ENHANCE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

One way to overcome spiritual dryness is by enhancing our relationship with God. And our relationship with Him is basically that of love, we are called into a love relationship. Jesus made us understand in Matthew 22:37-39 that loving God is the greatest commandment of all, and next to it is love for your neighbour.

He also said that on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. That means; love is the foundation for all that we do in the Kingdom of God.

You know, when Jesus sent to the seven churches in the book of Revelations, one of the things He had against the church of Laodicea was their lukewarm-ness. He said, “…Thou art neither cold nor hot…So then because thou art lukewarm…I will spew thee out of my mouth” (Rev 3:15-16). Lukewarm-ness and compromise are the reasons so many believers have been over-taken by evil today; their love for God has gone cold.

Apostle Paul praying for the church in Thessalonica said, “And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God…” (2 Thess. 3:5). You need to pray that prayer for yourself: “Lord, direct my heart to love you! Make me hot in my love for you!” (Continued in our next edition)

Also in Revelations 2:4-5 Jesus said to the church in Ephesus, “…Thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent…” So, when we talk about fighting spiritual dryness, we are not talking about struggling with sin, it’s all about generating hot love for God in your heart. Repent and return to your first love! When you are filled with the love of God, it becomes natural for you to hate sin because love for God produces godly fear, which is also respect for God. Let your soul keep longing for God on a daily basis, when you are confronted or tempted with evil, let the love of God in your heart prevail.

Loving God also means loving your neghbour. 1 John 4:20 says, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” In my view, anybody who can’t relate well with humans that he can see, can’t relate well with God. Love your neighbour as yourself! You can’t love your neigbhour and plan evil against him or go about castigating and pulling him down!

Apart from his love for God, I believe that Joseph also loved Potiphar his mater. He said to the wife who was trying to lure him into immorality, “…My master has committed all that he has into my hand; There is none greater in this house than I; neither has he kept back any thing from me but you, because you are his wife…” (Gen 39:8-9). Joseph considered the fact that Potiphar trusted him enough to leave all his possessions and wealth in his hands and for that reason he preferred to go to prison to lying with his wife. The way you relate with people is a reflection of the way you relate with God. If you truly love God, it will show in your relationship with men. May God’s love fill your heart today.

NOT ENOUGH TO MORE THAN ENOUGH

Have you ever wondered how to turn lack into abundance? The key lies not in making confessions over and over or trying to use the Bible as a magic book. Eradicating lack in your life has everything to do with executing a spiritual principle that always gets results. Simply put, if you want to see increase in your finances, you must put your “not enough” in the hands of Jesus. His hands are anointed to multiply whatever you give Him.

Every one of us has faced a situation or circumstance that looked impossible at one point or another in our lives. When you have a light bill due, or your baby needs a pair of shoes and your bank account looks deficient, you will be tempted to worry and wonder how things will turn around, particularly if deadlines and time constraints are involved. If you ever find yourself in this type of scenario, the first thing you need to do is shut out the voice of fear that will try to invade your thinking. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind. When fear enters the picture, you have just set yourself up for more of what you do not want.

Get back to your center of peace and turn to God’s Word. Therein lies the answer to your problem. I like the account of Jesus feeding the five thousand with a couple pieces of fish and a few loaves of bread. In Mark 6:36-44, the disciples were facing insufficiency. There were 5000 hungry men to feed, not including women and children, and all they had was a two piece fish dinner! Even after traveling the countryside with Jesus and seeing the miracles He performed, they were confounded when faced with the shortage of food.

However, Jesus did not miss a beat; He performed a miracle. The anatomy of it is found in this passage of scripture (also in Matthew 14:17-21), which says: “And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.”

First, we see Jesus wanted the fishes and loaves brought to Him. Herein lies insight into getting our needs met. We must bring our “not enough” to Jesus. When we do, we will see what happened to the loaves and fishes happen to our resources. “…he…took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled…” Not enough food in the hands of Jesus multiplied to more than enough!

