What makes a nation strong? pt 2

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.  Genesis 12:1-5 KJV

Most of the best things that happen in the world today was made by a Jew; technology, medicine, weapon, agriculture and lots more is a result of the involvement of the people of Israel.

Sometimes it takes a little bit of craziness to do the things of God.
Why are we celebrating Israel today? They are indeed a very strong nation. It is the only country that has the same name, located in the same land and speak the same language they spoke in the past. 22 percent of Nobel Prize winners are Jews. Approximately 1000 letters arrive in Jerusalem every year all addressed to God. Everything in the world revolves around this small peninsular called Israel.

What makes a nation strong? What makes a people strong? What makes it possible for you to overcome your enemies? What makes you strong enough to rise above the challenges of life? What the things the Jews have that has made them so strong?

1. The bible says when you are chosen by God you shall be strong Jeremaiah 1: 4
2. When you know God, believe His word, trust Him and follow him to the letter you become great and strong. Daniel 11:32; Galatians 3:6, 2 Chronicles 20:20, Joshua 1:8
3. If you trust God you shall be strong and succeed Proverbs 3:5, Daniel 11: 32
4. If you hold fast unto the Lord not letting go, you shall be strong.

Therefore, as a nation and as a people we can also be strong and great if we follow the example that God through his people has lid down for us. They are simple and easy and we need is to forget and let go of every other thing we think and focus on God alone. Hear God, believe Him, have faith in Him, trust Him and follow him completely and blindly.

Just like Abraham did when he was told to leave the familiar and the place and people he loved. It takes great insight and strength to leave the known for the unknown. Whatever we are passing through now it is up to us to make the choice of whether we want to remain where we are or we want to move forward into that person and nation that God had created us to be. A great people and a great nation that is blessing to other and a person that the whole world wants to bless and be affiliated with.

What makes a nation strong?

Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.  Genesis 12:1-5 KJV

God had a conversation with a pagan who lived in the land of Ur of the Chaldeans. What God told him was to go the way that He would show him, a place that only God knew, that He (God) would lead him to a strange land he knew not but which would be given to his sons for an heritage. Every promise that God made to Abraham has all being fulfilled. Not only is Israel great, even Ishmael and his generations are great.

The Lord said to Abraham Gen 12:1 - Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee. 

He was 75 years when he departed to the land God would show him; 70 being a year of perfection and 5 the years of grace. The people of Israel has been the most conquered place in the world. Their home had being the site of the greatest battles in the world.

Why does the world and we in particular celebrate Israel?

1. Everyone of us takes our spiritual root from this same Israel
2. We are the spiritual Israel
3. It is fulfillment of prophesy. The bible tells us that the end shall come and the nation of Israel coming back together is the 4th sign of the end time
4. Israel is our example of breaking free and breaking through into victory, freedom and perfect liberty. 
5. The land and people show us that if we stay with God we can rise above anything and everything

To be a realistic person you must believe in miracles. The people of Israel are examples of God’s miracles. In spite of being scattered all over the world, they never lost their heritage and what they stood for as a nation. They were able to recreate themselves and become great again.

The choice of greatness and strength is yours and yours alone. No one can make it for you and if people had their way they would prefer you remain where you are today so they can continue to overpower you. You can also become a force to be reckoned with today by doing what Abraham did; have faith and trust in God that He would take your to the place He promised. 

That place called Lodebar?

 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? Then king David sent, and fetched him out of the house of Machir, the son of Ammiel, from Lodebar. And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake, Then the king called to Ziba, Saul's servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master's son all that pertained to Saul and to all his house.

 2 Samuel 9: 1,5, 7, 9 KJV

The place Lodebar is a ghetto and the word means "no pasture,"(2 Samuel 17:27) "no word" or "no communication". In Lodebar the people living there were in the bondage of poverty, it is a place where the inhabitants have lost communication with their maker, with the outside world, with all the things that matters to growth, destiny achievement, purpose and success. Lodebar is the place where the residents are continually looking for a word from God, a word that would lift them up and out, a place that would bring the change they seek.

