The Message for us Today.

 

Jesus rarely gives the kind of answer we expect. For instance, when John was in prison, and sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Luke 7:19), I would have expected Jesus to say, “Go and tell John, ‘Yes, I am the one.’”

But he did not.

Instead, he gives what strikes us as a rather roundabout answer. First, he healed many people, cast out evil spirits, and gave sight to the blind. Second, he tells these messengers to report back to John what they have seen and heard, “The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Luke 7:22-23). 

What kind of answer is that?

It’s a very biblical answer.

Rather than simply saying, “Yes, I am the Messiah,” Jesus instead tells them:

(1) Pay attention to what I am doing.

(2) Read what the Scriptures say will happen when the Messiah comes.

(3) Draw the only appropriate conclusion.

You see, Jesus is alluding to Isaiah 35, where the messianic kingdom is pictured as a place where reversals abound: deserts blossom, the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame leap, and the mute sing. That is precisely what Jesus is doing.

What Jesus told John’s disciples is still the message for us today. You want to know who Jesus is? Watch what he does. Compare it with how the prophets described the coming Messiah and his kingdom. There’s your answer.

Jesus did not simply show up making claims; he came fulfilling the Scriptures. So to those Scriptures—to the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings of the Old Testament—let us give heed. Here are the words that lead us to only one conclusion: “Yes, Jesus of Nazareth is the Anointed One of God.”

The Devil's Trap.

 All religions strike the vital point, but people are terribly clueless.

Most Christians don't even understand the Bible, and the same goes for every other religion and its sacred texts.

People are blinded by their obscurations. Their own IGNORANCE, HATE, and GREED.

They pretend to believe in a God that encourages Good (no doubt about that), while hating someone for performing an evil act -- not realizing that in so doing, they also become Evil themselves.

It is very simple, you can not hate or vilify others without hating a part of yourself and that is the greatest evil known to man

Because God is part of all of us, by hating a part of yourself, you are hating God.

And this is what the devil wants. You cannot fight Hate with Hate the same way that you do not extinguish a burning house with more fire.

And yet, almost all of us do, while thinking that we don't.

"Because they are Ignorant. They know not what they are doing."

The Bible explicitly WARNS us to not hate or cause suffering to others.

The Bible also WARNS how easy it is to fall into the Devil's trap.

And yet, we have all jumped headfirst into the trap, while completely convinced that we never will.

Please Lord, may we see our foolish ways and may the WISE shine His light brighter than ever, to illuminate for us  the way out of our Ignorance.

THE PRAISES OF MEN

 The day you realize that the "Praise from men" is totally different from the "Praise from God".

That day, you will finally see that most times, the PRAISES of men and a larger percentage of society, is always and often opposite of the PRAISES of God.

That day, you will instantly and completely be freed from the need to please all or most men.

The common temptation to please people, including or especially yourself, at the expense of Divine Approval, at any cost, will lose all appeal to you, once and for all.

In life and destiny, in ministry and service, our main audience is one.

The one to please, whose approval and otherwise matters, is still one.

Pleasing the father by all means, in every way, is the true Hallmark of anyone, who wears or desires to wear the honour of the name "Son of God".

Remember, the temptations of Jesus is all about querying if he was truly a "Son of God" (Luke 4:1-13)

SONSHIP is all about extreme focus on the disposition of the Father, against all odds. 

A child is born into the kingdom, but only a son can be given the kingdom.

Only true sons can wield the authority of representation and demonstrations bestowed by our heavenly father.

You must be born again, and by all means, you must become a SON. Nothing else really matters.

Your Audience Is Forever ONE! Focus on him alone!!! Reject Distraction. Be still and hear his voice loud and clear!!!

Let The Joy of Your Heavenly Father be the only JOY set before you, to endure the cross of true discipleship, and despise the shame of being labeled a fool for Christ.

Matthew 17:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

John 3:35; The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.

We receive Grace to grow into Him in all things, and count everything else on earth as dung, for the excellency of winning Christ. Amen.

       -Apostle Godfrey Emuze, of Bridechamber Church.

On My Way Down

I Once Fell..! But...

It was on my way down I realised I could actually FLY. Not presently superb at it, still learning though, but now I have an idea about what I can do!

More often than not, we do everything to run away from challenges and confrontations of any kind, we're quick to retaliate and even put down those who have disappointed us. 

But challenges are there, not to kill but make you stronger; for what cannot kill you?

Let's look at it this way; The aim of FALLING is not to make you experience the impact of the FALL, actually, it is to let you know that you are stronger than you think; that you've always had that ability; that you can FLY! 

God's Forgiveness Is Not a Layaway Plan

God’s forgiveness is never a layaway plan, where you finally get to take it home once you’ve satisfied the payment plan with enough acts of repentance. That’s because forgiveness does not originate from repentance; it originates solely from Christ.

The father did not forgive the prodigal son because he returned home, said he was sorry for his sins, and was unworthy to be called a son anymore. The father had forgiven his son even while that son was feeding swine in a faraway country. The father had forgiven his son before he saw him a long way off and began running toward him. The father had forgiven his son because he was his son, because he loved him as only a father can.

