Monday, November 30, 2015

Do not be afraid

Fear not but be strong- Rev.Ekine

Josh.1:5-9 “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

In this passage, Joshua was about to step into the shoes of Moses, he was faced with what seemed to be an uphill task of possessing the land for God’s people, but God comes and tells him as he faced the high walls of Jericho“…do not be afraid.” In the same way God is telling us not to be afraid, because He is with us.

Isa.8:11”Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 

We shouldn’t allow the things we hear to frighten or dismay us because we have His word; this is the only thing that takes away fear. Then He says “…be strong,” once we are afraid we’ll not be strong.  What strengthens

Do not be afraid

Fear not but be strong- Rev.Ekine

Josh.1:5-9 “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

In this passage, Joshua was about to step into the shoes of Moses, he was faced with what seemed to be an uphill task of possessing the land for God’s people, but God comes and tells him as he faced the high walls of Jericho“…do not be afraid.” In the same way God is telling us not to be afraid, because He is with us.

Isa.8:11”Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 

We shouldn’t allow the things we hear to frighten or dismay us because we have His word; this is the only thing that takes away fear. Then He says “…be strong,” once we are afraid we’ll not be strong.  What strengthens

Experiencing Overwhelming Victories through Overwhelming Love - 2

                    

 Romans 12:21 “Be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good”

We are continuing our meditation on the above text and theme.

God’s way is love, we can only have God’s kind of result if we do things God’s way, Love is the answer of God to the world.

Looking down through the ages, God has always answered through love. For instance, when man sinned against God in the Garden of Eden God killed a lamb and clothed their nakedness to cover man up. God does not answer tit-for –tat, an eye for an eye. His way is the way of love. You must choose to answer life with love. Unless we make this choice, things will become more and more difficult for us.

Brethren, you have been wired to respond in love, any other reaction will not bring victory. You have to train yourself to live this way. You must readily adjust yourself to love. The onus of this love walk is not on the other person but on you.

If God was supposed to respond any other way towards us, guess what? You and I will not be where we are today.

1Peter 2:18” Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear not only to the good and gentle but also to the forward….”

“Bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you” 

You must learn to leave your case in the hands of the one who judges fairly (God). The reason some of us don’t see God answer for us in our situation is because we have answered for ourselves. We have taken the matter into our own hands.

1Peter3:9 “Never return evil for evil or insult for insult…” when you do good, good comes back to you. Every single time you obey God on this, you always come out victorious, untouched, and unscratched.

There is big time winning waiting for you in this season we are in and you must ask yourself: Do you want to get it your way or God’s way? It’s only going to happen if you choose God’s way - the way of love. You have to determine and deliberately choose love.

Gal 5:6 “…for in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love.”

The world’s way is not going to solve our problem. We believers had better wise up and start training ourselves the way of love. Paul says” …..I show you a more excellent way” (1Cor.12:31) . Faith with love is like having a turbo engine attached to your canoe as opposed to paddling a canoe manually. Folks, what should take you days may take a year without love. Walk the walk of faith through love.

You don’t kill your enemies, you love them. In loving them you remove the case from your hands and you put it in God’s hands. If we are going to have victory God’s way, we must learn God’s way. Stop relying on the arms of the flesh. Every other way apart from God’s way is the arm of flesh and by the flesh shall no man prevail. The Bible says we should be like Jesus that when he was reviled, He reviled not.

Love is not self seeking. We live in a self seeking generation. A selfish world that does things its own way.

 Let us overcome everything that’s not love by love and then see what God does with it.

You have to determine that this is where you are going; the result you want to see is of a greater price than what anyone can do to you.

Love is to unreservedly give yourself to another. If love stops then we know it’s not love at all. If love find barriers with a person’s peculiarity, looks or gifts then that love was merely an enchantment or lust.

Genuine love will never give up.

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Experience Overwhelming Victories by Overwhelming Love

Rom 12:21 “Be not overcome with evil but overcome evil with good’

The word overcome means ‘to get the better of’ it means to overwhelm, gain superiority or upper hand’

There is a way to overcome and overwhelm evil. God’s way is the way of love and it’s the winning way.

