Have you ever had the feeling of being stuck at a particular level or season of life when you know there's so much ahead but you can't seem to breakthrough? Today's word is for you.
For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. Isaiah 43:19 NLT
God is a mastermind when it comes to making a way when it seems there is no way. He is called the way maker. Today, He is reassuring us of His word; that he will make a way where there's no way, no matter how uncertain your situation is, regardless of what your wilderness moment. He will also create rivers in dry wasteland. Nothing grows on dry wastelands, no evidence of life, no opportunities and nothing blossoms. God is assuring you in His word that he will create opportunities where there are none, He will make you blossom in the land, space or industry you occupy, He would cause life to spring from that dead situation. However, He requires you to do one thing Isaiah 43:18. He wants you to forget the former things neither consider the old thing.
Pause and have a deep thought! What is that old thing you are holding onto that will not let you access the newness God has promised. Could it be sin, anger, malice, holding onto old ways of doing things, past accomplishments, disobedience to God's word, not discerning God's voice from the voice of man or whatever else it might be, you know it. You need to let go of the past. There's so much victory to be won.
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 KJV
Like Paul, let us press onto the mark of the higher calling of God in Christ Jesus. Don't limit yourself, don't let anything hold you back. Step out and become!
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DON'T BE AFRAID
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Isaiah 41:10 KJV
God's word is so reassuring. God is so intentional with His words. Whenever you look through the scriptures you would always find the perfect word that suits every peculiar situation. In our text God is addressing fear.
Have you ever had a very good execution plan maybe for a project, business, family or life in general and after looking at your plans you get afraid? Or you find yourself in a low place in life that you need to get out of but don't know how to and you get afraid? Or when you think about tomorrow you get afraid because you are unsure of what tomorrow holds and tomorrow scares you? This word is for you; God said you shouldn't be afraid.
Here are some reasons why you shouldn't be afraid:
1. God is with you.
Our God is a good father who would not leave us to face life all by ourselves. Himself has assured you to not be afraid because he is with you. His love is strong and nothing can separate you from Him - Romans 8:38-39
2. He chose you.
Another reason why you shouldn't be afraid is that you have been chosen by God. When you live with the awareness that the almighty God that made all things has you in His thoughts always, you wouldn't be afraid.
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Psalm 8:4 KJV
He has even paid the ultimate price for the soul of mankind by sending Jesus Christ His only begotten son to die for all our sins so that we can be full partakers of His glory.
3. His strength is your strength
You don't have the power of your own, the source of your strength is God and if your strength is God's, how can you be defeated? If God can't be defeated then you can't. Draw strength from God to live a victorious life - Isaiah 40: 31. Let the joy of the Lord be your strength.
4. He will help you
There's grace in abundance at the mercy seat of God, grace to help in time of need.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:16 KJV
When you think you are deficient of help, then you will easily be troubled and afraid. God is always ready to help His children. Make a decision to be His child today if you are not and if you already are by virtue of confessing Jesus as your Lord and saviour, and have accepted Him in your heart, you should approach Him with your needs. If you are yet to accept Jesus, please, make the decision today.
5. You're upheld by the right hand of God's righteousness
The right hand of God's righteousness means that he will deliver His people with His authority and power from the hands of sin, death, shame or whatever might be troubling them. You have the backing of God, fear shouldn't stop you from being who God has called you to be. You shouldn't be weary of life issues neither should you be afraid of tomorrow.
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7 KJV
Go out today and be victorious in Christ.
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We live in a time where there are so many uncertainties; economies of the nations are shaking, inflation is constantly on the rise, standard of living is reducing causing inequality gaps to widen. Thus, there is the need for a strategy and wisdom to live life in this season. Interestingly, nothing that's happening now is new on the surface of the earth, it is often said that "to understand the future one must study the past".
Going back to scripture times, there was a time of uncertainty in the days Elijah lived. God made a provision for him by sending ravens to give him bread in the mornings and evenings while he drank water from the brook of Cherith. This happened until the water dried up because it hadn't rained for a while and God instructed him to go to Zarephath because he had commanded a widow to sustain him (1 kings 17:9). Amusingly, this widow God had prepared for Elijah had almost ran out of supply, she was getting ready to prepare her last meal with her son and await their death since they weren't sure how they were going to survive. The story gets better, she was willing but she had too little to feed herself, her son and Elijah to even talk of sustaining them through the season. Elijah asked her for water and bread upon meeting her (obviously he was hungry) and she said; "As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die"
(vs 12). Elijah told her not to be afraid and assured her of God's promises; "And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah"
(vs 16). They ate for many days and never ran out of food.
