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God always wins the Power Encounters

All through the Bible, we see God’s people coming up against opposition and faced with situations you might refer to as a ‘Power Encounter’. A Power Encounter is a face-off, a battle or contest much like a gun-slinging match where the winner takes all. The devil is of course no match for God. When he was kicked out of heaven, Jesus said he fell like lightning (Luke.10:18). This means when Lucifer fell, it happened in the blink of an eye and very quickly because the devil was, is and will never be a match for God.

However, because Adam handed his authority to the devil through the fall, the enemy has authority over the earth and is known as the god of this world and the prince of the power of the air (Luke.4:6, 2.Cor.4:4, Eph.2:2). Thank God Jesus came, took the authority back and we can walk in the authority Adam lost because we are now sitted with Christ in Heavenly places (Eph2:6) and sitted with him who is above all principality, powers and every thing named in Heaven, on earth and under the earth ( Eph.1:21, Phil.2:10, Matt.28:18). Before Jesus came, the people of God could exercise authority through their covenant with God. So we see through the Bible that the devil opposed and contested against God’s people because he stole earth’s dominion from Adam. One of such Power Encounters came when Joseph interpreted Pharoah’s dreams when the magicians, astrologers and sorcerers of Egypt could not. God proved through Joseph that he is the God of Divine Wisdom who knew the future and had the solution to problems of Egypt and World Economies (Gen.41:14-57).

There was another Power Encounter between Moses and the Magicians of Egypt in the book of Exodus. Aaron’s rod was thrown on the floor and it became a serpent and the magicians did the same but Aaron’s serpent swallowed all the serpents of the magicians (Ex.7:9-12). God used Moses and Aaron to work the miracles of the first two plagues of turning the Nile river into blood and frogs coming on the land of Egypt and the magicians replicated both miracles (Ex.7:22, Ex.8:7). However, God put a stop to their antics and showed them who is Boss and the superior by stopping them from reproducing the plague of lice on the land (Ex.8:16-18). The magicians could not replicate this miracle nor any of the other plagues because God is superior and God proved to be the winner in this Power Encounter.

Another Power Encounter occurred between Elijah and the prophets of Baal in 1.Kings.18 where Elijah put out a challenge to the prophets of Baal about the God who answers by consuming the sacrifice with fire as the real God. The challenge was really about verse 21 where Elijah challenged the people by asking the people why they faltered between two opinions and that if God is God, the people should serve Him and if Baal, then they should serve Baal (1.Kings.18:21). Of course, God answered by fire and consumed the sacrifice after the prophets of Baal had cried to their god from morning until noon without an answer and this made the people acknowledge that the Lord is God (1.Kings.18:22:38). This is the reason for a Power Encounter; To prove that our God is the true God, Jesus is truly the Real Thing, not Coca-Cola!!!!

We see another instance of a Power Encounter in the story involving Barnabas, Paul, Sergius Paulus and Elymas the Sorcerer in the book of Acts 13. Elymas tried to prevent Sergius Paulus from receiving the Gospel and getting saved and Saul of Tarsus pronounced God’s judgement of blindness for a season upon Elymas which led to the Governor’s salvation (Acts.13:6-12). The purpose of the Power Encounter in this instance is the salvation of the Roman Governor in Paphos. When Power encounters occur they are to glorify God and bring people to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus.

There are other examples of Power Encounters in the Bible such as Daniel against the Magicians and astrologers of Babylon, The ark of God against Dagon of the Philistines and the God of Hezekiah against the Assyrian gods of Sennacherib. In every Power Encounter, the God of Israel, our Lord God, came out trumps in every battle. The song we sing – “Our God is greater” is always true. Our God is truly higher than any other and the name of Jesus is truly greater than any other name. They that are with us are more than they that be with them (2.Kings.6:16). Amen

God Will Either Take You Through or Take You Over

David says in the Book of Psalms.18:29 that God enabled him to run through a troop and leap over the wall. In this verse, we see two ways God works. One takes time and effort while the other takes a sudden moment. To run through a troop means there will be a battle, you will come against opposition trying to stop you. You might even suffer some scars, slashes and stripes from the battle but God will still take you through. Whereas, if you leap over a wall, you scale, jump over and surmount the obstacle in one, two or a few movements. Running through a troop will take a longer time than scaling a wall. Depending on how many soldiers make up the troop you are facing will determine how long it takes to defeat them and run through them. If we compare this to leaping over a wall, the amount of time to scale the wall will depend on how high the wall is but when it is God giving you the supernatural ability to leap over the wall, it really won’t take that long to jump over the wall no matter how high and thick the wall might be. So, I would like to define running through a troop as the battle or good fight of faith we have to engage in so we can experience the victory and leaping over the wall are the sudden turn of events, instant miracles, signs and wonders and Divine Interventions from Heaven. We need eyes to see what God is doing especially when we are believing Him for something. Are we running through a troop or is He causing us to leap over a wall.

When we consider various examples in the Bible, we see God moving in these two different ways in different people’s lives in the Word. When we consider the life of Abraham and Sarah as they trusted God for a child, we see they had to wait for 25 years before the promised child arrived. Abraham was 75 years old when God called him in Genesis 12:4 and told him to leave Haran and head for the promised land. God promised Abram his seed will be as the stars of heaven in Genesis 15:5 and they will be as numerous as the dust of the earth in Gen.13:16. In adding substance to this promise made to Abram, God changed his name to Abraham in Genesis.17:5 which means Father of many nations. Abraham had to keep holding on to the pictures of his seed becoming as numerous as the sand, as much as the stars in the sky and in his new name – Abraham – Father of many nations. Can you imagine how many battles Abraham and Sarah would have fought for 25 years while they were waiting for the child to come. You can almost understand why they made the mistake in Genesis 16 when Sarai gave Hagar to Abram and the result was Ishmael. This was part of the troop they had to go through. Eventually, we are told Abraham believed God, was not weak in faith, did not consider his own body as dead, nor the deadness of Sarah’s womb, did not stagger at the promise of God through unbelief, was strong in faith giving glory to God, was fully persuaded God was able to fulfil the promise and was able to perform what He had spoken (Rom.4:17-21) and the result was Isaac in Genesis.21:1-5. So we see a 25 year process from the Promise to the Fulfilment. You could say Abraham and Sarah had to run through a troop and battle doubt, unbelief, disappointment, ridicule, mockery and shame until the promise was fulfilled. This does not mean when we are believing God for a promise, it will take 25 years but the principle here is that it might not be instant. It might take time for the answer to prayer or for the promise or evidence to come into full physical manifestation. We might also think about Joseph who received the dream of rising to prominence when he was a teen-ager, was sold into slavery at 17 and did not become Prime-Minister of Egypt until he was 30. We can also refer to David who was anointed by Samuel as a teen-ager too, killed Goliath when he was about 16 or 17, became the King over Judah at 23 and the King of Israel at 30. So for David too, the promise took some years to come into full fruition and these examples can be likened to going through a troop.

In thinking about leaping over walls, there are many examples of God showing up suddenly and doing instant miracles in the lives of His people from Genesis right through to Revelation. The person who displayed the suddenlies of God the most is the Lord Jesus himself. He turned water into wine, he opened blind eyes, unstopped deaf ears, made the dumb speak, cast out demons, healed the lame, raised the dead, walked on water, cleansed the lepers, multiplied the loaves and healed all manner of sickness. These are examples of leaping over a wall. Apart from the Lord Jesus in the New Testament, there are other examples of God using His people to perform suddenlies in the Old testament. Moses was used by God to heal the waters of Marah where He revealed Himself as Jehovah Rapha (Ex.15:25-26), Elijah experienced fire falling from heaven on more than one occasion, Elijah raised the dead and outran a chariot, Elisha was used by God make an axe head swim, to feed 100 men with 20 loaves that were multiplied (2.Kings.4:43-44). Elisha also raised the dead on two occasions; one during his life-time and one after his death (2.Kings.13:21). God used His Apostles and servants to carry out many miraculous acts. Peter and John healed the lame man at the gate called Beautiful, Peter raised Dorcas from the dead, Philip cast out devils, healed the sick and lame, Paul also cast out devils, raised Eutycus from the dead, healed the lame man in Lystra and the prison doors flew open because of an earthquake that came about as Paul and Silas sang in their prison cell. So we see, all these miracles happening suddenly and can be referred to as leaping over a wall because they happened instantly.