1Cor.13 tells us that “love can endure everything without weakening. Love never fails or fades out or comes to an end”.

How would you like to be on the side of something that never fails at all times? If you stay on the side of love you will always win, whether against the devil or human beings.

Natural human beings don’t have an answer to love. Please know that God is not punishing us by asking us to love our neighbours but rather He wants us to win all the time. You hurt no one but yourself for not loving and you also put yourself at a disadvantage. Instead of doing tit-for-tat with a person who’s done you evil, you sputter the person with good. When you do that you will always win, because love never fails, never fades or becomes obsolete. There’s no weight that can crush love.

What gets us defeated is that we want to show the person doing evil to us that two can play the game. It’s your own responsibility not to let evil conquer you but conquer evil by always doing well. So, when evil is being thrown at you, you do good, that’s practical love.

You have to decide if God’s way is worth it or not and then make a decision. The worse the days get, the higher the demand for the walk of love, it’s the only antidote to this world. The flood of adversity cannot quench the force of love. No matter how fierce the opposition is, love will bring it to its knees. You want to have overwhelming victories, walk in love like you have never done.

We Christians do not seem to have problems loving unbelievers but believers, why? We think he/she should know better. We begin to reason things out. But reasoning is never spiritual, they are fleshly and canal. Stop using your own maturity to judge others. We must let God’s love flow from us. I must not have offence over people or walk in bitterness towards them; but rather overcome evil with love. Jesus says “pray for your enemies that you may be children of your farther who is in heaven”

Eph5:1 says “Be ye imitators of God as dear children”

There will always be opportunities for strife and contentions. It is not being weak to move away from situations that will cause strife and bitterness.  As you sense those things coming, you must choose the side of good rather than the side of strife.

1Peter 3:9 says “Never return evil for evil, insult for insult”.  It’s about time we start doing the word of God and stop allowing the flesh to get the better of us, as far as it depends on you live at peace with everyone, never avenge yourself but leave the place open for God. Be quiet says the Lord.

When I pay evil for evil, insult for insult, I have lost the right to take blessings from God. What will you rather lose? The blessing, happiness and protection of God or just that moment of showing flesh?

 The way to overwhelming victory is the way of love. Choose to love. Apply yourself to love. Let love get the better of you.

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Do not be overwhelmed

Philippians 4:6 (AMP)

“Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition ( definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.”

We are at the season of the year that there is a lot of activities both in the physical and in the realm of the spirit. It is also a period when there is a lot of anxiety in the hearts of people. This is why I want you to meditate on our text for today. You see you cannot be in faith and entertain anxiety or worry at the same time. Where faith is present, anxiety and worry take a flight out of the window and vice versa is also true.  

Our text for meditation says to not allow anxiety in your heart under any circumstance or over anything, this means God is saying to you He can meet you at the point of your need. 
So, rather than allow yourself to be overwhelmed by the many things you need to do or accomplish before this year ends, turn it over to God and rest in Him. 
The Scriptures say, “He is able to keep to the uttermost that which is committed to His hand” and also that “faithful is He who promised, who also will do it”. Lastly, Jesus said:

“So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.” MATTHEW 6:34 AMP

Friday, November 27, 2015

Faith as a Shield

Ephesians 6:16 (NIV)
“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”

1 Tim 6:12-13 (NIV)“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

Taking a cue from our meditation some days ago where we saw that Jesus brought the use of faith to two main things, which were to get rid of stuff we don’t want and to bring in stuff we want, I want to point out to you today two other uses of faith.

From our first text for meditation, you can see that faith is used for defensive purposes because it is symbolized as a shield. A shield is for defending and the Scripture says if you have your faith in place you will not be hit by ANY fiery arrow thrown at you by the enemy. Yes, you heard me right, YOU WILL NOT BE HIT BY ANY ARROW OF THE DEVIL. I can hear someone asking, is that possible? Well let God be true and every man and every experience of man to the contrary a liar. 
The word of God said it, I didn’t say it. To use faith as a defensive weapon means you use it to protect or defend your territory and all that is therein. Put the shield of faith around you, your family, your business and all that is connected to you. Someone may ask, how can I do that? Through the words of your mouth because faith is expressed through words.