So it is with us. “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself,” (2 Corinthians 5:19). The world was absolved on Good Friday. And that forgiveness, given to you in the here and now, is not earned, or allowed, or sweetened, or strengthened, or made more real by your repentance.

Should you repent of the wrong you’ve done? Of course. You must. Should you continue to repent as you struggle to un-love that ex-sin? Of course. You must. You will never repent enough. You will never repent sincerely enough.

But forgiveness is not based upon having enough repentance or having sufficiently sincere repentance. Absolution is based entirely upon the atoning work of Jesus Christ. His atonement is enough. His sacrifice was perfectly sincere. His blood covers not only the sin of which you repent, but your imperfect repentance for that sin.

The entire life of believers is one of repentance, but more importantly, the entire life of believers is the life of Jesus Christ, whose love for us is always more than enough (Gal. 2:20).

So, if the prodigal son left 3, 5, or 99 more times for that faraway country, and dragged himself home again, reeking of alcohol and cheap perfume and pig slop, would the Father still welcome him home with a hug and a party?

Yes, without a moment’s hesitation! 

TRAPPED

If you like wide open spaces, you probably don’t like the situations in which God often places you. For He hems you in on every side, presses you between a rock and a hard place, so that there seems to be no way out.

You feel like Joseph, behind the bars of an Egyptian dungeon; like David, hounded by Saul year after year; and like the Israelites, trapped between the Red Sea and a red-eyed army thirsty for blood. God used Moses to tell old Pharaoh, “Let my people go,” but then God turns right around and lets his people go down a one way street with a pack of Egyptian wolves howling at their heels.

But such are the ways of our wonderful God. He's always doing things his way and not our own. He has Israel right where he wants them: a body of water in front of them, their enemies behind them, and God above them, ready to save. Our Lord is always undoing us that he might redo us, killing us that he might enliven us. He baptizes us into a Good Friday sea that we might walk to yonder Easter shore.

Our fathers were all under the cloud of God’s glory, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. The Red Sea was one vast baptismal font in which Israel learned that the Lord fights for them. The Spirit breathed upon these waters, they split in two like a temple veil, and through them the people of God walked into life and freedom. And behind them, their enemies pursued and were buried beneath the waves.

Pharaoh’s chariots are rusting at the bottom of every baptismal font. Your sins litter the ocean floor, never to resurface. For on the day of your baptism, there was a body of water in front of you, your enemies behind you, and God above you, ready to save. And save he did. He let his people—he let you go—out of bondage, out of death, out of sins, into the promised land of celestial Canaan.

The God who kills and makes alive, has drowned all your foes in the baptismal Red Sea and brought you safely through to life in Jesus Christ.

God is Not The Greatest!

Recently I realised that, to me, God is not the greatest, He is not the mightiest, I believe He is not the most beautiful, neither is He the wisest, He is not even the best! In fact, dare I say He is not in the superlative of any one of these adjectives? Without a doubt He is not!

To say that God is the greatest is to acknowledge that there is a personality that is in the “greater” category and then there is another one who is “great”. Or to say that God is the best is to say that there is one that is in the “better” category and then there is another that is “good”. Or who is that fellow that was once the greatest only for God to surpass him eventually?

Rather, He is the only God that is Great, Psalm 86:10

He is the only Powerful God, Jer. 32:17

He is the only God that is Beautiful, Psalm 27:4

He is the only Wise God, Rom. 16:27

He is the only One that is Good! Mark 10:18

See, God is so MIGHTY that the word “mighty” acknowledges its insufficiency and confesses that it is not qualified enough to actually describe how mighty this God is for real. In fact, God’s wisdom is so deep, enormous, vast, unsearchable (…) that even the bible says our comprehension of His wisdom is nothing compared to how wise He is in reality. The truth is God is in a League of His own!

Without a doubt you will agree with me that everything that has ever been written about God is true, yet there is more, everything anyone has ever spoken about God is because they do not have better words. There are no words, no languages that has been spoken that can accurately describe and correctly express the qualities of the God of all flesh.

And since there are no words in mortals’ tongue that can describe this immortal God, the only way is to praise Him in the Heavenly language;

Let Somebody Shout Hallelujah!

FINISH WHATEVER YOU START from *WINEPRESS!* 💃🕺🤸‍♂️. Let's go...🤩

 

Just somewhere between commencement and completion, they quit. They started books but didn't write the last chapters. They started admission but didn't complete it. They have many ideas on paper but never make a move on one. They documented several projects but didn't execute any. Oh! The summary of the matter? They started, but didn't finish!

I have seen many things in this world, but I have never seen an unfinished house decorated in ribbons. No uncompleted building ever attracts glory. God's glory didn't descend on the tabernacle in the wilderness until Moses' generation finished the building.

A book unfinished is the author's glory entombed. An unexecuted project is a greatness mummified. An unexplored vision is an accomplishment hibernated. Dreams can either turn 'excuse' or 'executed'. The world only applauds the doers; I mean those who finished what they started. 