In conclusion, we must not forget that whether God moves by taking us through a troop and causing us to leap over a wall, both are still miracles and both are legitimate and are both as valid. God chooses how He moves and when He moves. We have no control over these. We can pray in faith and believe God to move and answer instantly but when He does not move instantly (Leaping over a wall), then we must be willing to go the long haul (Running through a Troop) even if it means holding on for 25 years like Abraham. The Late Reverend Kenneth Hagin said “If you are willing to stand forever, you won’t be standing very long”.

Tanzania Mission August 2025

Friday, 8th of August: I set off from Manchester Airport with Ike Ekwueme, my protege from Manchester whom I have known for 9 years. He agreed to come on the Mission to Mwanza, Tanzania hosted by Pastor John Pascal Kisubi of Awakening Impact Ministries. While we were checking in our luggage in Manchester, we experienced a little hold up. Ike had been very friendly and jovial with the Airport official. He pulled Ike up about the name on his passport being in a slightly different order to the appearance on his ticket. He proceeded to check with his manager and came back with a serious and grave look on his face. While he was checking the passport with his Superior, I asked Ike to pray in tongues and ask God for favour. Well, after the official came back, I was trying to explain the picture was consistent with the person standing in front of the official, at which stage, the official burst into laughter, claiming he was having us on as payback for Ike’s jokes – Drama!!! But praise God we were not made to pay to get another ticket or turned away.

Saturday, the 9th of August: We arrived at Addis Ababa Airport in the early hours of Saturday and were due to leave just after 8am in the morning but we were delayed by nearly an hour as one of the passengers passed out and medical staff had to be brought on board before we took off. I was asleep just as the drama unfolded but Ike woke me up and asked me to pray as the doctors and nurses tried to resuscitate the patient. The doctors and nurses were doing their thing and Ike and I were praying. I could see some people did not quite know what to make of us as they gave us weird looks but praise God the passenger revived and did not require evacuation from the flight. Praise God for another eventful day. We arrived at Dar-es-Salaam in the afternoon and caught our connecting flight to Mwanza at 9pm. We were welcomed by Pastor John, Pastor Lamech, Pastor Bernard and Darmian the driver.

Sunday, 10th of August – We visited Pastor John’s Church, Awakening Impact Ministries, in Igwambiti, Mwanza. We had a great meeting as representatives from 4 football teams who were due to feature in the tournament visited the Church. The Pastor asked me to do a Rap and I performed a JESUS rap which is a the first rap song I ever wrote. It always goes down well as it can be performed ‘ACAPELLA’ style with a lot of audience participation. Ike also introduced himself and gave a testimony about how God opened up the door for him to study in America through a Football Scholarship. I preached and about 25-30 footballers gave their hearts to the Lord. Praise God!!! Just after the service, we had a conversation with the Pastors and they showed us the foundation of the prospective New Building. I was led to pray and prophesy Zech.4:7-8 over the Church Foundation. Later in the afternoon, we had 2 matches and I spoke at half-time for the first game and just before the start of the 2nd game.

Monday, 11th of August – We visited the Light of Salvation Church in Shibula, Mwanza. This Church is Pastored by Pastor Lamech Noah, who is a friend of Pastor John. Pastor Lamech was particularly encouraged by a Phrase I mentioned during my preach entitled “New Level, New Devil” as it really spoke into the situation the Church has endured recently. A lot of Church members were blessed and encouraged by this word as well.

Tuesday, 12th of August: We had 2 sessions of teaching at the same Church as Monday. I spoke at the first one and Ike spoke at the second session. The people were blessed and encouraged by both sessions that they left dancing and rejoicing as they left the meeting. The Pastor claimed he had been re-energized by our ministry. We were able to counsel and fellowship with the Pastors in between Ministry times.

Wednesday, 13th of August: We visited a Branch of Awakening Impact Ministries in a place called Chamwenda Kaburi Moja. This branch is Pastored by Pastor Bernard George who is Pastor John’s Cousin. I spoke at the Church and shared a Prophetic word from Ecc.11:5 – A word God had given me on our way for someone who He would show me when I get to Tanzania. After, the service, we went to the local football field to introduce ourselves to the football teams. We were well received and thanked by the players. We were also asked to provide some football jerseys for the players.

Thursday, 14th of August: Ike spoke at the Evening Service at the same Church as Wednesday. God gave me another prophetic Word from Isaiah.54:5 for another person and the person confirmed the Word resonated with them. Ike preached very well again on the Thursday. After the service, we went over to the footballers where I performed a Rap and shared the Gospel briefly with the young men and some bystanders. We were appreciated again by the players and reminded of the football jerseys. After the game, I met a young man by the name of George which fanned the flame of a joke. My surname and the Pastor’s is both George while this young man was called George. I introduced him to the Pastor who intends to follow him up and he is only round the corner from his house.

Friday, 15th of August: This was an eventful day as we had to use the rikshaw/trike because the hired car was faulty. We were back in the main church at Igwambiti. The Trike got stuck 5 minutes away from the intended destination as the roads were far from smooth. I preached and a Prophetic word from Isa.49:15-16 was confirmed. We had dinner at Pastor John’s and we travelled back to the hotel we were staying on Motorbikes and a Trike.

Saturday, 16th of August: We were back at the main church on Saturday again. Ike spoke and the meeting went very well. The car had been repaired, so it took us back to the hotel. We caught a glimpse of the night market as went back to the hotel. God had been giving us opportunities at the hotel as I had the opportunity to pray for a staff member regarding some problems in their family. I also had an opportunity to witness to a drunk individual at the hotel who wandered over to us. Ike also had opportunities to speak to some young people who noticed his book “Virgin with a Vision”. He introduced them to me and I was able to share the word with them.

Sunday, 17th of August: We were ministering at the main church again. I did some rapping and Ike did some Spoken Word. I spoke and a dear brother gave his heart to the Lord. Some footballers who had given their hearts to the Lord the previous Sunday came to church which was very encouraging. We had lunch at Pastor John’s place before going for the matches. We saw the third place game and the final and I spoke after the third place game and at the end of the final. Monetary Prizes were presented to the 3rd and 2nd placed teams. The trophy for the winner of the tournament was a Billy Goat. The final ended on 88 minutes as a fight broke out because someone was trying to use witchcraft against the winning team. The match was abandoned but awarded to the winning team at the time of the stoppage in play. I spoke about how the Gospel brings peace as Jesus came to reconcile us to God by dying on the Cross and peace through Jesus will lead to peace with God and with one another. The football had made a significant impact on the Community as there were between 400 – 500 people present who heard the Gospel.

The Overall Impact of the Football Outreach

God gave me a Word of Wisdom through the Holy-Spirit on the 10th of July to ask Pastor John if the young men like football in Tanzania and if we could do a Football Outreach. We were going to engage in Door-to-Door or Street Evangelism but God gave us a Golden Key to the Community – Football!!! Pastor John really ran with the vision and organized a Tournament, buying the footballs, hiring a referee (Who had proper Red and Yellow Cards) and even a commentator!!! The politicians tried to piggy back on the tournament and campaign but they were not given the permission. The Chairman of the village featured as Guest of Honour and the tournament affected the whole village. The event brought the traditional beliefs of the teams to the fore such as charms and witchcraft which we witnessed. The Pastor testified the church was more famous than when it was started 2 years before because of the impact of the Tournament.

Monday, 18th of August: We went sight-seeing with Pastors Peter, Lamech, Solomon and Bernard. We went into the main City Centre and had a Boat ride on Lake Victoria. Pastor John did not come with us because the winning team were paying him a visit in the afternoon. About 40 members of the winning team visited Pastor John and informed him of their intention to visit the church the following Sunday. They also invited him to their Victory Celebration scheduled for the following Saturday where they will have their winning goat with some rice. Pastor John believes there will be fruit from our Gospel Outreach on the football pitch. Praise God.

Tuesday 19th of August: We were due to fly from Mwanza Airport just before 1pm but you guessed it – Not without one final piece of drama. As we were checking in, we were told our ticket had been changed and we had to go to the Sales and Ticketing office. It turned out that our flight was an hour earlier than the stipulated time on our tickets. I prayed in tongues while Ike worshipped and praised God for over half an hour but we were given passage according to the Favour of the Lord, Halleluyah!!!. Praise God our flight was smooth from then on and we got back safely. Praise God.