The other use of faith is offensive. Offensive is when you take the battle to the enemy’s territory, and you do that to take what the enemy has stolen from you or take from him what hitherto has been his all along. Faith as an offensive weapon makes the believer to make advances against the enemy. 
I believe this should be the primary use of faith. You don’t wait to be attacked to defend. Rather you advance towards the enemy and claim territories. These territories were yours in the first place, but they were stolen. So advance today and take back what belongs to you.  

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Faith is a man’s grip on God

Luke 5:17-20
“And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. And, behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee.”
Where God’s word has been preached or taught, power is present. Where the Holy Spirit is also power of God is there. But you will notice that even though the power of God was present to heal, nobody got healed until someone came who had faith. Faith is what is used to take hold of the power of God to heal, deliver or prosper. So until a faith connection is made with the power of God, nothing happens even though the power of the Lord is present.
I believe this is why someone said that faith is a man’s grip on God, this is because faith is your hand in the realm of the spirit with which you take hold. The way you make the faith connection with the power of God is by speaking it with your mouth. This is what you see with the woman that had an issue of blood.(Mark 5:25)   
The Scriptures said she kept on saying, “if I may but touch the hem of His garments, I shall be whole”. Then there was the case of Blind Bartimeus, who also shouted when he heard Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. I want you to know today that God’s power is hovering over you today, speak out and make that connection with the power of God and receive your miracle.

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

The use of faith

Mark 11:22-24

“And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.  Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

It seemed like Jesus broke the use of faith down to two major things: Firstly, it is to get stuff you don’t want but are already in your life out, “…that whosoever shall say to this mountain, be thou removed…”. Secondly, it is to get stuff you want in, “…what things soever ye desire, when ye pray…” 
Some people will feel guilty that that is all their faith is for but there is nothing to be guilty about because these words came out of the lips of Jesus. Faith will get things out of your life, this means there is nothing that the enemy brings your way that you cannot get rid off. Be they bad habits, sin, sickness, failure, poverty and lack and it does not matter how long or complex such things have been, you can get rid of them. 
Now, it is interesting that when it comes to getting rid of things, Jesus said you should just speak to those things and they will obey you. Now when it comes to getting stuff that you want, whether they are spiritual material, physical or financial, Jesus said you should pray to Him, come and ask him for it. James said people receive not because they ask not, and Jesus said some where else ask and receive so that your joy may be full.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

What comes next to obedience?

Romans 4:12

“And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.”

One more thing on walking in the steps of the faith of Abraham. After righteousness has been established in the heart as the heart is changed and the fear of God is implanted in the heart, it enables obedience. Now look at what comes next to obedience:

“Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.” Hebrews 11:11 KJV

What comes next to obedience? You receive strength to do whatever you have been asked to do. But that is not how we want it, we want to receive strength first before we obey. But the word shows us that you have to step out in obedience first before you find the strength you need. When you understand that with God He counts willingness of the heart as though you have obeyed, then you will realise that firstly what God is looking for is that in your heart you have said yes.

“For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.” 2Corinthians 8:12

“Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can't. The heart regulates the hands.” THE MESSAGE

This needs to be understood because once you understand it, it takes away the hesitation you feel in responding to the pull of the Spirit of God because you are thinking you don’t have the strength to carry it out.  The ability to do comes after the willingness of the heart to do. This is where faith comes in, faith is of the heart, so it is through faith you make your heart willing. Nothing needs to be on the outside for you to become willing to do by faith.

CONFESSION: I DECLARE BY FAITH RIGHT NOW THAT I AM A WILLING CHILD OF GOD. I AM WILLING TO DO ALL THAT GOD WOULD HAVE ME DO.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Faith is in Steps

Romans 4:12
“And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.”
The Scriptures say that we walk by faith, so faith is a walk and if it is a walk then it is in steps. We live and walk by faith in steps, one step after another. Abraham the father of faith, his faith walk was in steps and the Bible says he is the father of us also who walk after the same steps he walked. In looking at Hebrews Chapter Eleven, we can glean the steps that are involved in the life of faith. 
We have looked at them separately but I want to bring

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Faith increases our capacity

Hebrews 11:11
“Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.”