Bringing this to our present time, we need to be reassured by the promises of God, He will never leave nor forsake us. From the Bible passage we are studying we can learn some wisdom;
- There is blessing in obedience: God doesn't want any of his children to suffer, so, he is always working things out behind the scene. He gives instructions for us to act upon to live in what he has worked out for us. Disobeying His instructions will always lead to living out of God's will and protection. God had already worked out a protection plan for Elijah, the widow of Zarephath and her son, if any of them had disobeyed they wouldn't have enjoyed the blessings of God for them. Don't live based on trends and others dictate. Find out what God wants you to do, follow His instructions and you will enjoy God's blessings.
- Your breakthrough is in your hands: A lot of people have plans but are afraid of executing them because they are looking at their resources as not being enough. What you have in your hand is a seed, when you plant seeds they grow and become ready for harvest. Your seed can be anything money, time, ideas etc. Your soil can be a business, self development, partnership, and so on. Understand what God has placed in your hands, look for the right soil and plant your seeds, don't eat them. The widow risked her seed, got into a deal with Elijah by doing as she was instructed and they all enjoyed the harvest. May God bless us with wisdom. Amen.
In conclusion, God has given us grace to win in life; through good and bad times we can always win. He has already done His part, the rest is left for us to do. We need to constantly apply God's wisdom in every area of our lives to enjoy the blessings that accompany them.
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The basis for experiencing God is in trusting and obeying Him. You can only obey who you trust and trust whom you can depend on. To know how dependable God is, you must have followed His way and obeyed His instructions. Human wisdom is good but it is limited. A large percentage of our daily activities are usually filled with decision making. We make decisions at work, home, school, church, while commuting, any and every where we find ourselves. Wrong decisions acted upon can cost us time, resources, relationships, business deals, or career growth.
Today's passage, Proverbs 3:5-6 encourages us to trust in God with all our heart and not to lean on our own understanding. A little break down on verse five.
- Trust God with all your heart: We are not to partially trust God and trust some other things. Wealth, abilities, networks or anything else one can likely trust in can fail. We are to put our total trust in God. God is dependable (Isa 40:31, Psalm 20:7)
- Do not lean on your understanding: We can't tell how tomorrow will be. Nobody knows except the one who owns tomorrow. God is the creator of times and seasons, he knows the end of a thing from its beginning (Isa 46:9-10). We are to align our hearts with God's heart, know what He is saying about anything we plan to do and know His mind concerning the matter.
Verse six, says "In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths". Take all your plans to God and let Him show you the way to go on the matter. God is not supposed to be the last resort, he should come first in everything. What happens is that people go to God when they have tried all other options without results. You can save time when you consider God's way first on any matter, you would avoid troubles and a lot of issues.
As you go about your day, remember to put God first. Ask God if your ideas, decisions or plans are in alignment with His will, if they are right and how to go about them.
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The human mind is so powerful such that with our imaginations we can birth new ideas and solve complex problems. When God gave man the mandate to rule and dominate over the earth (Gen 1:28), He commissioned us with a creative tool to accomplish this task, thus the reason for all the amazing innovation you can see around you.
The mind is so powerful that it can determine one's outcome in life. If a person thinks that he would not succeed at something, even if he is given the best support, such a person would find that they are struggling. Another person can be in the worst situation but has a belief that if he keeps trying, things will get better and in the long run things begins to work out for them. We attract to ourselves what we believe in our hearts. Winning in life is a mindset thing.
If you think you'll win, you would and if you think you wouldn't, you won't.
You have the best support to succeed in life. God's word makes us understand that nothing can be against us if God is for us.
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? - Romans 8:31 KJV
Guess what? God is on your side and nothing can stop you from actualising your dreams. Step out everyday knowing you have the backing of your father in heaven. Embrace the winning mentality. You are more than a conqueror! Also remember that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you (Philippians 4:13 ).
Keep winning!
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The journey of life can be a long and tiring walk if after a long period of time one doesn't see expected rewards for their labour. Most times, the reason why this could be so is because of lack of a path or direction in life. Consider a scenario where you are in an unfamiliar city and you need to get to somewhere within the city and you don't know your way there, what do you do? You ask for directions to your destination. You can either ask a person who knows the way to the place or use technology (Google map or any other technologies) to find your way there.
This scenario is what happens in life. Most people don't have definite direction in life. Those that do are navigating through life without asking the source of life for directions and the path to follow. Ecclesiastes 10:15 gives us an understanding of why people will get tired of their life's work. The writer describes such people as fools for a reason; "because they do not know how to go to the city". What does this even mean? It means that these people work without a clear direction; they don't have a plan.
When you work with a predefined goal set, it becomes much more easier to get results than a person who just works for the sake of it. However, having a plan is not enough; your plans have to be in alignment with God's plan for your life.
"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he shall direct thy paths."
Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV
You are not wiser than the one that made you. Putting your visions, dreams, plans or goal into the hands of God secures you from working in vain. He will direct your paths and you won't make mistakes if you follow Him.
Trust God today, put your plans in His hands and see your path shine bright daily.