It is God Who Increases Greatness

I don’t know how you feel about the word greatness and whether it’s something you will readily accept if it was bestowed upon you. In our Western Culture and particularly in certain sections of reserved or reformed Christianity, greatness is not something people readily receive but Psalm 71:21 might have something different to say about that. This Psalm says it’s God who will increase David’s greatness and give him rest on every side. If you personalise this scripture and receive it for yourself, you could say It’s God who will increase your greatness and comfort you on every side. I certainly receive it in Jesus’ Name, Amen!!!!! God wants to increase my greatness and comfort me on every side. If every person were to be honest with themselves and look within, they would admit their very being cries out for greatness because we were made by God to do great things for him in this life and for others (Dan.11:32 KJV). Here is a question to ask though – Is greatness wrong? Is it good to seek greatness?? My answer would be, well, let’s examine what God says about greatness in His Word.

We started with Ps.71:21 which tells us about David’s declaration about God increasing his greatness. If David could declare this, then we can declare this too if we apply Romans.15:4 that the scriptures were written for our learning and through the comfort and encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. What hope does the scripture give? I believe the hope the scriptures give is that what God has done for David, Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Daniel, Esther, Paul and Jesus can happen to us as well if we believe as they did. So if David, says it’s God who increases greatness and comforts him on every side, I can declare that scripture too and expect God to increase my greatness and comfort me on every side.

David was not the only one to experience greatness in the Bible. God bestowed greatness on numerous characters in the Bible but I want to look out three examples from the scriptures in this blog. God said to Abraham when he was still Abram in Gen.12:2 that He would bless him and make his name great. If you look at the definition of greatness in other versions, it makes for very interesting interpretations of the meaning of that word. Great Name is translated as “Famous” in the New Living Translation, “Exalted and Distinguished” in the Amplified Bible and “Respected” in the Common English Bible. So God was willing to make Abraham’s name famous, exalted, distinguished and respected. God did fulfil this promise and by changing ‘Abram’ to ‘Abraham’, which means Father of many Nations (Gen.17:5) and he is also known as the Friend of God (2.Chron.20:7, Jam.2:23).

Apart from Abraham, God also showered His greatness on Isaac. The Bible tells us in Genesis 26:13, that God made Isaac wax great, go forward and become very great. There are many words used for greatness in the various translations of the Bible. These words include riches, wealth, prosperity and success. God bestowed greatness on Isaac by increasing the riches, wealth, prosperity and success in his life. We can trust and believe God to increase the riches, wealth, prosperity and success in our lives for His glory. We can believe God for these provided we understand that we are blessed to be a blessing as God said to Abraham (Gen.12:2). When God increases our greatness by blessing us materially, it is so that we can be a blessing.

Another Scripture to consider in thinking about Greatness is found in Psalm.18:35 where David says God’s gentleness has made him great. In understanding what David is talking about here, we see that the Amplified Bible reveals gentleness as the phrase “Stoop Down”. It says in the Amplified that God stoops down in gentleness to answer David’s prayer and that very act of stooping down leads to greatness in David’s life. The Good News Bible uses the word “Care” instead of gentleness. God cares for us, sustains us, nurtures and nourishes us and the very care God provides leads us to greatness. No one knows how to deal with us, encourage us, motivate, encourage, inspire, correct, mould, fill and shape us into what He has called us to like God because He is the potter and we are the clay and the work of His Hands whom He has prepared to walk in the very works He prepared for us before time began ( Isa.64:8, Eph.2:10).

So let us surrender to His Greatness and let him work out His greatness in us to be the vessels of greatness He has created us to be for if we believe in the Lord Jesus, greater works will we do than He did according to John.14:12.

Released into Ministry through Separation.

Different people can be released into the Ministry God has for them in different ways. This could come through being a pioneer like Abraham and Moses who had Divine Encounters with God and God called them through His Voice (Gen.12) or through the Open Vision of the Burning Bush (Ex.3:1-4). Some are released into the Ministry God has for them through Ministerial Succession such as Joshua in ( Deut.34:9) and Elisha (2.Kings.2:1-15). Others are nominated and chosen from among the people or congregation such as the 7 Deacons in Acts.6:1-7 while others come into a godly inheritance by virtue of their birth such as the Levites in the Old Testament.

However, in this blog, I want to examine an unusual way one can be released into Ministry through Separation by looking closely at Acts.15:39-40. Barnabas and Saul, who later became the Apostle Paul, were separated to the Ministry God had for them as they fasted and prayed in Acts.13:2. Barnabas and Saul separated from other group of Prophets and Teachers in Antioch to embark on the Apostolic Ministry God had for them. This Ministry trip led them to take the Gospel to Salamis, Paphos in Cyprus, Perga of Pamphylia, Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe of Galatia. So they were separated into Ministry through the Prophetic Word from the Holy Ghost.

In Acts.15:36, Paul suggested visiting all the churches and congregations in the different cities they had preached and established churches. Barnabas wanted to take John Mark who was his nephew but had deserted them before on a previous mission trip in Acts.13:13. Paul was not keen on taking a “Deserter” with him on another mission trip but Barnabas saw otherwise. The Bible tells us this led to a disagreement between the Apostles that it led to them parting ways and going in opposite directions (Acts.15:39). So, disagreements and church or ministry splits are nothing new!!! They happened in the Bible among such Super Apostles we so highly regard. I personally believe, it was time for Paul to launch out on his own and be the sole leader of his own team or ministry. Barnabas had been Saul’s Mentor who took him under his wing and recommended him when other disciples were afraid of him (Acts.9:26-27). Barnabas was the one who went to seek Saul in Tarsus and bring him to Antioch where they taught and discipled people so much they were called Christians for the first time (Acts.11:25-26). Barnabas mentored and nurtured Paul to the point where they were referred to as Prophets and Teachers in Acts 13. However, a time came in Acts 13 when the Mentee or Apprentice overtook his Mentor and Teacher. This happened when a power encounter was dealt with by Saul who became Paul in Acts 13:6-12. From this point on, Paul was mentioned before Barnabas. The address changed from Barnabas and Saul to Paul and Barnabas. This is significant in the Culture of the time as the more senior or more prominent figure is mentioned first. This is further highlighted in Acts.14:12 as Paul is referred to as the Chief Speaker. The Chief Speaker is usually the Leader of the Group. Indeed, it was Paul who made the suggestion in Acts.15:36 for them to visit all the congregations in the cities they had preached. I believe that Paul, now being the leader, had come to the stage where he had to fully come out from under Barnabas’ shadow. Barnabas was the initial mentor after all and he was a great encourager, his name means the Son of Encouragement, he was all about encouragement and even though Paul was the leader, Barnabas was not going to forfeit an opportunity to mentor someone who had failed like John Mark for 3 reasons.

1. John Mark was his nephew.
2. Barnabas was an Encourager and will not pass up another opportunity to Mentor someone else.
3. Barnabas believed in Paul when no one else would so why not give John Mark the same opportunity.

Barnabas was also a strong leader but it was time for Saul known as Apostle Paul to become fully independent. Paul took Silas and they embarked on the 2nd and 3rd Missionary journeys to Turkey, Macedonia and Greece. Barnabas took John Mark to begin a fresh Mentoring Project. It was time for Paul to be released into an Apostolic Ministry with him at the helm and it happened through the disagreement with Barnabas.

God, however, had a plan for John Mark and God brought good out of this separation because through Barnabas’ mentorship John Mark became more useful in the Kingdom. He wrote the Gospel account of the Life of Jesus as narrated by the Apostle Peter to give us the Book of Mark. If Barnabas had not shown faith in John Mark and mentored him like he did with Paul maybe we will not have the Book of Mark today?? Church history also tells us that John Mark ended up taking the Gospel to Egypt and founded the Church of Alexandria. He established Christianity in Alexandria and the surrounding areas. Most of all, there was reconciliation between the Apostle Paul and John Mark as we see in 2.Tim.4:11 where Paul requested for Mark because he was useful to him, Philemon.1:24 where he calls him a fellow labourer and John Mark receives Paul’s recommendation in Col.4:10.

So, let us be open to the Lord in the different ways in which people are released into Ministry. As shared above, it could be through being a Pioneer, receiving a Prophetic Word or Vision directly from God, Impartation and laying of hands, Nomination or Recommendation, Ministerial Succession or being Separated in one of the ways discussed above. Blessings

Demise versus Destiny

There seems to be a recurring theme in the Bible of someone experiencing a demise and another person rising to take their place in what could be termed as a moment of destiny. The first example that springs to mind is Saul and David. Saul had been chosen to be King of Israel when the Israelites requested for a King even though God did not want them to have a King initially (1.Sam.1:6-7). Saul started well enough as a King but when he disobeyed God with regards to offering sacrifice when he was not supposed to in 1.Sam.13:1-14 and did not destroy Agag the King of the Amalekites in 1.Sam.15, God revealed through Samuel that He had found his replacement in David – a man after God’s heart (1.Sam.13:14, Acts.13:22). Saul’s demise and downfall presented David with the opportunity to fulfil his destiny as the King of Israel. It was God’s intention to establish Saul’s Kingdom over Israel forever (1.Sam.13:13) but his disobedience and rebellion shifted that plan over to David’s dynasty (2.Sam.7:12-16). This should make us careful and make sure we do not rebel against God and disobey his call or our demise could mean someone else’s destiny.

