Staying in God in the new year

Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. 

 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 

And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 

2 Corinthians 5:16 - 18 KJV

Whatsoever does not reside or stay in Jesus does not have life. In life you can see some people move but they are not in motion. They strive to success but their work and business is stagnant. It is one thing to be with Jesus and another to be in Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:17. Jesus seeks those that will be in Him Rev 5:20 behold I stand at the door. It is possible to be a church goer and not be in Christ. The word says if any man (irrespective of religion and church) be in Christ he is a new creature. What will make a difference between you and your neighbor next year is whether you are in Christ or not.
Giving your life to Christ does not mean you are a great sinner. It simply means you want to have a personal relationship with God, it means you want to have a better life.

Across the world on the night of the 31st there will be a crowd in the crossover service. It is not your attendance in church that matters and it is not how long you have been born again; it is how far you have walked with Christ.

The new year should be different for us as a man who is in Christ. The new year will be a difficult one for foolish people, those are in Christ who seek wisdom and run after understanding will move with ease.

What are the benefits of staying in God?

1. Revelational wisdom from God Proverbs 1: 1-2 God expects us all to have a proverb of our own; words of wisdom we are sharing with others. 
2. We become emboldened to do great things. Proverbs 30:30; Luke 10: 19; 2 Tim 1: 7. Elijah said it will not rain and it didn’t. It takes great boldness and confidence to do this. The bible says God honoured the words of Elijah. 
3. Will make you to know the will of God for your life. 1 Sam 30:5 Heb 4: 9. It is God’s desire that we know His will for our individual life. Jesus said; “you shall know the truth and the truth that you know individually will set you free”. We need to discover the will of God for our life. 

Seek wisdom for the new year. Know when to act, how to act and things to say. The word says my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. God does not want those that will stand by the gate, He wants those that will enter into the city and capture the city.
When you are in God you can decree and declare a thing and it shall be so. Religion and a religious man can not speak in boldness, only a man in Christ can do this. This is why when God created man, He put him in a garden and not in a jungle.
In this new year stop speaking what is happening but speak what is written in the word of God.

Once you know the will of God for your life, you may not start with everybody but will end up meeting and overtaking everybody. Ecclesiastes 9:11

A man that was after God’s mind in 1 Samuel 30: 8 went back to seek God’s will concerning the next step of his life.

All I know is that Jesus Works ~ Pastor Ituah Ighodalo

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1: 14 KJV

Text: John 1: 1-14

John wrote concerning Jesus after He had resurrected from the dead and ascended into heaven. Christmas is the only season in the whole year that is celebrated all over the world, irrespective of their social status, financial standing or politics. Why? There is just something about Christmas.

For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1 Corinthians 1: 22-25 KJV. 

Paul made known to them that the only sign given is that Jesus Christ came to the world, bore our sins on the cross, died and after 3 days rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and now sits on the right hand of God the father.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.  Zechariah 9: 9 KJV
Jesus has come! The Apostles tell us that the signs have come. Jesus was born of a virgin. We preach Christ crucified.

John talks about a true relationship with God through an understanding of who God is. He begins in John 1:1 saying that In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

What was John trying to say; only 3 beings exist on this earth and they take their existence from one being. This being is God, the Almighty Himself. These 3 beings are

1. God the father
2. His son; who is His word
3. His Spirit that exists inside of Him

John said in the beginning was this word that came from inside of God; the word that God birthed.
The only way people can know who you are is when the word goes out from your mouth. Before we were created, the person we will be was created in us. These things will come to life when we speak it into being.

Your words, your activities and your actions will live after you.
The word created Himself as a man. The word put on flesh, dwelt among us and died for our sins that we may be reconnected with God the Father. God can do anything; He decided that He will create Himself and dwell among us.

In the beginning was the word, the word was with God, the word was God, the word became flesh, the word dwelt among us, the word died and rose from the dead. The word brings to us salvation and the freedom from the hold of sin.
Whether we believe He is the son of God or not; all I know is that Jesus works!!! He alone is the one who saves, gives hope, He doesn’t give up on man, where we think we can’t amount to anything Jesus ensures that we amount to a great many things.

Who is God? What is God?. ~ Pastor Ituah Ighodalo

Exodus 3:13  And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

Exodus 3:14  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. (KJV)

One of the greatest challenges of life is that we do not know who God is. We think we know who God is but we somehow don’t know who God is. We don’t know because we do not spend enough time with Him; we don’t spend enough time getting to know Him. If a married couple can be together for years and still not know each other, it is easy to not know a God who we do not see.

When I look back the last 10 years, I realize that some of the fears and anxieties I could have done without. A lo of our fears comes because we did not take some time to understand God.
Inside of the evil that surrounds us there is a good and greatness that will come out of this. That is why the bible says, “When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person.” Job 22: 29 KJV. 

It is impossible for men to have a clear understanding of what you have gone through but be rest  assured that God understands it all and out of the pain and evil He will bring about something good. God will also put the evil to shame and bring out the beauty of life if we allow Him.
I want to encourage you today, don’t take permanent decisions on temporary situations. We will always be faced with a lot of life challenges. However, in all that we go through we must remember the greatest commandment that admonishes us to “love our neighbor as ourselves”.
The bible says Jesus Christ learnt humility from the things that He suffered. Our suffering leads us to have compassion for the people we come in contact with.

God was saying to Moses that He has come to rescue His children out of the enslavement of Egypt. Moses asked whom should he say sent him to them. God’s reply “tell them I AM”.
If you understand God you will not

• Have sleepless nights
• Go through moments of pain
• Give up on other people
• Shed tears for the loss they have in their life

Who is this God? He is someone you seek for, look for, find. A lot of pay attention to everything material in life but not on God. We are faced with challenges because we do not seek God.  Isaiah 55: 6. David says to his son “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3: 5-7 KJV. God always comes through for His people.

Seek the Lord and serve Him

1. With a clear mind
2. With a clean heart

God loves you and I know this for a fact.
Again, I ask, “who is this God?

1. God is a spirit John 4: 24 Isaiah 11:2 This means we cannot see Him with the physical eyes. 
2. God is everywhere and He is God all by Himself. Everything has their life derived from God. God is just that thing that lives.  
3. God is the uncreated creator that puts a bit of Himself in all that we see (both the animate and inanimate). Man has the fullness of the spirit of God but everything that we see has a bit of the spirit of God in them. 

Have faith in God! If you have faith in God you will say unto the mountain be moved and it will be moved. If we believe it so shall it be but when you doubt you have said to the mountain to stop moving and it will stop. Why? This is so because the spirit of God in us will speak to the spirit of God in the mountain and it will hear based on your belief and move in obedience.

God is introduced to man ~Pastor Mensah Otabil

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.……. Genesis 1: 1

When you encounter God in the bible from the book of Genesis there are very significant things we encounter. The book of Genesis is God’s self-introduction to man. In the beginning is the first introduction God gave of himself. This is a very great concept because God was before the beginning started. The beginning was not the start of God but God Himself created the beginning. God self-introduction to us is one who works and one who does things; this is the way God wants us to see Him, as one who works.

Then the bible tells us that God created the heavens and the earth and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Isn’t it wonderful that God starts with darkness? It goes to show that God can be in a place and there will be darkness.

And the spirit of God was moving upon the waters and darkness upon the face of the waters. So, we have two things.

1. The spirit of God is moving
2. Nothing is working

This shows that God can move and there can still be chaos. But God said let there be light and there was light. We don’t need just the movement of the spirit we need the light that comes through the instruction of God’s word. God said after He moved. If He moves and there is no saying and there is no light, darkness will be upon the face of our nation, family and lives.