Sarah bears witnesses to us that faith brings into the life of the one who has it an increased capacity. Faith increases our capacity and enables us to do more than we normally do. I like the way the Message Bible expressed our text:


“By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant…”

She that was barren was able to become pregnant! Even though the context has to do with fruit of the womb, we can apply it to fruitfulness in every area. So you may seemingly be barren of ideas to move your life, your business, etc. forward but if you allow your faith in God to have it’s expression, you will be amazed at what will come forth from you. This is because faith comes from God and it is also faith in God. 

That is why a man who had been blind from his birth could come to the place that he begins to entertain the thought of seeing like everybody else. Or a woman who had suffered at the hands of doctors for twelve years could express hope of living a life free from that issue that had been part of her life all these while. 

When Jesus wanted to liken a man who hears His word and does not do or does them , He said such a one is likened to one who builds a house. Why liken to one who builds a house? It is because faith in God brings to the one who has it an increase in capacity, you have the capacity to build, to grow, increase and enlarge. No more barrenness , no more unfruitfulness and no more stagnation. You have received strength through faith to conceive and to bring forth.

CONFESSION: I believe I have a greater capacity through faith. I can generate fresh ideas.

PRAYER: I pray for you today, that you receive a fresh baptism of ideas from on high in Jesus name.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Reverential fear of God

Hebrews 11:7
“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”

Let me go back to the lessons we have been learning from the Heroes of faith in Hebrews Chapter Eleven. We see today something else faith brought to Noah which we easily skip over also because it does sound like a faith word. It is fear. The Scriptures say, “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear…”. It is easy to skip over this when teaching faith but it is clear by faith Noah moved with fear. 
This however is not the fear that brings bondage, but the reverential fear of God, which is a health fear. This fear is a necessary fear in the life of every believer because it makes you not to take God for granted or get overtly familiar with God that you do not respect Him. 
The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10; KJV)

“For the reverence and fear of God are basic to all wisdom. Knowing God results in every kind of understanding”. (Living Bible)

What is wisdom? In it’s basic definition it means the application of knowledge. It means knowing what to do in a given situation. Now the Scriptures say the fear of God is basic to that, which means without the fear of God, you probably will start out on the wrong foot. Now you can understand the sequence of our text for meditation. 
Noah did not just go out to prepare the ark because he had faith, no, after the faith came a fear of God that also guided him in knowing what to do. Don’t just move out because you have faith, balance it with a fear of God, and you will never miss with God.

Friday, November 20, 2015

You have enough faith

Matt 17:20
“And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

Mark 4:31-32
“It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.”

Have you ever prayed that God should increase your faith because you believe your faith is too small to get the job done? Let me encourage you today and say you have enough faith in you to get the job done, have your needs met, heal you of that infirmity. How can you say that; you ask?
I did not say it, Jesus said it. He said if you have faith as small as mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, remove hence to yonder place. 
Jesus said, the mountain will move! He did not stop there, He went further to say something more incredulous to believe: He said, “and NOTHING shall be impossible unto you”. Now do you know the size of a mustard seed? It is said it is so small, hardly can it be seen with the naked eye. Now how small do you think your faith is? 
No matter how small, Jesus said even if it is so small that you hardly feel you have got it, with that size of faith if you will say to the mountain be removed, Jesus said it will move! Let me proffer some reasons why such faith will move mountains.

Firstly, because it is a faith that is rooted in God and is directed towards God.

Secondly, it is because, the scripture says that when that mustard seed size faith is planted, it does not remain the same size, it grows and becomes greater than what it is planted against. 
That is, when you put your mustard seed size faith against the mountain, it keeps growing until it becomes larger than the mountain, and that is when the mountain moves. But when you keep looking at the smallness of your faith and because of its size you do not put it against anything, it remains small and never gets anything done. So, take your faith today and speak to the mountain in your life, and watch it obey you. 