Another example from the Bible is that of Queen Vashti who was succeeded by Queen Esther in the Book of Esther chapters 1-2. Queen Vashti was the Queen of King Xerxes of Persia. Persia was the most powerful nation of that era and could be considered as the World Super Power of the time. Queen Vashti is the equivalent of the First lady of a World Leader today. King Xerxes wanted to display her beauty to his guests and dignitaries as he was very proud of his Queen. Vashti refused to come and disobeyed the King’s request to show off her beauty to the then world. Her disobedience, dishonour and defiance was not taken very well by the King who removed her from her position and sought a replacement. His search led to the appointment of Esther as Queen. Queen Vashti’s demise was an opportunity of destiny for Esther. It turned out she was God’s choice of providence. She was chosen for such a time as that (Est.4:14). God raised Esther up to deliver the Jews and prevent the mass genocide of the nation of Israel. Vashti’s demise was the opportunity for Esther’s destiny to be fulfilled.

Another example to consider with regards to this notion is that of Haman and Mordecai also found in the Book of Esther. Haman was the Second in Command to King Xerxes. He was mad at the Jews because Mordecai refused to bow down and worship him. Haman was not going to stop with dealing with Mordecai alone but he devised an evil plan to destroy Mordecai’s nation – The Jews!!!. In a dramatic turn of events, the King could not sleep one night and asked for the Chronicles of the Kings to be brought to him. The King discovered that Mordecai had been instrumental in preventing an assassination attempt on his life. The King asked if Mordecai was rewarded for uncovering the murder attempt. The King therefore called Haman and asked him what he would do for the person the King intends to honour. Haman stupidly thought it was him and suggested the person be given the King’s used clothes, be put on a horse with people shouting “This is what will be done to the person King intends to honour”. The King then asked Haman to do all his suggestions for Mordecai and he was to be the one shouting “This is what will happen to the person the King chooses to honour”. Eventually, Haman ended up being hung on a noose he had prepared for Mordecai and Mordecai eventually took his place as the King’s Second in Command. Haman’s demise presented destiny to Mordecai (Est.6-8).

There are other examples in the Bible of someone’s removal presenting another with an opportunity to fulfil destiny such as Eli’s household and Samuel, the Persian officials and Daniel, Judas and Matthias and John Mark and Silas.

Let us make sure we are not the ones falling away because of disobedience and rebellion but rather be like David who was a man after God’s heart. We should be like Esther who arose for such a time as this and be like Mordecai who served humbly, mentored Esther and recognised the destiny and providence of God. Amen.

2025 is the Year to Soar

I believe the Prophetic Word that God has given me for 2025 is that it is a year to Soar. The main scripture God laid on my heart is the famous verse about the Eagle in the Bible which is Isaiah 40:30-31 which says the youths men may faint and be weary and the young men may utterly fall but those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength, they will mount with wings as eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they walk and not faint. This is the year to mount up with wings as Eagles and Soar. Just like God says in the book of proverbs for the sluggard or lazy to go and learn from the ant in Proverbs.6:6-8, so God told me to go and learn more about the Eagle so I can understand what He is wanting to do in 2025. So here are 7 facts I found out about the Eagle and I will highlight three out of the seven facts:

1. Eagles fly alone.
2. Eagles have clear 20/20 Vision.
3. Eagles never eat dead things.
4. Eagles love the storm.
5. Eagles force their eaglets to fly by stirring the nest
6. Eagles test the power of commitment before it mates
7. Eagles love the painful process.

The first point to highlight is point number 7 – The fact that Eagles love the painful process. This actual process is based on our golden text which is what God wants to fulfil in our lives this year. If we are to soar to the heights God has for us, we have to be willing to go through the painful process. God spoke to me saying revisit the Eagle because that is what I am going to do in your life in 2025. So in thinking about Isaiah 40:31 – What does it mean to mount up with wings as Eagles? The Eagle lives the longest of its species. The average life span of an eagle is 70 years. When the eagle is about 40 years of age, its beak begins to bend, its feathers stick to its chest and body more. This affects the effectiveness and sharpness of its wings which in turn affects flight. Its claws fold and lose their sharpness which makes it difficult to hunt and catch prey. The Eagle faces 2 decisions. It can either give up and die or it can change. The Eagle usually decides to change. This involves flying to the top of the mountain and settling on its nest under the sun. The Eagle then bashes its beak against the rock until it breaks and then it waits for it to grow back. Then with the new beak it plucks off its feathers and the claws get rejuvenated too during this process of change. When this happens, the Eagle waits for new feathers to grow and new claws to emerge. When the process is complete, the Eagle comes out with a new lease of life and lives for another 30 years. This process takes about 5 months. The eagle goes through change in order to boost its chance of survival. If we are to Soar in 2025, we have got to be willing to go through the process of change so we can experience Isaiah.40:31. God highlighted to me that the Eagle goes through this process at the age of 40 like Isaiah Chapter 40 and it lives for another 30 years after the process like verse 30-31 in the same chapter – GOD’S ORCHESTRATION I THINK!!! In thinking further about this process in Isa.40:30-31, we wait on God by prayer, fasting, listening, reading and studying the Word. The Eagle goes and lies under the Sun – God is our Sun and Shield according to Ps.84:11 and Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness according Mal.4:2. Going to the top of the mountain speaks about going up into the heavenlies and abiding in His presence. The moulting process speaks of cutting off or mortifying the deeds of the flesh like Jesus said to pluck out the eye that offends (Matt.5:29) and cut off the arm that offends (Matt.5:30) and Paul said to kill the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit (Rom.8:13). This means getting rid of toxic relationships, bad habits, hindrances, weights, bad thoughts and bad habits. The rejuvenation process speaks of renewal so we can fly or soar in 2025. This would mean flying to the Nations for some people. Flying also speaks of ascending, shining, and being what God has called you to be!!! Catching the prey speaks of winning souls by being fishers of men according to Matthew.4:19 and gaining new victories and territories for Christ.

The Second point I believe God wants me to highlight about Eagles is the fact that Eagles love the storm. Eagles do not hide when there is a storm like other birds but rather approach the storm and use the currents of the wind to fly higher and glide. While other birds are taking cover when a storm approaches, the Eagle goes towards the storm and flies higher. To support this point, God gave me three scriptures regarding how this trait in the Eagle should be reflected in our lives in 2025. In James.1:2-3, God encourages us through the writer to count it all joy when we faces various challenges because the trying of our faith results in patience. I would be honest with you, I do not usually react to challenges in this manner like the eagle approaches the storm. Yet, James tells us to count facing challenges, testings and temptation all joy!!! The reason being the end result of the further development of patience in our lives. The second scripture God gave me regarding this point is found in Romans.5:3-4 where the Apostle says he glories or rejoices in tribulations, trials and troubles because tribulation leads to patience, patience leads to experience and experience produces hope. Again, I reiterate, this is not my usual response to hard times but like the Eagle loves the storm, we should rejoice when tribulations, trials and hardships come in 2025 because it will produce patience which will lead to experience and that experience will result to hope in 2025 – Halleluyah!!! The third scripture God gave me regarding this point about the Eagle is found in 2.Corinthians.12:9-10 where the Apostle Paul says he takes pleasure in infirmities, necessities, reproaches, persecutions and distresses because he would rather rejoice in his infirmities that the Power of Christ may rest upon him for when he is weak, then is he strong. What an attitude to challenges and what a challenge that attitude is to all of us. The Apostle Paul never shied away from troubles, trials and tribulations and neither should we in 2025 for when we are weak then would we be strong because the Power of Christ will rest on us as we take pleasure in our infirmities.

The third point I believe God wants me to highlight is the fact that Eagles stir their nest by gradually removing nesting material, making it uncomfortable for their young eaglets and eventually forcing them to leave the nest and learn to fly. This essentially pushes them out of their comfort zone so they can develop their flying skills and become independent. This process is highlighted in Deuteronomy.32:11. The picture here is that the Mother Eagle stirs the nest and eaglets fall out of the nest but the Mother Eagle spreads her wings as the eaglets are falling; catching them in the process before they hit the ground. The Eagle does this many times and so forces the eaglets to flap their wings and fly. In the same way, God stirs our nests sometimes by allowing us to face situations that are out of our comfort zone or in the realm of the uncomfortable. This forces us to fly and depend on him more but it matures us in the process. So when we find ourselves in uncomfortable positions and situations in 2025, we must trust God, depend on Him and flap our wings because he is wanting us to come up higher in 2025.

