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.