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Do not let go of your grip on God

Hebrews 10:35-38

“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”

Let me interrupt the trend of our meditation in the past three days to bring this word of encouragement to you today. Do not let go of your grip on God. What is your grip on God, faith is your grip on God and as long as you have your grip tight God will deliver on His promises to you. Your faith is like a lifeline thrown to a drowning man from a boat. As long as he does not let go of the lifeline, he can be brought to shore but if he lets go of the lifeline, he will drown. You see God has already promised that He will not relax or lose His grip on you, so the onus is on you to keep holding on.

Heb 13:5

“…for He [God]  Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor  give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not,[I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor  let [you] down ( relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]”

I heard a man of God say that God told him that once we believe He(God) is obligated to perform. So no matter the pressure on the outside telling you to throw in the towel keep holding on because your faith is destined to end up with a good report. In our text for meditation, it says he that shall come shall come, though he tarry. This means it is inevitable that your faith in God will deliver, so don’t give up, don’t lose your grip on God. Your faith is your lifeline, your grip on God. Hold on to it and it will bring you to the shore without fail.  

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Inheriting heaven and the heavenly

Hebrews 11:8-10

“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” 
 I believe in using faith for material things, in fact, I believe we are to do that so we can train our faith also for spiritual things. If a man can use his faith to obtain a material blessing, he will understand that the same faith can be used to live a righteous and holy existence. This is the witness of the Hebrews Eleven heroes of faith. Their faith was not only used for material blessings but also to live righteously.
“By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;  Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.” Hebrews 11:24-27

“And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions…” Hebrews 11:32-33
“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” Hebrews 11:13-16
Have you ever noticed before today so much reference to righteousness and talk about the heavenly in this chapter that is famously referred to as the faith chapter. I guess not. Our faith life is nothing if it does not extend towards inheriting heaven and the heavenly.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Faith's Focus

Hebrews 11:8-10

“By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”



For the first time I am seeing the focus of Abraham’s faith as he answered the call of God to leave his father’s house and moved from place to place, he was looking for a city whose builder and maker is God.  That city is heaven. This sounds like Hebrews 12:2

Hebrews 12:2

“… 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.”



This tells you the first focus of faith is heaven. Let me sound this loud and clear: THE FIRST FOCUS OF A LIFE OF FAITH IS HEAVEN.

Colossians 3:1-3 (Living Bible)

“Since you became alive again, so to speak, when Christ arose from the dead, now set your sights on the rich treasures and joys of heaven where he sits beside God in the place of honor and power.  Let heaven fill your thoughts; don't spend your time worrying about things down here. You should have as little desire for this world as a dead person does. Your real life is in heaven with Christ and God.”

Why is this important to know? Living by faith has been misrepresented to mean living a life that is just consumed with the material things of the world, that is why people who are of the word of faith are called such names as “name it, claim it bunch”. But what does the Scripture say, it says since you have been made anew NOW set your sights on the rich treasures and joys of heaven… This is the first focus of a person who is of faith, because your real life is in heaven with Christ and God.

Salvation of your House

Hebrews 11:7

“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”

The next thing we see your faith in God does for you is that it prepares ground for the salvation of your house, or family. It was like Noah’s faith in God became like an ark prepared for the whole family to get in and be saved. God is a god of families, therefore, when one family member gets saved it opens up the whole family to God.

“And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Acts 16:30,31

What I want you to understand today is that God through your faith in Him wants to get your whole family saved, therefore begin to believe God for every member of your family to come to the saving knowledge of Christ. What the jailor asked was for himself personally but Paul’s answer shows the mind of God, that He wants the whole family. 
So if your whole family is yet to know Jesus, know that the way is open for them already, so begin to believe them in one by one. Do not be satisfied until every member of your family has come to the saving knowledge of Christ.