So let us be willing to Soar in 2025 by loving and going through the painful process, loving and going through the storm and allowing God to stir our nest because He wants us to come up higher in 2025.

New Opportunity, New Obstacle

Have you ever heard the saying “New Level, New devil”!!! Have you ever noticed times in your life when it seems like you have experienced a great victory or breakthrough and the next minute you are facing a great battle. I am a football enthusiast and in the game, they say you are most vulnerable when you have just scored a goal. Many teams end up conceding almost straight after they have just scored because of getting carried away with the high of netting a goal. This happens in the Christian walk sometimes as well. Although, I might add there are several reasons why this happens. It is not always due to spiritual negligence, pride or ignorance. Sometimes, it is a spiritual attack designed by the devil to bring you down. Sometimes, we are about to enter a new realm and the enemy senses that and he tries to sabotage it before you enter it. Mike Murdock says “Warfare always surrounds the birth of a Miracle”. Several babies died before the birth of Moses and Jesus because the devil knew a deliverer was coming!! Although, this concept is similar, I want to look at the notion of new opportunities presenting new obstacles.

1.Corinthians.16:9 says God had presented Paul with an opportunity and a great door for the Gospel but there were many adversaries. You often find that when God opens a door, the devil comes round to discourage you or just after a major victory in your life, the devil shows up to try you. David was someone who experienced this in 2.Sam.5:17-24. After the Philistines heard David had become King, they came up and spread themselves about the valley of Rephaim in order to attack him. David went up to a new level of being King of Israel from just being the King of Judah. David had graduated from ruling one tribe to ruling twelve tribes. That was moving up to a new level but with attaining this new level came a new challenge in the form of the Philistines attack. David enquired of the Lord and God gave him the strategy he needed on 2 occasions to defeat the enemy. David went on to call the place where he defeated the Philistines Baal-Perazim which means “The God of the Breakthrough”. David experienced breakthrough because he asked God for a strategy to defeat the enemy. So when the devil attacks us when we attain a new level, we can be like David and ask God what to do and we will experience the breakthrough.

Elijah was another example of someone who experienced this concept. Elijah had a mountain top experience literally on Mount Carmel as he defeated 450 prophets of Baal by proving God is the real God because He answered by fire and consumed the sacrifice on the altar. The nation turned back to God after they said “The Lord is God” in 1.Kings.18:20-39. God had given Elijah a great victory and he had been used by God in a mighty way. However, one chapter on in 1.Kings.19, Jezebel threatened Elijah’s life and sent a message saying she was going to take his life. Elijah ran for his life and became suicidal. Elijah needed a visitation from an angel and encounter with God for him to get back on the right track. The turning point was hearing God’s still small voice in 1.Kings.19:12 after Elijah heard God’s still small voice and received the instructions for the next steps. So if we ever face Jezebel after Mount Carmel, we need to listen for God’s still small voice in order to receive the next steps from God.

The Apostles in the book of Acts experienced this notion many times. After Peter and John healed the lame man at the gate called Beautiful in Acts 3 and preached about Jesus’ death and resurrection in Acts 4, they were arrested by the priests, the captain of the temple and the Sadducees and thrown in prison. The Apostles were seeing miracles, people were getting saved, the church was growing but then they faced the opposition of being thrown in jail. Oftentimes, the glory goes hand in hand with persecution or persecution follows close after the glory has been made manifest. Thankfully, they let them go after Peter preached and insisted they had to listen to God rather than men (Acts.4:19) and then they let them go. So when we go through the fire after seeing God move, we need to hold on to the Word, keep preaching the Gospel and reaching out irrespective of the opposition.

Let’s not get discouraged when we face opposition after a major victory or breakthrough knowing it’s a biblical pattern faced by David, Elijah, Jesus, the Apostles, Paul and so much more godly examples in the Bible.

CAMEROON MISSION REPORT

(8th – 19th of August)

Thursday 8th of August – Praise God I was dropped at Rhyl Station by my wife and kids and we said our goodbyes. I was approached by 3 teen-agers who recognised me as Joey.G as I had been in their school for a Rap Workshop and motivational talk. The kids wanted a selfie with me which was quite interesting.

The train I was expecting was late as it was supposed to be at 8.50 pm but did not come in until 9.15 pm. I managed to get on the right one, Praise God. I had a safe journey to Euston with one change in Wolverhampton. The journey down was spent reading, listening to music and sleeping a bit.

Friday 9th of August – I got to Euston in the early hours of Friday morning so no trains were running. Thank God I found two workmen who told me which night buses I needed to get to Heathrow. I got to Heathrow about 5:30 am and checked in okay and had a good conversation with one of the airport staff before my 11:45 am flight to Brussels.

Saturday 10th of August – My flight to Douala, Cameroon from Brussels was at 12pm and I got to Cameroon at 6:30 pm and I did not come out of the Airport until 7pm. Pastor Guy was not allowed to come to the Arrival lounge due to Security reasons and he showed up outside just as I was about to ring him. Praise God. He took me out for some nice food of Fish, hot sauce and a cassava delicacy called “Bolo Bolo”. We then jumped on a bus to Foumbot just before 11pm.

Sunday 11th of August – The journey to Foumbot was in the dark and we duly went into a ditch in the road which damaged one of the tyres so we had to stop to change the burst tyre about 4:30 am. Praise God for His protection. We got to Foumbot about 5:30 am and I was taken to the Arima Hotel in Foumbot which was quite close to Pastor Guy’s Church and Home. I had a shower and got ready to preach my first sermon at Bethel Church not having slept properly for 3 days. The service went very well with lots of dancing, singing and drama. I preached an Evangelistic Sermon as I had been told there would be some Non-Christians present in the service. People responded to the Gospel Message by getting saved and I then shared some Prophetic Words which people also responded to but I specifically had a Scripture Heb.10:35-36 for a Brother ‘F’. God had given me the Scripture and told me He would show who it was for. After I delivered the Word, the Pastors confirmed it was spot on for him considering what had been going on in his life.

After the service I found out that Pastor Guy’s Mother-in-Law had been healed of Cancer as he told me about her in his prayer letter and we prayed for her and it was good to hear when I got to Cameroon that she had been given the all clear – Halleluyah!!

Monday 12th of August – I was well looked after and I had the opportunity to prepare for the Evening Evangelistic Meeting at the Hotel. The Evangelistic Meeting went well as it was outside the Pastor Guy’s Church called Christian Faith Missionary Chapel, Foumbot. The meeting featured singing, dancing, drama and I did some Evangelistic Rapping and Preaching.

Tuesday 13th of August – After breakfast and a bit of a rest, I had a conversation with Pastor Guy where I encouraged Testimonies. A little while after I encouraged testimonies, a Sister came over to tell Pastor Guy she had a Testimony she wanted to share. The Sister shared the Testimony in the Evening about how God had blessed her business by a shipment arriving on Monday which she had been waiting for 4 weeks. It was like God honoured her commitment to come to the Mission instead of staying back in Baffoussam to look after her business. Praise God for His faithfulness as we saw Matt.6:33 fulfilled through this Sister’s story. The Drama group were also prophetic that evening as the drama was based on the Prodigal Son and I was preaching about Luke 15 which includes the story of the prodigal son. The Evangelistic Meeting comprised of Singing, Dancing, Drama and I rapped and preached again.

Wednesday 14th of August – Praise God the weather stayed dry as we were due to go and minister at Foumbot Prison. We were allowed to take my phone in because it had my backing tracks for the rapping on it and it is against the policy of the prison for phones to be allowed on the premises but God gave us favour and we were allowed to take the phone in. We were able to sing some songs, a brother who is an ex-prisoner gave his testimony. I did some rapping which went down really well with the prisoners and preached. People gave their hearts to the Lord and we had a great time of Ministry.

I was healed of Nausea during the day before we set out for Ministry. Praise God.

During the Evening Teaching Session at the Church, I was led to pray for the Drama Group and Pastor Guy had that impression from God separately which confirmed God was speaking and we were in the Spirit. I preached based on the title I was given which was about “How to totally depend on the Lord Jesus Christ” from Hebrews 11. Many people responded to the call to Re-dedicate their lives to Christ.