We must not only seek for the movement of the spirit of God but we must also seek for God to speak so there would be light.
And God saw the light that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the first day. That is the first time that time is recorded in the future.

If we look at God’s sequence of time it is the evening and the morning. We say morning and evening when counting time, but God says the evening and the morning. This means we do not start with light; we start with darkness and then out of the darkness God brings out the light.

So, when God is working with you in this system, there is always going to be the preceding or the starting of darkness and there will be the manifestation of light. So, when you are in the darkness in God’s economy you are not outside of His will you are at the beginning of His process because He is about to take you from the darkness into the light.

The evening and the morning were the first day. I want you to hold that thought in your head because everything reflects this principle; that in God’s set time for His people there is going to be the darkness before there will be the light. In God’s set time for you, when you are in the darkness you should be hopeful because light is going to come.  Weeping may endure for the night but joy comes in the morning! You are not lost when you are in the darkness you are actually in preparation for the light because in God’s system of time there is always darkness before light.

Are you His people?

For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the LORD: and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it. Jeremiah 30: 3 KJV

Text: - Jeremiah 30: 12-20

In verse 12 the word says the Lord speaks to His people. He says your wounds are incurable; this is not a curse. From January till now your wounds and sores have not had the healing that you seek.
God goes further to say in verse 16 that starting from this day, all those who have devoured you will be devoured and all your enemies will be removed. He has spoken it and He will bring it to pass.

God says His blessings will bring down honour upon you, do not mind what you have gone through from the beginning of 2019 to this day. What He is saying is this- that which you have missed from the beginning of this year till now because we have not seen ourselves as His people or have not being behaving as one of His people; He will bring that honour into our life if we are His people.

Psalm 38: 11 says your friends, neighbours run away from you because of your wounds. Why did God bring this upon you? This is due to the sin in our lives and the fact that we know well but refuse to do good.
Let us go to His who is merciful, ask of Him for mercy upon you and yours.

You need to sow what you expect to receive from God. If you are expecting love from God then show love to everyone around you. If you do not want God to abandon you, then do not abandon the people that need you. If you do not want wickedness to take over your life then do not be wicked unto anyone (it doesn’t matter who the person is).

Concerning our physical, financial, spiritual health we will not enter into the new year with ill health. The Lord Himself says He will make you well again. He has said that He will heal your ill health.

In verse 19, God says the people who live in the presence of God always irrespective of where they are physically will shout for joy. They will increase in number, there shall be an increase in your house.

Even as your soul prospers and be in health. Pastor Ituah Ighodalo

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 1:2 KJV

Today is our family Sunday and typically on family Sunday we take family issues. Today we want to focus on health; we will be looking at male health.
Your soul must prosper for you to prosper and be in good health. We are talking about the prostate health. Does prostate really matter? Is it important or not? What is the connection between the prostate and sexual health?

The most serious problem about prostate is ignorance about its existence, function and importance.
The right kind of diet, exercise, sleep is necessary so that the body can be properly managed to the end of its days. May we not make unnecessary mistakes concerning our health.

No matter what we go through in life, know this for a fact that “God loves you!” Sometimes we go through hard times, these hard times are not to do us evil but to do you good in the very end.
As you go about your daily activities be assured that whatever it is you encounter that God allows to happen it is not to do you harm but to give you success at the end.

Two; I wish. God has very good wishes for you. The only problem is that God will not interfere with your personal wishes and desires. God has given us free will therefore he will not interrupt or interfere, He will advise, guide and come to our aid when we allow Him to do so.

God does interfere in the actions and choices of man; when David desired to take Bathsheba for himself God did not interrupt, when Sarah tempted Abraham to take Hagai as wife God did not interfere.

From time to time we may be doing the right thing but the devil will force himself in, God will not interrupt. He will wait to see how we react to what the devil is doing to see if we will accept the evil and succumb to it. If we chose God and ask for His help He will come to our aid and ensure that we overcome. At the end He will give us an eternity that the devil cannot destroy.

What we need most in life is the right mind and understanding to the things happening in our life. If we have knowledge and we apply wisdom we will not go wrong in life.

People don’t want to learn, acquire knowledge, investigate and sometimes people reject revelation.
Our heath and prosperity is a factor of the choices we make. Deuteronomy 30:15  See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;  The problem with man is a problem of lack of information, knowledge and understanding and clarity of purpose.

The desires of God for man is that man should prosper and be in good health. This is why I believe the story of the life of Methuselah, Enoch, Adam who lived for many years in good health. They obeyed the laws of God concerning good physical and spiritual good health.

We are not to be ignorant of the wishes and command of God to obey and live by them from this day forward. Know it today That God desires that we are healthy. Do not be ignorant of your health, maintain good health. One thing is for your body to prosper but one thing that is important is that your soul should also prosper.

What choice will you make?

Life is about sacrifice. 

Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. Mark 10: 29-30 KJV

What Jesus is saying that there will/may come a time we have to chose between family, money, business, your life and the God who created you and gave you all those things in the first place. When this opportunity of choice comes please chose God.

There are so many people who have laid down their life for their country because of the love and believe they have for it. The same way there will come a time to chose between God and those things we love most. If we truly want to be great, sell all that you have, give it to the poor and follow Jesus. You will be surprised some people will not make heaven simply because they were not ready to give it all.

The man that will make heaven is the one that has the right heart towards God and the things of God. Find a way to tell the truth all the time according to your heart and the spirit of God that works in you.

You must also give something out of that which God has given you. To overcome the fear of lack we need to learn to give from that which we have. Giving in itself is a form of sacrifice. It is making a choice between what is beneficial to us and what is beneficial to others.

The wrong kind of thinking

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 

2 Timothy 1:7 KJV

There are two things that affect a man; things that are inside of the man (internal revelation) and things that are outside of the man (external aggression). So, what are those things that are outside the man that can affect the man? I am talking about spiritual things.

A lot of times some people tend to think that it some witch or evil that is a result of their misfortune but most cases it is as a result of the decisions that we have taken. Someone who marries a person who is openly abusive cannot blame the problem of abuse on evil forces. It is a result of their own decision.

Mark 5: 7- 15 speaks of a mad man. The problem of the man is a result of demons from inside him that he either allowed knowingly or unknowingly which began to affect his mind.

A lot of things we see is often times as a result of the things we decide to do of our own free will.
There are people we see every day that are not in their right mind. They may seem alright, speak right and do those things in the right way. But deep down the decisions they make are not right either s a result of external aggression or internal revelation.

We tend to retire too early when it seems like we are at a place of comfort. We shut down and begin to take things for granted due to the little success we think we have.

There are a lot of us that go around with a negative mind; which limits us. This negative mind is
A fearful mind (God has not given us a spirit of fear) 2 Timothy 1: 7. People with a fearful mind is usually indecisive, they are limited and refuse to move forward because of fear.

 When fear comes on your door send faith to it and you will find that there is nobody there.  ~ Mrs. Hawckett

Hateful mind limits your progress in life. Hate is a waste of emotion and it is an emotion that you should channel to something more productive. A mind that hates will always be in bondage to those people they hate.

A worldly mind/ a canal mind/reprobate mind. It has covetousness, envy, back biters, proud, haters of God, disobedience to parents, without understanding. Romans 1: 26-32. For this people their mind is in reverse.

The “I live for today” mind. An example is the prodigal son in the bible who live for today and do not think of tomorrow or of others. The biggest investment in the world is the investment in other people and not the money you spend on yourself.

What have you made of your life? People have passed through the exact place you are passing through now. Do your best for the people you come in contact with daily.

We must live a right-minded life. Talk to God today and ask Jesus to give you a right mind.

What is the greatest challenge people have?