Finish whatever you started!

And remember to always trust God for the grace to finish that which you started!

A GLORY IS INVOLVED (1)

It saddens to see many people using what they have passed through [or are passing through] as excuses for staying at low level of productivity. Life has brought its strong hands on almost all of us in one way or the other. Challenges are common to all people. So you are not the only one. Different things in different forms in our different lives have happened to almost all of us differently at different points in time. 

As a little kid, I remember our penniless grandmother would convince us that sugar and cold palp (èko tútù) was the best food in the world; and we believed her. All you need to do is to dip  morsels of palp in powered-sugar like that of amala in gbegiri, then you are good to go. It took several years later before we realized that a highly concentrated 'povertic acid' had been added to our equation. We went through all that because of the glory that will soon be revealed in us. There are usually plenty blessings in dirty experiences.

A man was born blind and Jesus said it wasn't a consequence of his or his parents' sin but that God's glory was wrapped in that his dirty situation. Can you imagine the kind of emotional, mental and physical frustrations the man would have gone through in the 40 years of his life? Yet God was still committed to his case because a glory was involved.

Don't make your situation look as if it cannot heal due to the extent of damage that has been done to you by circumstances, culture, environment or people around you. Lying beneath every ash is a beauty. Just under every spirit of heaviness is oil of joy. There's a garment of praise after every mourning. After every midnight is a dawn! To God, his servants are gold in his hands while himself is gold purifier. It is God's way to perfect his vessels in the refiner's fire and fuller's soap untill the  glory embedded in them begins to radiate. If you stay long enough with your story, it will yied up its enwrapped glory!

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#It's *WINEPRESS with Yemi Adekunle*💃🕺😁🍇🍒🍾🍷

Go Through Something! ...from WINEPRESS

Welcome to WINEPRESS where God's Word is being expressed as insightful principles for dominion living💃💃🕺🕺😁🍇🍒🍏🍾🍷🎉

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You can hardly appreciate what you got so cheap. Ingratitude for and abuse of God's blessings are usually deeply rooted in 'getting blessings so cheap or too soon.' Whatever you labour for will most likely be appreciated, maximized and thankful for. 

A young person once reacted to marital advances towards her, "God, did I ask you for a proposal!" However, should God seal off the heavens that there should be no more rain of such blessings until her late 40s, then the narration would change! Her blessing came so cheaply. It came too quick.

Sometimes God decides to take us through some "inconveniences" to shape us and not topple us. Sometimes, he delays our blessings intentionally to build us and not to break us. Most of the time, going through such "uncomfortableness" is a huge blessing although it may not look like it now. Those things that look like setbacks are actually setups for your elevation. If you don't go through challenging situations in life, how light you are!

Go through some stuff. We have been conditioned as the "bread and butter" generation of Christian to think any form of inconvenience is a demonic attack on us. No. Not all seemingly negative incidences in our lives are demonic attacks. Many of them are links to our destiny.

In those days in the village whenever we were to go to the farm to work and it was about raining, we children would like to complain, hiding under "rain" as an excuse not to go to the farm. "Dad, it's raining." His response would always be, "Do you have holes in your head?"

Go through the rain of life; you don't have holes in your head. Go through the scorching; you're not shea butter. God, sometimes, intentionally uses the challenges we passed through to build us so that we can be able to give others the comfort that God has given to us when they're also troubled.

Storm in our life is glory announcer! It was Goliath that put David on the map. The Rea Sea that announced Moses. Jordan announced Joshua. Widowhood announced Ruth. Insufficient wine in a wedding ceremony announced Jesus. Median oppression announced Gideon. Pharaoh's puzzle announced Joseph.

May nothing chase you in life when there's no Red Sea in view. The glory is planted in the Sea. When Israel got to the Rea Sea, she wanted to retreat. God said to her, "Go through it." The victory will come through the Sea. The glory is right there in the storm. The promotion will come through the challenges. The expansion will come through the toughness, and roughness, and hardness, and tightness, and, and...my God!

Stop mourning your situation. Your case is not the most pitiful one. God is only passing you through some storms designed for your making. I do pity people who rarely encounter frictional forces in life. That's not how life is designed.

You need storms to glide. You need the storm to push you higher. Storm pushes the eagle up. Stop circumventing challenging situations. Your elevation will come through it!

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God Bless You 😊

WHEN DESTINY CALLS, SUSPEND OTHER THINGS! ....from WINEPRESS

The priority of choice is the heart of wisdom because wisdom is principally the ability to discern difference in choices; and decision is the mechanism through which we side with destiny. You see, that thing they normally refer to as "the future" is not ahead of you; it's not sometime in years to come. Rather, it is within you; you experience "the future" every day through drops of decisions you make. The future is the resultant or compounding effect of efficient or inefficient use of every hour!