What is it in your life that is lacking? Is it money, a home, food? Whatever it is you need, begin to tap into the law of sowing. Give what you do have to Jesus by sowing it into the life of an anointed man or woman of God, a church, ministry, or outreach that is ministering to others in the area in which you need assistance. When you put what is lacking in Jesus’ hands, it is guaranteed to multiply.

Your season of lack and want is over in Jesus name!

THOU SHALL NOT WORRY!

Thou shall not worry because you cannot worry your way to happiness.
You will agree with me that we all like what's familiar, and today is practice for tomorrow. If you practice worry, fear and anxiety, you'll get better at them. Sadly, practicing these robs the present moment of happiness and joy.
Instead, practice being happy, joyous and free. What you focus on increases, so become aware of your thinking. As soon as you notice yourself thinking frightening thoughts, change to something positive.

An excellent thing to change to is gratitude. When you focus on what you are grateful for, your sense of the fullness and abundance of life will increase. If you believe you have nothing to feel grateful for, stop and hold your breath for as long as you can; then hold it a bit longer. When you breathe again, notice the feeling of gratitude for the air. When you are accomplished at feeling grateful for the air that you breathe, you can move on to the other wonders your life abounds with.
Whenever you catch yourself indulging in worry, fear or anxiety, stop and practice gratitude instead. You cannot worry your way to happiness.

Shalom!

HOLDING THE PROMISES

Divine promises will forever remain as promises unless someone discovers the secret to realize them. To every promise, there are secrets behind them! This is why many have the promises yet can’t hold the content of the promise. Many have the promise of divine health for example that “by the stripe of Jesus we were healed” yet still die in their sickness. Is God a liar? Far be it for the Almighty to lie! What is missing that is making us miss out of God blessings in our lives?

Friends, there are secrets that make the promises a reality. Until these secrets are discovered and diligently obeyed, we keep missing out. These secrets to me are known as covenant responsibilities. Only a ‘covenantly’ responsible man will the blessing of God respond to. You don’t claim the promises; you search out what you need to do for the promise to manifest in your life.

For example God has promised you and I divine health, but in Exodus 23: 25-26, the secret that makes that promise a reality is found. It says, if you serve God will the totality of your being, you will have nothing remaining in you with which to serve sickness and disease. He has promised to supply all our needs but only when we are set to be a source of supply towards His kingdom also. It is not the size that matters to God; it is the act, the habit and the attitude.

Every promise God has made to you, go back into His word and search out your own covenant responsibility and when you have discovered it, obey it and very soon your blessings shall be uncovered and the world will rejoice with you. Shalom!

A WALK WITH GOD

Christianity is a call to responsibility, that is why it is reserved for those who are willing to do something about their lives; and life as it were is like a game. Your input determines your output! Just as stars in the world of sports are made through rigorous, committed and non-compromising exercises, so also is Christianity. Paying the price is what gets you the prize as a Christian. We are in a race that demands necessity not convenience, that is why we are called soldiers. The Bible in 2 Timothy 2: 3 says, “...Endure hardness as a good soldier of Christ.” It says “hardness” not “hardship.” Hardship refers to suffering but hardness means discipline, responsibility and consistency in the race. One of the ways to maintain a disciplined life is via a walk with God.

Your source determines your resources. It is the root that determines the fruit. If you want to change the fruit of any tree you must first change the root. If you want clean water, treat the source. There is nothing a man has that will not be exhausted except he locates the source. It is your connection to the source that guarantees daily supply. I discovered in the Bible that all men that excelled had this feature; they were personally linked with God. They walked with God and as a result they made it in life.