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There is one common trouble people face in their life journey; it is the weariness of not having everything they want when they desire them. Timing has always been the reason for people wanting to get things too quickly in order not to "have what they desire late". People want to be successful, get married, have kids, live their best lives, et al. Most times, these pressures are usually from external sources than self created. However, the design of things have been for things to happen in their seasons. For example, when you see Harmattan in July if you live in Africa you know it is abnormal, because it came out before its season.
God is the maker of times and seasons and He has everything figured out in His time. God can never be late. So, instead of worrying why things aren't happening, why not prepare for that breakthrough to come so that when it comes you would know how to handle your blessings and not misuse them. To put it in context, if you are expecting a car, why not get a car license (if you don't have) or learn how to drive (if you can't). Start preparing for that next role or promotion at work by getting the required skills and certification to succeed there. Start preparing for your baby, your spouse, whatever it is you are expecting start preparing for your breakthrough. Breakthroughs can also be delayed because the recipients are not ready for them. So, get ready for your breakthrough.
God is never late! He has you in His heart, He knows just exactly what you need. Hold on to His word and live daily believing that He has done just what you have asked.
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Have you noticed that people who have been mostly considered wise or strategist in our world all through history till date are people who have found ways to outplay others? Really, think about it; from sociopolitical, economic, corporate spheres down to individual relationships, you would see what James calls the wisdom of this world.
The wisdom of this world is birthed from a place of envy, bitterness, strife, vain glory and hypocrisy. Those who live life by these are driven by the desire to outsmart another person or group of persons, living a life of falsehood thereby becoming elements of chaos wherever they are.
Who then should actually be considered wise or endowed with wisdom? It is one who conducts their actions through gentleness and humility regardless of one's status.
"Who among you is wise and intelligent? Let him by his good conduct show his [good] deeds with the gentleness and humility of true wisdom."
James 3:13 AMP
This is the wisdom from above. Your status, affluence, knowledge, network or power should not be used to oppress others but should be used to help others. When you sense in heart that you're envious about another person or in strife, do not pride yourself about it. Don't make decisions from that state of mind so as not to hurt another.
"But the wisdom from above is always pure, filled with peace, considerate and teachable. It is filled with love and never displays prejudice or hypocrisy in any form"
James 3:17 TPT
May God help us all to live by Godly wisdom in Jesus name. Amen
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It would interest you to know that humans have successfully mastered how to tame wild animals such that we can find them in zoos, some people even have them as pets disregarding how dangerous they can be. There are people who even go as far as calling them friends. However, humans find it difficult to tame a small part of their body, even though little, yet so powerful; people are yet to be masters in taming their tongue.
There are people today who are serving jail terms for their wrong use of words, some friends who can't see eye to eye because of the wrong use of words, some who have delayed their blessings because of the things they have said. If our tongue can be this powerful, everyone needs to develop a mastery of its usage. In verse six of our text, James calls the tongue a fire that sets on fire the course of nature. Jesus, while responding to the Pharisees when they accused His disciples of not following the tradition before eating said it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles the body but what comes out of it (Matthew 5:11). So how do you use your mouth? What do you let out of your mouth, curse or blessings, lies or truth, exhortation or condemnation?
Here are ways you can brittle your tongue;
- Saturate your heart with God's word so that you would be equipped with the right words no matter the situation (Matthew 12:34b).
- Speak life always; you need to constantly remind yourself that the power of life and death is in your tongue (Proverbs 18:21). When tempted to speak negatively, fight back by speaking life.
- Be conscious because every idle statement made would be accounted for on the judgment day (Matthew 12:36). Jesters, mockers, gossips, backbiters need to be conscious of this.
We are all work in progress and we have to keep working towards perfection. As believers we need to take advantage of the tools God has given to us so that when the need arises we are ready to pull from our reservoir and act as Christ would want us to.
“Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” - Colossians 4:6.
Stay blessed!
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HOW TO BUILD FAITH (PART 2)
"Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Mark 11:24 KJV
In the last post, it was established that one way to build faith is to fill up your heart with the word of God, filtering out what you hear and giving yourself to the study of God's word. In this post, we would look at another way that we can build faith which is through prayer. Prayer is a two way communication between you and God. When you pray God hears and responds to your prayers.
Praying with a desire in your heart and believing that your desire will be met in accordance with God's word is called the prayer of faith. The important ingredient in the prayer of faith is your belief in God's ability to do whatever you ask in the name of Jesus. "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." - Hebrews 11:6 KJV
Doubt is the opposite of faith. When you pray you don't need to bother yourself how it will be answered, your job is to believe that it is done and leave the rest for God to do.
You can activate faith in prayer by praying in the holy ghost. "But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost," - Jude 1:20 KJV. Praying in the spirit helps to deal with the unbelief that might come when you pray things that your mind thinks are impossible to be solved.
God is dependable, there is nothing impossible for him to do, always remember this.
God bless you.
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16 May 2017