It is important not only to get out of Lodebar but to get Lodebar out of you…..We need to get out of the place of no communication, a place where is do no get the word from God. We must move to a place of pasture.

Mephiboseth was born into a royal family but ended up in a place where he lost the communication to royalty, a place where his life had no pasture and yielded no fruit. He was taken by his maid from the royal home to Lodebar to keep him alive. A lot of us find ourselves in Lodebar - we are at a place where there is no pasture, a place where our life does not yield any fruit. Some of us are at that point where we seek a word from God and have found none. While other are in the place where no communication takes place. We either can not communicate or are finding it hard to communicate -simply because we can’t pray or we find it hard to do so for one reason or the other.

However, we have a sonship with God through Christ Jesus. The King is asking today is there not another son/daughter of mine yet that He can bless? You need to come out of Lodebar….because there is a restoration coming your way.

Just as King David asked if there was yet no one from the house of Saul (the former king) that he could bless, the same way God is seeking you to bless you and restore to you everyone of those things that is your which had being taken away from you.

David restored all; and God is going to restore all!

Are you doing your part?

39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. 43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. 44 Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. 

Whatsoever you can do and should do, God will not do it. God will do that which He alone can do and you as a person must do that which you should be able to do (for yourself and for others around you). For this reason God created man in His image after His likeness and gave man the ability to create, reason, invent, decide, and chose.

For example when Christ went to raise Lazarus from the dead, He told them to roll away the stone before He raised Lazarus from the dead by calling out to him that he come out. Afterwards He told them to remove his covering. The miracle did not occur until the people had done their part.  Jesus said, Take ye away the stone…. Loose him, and let him go. John 11: 39, 44 KJV

We must understand this concept and know what our role is and God’s role is. It is important for us to know that we have a part to play in the whole scheme of our own success.

What are some of the stones we must remove from our life?

1. Unbelief
2. Prayerlessness
3. Sin
4. Anger
5. Unforgiveness
6. Pride (God resists the proud)

These are stones that blocks the power of miracles and breakthrough in our lives.

We must be persistent - employ shameless persistence - to get to that place where we want to be in our life. Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. Like 18: 5 KJV. Doing this without destroying our values. We must be ready to keep on asking for what we want until we get it in humility and patience.

Have faith in God

And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Mark 11: 22-23

In the passage above Jesus was telling His disciples that it is possible to make anything happen. The opportunity to do this was explained using what happened with the fig tree as an example.

On His way to Jerusalem from Bethany, Jesus saw a fig tree and He assumed it should have fruits on it because it had leaves on it. Even though the tree appeared like it had fruits on it, it just was not it. This deception of the fig tree resulted in a pronouncement from Jesus.

On His way back into Jerusalem, Peter noticed that the fig tree had responded to the words of Christ. Mark 11: 21. The word of God is powerful, cutting into the circumstances and sharper than we can imagine.

As a vessel of Christ we will speak that word and the circumstances in our life will respond to that word because of the faith we have in God. It is important for us to know that faith will move mountains and break lose the strongest chains.

The challenge of Christianity in 2018 is that a lot of us do not have faith on God, a lot no longer believe that the word of God is true for our situation and our time. We now believe that what we go through in life cannot be changed by the faith in God or His words.

However, I tell us today that we must have faith in God. Such circumstances have happened. There was never a prime minister in Egypt before Joseph, the sum and moon did not stand still before it happened in Israel.

What is faith? It is a constant, consistent, and unshakable believe in someone or that something would happen. This faith makes things happen and puts our mind at rest that everything would work out fine.

Whenever we are talking about the devil, it simply means that God has departed from us. His guiding power and protection He has withdrawn for a season. This alone gives the enemy a free day. Job 1: 9-12. Judges 16: 21-26. God is there for us where we are and when we seek Him. In the little whispers of our heart, in the simple confessions of our heart God hears and responds.