Who you walk with determines who you become. You cannot walk with God and live as a weakling on earth. A walk with God is the secret of triumph and victory; it is the source of all manifestations and the master key to diversities of unparalleled achievements in life. It makes you undefeatable by the enemy. I have found this to be the greatest anchor of life. I love Elijah’s statement in 1 kings 17: 1, He said, “As the Lord lives before whom I stand...” Where are you standing this month? What is your heartbeat this month? Is God in your programme? And how much of Him is there? Let your soul pant for God. Let there be a renewing, an establishing and strengthening of your personal relationship with Him. That is the foundation for a successful destiny! Shalom!

YOU ARE OVERDUE FOR A CHANGE!

Somebody rightly said, “Good is the enemy of best.” People sometimes become so satisfied with their past successes that they don’t press for anything higher and before they know it, they become obsolete. Whatever level you are now, is not your rest, so don’t settle there like concrete. Standards are changing everyday. The success of yesterday cannot match the standards of today. As a matter of fact, yesterday’s success, if it is not improved upon, becomes failure today.

Where you are now is already tired of you, in case you are not tired of it. A higher place is waiting for you! The turbulence you are going through now is an indication that you are long overdue for a change. And like I said in the previous article, when you are due for a change and you don’t move, God organizes some ‘heat’ around you to forcefully move you forward. So when you begin to see some unpleasant situations or challenges around you, before you bind the devil, tell yourself, “I am due for a change.”

You must keep moving because you need to create space for those coming behind you. They are eager to take your place, so when you don’t move they get tired of you and overtake you. You are either moving or you are pushed out of the way. Sometimes the things that are pursuing you are simply helping you to arrive your destination earlier than you planned.

A young man in our local assembly encountered that kind of change a few years ago. He testified that as I was teaching one day, I said, “There are some of you who are sleeping on beds that do not belong to you. May the owner become angry with you and take it from you.” That word turned something on inside him because he had been squatting in somebody’s house for long and everything about his life was stagnated. So he bought the tape of that teaching and kept listening to it. The first night he heard the message, he got to where he was squatting and moved his things from the bedroom to the living room, in readiness to move out. The summary of the long story is that he got his own apartment and moved out of that house. And as soon he did that, God gave him speed concerning his wedding, which he had been planning for years. In no time, he was able to get married and settled down as a young man should!

Micah 2:10 says, “Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction.” It is dangerous to remain on one spot because after some time, your celebrated success becomes polluted. If you stay on there, it would destroy you and if you stay a bit longer, it will destroy you with a sore destruction. That means stagnation leads to irreparable destruction. That will not be your portion, in Jesus name!

People become stagnated because they refuse to move when they ought to. It pains me to see people with great potentials becoming stagnated in life. There are people who used to be ‘stars’ in their careers, but because they refused to change position, they have been left behind and all the younger folks who came many years after, have overtaken them. Now they are full of castigations and backbiting. This happens in every field of endeavour, every one who is not making progress will ultimately castigate the one that is making progress.

Arise and depart! Initiate progress for your self! Take steps and you will be surprised how fast you will rise to heights beyond your imagination. Don’t let stagnation catch up with you! You can change whatever you don’t like in your life by thinking of how to introduce something new. You have the power to change your failure into success. It simply begins in the mind, once you start thinking of a way out, ideas will begin to flow into your mind and in a short while, you know the next step to take.

Ideas dwell in the womb of initiative and initiative is the first step towards change. That is why anytime you see stagnation trying to settle with you in any area of your life, you must react against it because what you don’t oppose in your mind, you will soon approve. And once you have approved it, you can’t change it. What you refuse to change soon becomes corrupted and eventually leads to destruction. Your reaction against stagnation is the proof of your desire for a change.

Nothing has the power to change itself, every change is initiated by someone. Stop waiting for a change, it’s time to accept responsibility and begin to initiate changes in your life. You don’t have to endure that terrible situation! Stop watching darkness take over your life, start initiating changes that will take you from where you are to where you ought to be!

THE NAME OF JESUS!