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

What is the greatest challenge that people have and they want God to solve? You as a person what is your greatest challenge? For some people their challenge(s) are those things others may take for granted or things that may seem simple to us all. These challenges can be any of the following but not limited to them.

1. Mental challenge
2. Financial challenge
3. The right network
4. Lack of equity, fairness and rule of law in the land
5. Insecurity and fear
6. Feeding 
7. Lack of hope
8. Lack of leadership in the home and the nation 
9. Lack of love and will

Is there a solution to these challenges that we are faced with on a daily on continuous basis? Is there a solution to lack of leadership and corruption in the nation? Is there a solution to a lack of equity and fairness? Fist of all are the problems solvable and if they are what are the solutions?

• Enforcing laws and punishing evil that are perpetrated by the institution 
• Accountability 
• Responsibility to oneself and the community
• Leading through the Holy Spirit

All of the above are problems that we see from our human perspectives. The problem we have as a people and as a nation is not knowing what God is saying concerning our situation. Hosea 4: 6 says “my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge”. The one and most important thing we lack is knowledge.

There is a way out to every challenge we are faced with today. We are to be like the sons of Issachar (1 Chronicles 12: 32) who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.
Ask God today to fill you with His knowledge; that He should speak to you and show you what you should do for yourself and for your family. Speak to Him with respect to the particular situation that is a problem in your life.

Power of the mind pt 3

And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. Mark 5:15 KJV

This is why some people can be optimistic, realistic, positive because somehow that is how our minds have been wired. 

Let us look at a few kinds of mind that brings the right kind of result

1. The right mind. Mark 5:15. There is a right mind and a wrong mind towards life. It is the wrong mind that makes man bitter, jealous, aggressive, wicked, unfairly competitive. Except you have the right mind you cannot have the right kind of success. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!” Luke 15: 17 KJV. 
2. A clear mind that truly sees things as they are and not as we think they should be. A lot of people have wavy, blurred and shaky mind; as long as we have this kind of mind, we will not be able to succeed in life. 
3. A positive mind is needed if we are going to succeed in life; a mind that is optimistic. Philippians 4: 8. We must be optimistic about life because our conscious mind and work with the subconscious mind to bring about the success that we seek. 
4. A limitless mind. If we are going to do great things, we must have a limitless mind, a mind of faith. A mind that thinks that “with God all things are possible”. 2 Kings 4: 6-7 as far as the Widow thought there were more vessels the oil kept flowing but when the son said no more vessels and the widow accepted this in her mind the oil stopped flowing. 
5. A hardworking mind. The bible says, whatsoever our mind finds to do we are to do it with all our might. Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. Ecclesiastes 9:10 KJV
6. A leader’s mind. A lot of us have a self-depreciating mind, we do not think we can stand up to be who we are. So many times, we act as servants when we are supposed to be leaders. 
7. A mind of Christ. Corinthians 2:16. David defeated Goliath. We must begin to see ourselves as Christ sees us. Christ says all things are possible to them that believe, He said to ask and we shall receive. 

The power of the mind pt.2

And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. Mark 5:15 KJV

The spirits in “the mad man of Gadarene” pleaded with Jesus to not banish them or destroy them but asked that they be sent into the swine (these represents the people that are called the swine of life). The swim ended up in the sea and they died. After the demons left the mad man, the man was restored to the person he was supposed to be. 

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. Proverbs 23: 7 KJV

In verse 15, the bible said “all evil, dangerous and suicidal thoughts left the man”; he was sitting, he was cloth, and he was in his right mind. The battle field of life is in the mind. Whether you win or lose this battle of mind, it happens in your mind. Proverbs 4: 23 says “keep your heart (mind) with all diligence because out of it will your life be determined”. What you are today is a summation of what your mind has conceived; you thought about it. What you wear to work, church is as a result of what you thought about at a time. Actions are not carried out without our thinking. 

What the bible is telling us in verse 15 is that a lot of people are not in their right mind. The battle field of life is in the mind. For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. Proverbs 23: 7 KJV; we are the summation of everything good or bad that we have ever thought of. If you see a successful person his mind is superior and when you see and unsuccessful man you see one with a negative and self-condemning mind. His mind is telling him he cannot succeed or grow, his mind is saying that no one has ever done it before. A man who succeeds has a mind that keeps telling him that he can succeed. We can tell who a person is in their privacy by the way their mind works. A man who can conquers the mind can do anything; he can attract the right companion, attract the best buyer, attract the right job, and more. 

But sometimes the mind is so fast that we may not even know we are thinking of it. The mind speaks to us in many ways; dreams, recollections, thoughts. There are certain things that affects the mind. 

• What we hear. We hear things and most of them sink into the subconscious part of our mind. It may seem we have forgotten them but our mind stores them and we are shaped by them.
• What you read; the things that you read and the information that you receive. People are encouraged to read a lot of books and this will help shape our mind and who we eventually become. The bible says we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us.
• What we feel, touch and see affects our mind
• What you see affects your mind. Your imagination is most powerful mind tool
• What we smell; the odours that we perceive
• What we experience affects out thinking inside
• What the Lord has planted therein (your reflective and instinctive reaction)

The power of the mind

And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. Mark 5:15 KJV

The power of the mind is the ability we have to think. Man was created with a powerful mind. Mark 5: 5 said that when Jesus had come out of the ship, he was going about in the sea of Galilee, and he looked and saw a hilly space of lad filled with many tombs. Coming out of the boat, Jesus met a man with a disturbed mind. The bible said he was possessed of many devils/demons; the bible calls them spirits.

A lot of us tend to blame everyone and everything around us, but when you study the mind you will realize that it is actually your mind that facilitates the things that happens in our mind. A song says from a distance God is watching us. Watching those whose hearts are right with him and deserving of His favour. God is searching to see whether he/she is deserving of success.

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude. Thomas Jefferson

It happens to me a lot of the time, what happens are the things I have been desiring over time. Mark 5: 2-15 tells us the story of a man that is referred to as the “mad man of Gadarene”. It tells the story of how the deliverance of the man came about. He was possessed by unclean spirit and because of the battle the spirits waged in his mind a few things were seen to be evident in his life.

1. He lived among the tombs with the dead
2. He became unbindable, unrestrained, could not be calmed and was dangerous.
3. He broke the chains because his mind told him he could and he lived in pain because his mind is superior to everything around him
4. He acted anyhow he wanted and did anything his mind told him to do, including injuring himself physically

Something happened one day that he saw Jesus afar off, his mind saw Jesus was worth worshipping and he went ahead and worshipped Him. One thing his mind told him was that Jesus is Lord and the spirits inside him bowed to the will of Jesus.

What truth do you accept and speak? Part 2

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. John 1: 1-5 KJV

I was talking about dichotomy between generations. The enemy tells the old ones that the young man doesn’t have experience while it tells the young man that the old man is too rigid and stuck in his ways.

In the book of Acts of the Apostles chapter 5 from verse 1 to 11 we read the truth of a couple Ananias and his wife Saphira and the lies the enemy told to them. In verse 6 it says, “And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him”. 

When the wife came in and lied, Peter says the people that bore your husband are by the door. What does that say, the young men where no longer seen as young by the second time, they were people ready and willing to take responsibility. Therefore, when truth abides there is synergy between generations. When truth abides there is empathy. The church is the ground and pillar of truth. Yes, truth has different expression and all those expressions has to be played by the leaders, one of those expression is love.

1 Timothy 5: 17, Apostle Paul says that men who labour in word and doctrine should be given double honour. We must honour our leaders in our very own little way. In our closet we must honour the people leading us. Do we speak with honour about our leaders, do we pray for them?

