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.