You may have been wondering, “Why do we talk so much about the name of Jesus? What’s in a name?” You must realize that names are not ordinary. Names represent persons, it represents their character and attracts their presence. That is why whatever you call is what answers to you.

Look at this way: If you want to get the attention of somebody who is somewhere inside your house but not in the same room with you, what do you do? You call his name. And as soon as he hears his name, he will respond and begin to move in the direction of that call. That is what happens even in the spiritual realm, every time a name is called, the personality behind that name responds.

Whatever you call is what you attract. When blind Bartimaeus cried out in the crowd, “Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.” The Bible says, Jesus stood still and called for him. At the end of the day, he received his sight. Blind Bartimaeus was not the only person at that scene; I believe there may have been other beggars sitting by the wayside with him. As a matter of fact the Bible says there was a great crowd of people following Jesus but only one man got His attention because he called upon His name.

Jesus is still alive today, so every time you want to get His attention, simply call His name. When you call His name, He responds. That is why He said, “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it” (John 14:14). Every time you ask for any thing in the name of Jesus, He literally stands up in heaven to answer you. And because Jesus responds to His name, it also means that every time you call that name you attract His presence. His presence is the answer to all pressures of life. When Jesus is with you satan can’t harass you!

We are told in Mark chapter 6 that after a crusade, Jesus sent His disciples ahead in a boat, while He stayed back in the mountains to pray. As they got to the middle of the sea the wind became contrary to them and the disciples started toiling and struggling to keep the boat afloat. But then, Jesus came walking on the sea to meet them and as soon as He stepped into the boat, the Bible says, “The wind ceased…” (Mark 6:45-51). Every wind of life that is contrary to you will cease at the presence of the Master. When Jesus is with you, struggling and toiling must give way.

The Bible says, “…And about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them.” The disciples had to do something to get Jesus’ attention. “…they…cried out: And immediately he talked with them…” (Mark 6:48-50). So, the major purpose for a name is to be able to attract the attention of the bearer and to get Him to carry out the functions associated with that name. Jesus is the saviour, the Healer, the Redeemer. When you call His name you get His attention, you provoke His presence and He comes to save, to heal and to do whatever you desire of Him.

Do have a blessed week in Jesus name, Amen!

YOUR CASE IS NOT YET CLOSED

“…A just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again…” If you have fallen before, or maybe you are on the floor right now, God is saying to you, “Rise up! It is not over with you yet!” God does not abandon the righteous when he falls. Just as you would not throw away your child for falling when learning to walk, God will not throw you away or leave you on the ground when you fall. He does not condemn your falling, He is only concerned and disappointed when you remain in your fallen state. He said in Jeremiah 30:18
…Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwelling place; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof.
That means, in the same place where satan has defeated you, God will give you victory! Where you have been put to shame, God will turn it to your glory! You don’t have to run out of town before you have a change of story! Often times, it is satanic frustration that pushes people to run out of town when they encounter failure, but God’s agenda is that the same place where you have suffered reproach, He will build you again.

A brother told me his story some years back, he said, “I was so poor, that my car was riding me and not me riding it.” His case was so hopeless; nobody ever thought any good thing could come from him and for him. But suddenly, something happened; God blessed him, doors began to open and he came home one day with a new car. His neighbour’s children and the friends of his own children came to his house and they saw the car. When they returned home, they told their parents, “Mr. so and so has bought a new car.” But the parents said, “No, it can’t be his car, we know him, he can’t buy a new car, maybe somebody came to visit him with the car.” After three days the car was still parked in front of the brother’s house. On the fourth day, his neighbours came to congratulate him because it was obvious that God had changed his story.

On that same heap where you have fallen, I see God creating something better for you! In that same business, career, or examination where you have failed before, you shall rise to command the respect of your world.
Keep in touch with this site and very soon you will touch your expected miracle in Jesus name. Shalom!