A lot of people find it easy to speak against and dishonour a leader who is above a lot of people but cannot lead their own family of 3 individuals. The man who is leading over a thousand people needs your love, honour and respect. Our leaders are not our enemies, we are all children of God. It doesn’t matter what we know about each other it is what God sees in us. We need to learn to love ourselves by seeing each other from the lenses of the truth. The enemy is the lie, the enemy who is a liar is a person who is the father of lies. The devil invented lies and sin. So, everyone who does a lie is a servant of the one who created lies and sin.

Can people point and say I know this lady is a Christian she will tell the truth no matter what. I like us to take the inventory of our own lives. Are we living the truth that we know? We may not have the full revelation of the truth. Do we spend our time to know the truth so we can communicate it?

 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. John 14:23; Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; John 8:31. (KJV)

Truth is the very content that the word (Christ Jesus) communicates. Do we communicate the truth? Do we listen to the word that the truth is communicating to us? Do we practice the truth? It is the truth that we know and practice that we reciprocate. Truth will only come to the degree that we obey the last word.

We need to ask God to help us to subscribe to the truth of God and not the truth that the enemy wants us to believe.

What truth do you accept and speak?

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. John 1: 1-5 KJV

In the old testament the enemy was shrouded in mystery because of the revelational situation that was in existence at the time, God was hidden from the people and showed Himself only to a select few. Man was easily deceived in the old testament because they didn’t have the full understanding of the deceiver. Eve and Adam (the first man) were easily deceived and so many others in the old testament because they didn’t know who the enemy was. The devil found it easy paint them a different truth because of the distance between man and God.

Then, God sent His only begotten son, Jesus the Christ. The bible declared Him in John 1: 1-5 telling us who the true word of God made flesh is, it also declared to us the goal of the word. Because the word came truth was manifested. This means the enemy who was shrouded in mystery can now be unveiled. One of the ways the enemy perpetuates his ministry successfully is through lies. People are kept in darkness (lies) so deep that it is hard for them to see the light.

Isaiah 5: 13 says, Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. What is knowledge that the word speaks of here? Knowledge is light and for us to be free of the enemy, we need to have light.

One of the things the enemy has done is to bring about a dichotomy between generations. The old man and the young man have a variance of understanding which divides them. In Genesis, God created a perfect earth, but the enemy came and caused man to fall. This gave the enemy authority, the power to train a system according to his own personality of lies and definition of truth.

The first time you see man fall, the bible yells us he was ashamed. In God there is no shame, for where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. Liberty means knowing the truth and being responsible, owning our actions and striving to live in the light of the truth. This is why the word says we shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free. Make, here talks of an action, this is a system of making. So, if we must overcome the lies of the enemy there must be the manifestation of truth and truth is not just a body of facts. What the devil has done is that he has built a system where he has taught men to define things by his own definition, so the truth in this world is relative.

A man is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law but when he goes to the court the truth does not hold water outside of a professional representation. The truth becomes what your lawyer can present before the court or jury, it is a representation of how versed or eloquent your lawyer is. So, your truth does not even count in the court of law. That is what the enemy has done, he has eroded the truth.

John says “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14: 5 (KJV). The truth is a personality and that is why we have come to church to learn of the truth. John 8:34  Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. Sin is a property of a “person”, the angel who was sent away from heaven, the father of sin. It the nature of the devil just as truth is the nature of Christ.

1 Timothy 3:16, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory”. (KJV)

Outside the ambit and the circumference of the church the truth cannot be found. If the church refuses to seek the personality of truth (which is Christ) then the world shall remain in darkness. The bible says, “For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: Isaiah 60: 2 (KJV)”. This is the nature of the darkness that man manifests. But in Ephesians 4:17-25, we are asked to not walk in darkness and the deceits of the enemy, but to walk in the light and truth that is Christ. We need to learn truth to enjoy true freedom, true liberty.

Heal me oh Lord………

Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.  Jeremiah 17: 14 (KJV)

We have healing services from time to time like this because everything physical has spiritual undertone. While illness manifest physically the root cause is something coming from the spirit. Jeremiah 8: 17, 22 says, For, behold, I will send serpents, cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you, saith the LORD. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

Jeremiah was a prophet in Israel and he came at a time when the people had gone away from God. Jeremiah relayed to them the words of God and told them of the incoming wrath of God. The people did not listen and instead they put him in prison. Jeremiah in chapter 8 told the people that there will be sickness in the land that won’t be cured with the balm of Gilead.

A lot of us do not know or appreciate the value of good health. We take good health for granted. I visited a person in the hospital recently, a promising successful man who has being weighed down by an illness that affects one in a million persons. I looked at myself and wondered why such a promising person is faced with such a challenge.

You are going to get up and face every arrow of sickness that the enemy is using to prevent you from being that person God has created you to be today. Fight it in the spirit realm with prayers and reject it. You must face fiercely every seed of illness the enemy has planted in your life; the germinated plants must be uprooted with the help of the Holy Spirit.

The word says, “We shall live and not die to declare the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living”. It says we shall decree a thing and it shall be established unto us and when we ask, we shall receive.

Why do people fall sick? A lot us will simply fall sick at some time. Sickness is a degeneration, a fault, a malfunctioning or an error in the body. Sickness is a messenger of death. But the issue here is that we will not die before our time. We will not be held down by any kind of sickness that will not allow our body to respond to us. Through Jesus we shall rise above them all.

Gods original plan was for man to live a simple and everlasting life, sin and disobedience came in the life of man and sickness came. Every illness is an attack on the body. If we open ourselves to attack, we will be attacked. The bible tells us the arrow flies at noon day looking for whom to attack.
And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die. And Nathan departed unto his house. And the LORD struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. 2 Samuel 12: 13-15 As a result of the sin committed by a father his child died.

People fall physically sick when their mind or their heart is sick. As we go through life, we must be careful what we hear, feel, see and say. Sometime sorrow, fear, unhappiness, depression and anxiety causes can manifest as sickness and manifest in the physical and that sometimes lead to death.  Proverbs 13:12 hope deferred makes the heart sick. A lot of people fall sick not because of any physical attack but because of emotional attack that result in sickness or death.

Some sicknesses are as a result of unkindness and bot being merciful to the people that look up to us for help. Nabal’s heart died within him and immediately he died.  1 Samuel 25: 37 says, “But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.” (KJV).

Sometimes, some sicknesses are generational and are passed on from grandparent to parent and from parent to children. This is not what God has planned for you. Since it is not the plan for God for us then He can cancel it and bring about good health to you physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. John 8: 36 KJV 

What decisions are you making?

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3: 1-2

There is a system failure in Nigeria. We have challenges that are open opportunities that we can all leverage on around us. We need to pray for the leadership that they know where they are taking us. If you are a leader yourself, raise yourself up so that you would know where you are going.

Very quickly this morning I want us to look at 4 things and 4 critical decisions that we must take as a people. In Colossians 3, Paul writing to a confused world said if you are living in Christ, we are to set our affections on things above not on things in the world. Then he says we are to mortify your flesh which dwells with things on the earth. What are those things you should mortify? Covetousness, inordinate affection, fornication which is idolatry. Idolatry these days in not only those who worship idols, it is the people who fornicate do evil concupiscence and covet what belongs to their fellow man.

God is angry because He does not tolerate any kind of unrighteousness. He says we must put off the old man and put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge through the Christ that lives in us. Today ladies and gentlemen e live in a confused world. I stumbled on the American election campaign and the topical issue is what they were going to do with the LGBTQ community. They were asking the candidates how they would treat the people in this community. They asking about the people who are confused about their sexual affection an act which the bible called idolatry.
Now in the USA if you go to the hospital and you say your hand is bad and they should cut it off they say no hold on let’s see what we can do before we cut it off. If you take a child to the hospital who says she thinks she is a boy and doesn’t want the breast, they will cut it off immediately. Somebody was saying that they had a boy who says he thinks he thinks he is a girl. When they researched this boy and began to find out what he thinks he is a boy. They found out that they boy used to have a sister who had issues at child birth, the boy thought that if he is a girl his parents would love him more.