Life is serious, and yet ephemeral; hence one must figure out the dot in the circle of life and live purposefully in that destiny zone. Priority must of necessity be given to enhance those tributaries that empty into the ocean of destiny. Activities should be purpose-driven and destiny-propelling. Whenever destiny calls, wisdom demands that every other thing be suspended because it is whatever you do for destiny's reward that will constitute life's net worth when there's no more life. Wisdom reveals who is wise and who is foolish through what they prioritize. What you prioritize is revealed through your choices. 

Jesus met two men one day. He called the first, "Dude, be my disciple." The man told Jesus he would first go and bury his father. Jesus had to teach him this great truth. "Leave the death to bury their death. You go and preach the Kingdom of God." In other words, destiny is calling you, attend to it first and suspend every other thing, that includes your father's burial. 

The second man said to Jesus, "Lord, I will be your disciple, but let me first go home to bid my family members farewell." Jesus said to him, "Guy, you would have missed the call of destiny by the time you come back. The decision to be my disciple is a destiny decision, and it requires that you suspend everything else whenever destiny calls."

Whenever it comes to Kingdom matters, Jesus suspends every other thing. Where to sleep doesn't matter because foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head. Hunger has lost his power because his meat is to do the work of his Father and to finish it. Whenever destiny calls, and Jesus' family members are also calling, He would rather answer the call of destiny because his mother and brethren are those who hear the Word of God.

 

Jesus didn't disrespect or disregard his family. He was simply teaching us a powerful lesson: Whenever destiny is calling, let every other thing be on hold! If you are not this crazy as far as purpose fulfilment is concerned, you can hardly fulfill one!

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WINEPRESS💃💃🕺🕺😁🍏🍇🍒🍷🍾🎉

WE ARE SAVED FOR GOOD WORKS..!

 

“For by grace are ye saved through faith… not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:8, 9)…

…but, we are saved for works.

Sometimes ago, a question was asked concerning Christians who maintain that as long as their heaven is sure, they care less if others don’t make it to heaven, they just want to get there by all means, at all cost.

The truth is, heaven is not a place for those who don’t want to go to hell, heaven is for those who love God and are ready to do His will.  Our Lord Jesus Christ said; “if you love me, you will obey my commandments” and at the end of His ministry here on earth, He commanded His disciples saying “… go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).

This means as believers, we have the obligation of showing others the way to salvation. We are not expected to live our lives as though we can protect it and keep it to the end. We can’t keep ourselves from sinning by living in the consciousness of sin. Our Lord Jesus Christ said; “he that keeps his life shall lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake shall keep it”. The bible in Rev. 12:11 says “And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the power of their testimony, not loving their lives unto death”

The story was told of a newly employed young man in an organisation, for the first few months he was doing so well that his colleagues had to approach him to learn of his secretes, secretes about how he's managed not to break any of the company’s rules; he gets to work very early, he doesn’t sleep on duty, among others. His reply was “I'm not aware of any of the rules, I only do what I think is the right thing to do”. The following month, he got his first query, why? He became aware, and conscious, of the rules.

As long as we continue to live in the consciousness of sin, we will always be its slave, but once we understand that sin has been defeated and power over sin has been given to us by Christ, then, that is when we begin to live in victory over sin.

The kind of life lived by the early apostles is a very good example that corroborates this, according to Apostle Paul in 2Corinth. 11:23 – 33. He said they were always in one danger or the other, but never for once do they ever think of saving their lives because they are “… persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 38 – 39).

Therefore, as believers, we are not saved just for the sake of it, but to also serve as a light for others to be saved.

THE REWARD FOR PATIENCE Rom. 8 ²⁴-³°

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Gal. 6:9

Patience is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, a virtue that should be evident in the life of the new creation (2 Corinth. 5:17). However, patience is not something that is developed overnight, as it involves the shedding off the old self and putting on the new man, a process that can be painstaking and might even seem time-consuming, but then, it is a process that is worth enduring.

Patience is defined as the quality of being patient, which is to be contented to wait if necessary, persevering, and calmly diligent while at the same time, not losing one’s temper and focus while waiting. Unfortunately, it is a path that a lot of people find difficult to take. But then, there are lots of benefits attached to patience, the Bible says; "...and not only so , but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience (proven character); and experience (proven character), hope: and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us". Rom. 5:3‭-‬5

The truth is, you're not an accident, God planned you! Nobody else can be like you; nobody else can do the things you do. You are unlike anyone else on earth. God does not duplicate, He creates. You are absolutely perfect and genetically accurate for solving a specific problem for somebody on earth.

Your ability to grow in the place of patience, as a child of God, is a reward for somebody that others would not tolerate, your words will motivate someone incapable of seeing what you see. Somebody desperately needs you today, the patient you.

Somebody needs exactly what you have been given by God; somebody is literally dying emotionally, mentally or even spiritually waiting for you to come along and rescue them. Somebody has been lying awake at night praying that God would send you into their life. You are their reward!!!

However, you must recognise that some people do not really need you. You're not their answer. You're not their solution. You shouldn’t take offence at this, because God has somebody else planned for them.

You're not needed everywhere, you're only needed at a specific place, at a specific time and for a specific person or persons. And if you're struggling with anything, any issue at all, always remember that God will provide you with understanding and time to respond properly to the problem. God will confirm your assignment with inner peace in you and joy in them and the person will have great confidence in your ability and calling to solve the problem for them.