SENSITIVITY TO TIMING

The Bible makes us understand that there are seasons and timing for everything under the sun, may you not miss your season! I perceive very strongly in my heart that we are in a season. We have to be sensitive that we don’t miss out.

John 5: 2, Now there is at Jerusalem by the market a …waiting for the moving of the water.” Many have waited but when their time came they didn’t know. In spiritual adventure, a major requirement is sensitivity. Many keep waiting and what they are waiting for has passed but they didn’t know, ‘waiting for the moving of the water.’ Your spiritual development has no measure, no value, if you are not sensitive. Spiritually speaking, I believe Christian maturity is a measure of spiritual sensitivity to the happenings of his time and to the events of his days. Sensitivity, ‘waiting for the moving of the water, for an angel went down at a certain season into the pool.’ At a certain season! I believe there is a season in which we are. The Spirit of grace is lingering around us. ‘An angel went at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water and whosoever first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatever disease he had.’ Scriptures are very true; it says “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He’s near.’ (Is. 55:6). There’s a time He is near! I like you to be sure you are not an onlooker to the happening of the hour. You must be sensitive; you must be in the spirit! You don’t sit down when you see your colleagues running otherwise you will regret tomorrow. All who mocked Elisha while he was in pursuit of his next phase of life, bent down before him at his return! They were mocking him; they didn’t know that God was making him. By the time he returned, their language changed, they all bowed to him, they were calling him lord. Seek the Lord while he may be found! When you see people praying in this season, please pray because suddenly the power of the Lord will come down and the demarcation will become clear. Do you know that it is not all you started with that are still around? Do you know you can only have schoolmate you can’t have classmate? This is because classes change from time to time. There are people you have left behind, there are people who have left you behind but may you not be left behind again! Classes change, everybody is striving, everybody is moving. You are either moving or you are pushed out of the line. You are either moving or will be overtaken! Be sensitive, but not only sensitive, also responsive! If you know the season, then respond. This man at the pool of Bethesda where we read, he could tell all the stories. He’s been there for 38 years. He told the story of how everybody that met him there got into the pool. There are people who tell stories, history of revival but they never partook of any. There are many biographers who don’t have biographies of their own. There are many story tellers but there are very few history makers. History makers are those who are both sensitive and responsive. They are sensitive to their timing and responsive to their opportunities. May you not be a story teller! Seek Him while He may be found call upon Him while He is near.

Get into the study of the Word! Get into your prayer! Get into deep meditation, catch the things that are in the atmosphere for you and make the most of the opportunity that is before you. Sitting with the Word, meditation deeply in the Word and moving forward by the power of the Holy Spirit. I am sounding an alarm that there is a spirit of grace lingering around waiting for who will catch the signal. May you not miss out! Others are moving, please move, stop standing, stop watching, stop explaining like the man at the pool of Bethesda. Stop telling stories of what’s happening to others, be concerned about what should happen to you and good things shall happen to you. You shall encounter glory! Those who look at God will look like God. They can’t see God and still see evil. If you see evil, it’s an indication that you are not looking at God. Those who look at men will look like men. Fellowshiping with God makes you become Godly and fellowshipping with men makes you behave like men. Fellowship with sinners makes you live in sin. Fellowship with God makes you look like God.

God is on your side, you will not miss your time in Jesus name!

GOOD CONSCIENCE

Let’s be reminded that faith is not just a tool that we use to get things from God whenever we please, faith is a walk with God. It is a way of life that is portrayed through our attitudes and conducts. In I Timothy 1:19 Apostle Paul writing to Timothy said, “Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck.” Faith minus good conscience will always lead to wreckage. The subject of good conscience has been abandoned in our days. People have mistaken the messages of faith and prosperity to mean, “Grab it any how, don’t mind how anybody feels, as long as you feel good, just do it!”