After the Service, Pastor Zephirin, the Pastor of Bethel Church, Baffoussam, testified about the the fact that a Couple walked into the Church after the Sunday Service wanting to be members of the Church. Praise God!!

The Hotel attendant asked me to pray for Him before I went to bed which was quite interesting!!

Thursday 15th of August – As a result of a conversation with Pastor Guy, we decided to have a Workshop/Training Conference for the Leaders of the Church in the morning. The Workshop was based on a teaching about the 7 Mountains of Influence which encourages Christians to take the Gospel into every sphere society outside the Church. The format of the workshop was a Teaching session, followed by practical examples by Pastor Guy of showing slides based on a project he has been involved with in a team that ministered in a Refugee Camp in Northern Cameroon. The team comprised of different professionals which included Policemen, doctors, journalists and other ministers. The Session then finished with a Prophetic Activation time where I encouraged Prophetic Words to be shared as we prayed for people involved or felt called to any of the 7 Mountains of Arts & Entertainment, Business, Church, Education, Family, Government and Media. God led me to give many Prophetic Words but I was especially blessed that 5 people from the congregation also prophesied. The youngest being 11 and the oldest being 55. This was a case of Joel.2:28-29 unfolding before our very eyes!!

We had many testimonies during the Evening Service about how God had been blessing people. A Sister ‘J’ testified how God used the Workshop to confirm her call to Government. A Sister ‘C’ testified how God had opened her eyes to see that we need to take the Gospel to other spheres of society outside the Church. Brother ‘A’ testified how God had spoken to him through Mic.2:13 which was a word I had been led to share on Wednesday night. Sister ‘B’ shared how God had delivered her from a bad habit and she had not done it since she was prayed for on Wednesday. A Sister ‘M’ testified how God baptized her with a fire in her belly which did not hurt but provided her with comfort and passion to live for Jesus. 4 people responded to a word God led me to share from Amos.3:12 about what they were going through and were comforted by 2.Tim.4:17. The preaching of the Word from Heb.11:8 went very well. There was a Word through me about God wanting to deliver people from Household Wickedness. Many people responded to this word and we had a demonic manifestation linked to a household wickedness. God delivered the young lady who was under the demonic oppression. Praise God. After the service, a Pastor blessed me with 500 Francs which I put in the offering.

Friday 16th of August – Pastor Guy and I went into Foumbot Town Centre and had a good walk back. On our way back, we met a Deaconness from Pastor Guy’s old church who prophesied about the fact that God had not sent me to Foumbot alone but for the whole of Cameroon.

During the Evening service there were more encouraging testimonies about how God had touched people. A Brother ‘W’ testified about how God set him free from chains that emboldened him to share the Gospel like never before when he was out in the streets and unleashed his creativity. A Sister ‘S’ was also set free from chains after she was prayed for the previous night and also testified about feeling a release from household wickedness after hands were laid on her.

2 people also testified about how God set them free as the Drama Group ministered earlier in the week. Another Sister testified how God healed her of back pain during the worship.

Saturday 17th of August – After Breakfast I said good-bye to the Church and asked them to pray for me. Pastor Guy and I then proceeded to Baffoussam and caught the Coach to Douala. We ended up waiting for 2 hours before the Coach headed for Douala. It took us 7 hours to get to Douala and we went out for a late meal after 12am

Sunday 18th of August – We spent Sunday sight-seeing around Douala, visiting shops and retail parks. In between sight-seeing we had the opportunity to lead the driver in a prayer of re-dedication back to the Lord and prayed for him generally. We were joined by Pastor Joseph who stayed with us until I left.

I boarded my flight at 7pm, got to Brussels at 4:30 am, spent most of the day at the Airport before catching my flight to Heathrow at 4:55 pm. On the plane, I felt a bit rough with an upset tummy but praise God He healed me after prayer. I was able to be a blessing to a family of four who wanted to sit together and I had to move seats to facilitate this. I was also able to be a blessing to an older lady who needed assistance after we landed in Brussels by pushing her to where she could receive help from the airport attendants. Praise God I could be a blessing in these ways. Praise God for all He did in Cameroon. Halleluyah!!

After I arrived, Pastor Guy shared a testimony of how God healed a child who was ill at home but one of the parents came forward for prayer and God healed the child at home. Praise God!!

His Strength is made perfect in our Weakness

I am very grateful for Paul’s writing in 2.Cor.12:9-10 where Paul gives us an insight into what God said to him in response to his prayer for God to remove the thorn in his flesh. God told Paul that His grace is sufficient for him and that His strength is made perfect in Paul’s weakness. Paul then further goes on to say he will therefore boast about his weaknesses so the power of Christ can work through him. Even though this passage directly relates to Paul struggling with the thorn in the flesh and taking it to the Lord in prayer three times, we can relate this principle to other aspects in our lives.

Seeing we started with Paul’s thorn in the flesh, let’s consider the life of Paul in light of this principle. The Apostle Paul was used mightily by God to accomplish numerous exploits in the Kingdom of God. After the Lord Jesus, he was probably the most influential character in the New Testament and indeed in Church History. God used him to write 3/4 of the New Testament, further propagate and spread the gospel in Europe by seeing many saved, several Churches planted across Europe, parts of the Middle East and the Mediterranean and God did many special miracles through Paul including raising the dead, the lame walking, the sick healed and demons cast out. Yet, in spite of the amazing strengths in Apostle Paul’s life, there were weaknesses too. Paul gives insight into some these weaknesses in 2.Cor.11:23-27. These weaknesses include hunger, thirst, peril of robbers, being persecuted by the Jews, weariness, painfulness, shipwreck, betrayal, nakedness, the problems of the churches under his care. However, because God’s grace was sufficient for Paul, he was able to rejoice and boast about these weaknesses because as he rejoiced and looked to God in these times and periods of weakness, God’s power, Christ’s power rested on Him (2.Cor.12:9). As Paul took pleasure in infirmities, reproaches, necessities, persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake God turned the weaknesses to strength (2.Cor.12:10). This is a case of God making all the weaknesses and infirmities work out for good as His Power and Strength rests on Paul to enable him to go through suffering as God’s grace is poured out on him during the time of crisis (Rom.8:28, 2.Cor.12:9-10)

Samson is another example of someone who experienced God’s grace and strength in spite of his weaknesses and failings. Samson was a Judge of Israel that God had raised up to deliver His people from the Philistines. God used Samson to kill a lion with his bare hands, he killed a thousand Philistines with the jaw bone of a donkey and performed many wonderful exploits under the Anointing of God’s Spirit. Samson, however, had the weakness of falling for the wrong women and getting involved in wrong relationships. This weakness eventually led him into the clutches of a Philistine woman called Delilah. He revealed the secret of his strength to Delilah who cut his hair while he was asleep and this led to being enslaved by the Philistines and made a public spectacle to be ridiculed by the Philistines in the temple of their god called Dagon. Samson cried out to God one last time and God strengthened Samson and he was able to cause the structure of the temple building to collapse as he pushed against the main pillars. The Bible tells us, the temple collapsed killing everyone present including Samson according to his request. He ended up killing more Philistines at his death than he had done during the rest of his life-time (Judg.16:30). God’s strength was made perfect in Samson’s weakness. God showed up and did more in Samson’s life during a period of weakness because he cried out to God in repentance. In times of weakness, when we call out to God, He can show up for us and do the impossible.

Another individual who experienced God’s grace being made perfect in his weakness is Peter. Peter was called to be a Disciple of Jesus and he was one of the three closest followers of Jesus. Peter was a very zealous, bold and enthusiastic follower of Jesus. He went on to be the Leader of the Early Church. Even though Peter had all the good characteristics of a leader, he was impetuous, impatient and had a habit of saying the wrong things at the wrong time even though that was also interjected with moments of genius or should I say inspiration from God such as identifying that Jesus is the Christ (Matt.16:16) and also making the statement such as “To whom shall we go, you have the Words of Everlasting Life” (Jn.6:68). The bold and courageous Peter followed Jesus from afar when all the other disciples had fled following the arrest of Jesus and even though Peter had confidently asserted that he would never deny Jesus, he ended up denying him three times before the cock crowed twice (Mark.14:66-72). All the Apostles, were emotionally battered and disillusioned before Jesus’ Resurrection. Jesus restored Peter and commissioned all the Disciples to go and preach the Gospel. On the Day of Pentecost, the disciples who had gone into hiding, boldly proclaimed the Gospel. Peter who had denied Jesus was the main preacher God used to lead three thousand people into the Kingdom. God’s strength was made perfect in Peter. God turned his cowardice into Holy Boldness as His Spirit rested on and worked through him.