NEVER FORGET: You are a Reward from God to Somebody! And being honest is far better than pretending to be perfect…

FINDING AND KNOWING GOD’S WILL IN MARRIAGE

For someone who is still growing in the knowledge of the “Will of God” (especially in the area of marriage) to be writing about finding His Will may be somewhat funny or even questionable. But as we have seen with God over the years, the mouthpiece usually doesn’t matter, but what matters most is the ONE speaking through it. (Jer. 1:4-10)

As young men and women, the second most important decision we will ever make is deciding whom to marry. The first is who to serve. More often than not, most of us have wandered through the world and we've had different experiences; from disappointments to heartbreaks to rejections, and all these, smeared with a little bit of fun and happiness and a brief experience of what a perfect relationship looks like, which last for only a short period, leaves us wanting for more and all efforts to hold on to it have proved abortive. Then we realise that only in God can we truly have that which we have always longed for.

However, a host of us run to God for the sole purpose of finding His Will concerning marriage but not willing to surrender every other aspect of our life to Him. The thing is, God is interested in all areas of our life just as much as He is interested in our marital life, and God, being an intentional God that cannot be coaxed or forced to do anything, will remain silent until we come to the light of His word, i.e. building a relationship with Him first. In Gen. 17:1, God said to Abraham;

“…walk before me and be thou perfect”.

To know God’s Will, two steps, out of several, are recommended;

1. Seek Him: This cannot be stressed enough. Seeking God is the most important step in knowing His Will, as those who seek Him will eventually find Him. In Mat. 6:33, Jesus Christ said;

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and EVERY OTHER thing will be added unto you”

In Prov. 8:17, our loving Father declared;

“I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me”

The Holy Spirit corroborated the points above, with an added ingredient in seeking him in Heb. 11:6, which says:

“But without FAITH it is impossible to please God; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him”

2. Do His Will: To know His Will, we must be ready to do His Will. The most important Will of the Father is that “His kingdom be established here on earth, just as it is in heaven, and that we love our neighbours as ourselves”. As we will see very soon, anyone that wants to know the Will of God concerning anything should be ready to do His Will in all things.

You see, God’s will is not some kind of sacred principles or enigmatic formula that we can use to solve all issues automatically. God’s will is not partitioned such that we can choose to acknowledge it in areas such a marriage, finance or moral conducts and then decide to take charge or control over other areas as we deem fit. God’s will encompasses all areas of our life. It involves walking before Him in total obedience and holiness, submitting EVERYTHING to Him and seeking Him wholeheartedly to know Him and to be completely filled with Him. Imagine a scenario where God is in control of your life, He’s the only pilot in your craft, the only one in the driver’s seat of your life, now, what do you think will happen when the wrong person tries to come along? Either the person submits to Him or flees. This is just a minuscule experience compared to what He's able to do when He's in complete control.

Now, having established the line of thoughts above, let us now consider the characteristics of God’s will to help us understand it better and identify it when we see it.

1. The will of God is 100% about God and 0% about us.

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure, they are and were created”. (Rev. 4:11)

In seeking God’s Will for our lives, especially in areas such as marriage, we erroneously make our search self-centred. We think of that perfect partner and imagine all manner of things we want to do with that person, we have that seven-figure paying job at the top of our heart and in all of these, the focus of our prayer points is; God please make it happen by all means! Our prayer life becomes more of asking God to bless our plans instead of asking Him to show us His.

Three characters that placed God’s needs before theirs that I’d like us to quickly examine are; First, King Solomon, who of all the things he could have asked, told God he only wants wisdom, to enable him to judge God’s PEOPLE rightly and now we’re not only talking about him being the wisest king to have ever lived, but also the wealthiest and the most famous during his time. The second person is Moses, who realised that it is only by surrendering to God’s Will by leading His PEOPLE out of Egypt would he ever be able to make something out of an impact-less, wilderness-wandering life and the mighty things God did through him reeks throughout history. The third character is our Lord Jesus Christ. He saw the challenges in God’s will that were placed before Him in Luke 22:42, which He accepted and now, our souls owe its salvation to Him. Summarising His life, trial, and reward, Heb. 12:2 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 down at the right hand of the throne of God”

The truth is, His will is the highest quality material, His desire is far greater than ours and His plans supersede our plans; because God’s ways are infinitely greater than our own (Is. 55:8-9) and so, our thinking should be; “How will my relationship bring glory to God? In what ways will my job benefits the Lord? Putting the needs of God first ends up providing for our own.

2. The Will of God is not ambiguous.

“For our God is not the author of confusion but of peace…” (1Cor. 14:33)

His will is precise, it is straightforward, with no buts or maybe. It only has a single objective. When waiting on God for anything, we must avoid the temptation of creating a backup plan, as we cannot be planning for our success and failure at the same time.