The whole world is upside down. There are some things that the world leaders need to decide on. In Nigeria and in individual lives there are some 4 things we need to make up our mind about. Today it is all about self, personal interest, selfishness, focus only on what benefits us alone as a human being. This is what is happening with our leadership, they are focused only on what is beneficial to them alone as a person.

For the first time in my life I was afraid to return to my home town because of what would happen. Few weeks ago, a friend of mine arrived in Benin and within minutes of arrival she had being captured and kidnapped. She was starved and deprived of water for 15 days.

The challenge we face in Nigeria today is where the common man has no hope. Nigerians as well as people all over the world are being victimized and terrorized because they are Christians. In the northern part of Nigeria and some other parts of the world people are imprisoned or killed if they convert to Christianity.

We need to decide 4 things in Nigeria

1. We need to make up our mind whether God exists or not. Jeremiah 10:23
2. The world needs to decide whether they are going to serve this God or not. Jeremiah 10: 20-22. The Lord is not doing what the church should do. Pastors have become selfish, self-centered and not teaching the people the way of the Lord. Some pastors have private jets that even their ministers cannot enter their jet.
3. The world needs to decide what their vision for their nations are; what do you want God to do for your nation, the church needs to decide what its vision for the nation is, you need to decide what God’s vision for your life is. We go around our lives not remembering that there is a God, God has a plan, God has a vision for nations and a vision for your life. We use God as a demand responding God and yardstick to meet our demands without giving Him the respect that He deserves. Where there is no respect of God there can be no rule of law and no direction for life. 
4. We need to decide what we will leave behind and what we will be remembered for. Nigerians need to decide what they are going to leave behind and people and the world will remember them for. 

As a people we must come together and fight the common enemy. We need to decide what we are going to become, and you need to decide in your own life what you are going to become.
If you have read these words today and you are undecided about where your life is heading, decide today and allow Christ to help you walk in the purpose that God has created you to accomplish.

Are you being manipulated?

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ezekiel 34: 2 KJV

Ezekiel 34: 1-5; Isaiah 65: 23; Zechariah 8: 12

The spirit of manipulation is rampart around the world today. People try to manipulate other people to reap where they have not sown. For money and to have an edge over the other person, even in churches you find out that many people are into manipulating people to do those things they would rather not do.

We are in times and seasons where even religious leaders intimidate their members.

The spirit of manipulation is so bad that they see it as a way of life. Some churches these days manoeuvre the people so much that everything the members do are according to their saying. They impose their own personal doctrine over their members.

At a time, I went to my child’s school. The principal spoke to us that parents must be united in how they teach and train their children. That children have a way of manipulating their parents so they can get their way.

In the workplace there is the mentality of manipulation. A senior colleague works hard to ensure a junior colleague doesn’t get promoted.

This spirit of manipulation is evident everywhere we turn. The mater of manipulation is the devil. He ensures that he manipulates us to not get the reward from the promises of God. He continues to deceive and counter what God has said concerning us.

Why are we victims of inadequacies? It is because of the spirit of manipulation. Why are we complaining about not succeeding in our labour?

God knows everything and He expects that you will come to Him for the fulfilment of His promises concerning you. How many of your prayers have you gotten answers for this year?

There is one good part of manipulation and that is the one that God is involved in. God can manipulate the forces and things that happen in your life to work in your favour. That is why He said that all things work together for our good.

How do we overcome the power of evil manipulation?
• Live the word of God
• Contend with the manipulating spirit in the place of prayer
• Do not manipulate others so you are not manipulated
• Give your life to Christ and allow Him to walk the journey of life with you

Making Nigeria Great Again: Choosing the right leaders

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance. The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it. Proverbs 29: 2-4 (KJV)

Leadership is everything in making an area or a place great. Anybody that knows me knows that I am passionate about people. I grew up in a Nigeria when One (1) naira was equivalent to Two (2) British Pounds. It was a time when there was low crime rate. The people moved around with fear of being kidnapped and left their homes un-gated.

We need to start working towards bringing back this to our nation. Being the quality leader that we seek in the country. Start a worthy cause that will turn the world around and change the lives of the people around you and in your community. Be that person that puts others first and think not about financial or connection rewards.

Stand firm for what is right, what is dignifying, was is appropriate and sure; even if these will cause you to lose face, your job or your life. Do all you can to make sure that all that is needed to make the nation bright is birthed by you.

What do we need to know before we can choose the right leader?

• A powerful vision. A lot of our leaders were and are accidental leaders. We must choose that leader who has a powerful vision for Nigeria. 
• A person that in involved in and interested in solving problems in the community and country. Many years ago Myles Munroe came to speak in Nigeria, He said that Nigeria is full of wealth and there are so many ways to make money. Nigeria has so many problems that need solutions which is a source of income which we can leverage on to make the country great. 
• We need people with a lot of discipline and the presence of mind to translate the discipline down to the citizenry. We need people who are extremely disciplined and live by the rules of a disciplined person
• We need well informed people. Hosea 4: 6 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. One of the biggest gift to man is inspiration – Albert Einstein. Whatever we do in Nigeria we must make sure that people are educated, informed and equipped to say what is right. 

Nigeria is an extremely wealthy nation, yet the people suffer in the midst of plenty. Nigerians are doing great things all over the world in the diaspora. We must work together as a collective home to search for the right kind of leaders that will lead us in this country.

We must no longer allow just anyone to lead us in Nigeria. We need to be united as a people irrespective of tribe, state, position, education, or place of worship. In our unity alone can we choose the right leader and make Nigeria great again.

Anyone who want to lead Nigeria must be above money and not want to lead because they want to make Nigeria their purse. It is the people that make Kings, it is the people that will choose who will lead them and they do this with the help of God.

As a citizen we must play our part in making the nation great again. We also must follow the four point in choosing a leader.

The Normalcy of Man

And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. Mark 5: 15 (KJV)

Text: Mark 5: 1- 18


Mark 5 our scripture says from verse 2 – 4, And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.  

The bible says there was a man who had been dwelling in the tomb for a few years, he caused injury to himself and people bound him. However, no one could tame him, and he caused a lot of injury to himself.

What the bible is telling us is that this man is obviously not okay. I have a question for us. Is everybody you see and meet all okay? You find that you meet a look of people we think are okay who are not okay.

A lot of us meet people we think are okay and when they behave abnormally, we begin to get angry.
Another question, “once a man gets born again is it possible to be under the influence of a demon?” I remember when I did a teaching on the redemption of the first born. A friend of mine a colleague in the faith sat me down and told me off, saying I was teaching heresy and things that are not Christ like.  He almost convinced me I was wrong until I reflected again on it.

It is like the blind man who was healed and delivered from blindness. When he was asked all, he said was that he didn’t know the kind of man he was that healed him but all he knew was that a time ago he was blind but now he could see.

If Jesus could look at the man and ask how many of you are inside this man and the demon could answer we are many, it means that a person can be under many influences. It is the same with a person that has had multiple partners; the person has shared and is under the influence of the many spirits from the multiple partners.

The truth of the matter is that almost everybody is not okay in this world we live in now. They are under one influence or the other and it may reflect in different degrees. From time to time it may also be a matter of where we find ourselves.

In mark 5: 15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. This meant that his mind was not right at a time. The bible also tells us in Luke 15: 17 that the prodigal son was not in his right mind because it said when he came back to his mind. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! Luke 15:17 KJV. 