Jude 20 says, “…Building up yourself on your most holy faith…” So, faith is holy, but the question is, are you using your faith for the right thing? Is your heart right? James 4:2-3 says, “…Ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” Faith is good but it can be applied amiss when it is on the premises of lust, carnality and selfishness. You find many Holy Ghost filled, tongue talking believers who because of dead and evil consciences, are duping fellow believers, claiming other people’s spouses and getting involved in all manner of evils.

Good conscience is the scale on which faith is measured, that is what determines the credibility of your faith. A good conscience produces healthy faith, while an evil conscience gives birth to polluted faith. You need to check yourself: is your conscience still alive? Faith without good conscience is fake! It may appear to be working for a while but it will eventually come to a dead end.

Hebrews 11:24 says, “By faith Moses…refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter…” So in the walk of faith, there are things you must refuse. Think about Joseph in Genesis chapter 39 who was being enticed by his master’s wife to lie with her, but he refused! He said, “How can I do this evil and sin against my God?” (Genesis 39:9). Nobody would have known if Joseph had committed immorality with that woman but his conscience would not let him!

Jesus said, “Ye are the light of the world…” (Matthew 5:14). When sinners steal, nobody is bothered, but when a believer steals he gives the sinners room to speak against the Church and against God. Faith can take you to the highest height in life but not without righteousness and the fear of God. So, whatever you are doing that betrays your faith must be stopped now before it stops you. Whatever you know is not straight, leave it! Never struggle to get what God has not given you! When it is your turn, everything will turn!

Stay tuned to this site and you will stay connected to truth that sets free and build up destiny!

THE SHIELD OF FAVOUR

Psalms 5:12 says, “For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.” You must understand that favour is an instrument of defense against every form of opposition on the way to your destiny. Being favoured does not just stop at having abundance, it also means to be defended, to be shielded from everything that is out to stop you from getting to where God has purposed for you. So, if you don’t have favour you remain a struggler in life. As a youth, Joseph had a dream of greatness, he had a destination but several people through hatred attempted to stop him from getting there. Yet, in the midst of all the adversaries favour kept fighting for him. Even when he was thrown into prison, the Bible says, “…The Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison” (Genesis 39:21). After that, God lifted him from a common prisoner to the head of the prisoners and from there, he rose to become a ruler in that land. When God positions you for favour no man can oppose you.

Favour is a shield, but remember that favour is not wished, it is provoked. It is not even a function of prayer as such. I tell you, if you will divert seventy-five percent of the energy you use in praying for favour to take instructions from God’s word and follow them diligently, you will be shielded on every side with favour. Often times we are more eager to hear what God will do for us than what God wants us to do, but until you know what God wants you to do and you do it, He will never do for you what He has promised.

Joseph is one man in the Bible who enjoyed tremendous favour but he was a diligent and faithful worker. From Potiphar’s house to the prison and then to the palace. If you must enjoy favour above your peers and colleagues, you must give a different approach to your work. How do you expect to be favoured at work when you are always late? You don’t have a right to complain about the management or the government because you are a chief contributor to the problems they are trying to solve! Do you know what one hour of lack of productivity means to the economy of that establishment or the nation? You can’t expect God to surround you with favour as a shield when you are misrepresenting Him every day. Joseph was a true representative of God everywhere he was found. He did not give in to immorality despite the pressure, he was faithful with everything that was committed into his hand, no wonder he enjoyed such favour.

A diligent worker does not need fear retrenchment because his diligence will speak for him, it will become a shield of favour for him. There are many unbelievers who obey the principles of diligence and faithfulness so they enjoy promotions, even more than some believers. The Bile says, “And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?” (1 Peter 3:13-14). When you are a follower of good you naturally enjoy a shied of favour. You will never lack favour again, from this day.

To contact me, you can send your email to: pastorsteves22@gmail.com, pastorstevesm@gmail.com or pastorsteves@yahoo.com or better still on phone: +2348030838770, +2348079949541.

Looking forward to hearing from you, Shalom!