3. Two people coming together under the Will of God will always have their purposes align or in agreement.

A story was shared concerning a lady, to whom God revealed her purpose in life while she was yet an undergraduate. God told her she’d go to one of the African countries as a missionary and the man to be her husband will also have the same assignment. Along the line, different men started showing up with marriage proposals, with an identical mission but not exactly the same, which makes it easy for her to turn them down until the right one eventually showed up. The bottom line is, knowing your purpose in life will greatly help when it comes to choosing the right partner.

4. Finally, the Will of God has its own challenges…

…but we have confidence in the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ has promised to be with us even in the midst of the storm. Marriages and even relationships will always have challenges as it involves the coming together of two people with different orientations and background and being an institution the devil so loathes because it involves unity, he will never stop until it crumbles. But speaking in John 16:33, our Lord Jesus Christ has assured us, saying;

“In the world, ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world”

In summary, if you really want to know the Will of God for your life, concerning marriage but you're not ready to submit all other areas of your life to Him, you might as well, not bother about knowing His Will at all.

I will conclude with Gregg Matte’s quote in his book “Finding God’s Will”

“God’s Will is what happens when you seek Him”.

AN AMBASSADOR FOR PEACE...IN THE FACE OF VIOLENCE

As a little boy, I've always abhorred oppression, especially those mixed with violence, perpetrated towards people with little or no help or the ability to defend themselves, but then, there was nothing I could do then, but to wish for some kind of superpowers to avenge the oppressed, unfortunately, they were just mere wishes.

Violence can be described as man’s inhumanity to man at any level and most often in our world, we believe that the only response to oppression, injustice and ultimately violence is… violence and it is quite logical, to some extent, to think that way. The violence that the world suffers today is not a punishment of any kind but a natural consequence of our own violent actions. As humans, we have been wired psychologically to instinctively respond to violence in one of two ways; flight or fight. We either stand and fight when we are sure the odds are in our favour, e.g. David and Goliath (1Samuel 17:45) or run for our dear lives like the children of Isreal did against the Judeans in 2Chronicles 13:16.

But Jesus Christ offers a third way; a non-violent direct action. Now, this does not mean non-resistance or cowardice. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 5:38 – 42;

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.  If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.  And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.  Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away”

In a book by Martin Robinson, a story was told of a man who had a bad day at the office, he was criticised, abused and wrongly accused by his employer. When he got home, he poured the anger and aggression on his wife, a few minutes later, their first child came around and the mother transferred the anger and negative emotions to him, the boy felt hurt and unhappy and in turn, made the youngest daughter feels her share of the anger and negative energy flowing around, being the youngest child and no one to transfer her anger to, she fled to her room, picked her doll, pummelled it, smashed it and threw it violently across the room, leaving it in tatters – like a rag doll – where it lays helplessly on the ground. And surprisingly, the doll did not react nor did it fight back, and just like that, the flow of anger and violence had finally been absorbed and ended.

The actions of the doll illustrate an aspect of Christ’s action on the cross; ending the superiority of evil and it’s rulers. But breaking the cycles of violence is not just to allow violence to pass without any comment, it is also to allow a new beginning and new stories to emerge.

Jesus Christ was a willing innocent who chose not to speak in his own defence, but rather to remain silent (Mark 15:5). Jesus Christ embodies the covenant of non-violence which invites us to become a people of peace. And to fulfil our side of the covenant, we must renounce all forms of violence, make peace, seek justice for the poor and helpless, love our enemies, forgive wholeheartedly and LOVE UNCONDITIONALLY. Are you willing to be an ambassador for peace?

                                                                                              ...By Neogalgius.
                                                                                             Credit; Why the Cross by Martin Robinson

7 PRINCIPLES AND BENEFITS OF PLANNING IN EFFECTIVE LIVING.

Early in April this year, I joined a team for outreach in Oyo State. We were in a community on a Thursday till Sunday. On the last day of the exercise, a friend made a comment that sparked a train of thoughts in me on how people sometimes allow time to be wasted without a plan, and consequently, the purpose is helplessly unpreserved. She said, “We were here on Thursday but it was just like an hour gone.”

Life runs in a similar way: We were here some years ago and we will soon leave this planet. There are two irrevocable gifts of life that one has to be wise in handling: Time and opportunity. This is because what we do or don’t do with the opportunity when time lasts invariably becomes the net worth of life.

While pondering on her words, my mind was inundated with hundreds of thoughts. I observed we were on a mission and we had a purpose to accomplish; we encountered unforeseen circumstances such as rainfall; we had reasons to make adjustments such as change venue, time or method; and despite the fact that the circumstances were not lenient on us, the time didn’t stop. If we had not planned our time, it would have just kept burning for nothing. Time waits for no persons, no matter their status. Dr Mike Murdock wrote, “Planning is the starting point for any dream or goal that you possess.” He defined a plan as “a written list of arranged actions necessary to achieve your desired goal.” Planning becomes the highest form of faith in God. Failure to plan in the name of spirituality is foolishness. Such deception is born out of a lack of understanding of how God works. God is the planner of ages who never does anything without planning. Evidently, God never starts anything He has not finished. God stands in eternity and says, “Only my plan shall prevail.” Therefore, any visions or dreams that aren’t documented are mere wishes or hopes.