What we see is an okay person, we deal with them as an okay person, but we end up being disappointed or hurt. A Christian that has left himself open can be attacked by the enemy. Therefore, a lot of people are not okay in these days. If you are born again it is still possible to be under captivity due to past sins or actions that we have not confessed to Christ and repented from.

What the bible says is that we will possess our promised land a little at a time. The Lord will not drive them away completely so that the land will not lie fallow. The fact that we backslide doesn’t mean we are not born again; we need to constantly renew our mind by praying right and doing right.
We find out that we have not prayed the right kind of prayer and because of this a lot of people are under a lot of influence. A lot of people, thinking they are free are not because they have not broken the bounds of the barriers that are holding them down in life.

To get out of the prison yard we need God to speak to someone to bring favour our way. For something to happen that we get out of prison.

Sometimes the demon doesn’t need to die, instead we may need to pray that God send an angel to bring us out of the prison, or we may need that God be the other person in the fire so that we are not affected by the fire. We may need a legion of angels to cause an earthquake that every chain may be broken, and doors unlocked so that we may get out.

Why suffer here on earth when we can have the good life that God has created us to have? Some women will tell you a man doesn’t love them if he hasn’t hit them. That not a right thinking. Some of us have continued to make the same mistakes our fathers and mothers have faced.

The same problem your father had, you have it even after being born again. It goes around with you wherever you may go. It is time for you to tell it to “Get Out!”. Being born again gives you access and information through the word of God if you are ready to apply yourself.

What is your value?

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Matthew 10: 29 – 31 KJV

I just want to remind us that we are valuable. A lot of us when we talk about self-esteem, it is all taken from the bible. There is already a lot of self-worth missing in a lot of Christians these days. Why? Out prayers are not answered as fast as we expect. We are impatient for an answer and we lose our worth in ourselves and lose value. When this happens, we become a target of the enemy the devil.

We are of great value to God. He says we are of greater value than any worldly thing we can think of. The sparrow that is sold at 2 a penny is important to God because the bible says they don’t fall to the ground without God knowing about it.

We measure our worth these days based on what we own. Our worldly possession and level of education. God is letting us know through these verses that we are more than what we own.

In life we are at a crossroad, as a Christian we must be alive to what is going on. The Spirit of God is there. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.1 John 4: 4

The events that is going on now has caused the Christian to begin to fear. The average Christian has lost hope, they have given up on success, on becoming who God has called us to be.

The bible says in Psalm 37 fret not yourself because of evil doers. They are everywhere now, so much so that you begin to wonder if the stories of evil you hear and read about is real or not.
The things I have heard in the last couple of months has made me to believe that what is happening now is what must have been happening in Sodom and Gomorrah.

the bible is warning us and saying that we should refrain from envying the workers of iniquity for they will be cut down and wither away. The most dangerous part of this is that you will not know that you are being lured into living the wrong way. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 1 Peter 5:8

Phil 4: 6 says we are to be anxious for nothing, in all things through thanksgiving make your request known unto God. This is what we must always put ourselves before God. In doing what we do we must always put ourselves in God’s hands.

There is story told by a Pastor of a time and period when people travelled in caravans through the desert. There was a caravan in which a Christian travelled. Every night as the caravan journeyed the Christian prayed and the caravan was not attacked. One night the Christian was so tired that he did slept off and ended up not praying. The night Marauders attacked and stopped them and it was at this time the Christian woke up. The attackers told them they were not there to steal but to find answers to a question. They asked what they do that each night there is a strong wall around their caravan that nobody can attack them. Also why was it that this night the wall was absent. They said to everyone in the caravan that they won’t kill anybody, neither are they there to steal anything. Their purpose is to discover how the walls are built and are in place every night.

We must delight ourselves in the Lord. How do we delight ourselves in the Lord?

1. Spend time in the word of God; meditate on the word of God, apply the word to your life
2. Spend time in the presence of God
3. Learn to trust God completely and wholly; we must not be afraid; we must not fret nor be anxious.

To have our hearts desires we must allow God to make it happen in His own time, we get into trouble when we want things done in our own time. What happens in God’s own time and according to His purpose will never go wrong.

Do you want to activate the value that you have in Christ Jesus? Then you must allow God to work through you. Accept Christ into your life this very instant. Let Him to lead you in the paths of His righteousness.

Lord Remember Me

And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake? 2 Samuel 9:1 KJV

2 Samuel 9: 1-10

The Lord remembers you and He will remember you for something special. I want to tell somebody here that God will remember you today. From time to time there is a season when it seems as if God has forgotten us. There are times in a man’s life it looks as if God is no longer interested in them.

In life if we still have breath in us, it means there is hope. This shows human activities, it shows us moving on. Psalm 23 says. "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil". 
In Mark 15:24 Jesus cried with a loud voice my God my God why has though forsaken me. Even Jesus Christ experienced 2 times when it felt like God has forsaken Him. The first one was at the garden of Gethsemane and the second was on the cross. He cried in a period of despair just like David did.

Every single human being goes through a period of despair, of darkness, a time when prayers are not answered. What is most instructive in the life of most people is what we pass through in the most trying time.

God will never leave you.
I am reminded of the song “when peace is like a river”?

It Is Well with My Soul
Audrey Assad
When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well, with my soul
It is well
With my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul
It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed…
It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul
It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul
Source: LyricFind

The song was written by a man who went through a series of calamity in life. When he got to the same spot where the ship drowned, and his 4 daughters drowned and died he sang the song. Claiming that it is well with his soul even amid the calamity and pain that had befallen him.

Know of a fact that it is well with your soul. No matter what you may be going through, issues in your marriage, problems with your children, financial challenges, health challenges, mental challenges; I tell you this day and as you read this that it is well with your soul.
Say this to your soul daily and accept it, that it is well with your soul.

In every season of your life, remind yourself that despite whatever it is in your life you are going through it is well with your soul. Whatever you call a thing is what it is. If you call it a sickness that is what it is, if you call it a pain then that is what it is; if you say it well then it is well.

Did God do badly? No, God never does badly because He knows the beginning from the end and the end from the beginning. So, you must decide when challenges happen in your life there is always something good around the corner if we accept it as a passing phase.

There will be times of testing, times of pain, time when we think that this is the end. Every time we pass through trying times, we come out better for it.

There is only one thing separating you from challenges and success; that is time. The time to overcome and become better is all we need. We should focus on that time and make the best of the time and success is sure.

What is it that you are going through that is not common to man? Whatever it is there is someone somewhere that has gone through it and someone is going through it at that very moment. So, you need to take it easy.

God will make it up for you because there is something that happens to every great man and victorious person who calls him/herself a champion. This thing is called the moment of depression, a time when they felt like giving up. There are times when this great men and women don’t feel like talking to anyone, times when they don’t feel like even getting up from bed. However, they don’t give up, they get up and keep fighting.

Your break is coming tonight because today as you read this message God is going to remember you!

And then…………..David encouraged himself in the Lord

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. 1 Samuel 30: 1 KJV

 Text: 1 Samuel 30: 1-8

The Lord says He is our help in ages past. We see in verse 8 that before David made a move he asked God first. Rather than live in peace with one another we are fighting ourselves. We must come together and work in unity to fight against the common enemy.

God is saying to us, ‘it is time for us to arise’. As a people, as a nation it is important to live for the common goal.

Have you you asked God for a way forward? Are you discouraged? Have your people turned against you? Have you lost everything and the ones closest to you risen up against you? It is time for you to look inwards and encourage yourself. Let the courage to move on and overcome from Him who has all the answers.

David encouraged himself in the Lord. Instead of him to fight with the ones closet to him that wanted to stone him because they have lost their wealth and family while following him; he chose to turn to God. He didn’t take a step without first looking to God and asking for His will.

