How do you want to start the new year?

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

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

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

Why do we quit?

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

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

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

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

Where is the evidence of Your Christianity?

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


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

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

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

Starting the journey right

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

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

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

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

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

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

Where are you going?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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




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

God gives us a sign

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The journey through Bethlehem

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

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

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

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

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

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

What kind of places to go for direction

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

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

Life is a privilege!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Created by God and God alone Pt 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Created by God and God alone

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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