Follow me closely as I earmark the seven (7) principles and benefits of planning I learned from our outreach.

“What we do or don’t do with the opportunity when time lasts invariably becomes our net worth of life.”

Principle #1

Planning Preserves Purpose

On the second day of the outreach, we were heavily disturbed by rain. Nevertheless, we were able to accomplish our purpose for the hour because we had a guiding plan. Planning preserves purpose even though the procedure may change.

Every man is here on earth to fulfil a purpose. However, discouragements will sediment at the bottom of our hearts from time to time. We will keep having discouraging thoughts, moments and circumstances to fight. But it is relieving to know that when we have a guiding plan for our lives, our purpose for each moment of our lives shall be preserved. 

Principle #2

Planning Regulates Time

The greatest commodity in our life is time. Time is the only thing that is unambiguously equivalent to life. Our life ends up becoming what we exchange our time for. Therefore, time should be made accountable. It should be monitored and effectively spent. Time drips continually like the eastern earthen roof: sixty drops of the measure of time making one hour. When we have twenty-four hours, it makes one day. It doesn’t take long for time to accumulate. However, planning is the strategy by which time is prolifically captured.

Planning is the most effective time management strategy and a sure way of living effectively. Success is accomplishment and accomplishment is in doing. However, work will be uncoordinated or simply unregulated without adequate planning. At the outreach, our time was regulated by planning. Everybody knew what to do, how to do, when to do, for what reason to do and when to do any items in our agenda of the program. Our order of programme outlined when to sleep, when to eat, when to pray and when to work. So our time was well managed. Not only does planning regulate the time, but it also redeems the time.

Principle #3

Planning Gives Value to Time

You probably have heard the saying: “How time flies!” Time is volatile; it vaporizes readily where there’s no planning. Our time out for the outreach from Thursday to Sunday was just like a few hours gone. On the last day, we could not believe we had spent about 3 days already for the program.

Nonetheless, what counted at the end of the day was what we were able to accomplish according to our planning, even though time itself had flown away. The best judge of our effectiveness in life is time. The quality of life is measured in domination or donation, not in duration. It is in what we have been able to do between the first life cry and the final breath.

“Success is accomplishment and accomplishment is in doing”

Principle #4

Planning Helps to Accomplish Much within Short Time

A dream or goal with no deadline can last till eternity. An academic program that’s supposed to last for 3 years can be run for 7 years if there is no solid plan for it. For instance, you may be a PhD student and goes to the laboratory any day you feel like. However, having a plan can make a difference. This is because planning makes you disciplined. Planning will dictate what kind of friend you choose, what number of hours you spend on TV, and what kind of book you read. In a nutshell, planning will help you to accomplish much within a short time.

Planning also monitors the progress of purpose. One can monitor one’s progress in business, academic, or ministry with a plan. During our outreach, we simply confirmed our progress by checking what agenda we had accomplished compared with what we set out to accomplish. So in a short time, we made a great impact on the community.

Principle #5

Planning Helps to Shun Distractions

It is natural for discouragements to come. Many circumstances cannot be figured out at the beginning. But they will surface somewhere in the middle of the way. Both expected and unexpected distractions are best handled by having a solid plan.

The wisdom needed for the moment will come if there is a plan. Of course, you can’t adjust a plan you don’t have. When we were distracted by rain at our outreach, we changed the venue. In fact, some of us quickly came up with an alternative program that somewhat fulfilled the initial plan. A person who works with a plan is not readily distracted by little challenges.

“A little deviation from what your priority should be may lead you where you should not be”

Principle #6

Planning Checks Procrastination

A Planned Life is a Captured Destiny. You see, life can be funny. One may be at the realm of the profession of what one would love to accomplish in life for the whole first-half of one’s life. John Mason rightly said, “Some people spend half their lives telling what they are going to do, and the other half explaining why they didn’t do it.” What you ought to do today may be postponed till tomorrow because nothing is planned for tomorrow. That of tomorrow too can be postponed till next tomorrow because every new day is always an unoccupied, unplanned day.

A loosed destiny is the one that is not planned. It can stray at will following the dictate of societal happenings. An unplanned life can be stopped by economic hardship but the mind of a planned one will devise a surviving mechanism no matter how difficult is it. For our outreach, we never allowed our time to be dictated for by harsh circumstances we met on ground. We never procrastinate what we ought to do per time. Procrastination is not only a thief of time but also a thief of life because time is life.

Principle #7

Planning Helps in Maintaining Priority and Focus

There are one thousand and one things that will demand one’s attention in life. You cannot do or become everything. You don’t have to be everywhere; however, you can be somewhere and effects everywhere. This is the nature of light. Light only stays at the lamp-stand and gives illumination to everyone that comes in or goes out.

There are many good things that may demand for your time but not all good things are right. A little deviation from what your priority should be may lead you where you should not be. Therefore, the key to effective living is a priority. Planning is important in setting the right priority. It will help you focus on a few but glorious things you’ve carefully selected among other important things. By this, planning gives meaning to life.