God can do the same for us as we look to Him during the period of crisis, weakness, infirmities, reproach, hunger thirst, nakedness, temptation or failure. God can turn our weaknesses into His opportunities so the glory goes to him (Graham Kendrick).

The Holy-Spirit is my Life Coach

So many people need Coaches for different aspects of their lives. The importance of Coaches has really come to the fore in the last ten years. These coaches go by different names such as experts, gurus, mentors and advisors. Different people have coaches for Life, fitness, health, nutrition, marriage, finance, parenting, success, relationships and the list goes on. As Christians, we have a Life Coach who is always with us 24/7. He lives inside of us and we can rely and depend on Him for everything. He is called the Holy Spirit. The Third person of the God-Head or the Trinity. Jesus told us in John.14:26 before He left the earth that He will give us a Comforter, that is the Holy-Spirit of God who will teach us all things, He will bring everything to our remembrance and He will remind us of all that Jesus has said to us.

Let us consider the first thing Jesus said about the Holy-Spirit. He is the called the Comforter by Jesus. So many things go wrong or can go wrong in our lives in all the areas people seek Coaching for. People pay so much money to secure the services of these coaches or gurus. The Holy-Spirit of God within us gives us counsel free of charge. The Coaches people seek after can only be available for certain sessions pre-booked and if you want extra sessions you have to pay more but the Holy-Spirit of God is always with us 24/7. The Coaches and experts, no matter how knowledgeable, are only human and they are limited but the Holy-Spirit within us is God and He is not limited. He is there to comfort us when things go wrong. He is also known as the Encourager, Intercessor, Helper, Strengthener, Advocate and Standby. He is there before things go wrong, during our struggle and after things have gone wrong. He is able to comfort us about things that worry and trouble us in our health, marriage, finances, parenting or relationships.

Jesus said the Holy Spirit will teach us all things. That is why this blog is entitled the Holy Spirit is my Life Coach. Whatever, I am lacking knowledge in life, my career, ministry, relationships, marriage, parenting, finances and success in life, the Holy-Spirit can teach me. Does that mean I don’t need anyone’s help or that I will never need coaching about anything? Absolutely not!! The coaches and experts are needed and most of them are doing a lot of good work that is beneficial and helpful to so many individuals. However, as Christians, we have a Life Coach who knows all things about everything to do with this life and the World to come. We can depend on Him to teach us everything that we do not know and this same Spirit is also the one that will lead us into all truth according to the words of Jesus in John.16:13. The same Spirit will lead us if we ask Him whether we should secure the services of a coach in a particular area of our lives. These coaches might be professional coaches or they might be people in the church such as Pastors, Teachers, Friends, Mentors and older believers who can impart wisdom because of the wealth of experience they possess. So it is worth depending on the Holy Spirit as a Life Coach and inviting Him into every area of our lives such as our marriage, parenting, relationships, finances, ministry and hobbies.

Jesus also said the Holy Spirit will bring everything to our remembrance. So many people struggle with remembering the different things they have learned and the different matters they need to deal with on a daily basis. The Holy Spirit according to this verse can help us with our memory issues. If your mind is not clear, you are less likely to accomplish the tasks and missions for that particular day. Mike Murdock says “If you can manage a day, you can manage your life”. After all, your life is a collection and accumulation of days. Days turn into months, months turn into years. So you want to maximise each moment which breaks down into seconds and minutes of each day in order to maximise your life. The Holy Spirit is the greatest Teacher in how to manage your time and how to manage your day. He will bring the things you need to do to your remembrance in the right order, in the order of their importance and in the order you need to prioritize them. As He shows you by bringing things to your remembrance, you become more efficient, proficient and effective. He helps you to become an achiever of great accomplishments.

Jesus also said the Holy-Spirit will help us remember the things He has said to us. We need to develop a life style where we allow Jesus to speak to us about every area of our lives. We do this primarily by praying which means talking to God and by talking to God we mean telling Him everything and letting Him talk back to us. He wants to talk to us about every area of our lives which includes our ministry, marriage, parenting, finances, health, nutrition and relationships. God speaks to us in Prayer, as we read the Bible and as we talk to him throughout the day. If we listen to Him and journal what He says to us, when the need arises in a crisis, the Holy Spirit will bring those things Jesus has said to us back to our minds as ammunition for the time of battle or as a solution in time of need.

So let’s be people who rely on the Holy Spirit of God to Comfort us, be our Helper, Encourager, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby. Let us rely on Him to teach us all things by being our Mentor, Counsellor and Guide. May we rely on Him to bring everything to our remembrance and may we rely on Him to help us remember everything Jesus has said to us so we can accomplish His will and plan for our lives. Amen.

This is the Day the Lord has Made

We all know the song based on Ps.118:24 and we have all probably sang the song hundreds of times. But the Lord shed more light on this scripture by asking me “What kind of day is the Lord making your day? Is it a day of blessing, joy, peace, healing, prosperity, favour, breakthrough and mercy? Or do you think God is going to make your day a day of misery, tragedy, lack or misfortune. God is not the one who orchestrates tragedy, sickness, lack or misfortune. God makes all things new, He is always willing to do a new thing in our lives, He is always willing to make a way through the wilderness and cause rivers to break forth in the desert of our lives (Isa.43:19). That does not mean we will not experience any trouble or face days when it seems everything is going wrong but our attitude towards the storms and troubles of life can either be ” Yes, things might not be going my way or how I want them to be but I am going to trust God and believe this is the Day He has made and I will rejoice in the God of my Salvation because I still have His peace, I have His joy, I have His presence and I believe He will turn this situation around and work things out for good”. or we could groan, moan and complain when things don’t go our way and call it the worst day of our lives, call it a day of misery, a day of tragedy , a day of darkness. When things do go right, we should still rejoice in Him that every blessing and good break we experience comes from God.

Every morning when we wake up, we should wake up with an intense expectation of God doing something amazing in our lives. We should pray prayers like “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you (Ps.143:8). We should trust God and dedicate our day to the Lord expecting His Unfailing Love for that day. Are you going to call your day a day of God’s Unfailing Love? David was expecting the morning to send a message or in our day, how about getting a text, a whatsapp message or even a tweet that expresses God’s Unfailing Love. God is always wanting to express His unfailing love to us in different ways and through different means throughout the day. Are we listening? Are we on the lookout?

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases and His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning, great is His faithfulness (Lam.3:22-23). Here is another hymn we have sung many times. How about having a day of experiencing God’s steadfast love and His mercies. God has got new mercies for us every morning because the verse we are considering says “His mercies are new every morning”. Even on your worst day, God’s new mercies are available. That verse does not say” God’s mercies are new every morning only when you are having a good day”. Just as the morning is sure to come around, so sure are God’s mercies to you every day. So we should be calling the day a day of God’s steadfast love, a day of His mercies and praise Him for His faithfulness.

When we wake up, we should seek the Lord in prayer like the Psalmist says in Ps.5:1-3. We should depend on the Lord completely for our day knowing that without Him we can doing (Jn.15:5). There should be a desperation, a longing and a strong desire to commit our morning and our day to the Lord like the Psalmist in the passage referred to above. This is the key to experiencing the kind of day God wants us to experience.

As we put Him first and involve Him at the start of our day, He comes and makes it a day of rejoicing, a day of blessing, a day of peace, a day of hope, a day of provision and a day of breakthrough.

2024 is the Year of Manifestation

I believe 2024 is going to be a year of Manifestation according to the prophetic Word I believe God has spoken to me. For something to manifest it needs to shown, to be made public, to be revealed, to come to light, be obvious and stand out. God is about to bring to birth new things like we have never seen before. Those things that eyes have not seen, that ear has not heard and have not entered into human hearts (1.Cor.2:9) are things God wants to make manifest in 2024. God invites us to look among the nations and watch, to be utterly amazed because He is going to do something in our days we would not believe even if we are told according to Hab.1:5. 2024 is the year to look out for those amazing things God wants to do that will be so wild and out of this world that people would find it hard to believe even when they are told. God also encourages us to call out to Him and He will show us great and mighty things that we do not know about. 2024 is the year for God to reveal and make manifest things we do not know about.