Believe on the Lord today for the salvation of the souls of your household. Begin to take them one by one until the very last one is saved. If every member of your immediate family is saved, widen the circle and begin to believe for your extended family.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

A changed life

Heb 11:5-6
“By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

The second thing we see a life of faith brought about is a “translation”.  Translation means a change or conversion to another form or appearance. This is what faith in God should bring about to the one who has it; conversion to another form or appearance. This means that the evidence of one who has faith in God is a changed life. Change from being a sinner to being a saint, from being poor to being prosperous, from being in bondage to being free. 
A changed life is the evidence of having faith in God, therefore where that is not present, then your faith in God should be questioned. It means when you meet with God or walk with God indeed you should experience a transformation. This is how you know whether people are just being religious or they have got a relationship with God. 
This was the experience of Enoch and this should be your experience too. In 1Samuel, we are told that after the Spirit of God came upon Saul after he was anointed king, it was said that “he was turned into another man.” 
Can it be said of you today that your faith in God has turned you into another person? Notice that it was said of Enoch, “…for before his translation he had this testimony…”, that is, people testified of him. Do people who really know you testify of you that your faith in God has changed you? If our faith in God has brought such testimony to our lives, it is worth examining if it is a real genuine one or if it is just religion we have imbibed.

Saturday, November 14, 2015

What faith brings to you

Hebrews 11:4 
“By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.”

It is instructive to note that the first thing we see about the testimony of faith is that Abel obtained witness that he was righteous. I believe that is the very first thing that faith comes with to the life of the believer after hearing the gospel. This is also revealed in the passage below.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:16,17

So the first thing that faith brings to you is righteousness, the righteousness of God. I want you to know that there is a righteousness which is of faith and that which is of works. That which is of works, the Bible says is like filthy rags before God. That which is of faith is imputed righteousness and it is imputed because you believe the Gospel not because you worked for it or earned it. It is a gift from God to you. 
This is the baseline upon which every other thing that faith brings your way stands. If you cannot accept to be made righteous by faith, it will be difficult for you to receive healing or any other blessing by faith. Therefore, you cannot claim to live by faith if you have not accepted the gift of righteousness it came with.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Faith and being led by the Spirit

Rom 8:14
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

Heb 11:1
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

John 3:8
“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”

I am back today to further establish that it takes a life of faith to mature in being led by the Spirit. Notice the characteristic of being born by the Spirit, it is a relationship that is of faith because it is not when you hear the sound of the wind that it is in motion, added to that is that even though you heard it’s sound you cannot know where it is going or where it is coming from. 
This means that you have to accept without having seen or heard in the physical what ever He is telling you at that moment. This is faith in action. In Acts 16 the Scriptures said Paul and Silas wanted to undertake missionary journey twice but the Spirit forbade them. Now that was a good thing they wanted to do but were stopped by the Holy Spirit. 
It takes faith in the leading of the Holy Ghost to accept that leading without understanding why or seeing anything in the physical as the reason not to. Accepting the Holy Spirit to me is the first evidence of faith because you do not see Him yet you believe that He is dwelling in you. If you can do that then you can have faith in Him to lead you and lead you accurately. 
Tell the Holy Spirit, “I HAVE FAITH IN YOUR LEADING< SO LEAD ME TODAY INTO THE PERFECT WILL OF GOD”.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Faith's ultimate victory 2

1 Peter 1:7-9
“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”
 

Still meditating on faith’s ultimate victory, we saw yesterday that it does not end by being able to acquire the best things in life but putting your faith at the place where you are holy in all your conduct and in all manner of living.
Have you ever wondered why some people got to be mentioned in the Bible’s hall of fame?
 

“Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise.” Hebrews 11:35-39
 

Yes, I mean these people, I am sure they are not your everyday hero of faith but the Bible declares them so. I believe it is because they had their hearts ready to meet their God. Look at what the Bible said of them: “of whom the world was not worthy”.
Today, ask yourself and answer sincerely, is your heart in state ready to meet God? If you are not sure pray this prayer now!
 

“O God forgive me a sinner. I believe Jesus is your Son, He came to die in my place and He rose from the dead to make me your child. Therefore I surrender my life to Him now and receive Jesus as my Lord and personal Saviour. Thank you for saving me.
 

Make sure you send me a mail if you pray that prayer @ pastorelekimaekine@yahoo.com

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Faith's ultimate victory

1 Peter 1:7-9
“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”

 

If you were asked what faith’s ultimate victory is, what would your answer be? I am sure your answer would not be far from it being the receiving of what you stood for in faith. Or it might be expressed as what is recorded in 1John 5:4, “to overcome the world or the systems of the world”. But that is not what our text says; “it is the salvation of our souls”

What does this mean? I am glad you asked, because it does not mean what you may think it is or what I think it is. So let us allow the Bible to speak for it self.
 