Why do we need to have faith in God

1. He is God and God all by Himself! The enemy can only attack you when God is not there. Isaiah 44:8, Rev. 4:11 Ezekiel 37: 3, Matt 24: 26
2. He can be all things to all men and various things to various people. In essence, God can be whatever you want Him to be and He can answer to any name you call Him. (God can take any form you want Him to take). Ex 13: 13-14 (Moses), Gen 12:1-3 (Abraham), Gen 6: 8 (Noah), Gen 22: 8-14 (Abraham & Isaac), Gen 22: 16 (Abraham)
3. Through your Faith God rewrites destines and circumstances of life. Luke 8: 43-48, 1 Chronicles 4: 9-10

God chooses people to bless irrespective of who they are or what they have done, all that He looks out for is for them to have faith. The only thing that prevents God from moving in your life and circumstances is you. You alone are the limiting factor to your greatness and breakthrough.

Today implore you to have faith in God, act out that faith and live by it. The changes that you seek will spring forth….

The disciplined worker

Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 

2 Timothy 2: 1-3 KJV

If we want our works to outlive us into the next and many other generations, we must be disciplined. We must be mindful of the fact that our life is not our own but is given to us each day for a purpose.
We must empower ourselves with the tools to finish our race and win the war with life. The Word says we wrestle not against flesh and blood; that the weapon of our warfare is not carnal. Therefore, it is important for us to stay the course, maintain a disciplined mindset ensuring that our purpose is achieved.

As leaders either in our home, church, place of work, community gathering we must not fail to commit unto others that which we have heard from Christ, ensuring that they too are empowered to teach this to others.

We are not to wait for others to tell us to do the right thing, even when others are not there we must be always walk on the path of truth. Let’s try to make our life an example to those in our circle.
Give everybody the respect that they deserve. We should remember that as leaders we live in a glass house, people are looking at us and watching how we live and what we do. They would take their cue from what they see us do and how we do it.

In spite of whatever battle of life we face, we must not let this affect living a right and disciplined life. A life that is a good example and reflection of who God is.

What does your dream tell you?

And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. Genesis 37: 5-6, 9 KJV

Do you have dreams? What do you dream about? How often does your dream reoccur? Joseph was known as the dreamer in the bible and his dreams put him in a bad spot with his brothers, but at the end the dreams became reality.

God has a way He reaches out to us through dreams, so dreams should not be taken for granted because they act as the secrets to the spiritual. Our dreams are a show of identification and speaks of our uniqueness that we need to not belittle. The spiritual manifestation of who we are and even the works of the enemy to limit our greatness is seen in our dreams.

The word of God says, “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, we can move mountains”. The same way that God can use our dreams to lift you up is the same way the enemy tries to use dreams to pull people down. While we sleep our spirit goes to work and so we need to commend our sleeping hours to God.

A lot of people get the revelation of their life’s purpose in their dreams. Some of us have strange destinies which requires that we should be very mindful of our dreams.

Standing at the cutting edge pt.3

And David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand. 2 Samuel 5: 19

My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3: 10-11

When we say I AM the grace of God goes into work. Apostle Paul said “I AM WHO I AM by the grace of God” To be on the cutting edge we must believe who we are in Christ and as a creation of God. When we know Christ, we know who we are and become strong and bold to do exploits. Strength and the ability to do exploits is given to us from God through Christ who has brought us to the throne of grace.

We need revelation. We need to have an understanding of life before the birth of Christ and life after the resurrection of Christ. If we know him as a savior, then He will relate with us as a savior. We must know Him is all that He is. When God said “I AM” he means “I AM your healer, your deliverer, your savior, your prosperity, your home builder, and every other I AM that we can think of.

We cannot reign when we do not understand that we are righteous. For the bible says that the righteous shall live by faith. When we accept we are accept the gift of righteousness from God, then everything in our life adjusts to the believe that we are righteous and we begin to live that life. This puts us right at the top, with access to all that God has said concerning us.

