes of Simon turned around because God got into his boat. That is why we are to dedicate all achievement and steps of success to God to make it sustainable. Anytime we talk to God, we are to always ask God to be with us; as God been with us will bring about a great prosperity. No one that has prospered has done so outside the permission of God.

God been with you brings about grace and promotion. The bible says “Joseph found grace in his sight” because God was with him. Promotion does not come from the east or west, but comes from God alone.

When God is with you He will bless all the people around you. A lot of people are blessed because of the people who walk with God. God’s blessing is not limited to you but to the people around you.

The presence of God connects us to the helpers of our destiny. God’s presence in our life serves like a magnet that would attract the people that would help us fulfil destiny.

NEW BEGINING

And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldeans, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran. Genesis 11: 31-32

Terah died at the edge of breakthrough, God can replace anyone of us. We must always be prepared because many things are combined to limit success and progress. Never for once think the world is fair, and you must be ready for a war. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephisians 6:12 KJV. 

As parents we are to make our children know about the evil around them, because not everyone think the way we think. Some people are naturally evil and some are naturally good. So you must be prepare to experience the good and the bad side of life, if you can anticipate life, you must eliminate life. It is important that we stop looking back, because doing so won't let you move forward .

1. Don't allow temporary situation to become permanent situation.
2. We need to be alive and hopeful, and never give up (Saying  a living dog is better than a dead lion)
3. You need to start afresh and you must know this God, because God never count you out.
4. You need to hear a word from God, because it's one thing to know God and another thing to hear Him it is important to hear God from God.
5. You need to behave God and run with the word Matt 21 vs 21-22, Gen 11 vs 27-37.

How do we hear from God

• Still clear voice
• Audible voice 
• Inward witness
• Through dreams and vision
• Quiet time
• God speak figuratively
• Through the pastor
• Through a donkey: it can be through someone who is not born again. 

Having Regard for God

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matthew 25:37-40 KJV

God is ever present and He expects us to show a regard for him by been a reflection of who he is. We do this in obedience to His words concerning our love for him and our neighbour as well as our leaders. God is the only stabilizing force in the life of man, irrespective of all the problems that may come our way, God will always be there for us. Pick up the word of God, everyday because God is all you have. If you lose a spouse you remarry, if you lose a loved one you mourn for a few weeks at the most a month and life will move on. When we lose wealth or property, life will move on.

God is all we have, therefore we must look for him with all we have. We must have a personal relationship with God, because He alone is the one who will not forsake us or leave us. The truth is we misbehave because we have not seen God. “No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us” 1 John 4:12 KJV.  That place were we have chosen to serve God becomes the home of God for us, The shepherd in charge of the place where you serve God is the representative of God in our life. The neighbour that we see each day, is the reflection of God in our life and we must treat them right.

If we have no regard for the people who work for us, the house keeper, driver and all the lowly staff that work for us then we have no regard for God. The way we treat our church is the way we treat our God. If we have no regard for the church, the pastor, the ministers and the people around us, we have no regard for God.

If we are to work for God in His house we must have a regard for him and everyone of his people that has charge over us. It is not a matter of what we want of think is right. We have to take God very seriously. The little boy we see on the road begging us for money, and we shout on him to “get out” may be the reason we are having issues, because he is our neighbour that we have no regard for.  “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” Matthew 25:40 KJV. 

If we are to serve God in spirit and in truth, we  are to have regard for the people in our life and those that God has placed over us to lead us. The key to having a regard for God is as seen in His word.

Regularly in God’s Presence Pt 2

And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.Genesis 5:22-24

After Adam had sinned and the fellowship with God had broken, God looked around for another man who would dwell in His presence and fellowship with Him. God found Enoch and the Word of God makes us understand that Enoch didn’t live long like those who had lived before him but because he walked with God and dwelt in the presence of God, he was not found (did not die). To dwell simply means this is the regular thing we usually do. When God took the children of Israel out of Egypt and they asked for bread, God said that they take only that which is sufficient for each day. God did so that they may rely on him each day and return to him each day.

Dwelling in God’s presence is always coming back to God, because He enjoys hearing our voice, he enjoys hearing our prayers, he enjoys having fellowship with us. Hence the reason why God took Enoch as a replacement for Adam to have a man that fellowships with him. Those who dwell in the presence of God are God pleaser, not men pleaser. Afterward God began to look out for that man who dwelt in His presence and found Noah. God used Noah because He was there with God always. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.Psalm 16:11 KJV. When Noah passed on, God looked for another man and found Abraham. Gen 12:1-3

Abraham began to walk with God, he began to be a God lover and he transferred this love to his family, His servants and children got to know his God. For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.Gen 18:19 KJV. God testified that he knows Abraham and that he would teach his children. So God opened up to his friend Abraham about his plans concerning Sodom and Gomorrah. As a friend of God dwelling in God’s presence He would share his secrets with us. And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord. Gen 18:22 KJV. Notice that when God began to talk to Abraham His friend, the angels turned away. Abraham communicated with God as a friend, and God related with him as a friend; listening to what he had to say. Can two walk together, except they be agreed? Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets. Amos 3:3, 7 KJV. 

Abraham left as a defeated friend and because he was a friend of God, the friendship compelled God to spare Lot who is the family of Lot. He couldn’t afford to offend his good friend who dwelt regularly in his presence. Abraham didn’t ask God to spare Lot, but God did it because of friendship.

God is calling us today to the glory of his presence. Moses was another man who dwelt in the presence of God. God called Moses Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.  Ex 3:10,12. The principles of God does not change. God loved the people of Israel and He wanted to commune with them. The bible makes us understand that God spoke with Moses face to face and mouth to mouth because he dwells in God’s presence. God was always talking to the children of Israel through Moses. In Psalm 103:7, we read how Moses was shown the ways of God and the children of Israel saw only His acts. Since Moses dwelt always in His presence he knew the ways of God.

Every time God gets upset, and He rarely does, when someone who dwells in his presence intervene He pays attention. Therefore when it was time for Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead, He could only do it because He was always in the presence of God. In John 15:15 Jesus called the disciples his friend because they dwelt with him regularly.

God is always seeking for himself that person who would dwell in his presence. That person who would practice relationship with God and not religion. This way the works of the enemy will not be able to stand where we are. What God wants is that man who ignores his phone and all forms of distraction while we are in His presence.