                                                                    ....By Yemi Adekunle https://yemiadekunle.com.ng

WHAT YOU THINK, YOU ARE..!!!

Several years ago, I used to have a friend, his name, Femi. Femi and I were close friends, did a lot of funny things together, although, he was fiercer and stronger, I could remember he once competed with a dog just to show off his pace, and a bike man once knocked him down, and instead of getting him treated, the bike man started lamenting over his damaged bike, my friend only had few bruises; believe me, he's that strong.

Back then, we had a neighbour, he was quite fond of us, he was always challenging and encouraging us, we’d spend time in his apartment watching movies, and one movie in particular "The Promised Child" by Mount Zion Ministries. This friend of mine and I would watch this movie over and over until we started mimicking the actors, both in actions and in words until this neighbour of ours couldn’t take it anymore – because of our disturbances – while at the same time impressed because of what he perceived to be a rare talent; the ability to remember everything, word for word.

Fast forward a little bit, during secondary school, I have this teacher who would call me out from among my mates and tell me to sing any of the then-popular TuFace songs and I would, without any mistake, pour out the lyrics perfectly, series of applause and what seems like a hero worship from himself and everyone in class would follow. Only for him to give us a short test which I ended up failing, and without any regard for my lauded performances earlier, he would design my back with his long flexible cane. Master K.C. thank you!!!

Then, I couldn’t help but wonder; “how is it that I could remember these songs and movies and all that, but not what I've been taught in class”. I had to change so many things to get myself on the right track.

I was in church one day during an annual programme, a young boy came up and started reading the book of Psalms, I was shocked when I couldn’t find a Bible with him – Wow!! He didn’t start reading the book a day to the programme I suppose. I believe you probably must have heard about a young boy who recited the whole of the Quran by heart, you’d agree with me that that boy didn’t start his preparation a day to the contest either.

The thing is, the ability to remember anything at all depends on interest as well as the willingness to repeat the whole process. Have you ever noticed, let’s say you play scrabble, chess, checkers or any of the board games a lot, that you start seeing the board game in the air, without having it with you physically, like you're seeing a vision, the pieces are moving spontaneously, giving you new ideas. The thing is, the brain will only give you what you're constantly giving to the brain, what you're always exposing it to. Practice, they say makes perfection..!!!

The law of Habit says, “Any thought or action that you repeat over and over will eventually become a new habit.” You see, for my friend and I, we were both interested in the movie and was always willing to repeat the whole process of watching that particular movie over and over, not minding the number of times we have seen it. The songs I was always singing so effortlessly was as a result of constant practice and a big deal of interest. You are not what you think you are, but what you think, you are. The mind is one of the most powerful – if not the most powerful – tool that was given to man, with a powerful force that can be turned in any direction to bring about wonderful results or wreak havoc and destruction, and the beautiful thing is, you are the only one with the key to your mind.

...By Neogalgius

THE MOST POWERFUL FORCE ON EARTH.

Ever wondered what the most powerful force on earth is? Although this sounds like a rhetorical question, given that science has explained different kinds of force, however, there is a force that transcends an average human imagination and sometimes I get lost and had to pull myself out of the imaginary world I had created and wandered into.

This is a question lots of people have tried answering through different means, from different perspectives.

            “But HE uses the simple things of this world to confound the wise”

There is this void in us wanting to be filled and we are, one way or another, doing different things, willing to go to any length just to fill this emptiness, from lusting after power, to desiring wealth and riches, to cravings and addictions, to whatever anyone can think of, just to derive satisfaction, but all this while, the answer has always been right there in our heart. LOVE!

And LOVE, just like the TRUTH is self-sufficient, it is self-sustaining, no matter how long it takes as long as its course is still in existence, it will survive.

            “The Most Powerful Force on Earth is the Human Soul on Fire”

Love is the most basic human need and we will go to any length to get it, with no exaggeration.

            “Love is the Creative Aspect of Creation”

It is the most potent growth factor! The most powerful Medicine yet to be analyzed; a mystery yet to be fully understood and more often than not it is confused with lust! When it comes to Love, even the great Hero can be an idiot, the strongest and the wisest can become fools and timid. It can soften the hardest of hearts and strengthen the weakest of souls. True Love is a risk because you never know if it will be reciprocated, BUT IT IS A RISK WORTH TAKING.

To be in Love is to lose “you” completely, to give without expecting anything in return. It is to lose your right of possession; when it comes to Love, nothing is owned, because the things we touch have no permanence; there is nothing we can truly hold on to in this world and only by letting go can we truly possess what is real.

And to Love truly, we must learn to appreciate everything connected to us and accept ourselves for who we are; because when you don’t like yourself, you tend to dislike everything connected to you, new things become more attractive, but the moment you learn to Love, appreciate, and accept yourself, then that same old life start looking new, it starts looking awesome.

GOD is the sweetest Love ever and we all deserve to experience HIM!

Have you ever been in LOVE?

                                                                ...Written By Neo Galgius.