1 Peter 1:13-16(AMP)
“So brace up your minds; be sober (circumspect, morally alert); set your hope wholly and unchangeably on the grace (divine favor) that is coming to you when Jesus Christ (the Messiah) is revealed. [Live] as children of obedience [to God]; do not conform yourselves to the evil desires [that governed you] in your former ignorance [when you did not know the requirements of the Gospel]. But as the One Who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all your conduct and manner of living. For it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

 

The above passage is talking about being ready at the second revelation of Jesus Christ, that we should be holy in all our conduct and manner of living. That is when we receive the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Leading of the Spirit

Romans 8:14
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

One of the very important aspects of the believer’s life is being led by the Spirit of God. There is as much faith in being and following the leading as in obeying the written word of God. 
What I am saying is that faith is required in following the leading of the Spirit. One of the reasons people fail in this area is because they try to reason out or rationalize the leading and faith is no longer involved when reason has come in. Faith is not reason, and reason is not faith. You are not going to master being led by the Spirit of God, if you do not learn to take it by faith and act it out. 
Living life by the Spirit is an adventure of faith. Look at the way the Message Bible renders our text:

“God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" (Romans 8:14,15)

So those who do not learn to follow by faith will not be accustomed to being led by the Spirit. In fact one of the ways you can test the leading of the Spirit is: is there faith involved because the Spirit of God will always lead in the way of faith. When the Spirit is leading you there will be an element of the unknown, which you will have to take by faith.

Monday, November 9, 2015

The gift of faith

1 Corinthians 12:9
“To another faith by the same Spirit…”

Rom 12:3
“…according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

There are two different types of faith that these two verses speak of and it is important that you understand it. The first is the ‘gift of faith’, that is, faith as a gift of the Spirit which is different than the one that you receive at salvation, which was dealt to every man by God. 
The gift of faith operates as God wills but the other one is under the control of the believer. The gift of faith does not grow but you can grow in faith. There are things you do to prepare your heart to believe God in your

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Authority of the word

Matt 8:8-10

“The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”

We are still examining what the centurion understood about authority that made him to be commended by the Lord as having great faith.

The second thing he understood was the authority of the word. He recognized that the word of someone who has authority is as effective as the person himself. He recognized what the Scripture said in the book of proverbs that where the word of a king is there is power. 
That Jesus’ word is as if Jesus was there physically. You cannot walk in great faith if you do not esteem God’s word as would God Himself. The man said to Jesus, “speak the word only and my servant shall be made whole”. He recognized that power was in the word of Him that had authority.

The third thing that he understood was that it takes someone who is under authority himself to appreciate the workings of authority. You have to be under authority to use authority.

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Understanding authority

Matt 8:8-10

“The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”


Your understanding of authority will go a long way to determine the boldness of your faith. When you don’t understand authority and how it works you will be hindered in your faith.


In our text above, we see a man who is not part of the commonwealth of Israel at that time but because he understood authority, what it means to have one or to be under one was commended by the Lord as having great faith. It means the greater your understanding of the workings of authority, the greater your faith and the boldness of your faith. What understanding did this man have regarding authority?


Firstly, he had understanding of the authority of Jesus as Lord. The Lordship of Jesus is something you must understand it’s implication in the scheme of things. What do I mean? Let me share a personal experience with you. One of the things I normally say in my daily confession is Jesus is Lord. 

I will say He is Lord over my life, family, work, etc. On one of such times of confession, after saying that, it seemed like the question came to my heart, “and where does that leave the devil?” I immediately answered, he is defeated and if he is defeated then no weapon of his against me will work.

Friday, November 6, 2015

The Holy Spirit

John 10:34-35

“Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken.”