Study the word of God and you will find out that all those negatives and superstitious believes is not what God has said concerning you. To stand on the cutting edge, we must accept and appreciate God’s love and the sacrifice that he made on our behalf. In our appreciation then we must then love others just as God loves us. In the same way that God has forgiven you we must also forgive others.
We must live to fulfill God’s purpose concerning us as children born of resurrection. The secret of standing on the cutting-edge boils down to one thing, putting God first. The bible says that David inquired of the Lord. Before he took a step to go into battle He inquired of the Lord and asked if he should go and if he would overcome. Most times we do not bother to inquire of God before we take that step. We just move and expect God to follow us. This is not the order of things; it must always be God first. Always go back to God, never be tired of going back to God every day.

We must put on the mind of Christ; this is the mind of victory. Accepting and thanking God for victory in all things that pertains to us no matter what the circumstances may seems like to the world. We are standing on the cutting edge because in Christ there is therefore no condemnation. This gives us the boldness to come before God and to His throne of grace!

Standing at the cutting edge pt.2

And David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand. 2 Samuel 5: 19 

My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3: 10-11 

We live in an information age and if care is not taken we will receive the wrong information. For as a man thinks in his heart so is he. Therefore, what we think and what we believe determines our future.
If God has said it he will do it, if He has spoken it then it shall come to pass. In Christ there can be no more defeat, no matter what the enemy tries we would always come out on top.  Why is this? God knows you personally. None of us is an accident.

It is an insult to the finished work of Christ for you to write yourself off as a failure. When somebody says that the bad occurrence is a family thing; it is wrong. The fact it happens in your family does not mean it will happen to you. The day you surrender your life to Christ, your case becomes different because the power that raised Christ from the dead now works in you.  We must understand that in this day of information we must filter what we hear. The only thing that is infallible is the Word of God. John 1: 1-5. You cannot separate Jesus from His word. Every word of God has a return ticket and before it returns it must be fulfilled.

Of all the kings of Israel, King David is still being celebrated today. He was a king of whom God gave a testimony that he was a man after God’s own heart. David thought us that is awesome and mighty in His power. He taught us that once we are God’s choice He will pick us out from where we have been forgotten.  There is a position we put ourselves in. Cutting edge means we stand out among our contemporaries. What do we mean by cutting edge?

One that excels in the place of prominence. God has placed us there in a place of prominence at the top of the mountain where our light can shine brightly for all to see. When you begin to feel you have figured God out, he will show you another side. Therefore, we must be mindful of what we call into our lives. God told Moses, “tell them that I AM sent you”. When we say I am what does it mean? It means that we have power in what we pronounce with our own mouth.

Standing at the cutting edge pt.1

And David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand. 2 Samuel 5: 19

My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3: 10-11

There is none of you that reads today this post that is here by mistake. Nothing about us as a person is a mistake. God has earmarked and ordained many great things to happen in our lives and through us. Jeremiah 1:4 tells us that even before we were formed God had mapped out the path of our life but we must be willing to accept God’s will to be perfected in us.

What end do you expect in your life; your health, marriage, business, place of employ? Every promise of God to us is Him telling us what He has perfected and not what He is about to do. As far as God is concerned everything about us and our life is concluded. Our part is to respond positively. In fact, the believer’s journey starts from “It is finished”. Everything is sorted out in Christ. When Christ is involved the journey is a fixed fight because Jesus has already won the battle on our behalf.
Even when the devil points that you have made a mistake, God is saying that His grace covers you because He has decided not to see it. For all of us who are in Christ in spirit and in truth have this grace.

When we function with understanding as believers, the struggle will be over. Often times we do not have an understanding of who we are in Christ. When God sees you, who is in Christ he sees a holy child. (if any man be in Christ he is a new creature.) A child of God is not under curse; for the word says that he who God has blessed no man can curse.