David said God my peace, my strength, the redeemer of my soul; see the number of people who have risen up against me. Even my own brothers have risen up against me.

God was there to fight the battle and give him victory; for there is nothing that is impossible for the Almighty to do.

God is ready and waiting to arise for you today, this minute. All He is waiting for is for you to come to Him. David asked specific questions of God. David did not need to go to the mountain, nor did he need to seek out a prophet. All he did was to put God first; he worshiped God and sought the face of the Lord.

God said to David ‘you will overcome and recover all’. David went and it was exactly as God had said to him. David pursued and caught up with the enemy; he did not only catch up but recovered all that was taken from them and much more.

What is that reason why you are discouraged? Have you lost hope? Present your letters or petitions before the God of all that you can think of or behold. A king did this and got a most favourable response from the Lord.

Hezekiah got a letter from an enemy king regarding a war. Hezekiah took the letter and spread it before the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the one who’s mercy endures forever and ever. 2 King 19:14  And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. 

For God to continually be involved in your case

• You must be in agreement with God. Can two walk together except they be agreed? Amos 3: 3. 
• You must have faith and trust in the Lord and in His word. 
• You must study the word. Study to show yourself approved as a workman who need not be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth 2 Timothy 2: 15
• Learn to praise God in spite of every situation or condition that we find ourselves in. 
• Pray without ceasing; seek the face of God by yourself for yourself. 

And then…….. Fear God!

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the LORD of hosts. Malachi 4: 2-3 KJV

Fear not! Many people live in fear. People are just generally afraid. Why? Some it as a result of what has happened in their past, some are afraid because of what is happening in their present life, some are afraid because they don’t know what the future hold for them. The bible tells us not to be afraid, He asks us to not dwell in fear or on those things that make us afraid.

Psalm 30: 5 says that though weeping may endure through the night but joy comes in the morning. No matter what we go through in life there is always that period when the sun shall rise and shine in your life. 

We have a father that cannot fail, why are you afraid? We have a father that lifts up and nobody can pull down, a father who can open a door and no one can close, a father who is all knowing and all seeing; why are you afraid? God makes a way where there is no way.

God alone can turn things around and make ways for us, therefore we need not live in fear. If we focus on God we will realize that God has and will continue to do great things for us and in our life. We don’t have any reason to live in fear; rather than give the enemy power over our life through our fears, let us fear God because it is He alone who can kill and no one can save.

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. When we are afraid we cannot move forward because the fear we have will continue to hold us back and hold us down. The fear of God opens us up to doing things right and living right. When we fear God and have the reverence for Him that should go to Him then our life will be a testament.

Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.  Psalm 128:1 & 2. KJV. When we fear God (and not the circumstances of our life) we will be blessed. God gives us the strength to see Him in everything we do and happens in our life.

It doesn’t matter what you are going through in life, it doesn’t matter what the past is. What matters most is that we give our reverence, respect and obedience to God who is Lord and father above all. Everything that we see and do is by the grace of God. It is by His grace that we sleep and wake up from our sleep, it is by His grace that we are able to speak see and do all those things that we do each day. Why then must we focus on the things going wrong around us?

What we must do is focus on God and on everything that He says to us through His word; it is only through this that we will have wisdom. It is this wisdom that He gives to those that fear Him which gives us dominion over every situation in life; whether past, present or the future.

Jesus is saying to you today; be not afraid for I am with you. Jesus Christ is with us every step of the way and in everything we do, at all times. We must recognize that He alone is the almighty God, Bigger than our pain and the situation we are in.

It is human to be afraid but when we allow that fear to rule our life and how we react to the things in our life, then we need to turn to God and give those fears to Him. He alone can overcome and bring relief from whatever is causing the fear in our hearts.

And then it was for me

Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 

Matthew 4:1 KJV

Text: Matthew 4: 1- 11

The first thing I pick from this scripture is that it was not the devil that led Jesus to the wilderness. It was the spirit of God that led Jesus to the wilderness to be tempted of the devil and truly the devil tempted Him.

I want to anchor on a verse in 2 Corinthians :vs5 tells us that they were overthrown in the wilderness. Paul was writing to the church in Corinth. God delivered the children of Israelite from the land of Egypt. Paul tells the people in Corinth that many died in the wilderness. When Jesus came He went back to the wilderness to be tempted and He overcame. This is for us so that we too will walk through the wilderness and overcome. It will be a total waste if what we here in this words, we are unable to understand and liken it to our lives.

I have gotten to understand and to learn that God doesn’t work with numbers. God works with the people who are willing, ready and available. We will not be overthrown in our wilderness of life.
The bible tells us that we should not be overcome the same way that the children of Israel where overcome in the wilderness. Jesus has already conquered and He shows us how to do this. There are 3 temptations that Jesus was tempted with in the wilderness. These temptations covers all areas of challenge that man may go through.

First of all where exactly is the wilderness? We talk about the wilderness experience. This is true but then where is the wilderness? Jesus has allowed you and I to come to this earth, this earth is the wilderness experience. The promise land God has promised is when we seat with Him in eternity. What we pass through in life is the wilderness experience. In the wilderness experience of the children of Israel they had the trying times and the good times but all their celebration was done then in the wilderness. The wilderness is the journey between Egypt and the promise land.

The same temptations that the children of Israel complained about, went after other gods, isolated themselves but they never got to the promised land.

The bible says that some women were running after Him and they were weeping and mourning on the triumphant journey. Jesus turned and spoke to them that they should not weep for Him because His time had come.

After He had fasted for forty days and night Jesus was hungry. We expect that at the end of the fast Jesus would be spiritually sharp. But the bible tells us that Jesus was hungry. The first temptation which is an area that the devil has used to hold many Christians. The bible says that the devil tempted Him, at a point where He was weak - hunger, the devil said ‘command the stones to be made bread if you are the son of God’. Many of us do this often by questioning and doubting the authority of God.
Jesus answer was this ‘man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’.

The temptation of the lust of the flesh is the greatest and most prevalent area of temptation this days. Many of us as Christians we do not fast, and when we do not fast we are satisfying the lust of the flesh. We must always live by the words that come from God. We need to deny the flesh, when we deny the flesh we strengthen the spirit. The word of God is the bread of life. For emphasis Jesus didn’t say the bread of life, He said every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

There is spiritual and physical food. Jesus craved spiritual food. To pass through the temptation of the devil Jesus released the spiritual food He had built Himself on and so He was able to stand in the day of adversity (temptation).
People are speaking about the rates an increase of suicide, many are Christians who have lost hope in themselves. This is okay but we can’t afford to lose hope in God our maker.

Jesus is reminding us tonight that He has been and will continue to fight for us. We must deal with all negative voices in the wilderness so that we may overcome in the wilderness of life.

Even with the first temptation (hunger), we hear so many stories of all our brothers and sisters are doing just so they are able to feed. When the devil catches you hungry and you do not have your spirit man filled with the bread of life he will degrade you and reduce you to nothing. This is what he tried to do with Jesus. A lot of people are being overthrown daily by the lust of the flesh.

The second temptation is about is about the lust of the eyes. Even the church has defined success the way the world defines success. What is success to you? How many lives have you affected? How many people have drawn to the saving grace of the Lord. How many people have you paid school fees for? But we see the luxuries of life as success. We embrace crime and congratulate criminals.
Again Jesus replied the devil with the bread of life saying ‘it is written’. Each man has their own race. We all walk differently and each to his own gist.

The third temptation verses 8-9. the devil took Jesus to a high place and showed him some great things. He told Jesus that ‘all this I will give you if you will fall down and worship me’. how could the devil have asked God to fall down and worship him? Putting himself above God? Many of is are worshiping all sorts of idols because we want to satisfy our pride. We are try to give ourselves accolades that should go to God.