We have looked at some things that God put in us that make us function like Him, such as faith and His word. The other thing (pardon my use of the word thing) that God gave us to enable us be and act like Him is His Holy Spirit. When Jesus was to go He told His disciples that He was going to give them another Comforter. 
The word another implied one just like Him who was going to be in them as well as be with them. Having the Holy Spirit in us is to enable us among other things to be and act like God. The Scripture said that when the Spirit came upon Saul the king, he was like another man. The Spirit of God enables us to go beyond our natural self. 
When Paul and Silas ministered at Lystra, and a cripple man was healed, the people said the gods have come down to the earth. The Holy Spirit in the believer helps you to live supernaturally, one of the ways he does that is to enable you hook up to the supernatural wisdom of God and use it to confound the wisdom of this world.

Another way the Spirit of God enables us to be and act like God is when we allow ourselves to be led by the Spirit. When you are led by God and you are obedient, you of course are living and act as God would. Jesus lived like that. He said I do nothing except I see my Father do them. That was why He said, the works that I do, my Father that dwelleth in me doeth them. Ye are a god, act like one!

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Faith makes us act like God

John 10:34-35

“Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken.”

I said yesterday that faith makes us act like God. Well, the truth is that the believer is declared a god already by God and faith is one of the things that enable us act like Him. If not, what would you call Joshua asking sun and moon to stand still or Peter walking on water or various other examples like that in Scripture.

According to our text above, there is another thing that makes us function like God, it is the word of God. When you take the word of God and begin to speak it, angels, satan, demons, circumstances and situations do not hear you, they hear God speaking and so they have to obey.

Ps 103:20
“Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.”

Notice what the angels hearken unto: the voice of His word and you may be the one voicing that word it does not matter. Who they hear is God speaking not you. So when you take God’s word into our mouth and speak it, you are acting like God, and you are a god.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

All things are possible

With God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26

All things are possible to him who believes. Mark 9:23

In these two passages, we find the same thing that is ascribed to God ascribed to him who believes, and that is, “all things are possible”. To ascribe the same thing to God and a believer, if not that it is clearly stated in the Bible, someone is likely to say that one is blaspheming or ascribing too much to oneself. 
But I am not the one who is ascribing it to the believer it is God Himself. But what does this means to you the believer living by faith? It means through faith, the things that are possible to God are equally possible to you, that believes. Yes, you heard me correctly. THROUGH FAITH, THE THINGS THAT ARE POSSIBLE TO GOD ARE EQUALLY POSSIBLE TO THE ONE WHO BELIEVES!

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” (John 14:12 KJV)

Faith is the channel that makes God’s possibilities available to us. Someone puts it this way: “faith makes us act like God”.

Go out today and act like God over the circumstances of life, for God’s possibilities are available to you.

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Faith and Marriage

1 Corinthians 13:13

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

Marriage is a place you constantly apply faith, in other words you believe in God that brought you and your spouse together that He will keep you both together till either death part you or Jesus comes.

It is also the place where you constantly believe in your spouse. You have to constantly express faith in one another and to one another. 
It is a place that you have to learn to call things that be not in your spouse as though they were and also make confessions based on the word of God regarding whatever the circumstance that is present with you in your marriage. 
When you face challenges in your marriage in whatever area you should see them as opportunities to use your faith to bring a change. Marriage provides a perfect opportunity for people to grow in their faith but rather than couples see their challenges as such they resort to the flesh in resolving such challenges.

Monday, November 2, 2015

Holding your marriage steady!

1 Corinthians 13:13

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

There is another thing about hope; the Scriptures refer to hope as the anchor of the soul. This means hope is that which holds one steady in stormy times. The reason hope can do this is because hope is also defined as a confident expectation that things will be better. 
You can look at your marriage and have hope, a confident expectation that it will be better, that your tomorrow will be better than your today. What this will do to you is that it will hold your marriage steady in good and difficult times.

Now what faith does is this, it takes what you hope for and brings substance to it. It means it gives support to your dreams and expectations. It brings realities to your hopes by putting action to them. 
Let me put it this way: hope is like having a vision and faith is breaking the vision into short and long time goals and action steps to realizing those goals. So, in marriage , if hope says tomorrow will be better in my marriage, faith defines or plans things to do to have a better tomorrow.