Some of us cannot seat beside certain kind of people. Who do we think we really are? Some of us are ruled by pride. We find it hard to relate with people around us. A lot of us are ashamed of Jesus and this shows in the things we do and how we act.

If we want to overcome in the wilderness of life we must forsake every sin, the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life. Turn around today and accept the bread of life that God gives us freely through Christ Jesus.

Why is life like that?

And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Gen 2:8  KJV

Text: Genesis 2: 8-17

The beginning of life was like this, God took man out of the earth and He breathe into him the breathe of life then he formed a garden. After that He put man in the garden. In the midst of the garden there were 2 trees; the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The verse is a pictorial representation of what the earth looked like and what God had planned for man to look like. God planted a garden ( a near perfect one)and then created man and put him in the garden. Even before man was born/made all he needed to thrive was already in place. All man needed was to add value to that which God had done.

God put man in the garden to dress it, look after it and add value to it. God put man in the garden and commanded man, gave him an instruction; he can eat freely from all the things in the garden except the trees of life (a tree that gives everlasting life) and the tree of knowledge.

God created a situation where man had to go through a process/ test to have everlasting life. He created a life of action and reaction. We live in a consequential life where everything we do has a consequence. The fact that the consequence does not happen immediately or as we have acted does not mean that it does not have a consequence.

As I was coming to church today I got a distress call and I want you to give me some answers. It was a call from a lady who had gone from a life of wealth to a life of distress. Her children were not interested in her and don’t pay her any attention. Why should someone work very hard, get to old age and still isn’t able to put it together?

The bible says in Exodus 20 verse 12, "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee."  Put this in your right hand; if you still have parents that are alive do not quarrel with them. Love them and honour them in spite of it all.

It is important that we as parents prepare for old age. Some people took some children on excursion to an old people’s home and a motherless baby’s home. The person who took them to the old people’s home to show them that one day it will get to their turn. We will all get old some day. It is difficult to grow old; we have to plan for our old age now so that we will not beg bread in old age. We must teach people to be self sufficient; know what to spend money on. I have seen people who were very rich in their youth and adulthood but now in their old age they live in penury.

What should you do to make sure that yo never beg bread? Are you too busy with the unimportant things in the now and fail to focus on the tomorrow? What is that thing you see as a priority?

1. A lot of us pray for things that changes in our character can solve and wisdom can respond to. If we do not change some things in our character we will continue to pray without an answer. If we have the right attitude to life success is sure. A lot of people succeed do so not because they have prayed but because they have the right character
2. There are principles to life. Whether you know it or not is not important. What is important is that the principles exist. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. So if you want to succeed then you must know and follow this principles. The principles are seen in the bible and we must search it out. The bible tells us stories of the people who have lived in both the old and new testament. The fact that you don’t see the result of something immediately doesn’t mean that the result will not come, there is nothing we do that we will not get the reward. It may seem like the wicked is getting away with his wickedness, do not be moved for all wickedness has its reward. 
3. You need to see the end of your life from the beginning. Once you are born time starts clicking. How are you going to make sure that you are comfortable and okay when you are no longer strong enough to work?
4. You need to work hard and smart while you are still able to work. The time to work hard is between the age of 25 and 55 years. After this we should be relaxing and enjoying the benefits of our hard work. 
5. Pray without ceasing. Everything pry about it. 
6. The final and most important thing is to give. Give to the people in need of help. Give to God. Give your time, your resources, your life. 

Believing in God

And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.  And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. 2 Chronicle 20: 20 & 21

You are not in a defensive mode in the battle you are in an offensive mode. In your stand you are about to move  forward and be established. The test of your leadership and faith is not when you are doing well, it is when you are fighting. Jesus was tested not at the point of His greatest strength. The devil doesn’t come when you are in a good place, he comes when you are in the wilderness of life. He comes to test the truth in your life.

King Jehoshaphat was under attack. Sometimes leaders make the greatest decision in times of war, of hardship. God can speak to us in the time of greatest defeat. King Jehoshaphat removed all the false idols and that is when the enemy attacked. When you stand on the truth of God the enemy will attack you. This attack is not that you are doing wrong but he realizes the territory you are about to take.
The enemy will attack when you are showing the truth to your children, the enemy will attack so that the truth may not be manifested.

King Jehoshaphat said to the children of Israel, “believe in God and you will stand”. Today the one thing you must do is to believe in God and you will stand, believe in His prophet and you will prosper. If you believe in what God says He is going to do spoken by His prophet and you will move forward.

It is time for us to not believe in what God has said but also in what He is saying and about to do. Jesus said the word of the Lord is like a farmer who sows seeds. (Parable of the sower).

The devil is afraid of the promises of God in your life and the attack he wages at you is a confirmation of the promises of God. When you are at a low level in your faith in God there is a promise for a newer level. If you want to move to a higher level then you must displace those things that is in the way of the higher place.

If you are going to go from glory to glory, you have to go through something. On your way it may feel like hell, but what you are going through is prophesying what you are going to.

How do you go from glory to glory? When you listen to the people God has called and chosen.
When the enemies faced Israel in battle and it seemed there was no hope, King Jehoshaphat told the people to “praise the Lord”. What was he saying? That yes that in spite of the hard times God is good. Even though life may seem hard, God is good. When the enemy comes from you in every area, God is good. We don’t know what the future looks like, what the next five years will bring; this I know God’s mercy endures forever!

Even though we walk through the shadows of death, praise the Lord for His mercy endures forever. What happened when they began to sing praise? He said stand and see the salvation of the Lord for the battle is not yours, the battle belongs to the Lord. God didn’t just defeat their enemies, He gave them so much more. 2 Chronicles 20: 24-25.

One thing we need to know is that the enemy doesn’t know how to create, they destroy, kills, steal and take with them what belongs to others. They take away what isn’t theirs and do this moving from one victim to another. Their goal is to deem and put out lights, destroy destinies, and derail purpose. But do not be afraid, do not let the fear you feel rule your life. Instead, all you need to do is to focus on God and praise the Lord for His mercy endures forever.

Remember that the battle is the Lord’s. As you allow God to fight your battle, you will get the spoil of generations. All God requires of us is that we believe in Him and His promises.

Believe for it is not too late; you are right on time!

The Hunger for God

The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips.

Proverbs 16: 23 (KJV)

Text: Proverbs 16: 23 - 26

I want to ask us today to always think before we speak. It is important that we learn how to communicate, how to speak to one another. When there is strife and we don’t speak with one another then there will be chaos. It is important we talk to each other with decorum, with respect. The problem with a lot of us is that we carry a lot of things all the time.

Verse 24 says “kind words are easy to accept”. Kind words is a strategic key to good health. We should learn to be kind to people, to everyone we come in contact with. There are quiet a number of things that the holy spirit can do but then also there are a lot of things that we must also do.
Verse 25 says, “there is a way that seems good to us but it leads to death”. Many of the times people want their right to stand even though it may not be right. The way may seem right to you but then is it right to God? We need to learn to let go of things, let everything about self be diminish.
The wisdom of God is like foolishness to man. If God is asking us to do things then we must do it. Let us then ask that God give us the grace to tolerate people.


Verse 26 “the thought hunger keeps the worker working” As workers in the vine yard of God what are the things we are hungry for? What are the things that are driving you? Are you only hungry for the things of the flesh? Are you hungry for the things of God? Are you hungry for the things of the spirit?

God is looking for those who will put their heart in Him, those people who will hunger for those things after His heart. He is looking for you and for me. Remember His words, “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and ALL other things will be added to you”.