There are three scriptures we need to adhere to if we want to experience God as the God of Manifestation in 2024. Jesus says if we keep His Commandments then we show Him that we love Him and if we Love Him, the Father will love us also and will manifest Himself to us (Jn.14:21). If we want God to manifest Himself to us like never before, then we need to love Him like never before. Loving Him according to this verse means keeping His commandments. Does that mean the 10 commandments only?? No, I don’t think so. Keeping His commandments in the New Testament means to follow the instructions, directions, nudges and promptings of the Holy-Ghost. Another way to put it is to walk in the spirit according Gal.5:16. Whenever, we obey the voice of the Spirit, we are showing God that we love Him. If you love someone, you want to please them, you don’t want to offend them, you want to bring them pleasure. When we obey God we show Him that we value His approval in everything we do. We show Him that we want to please Him, we do not want to offend Him and want His presence in our lives. As we walk in the spirit by being sensitive obedient and responsive to the voice of the Spirit, it causes God to manifest himself to us. The ICB (International Children’s Bible) version says God will show Himself to us and the Amplified version says God will be real to us. God wants to show His power to save and His power to heal to us in 2024 like the song we sing called “Show your Power Oh Lord our God”. God wants to make his power to save and heal manifest in 2024 but we need to obey His commandments and show Him we love Him. God wants to show us He is the “real thing” not Coca-Cola!!. He wants to show the world He is Real, Alive and Able through us like He did with Elijah after his encounter with the prophets of Baal – when the people cried out ” The Lord is God”. We must be obedient to exactly what He is telling us to do individually and corporately if we want to see God manifest himself to us powerfully in 2024.

If we want to see God manifest himself more in 2024 we must also be like Moses in Exodus 33:12-22. Moses asked God for a few things that could be summed up in Moses wanting God to manifest Himself to him. Moses asked who God was going to send with him. He also asked for God’s presence stating the fact that he was not willing to proceed with leading the children of Israel without the assurance of God’s presence. Moses also asked God to show him His glory. God assured Moses of His presence by saying His presence will go with Moses and He will give him rest (Ex.33:14). In response to showing Moses His glory, God responded by saying He will cause His goodness to pass by Moses and He will hide him in the cleft of the rock and show him his back part because no one could see God’s face and live. God’s assurance of His presence, goodness and showing of his back part are all manifestations of God. If we call out to God for his presence and glory in 2024, He will make himself manifest. He wants us to be desperate and bold to ask in prayer like Moses and He will manifest His presence and Glory in 2024.

If we want God to manifest Himself in 2024, we must also sanctify ourselves like Joshua told the Israelites in Josh.3:5. If we want God to do amazing things in 2024 we must be prepared to clean our lives, get rid of the unclean things in our lives, consecrate and dedicate our lives afresh to Him in 2024. God wants to do Miracle wonders in our lives according to the Message translation but in order for us to experience the Miracle wonders God wants to make manifest in our lives we must separate ourselves for the special purpose God is leading us to according to the Amplified Classic Version.

2024 would be a year when evil will manifest itself like we have never seen. Devil worshippers will make themselves manifest and be more overt than we have ever seen before but sons of God will also be made manifest as the scriptures say in Rom.8:19 that creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be made manifest. 2024 would be the year for the increased manifestation of the sons of God who will reveal the Father’s power and character.

2024 would be a year of manifestation if we love and obey His commandments, if we earnestly seek Him for more of His presence and glory and if we sanctify and consecrate ourselves in anticipation of God doing amazing things in our lives like never before.

God is a Specialist in making something out of Nothing

God delights in making something out of nothing and this thread of God’s operation runs throughout the Bible. We read in 1.Sam.2:8 that God lifts the poor out of the dust and raises the beggar from the dung-hill. He sets them among princes and makes them inherit the throne of glory. This is God’s version of rags to riches, from the bottom of the pile to the top and from pauper to prince. This is not a concept that emanates from fairy stories like Cinderella or inspirational stories from the past but the Bible has plenty of examples about such phenomena.

Joseph is the first example to consider even though he did not start out as nothing. He was his father’s favourite out of 12 brothers because he was the son of his old age and his sweet-heart or favourite wife had given birth to him. Joseph’s brothers were going to kill him because of his dreams but opted for selling him to Egypt instead. So Joseph went from being his father’s favourite son and pet to being thrown in a pit before he was sold as a slave to Potiphar. Joseph’s industry and diligence soon promoted him to being overseer in Potiphar’s house but his master’s wife cast her eyes upon him because of his good looks and gifts. Joseph refused to commit adultery with her and he was falsely accused of rape and thrown in prison. Things could not have got worse for Joseph but God had a plan. Joseph interpreted the dream for Pharoah and God raised Joseph up from the dust and dung-hill of the prison and raised him up to inherit the throne of glory as the Prime Minister of Egypt and right hand man to Pharoah (Gen.37-41)

David is another example of God taking someone from nowhere and catapulting them to somewhere. In fact, the Bible tells us in Ps.78:71 that God took David from following the sheep to feed and lead the children of Israel as King. We see God taking David from the Pastures to the Palace. When David was looking after his father’s sheep, he would never have dreamt that he would be leading God’s people one day. The skills he learnt feeding, watering and protecting the sheep were all transferable skills he took into the palace. The other skills of using his slingshot to shoot stones and play the harp which he used on the hill sides while looking after the sheep came in handy when he faced Goliath and when he played before King Saul to soothe him when he was troubled by evil spirits. It seemed like God promoted David because he was faithful in little, so God made him ruler over much (Matt.25:21). David was faithful to look after the sheep and protect them from the lion and the bear and so when the time came according to God’s appointing, David was ready to guide the children of Israel by the skilfulness of his hands as God had taken him from following the sheep in the pastures to being a King in the palace (Ps.78:72).

Esther is another example of such a story in the Bible. Esther was an orphan who had been brought up by her uncle Mordecai. she had been warned by him not to reveal her identity as a Jew. This was a period when the Jews were in exile in Persia and scattered in different countries. Many people groups hated the Jews and counted them as enemies. A time came when the Queen to King Xerxes had been disrespectful and he had called for a replacement. Esther who had been an orphan or someone who might have been regarded as a pauper was among the beauty pageant and the pauper pageant was chosen to be the Palace Queen. God took a nobody and made her a somebody. The most famous verse in the book of Esther was very fitting for the Queen Elect. We know God had chosen her to be Queen for such a time as this (Est.4:14) because when an enemy called Haman arose to destroy the Jews, God had strategically placed Esther in the palace to save the Jewish nation along with her uncle Mordecai. God then raised up her uncle from being the Gate-Keeper to being a Governor too as he took the place of the King’s right hand man called Haman, the enemy of the Jews.

So we see through all the examples above that God chose people who were humble and lowly and exalted them. God fulfilled 1.Sam.2:8 and Ps.113:7 in the lives of Joseph, David, Esther and Mordecai even though they experienced humble beginnings. God still delights in making nobodies somebodies today. Just like God transformed men who were in debt, distress and discontentment in to Mighty Men of David’s army (1.Sam:22:2, 2.Sam.23:8-36) God is willing to do that in our lives today. When God chooses us, not many are mighty and many are not noble. But God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty, the base things of the world and the things that are despised has God chosen. God has chosen the things which are not to bring to nought the things that are. The reason why God chooses the weak, despised, base and insignificant is so all the glory goes to Him and that no flesh should glory in his presence according 1.Cor.1:26-29. God raises up the poor and the beggar from the dust and the dung-hill, makes nobodies somebodies so that all the glory goes to Him. Amen

He Establishes your Roots so He can Strengthen your Fruits

God’s command to man after He was created was for him to be fruitful, multiply, fill up the earth and subdue it according to Genesis.1:28. So the imagery of man being like a plant stems from Genesis. There are so many other references of the horticultural and agricultural kind in relation to man. A man who delights in the Word of God and meditates on it day and night would be like a tree planted by the rivers of water whose leaves will be green and will produce fruit in its season and its leaves will not wither (Ps.1:3). A person who trusts the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord will also be like a tree planted by the waters that spreads its roots by the river. It will not feel the effects of the heat, the leaves will be green, it will not be careful in the year of drought and will not stop producing fruit according to Jer.17:7-8.

With this is in mind, God uses this analogy time and again to compare man to a plant or a tree to illustrate that mankind is supposed to grow, flourish and produce. This is no different in the New Testament where Jesus reveals himself as the Vine and we as the branches. We need to abide in him in order to be fruitful (John.15:1-6). Jesus further uses this example later in the same chapter by letting us know He chose us having called us friends and He has appointed us to go and bear fruit that would remain (Jn.15:16). With this idea clearly shown in the verses already highlighted so far, we see that God wants to establish our roots by making it go deeper and downward so we can bear fruit outwardly and upwards.

We see this notion in the Book of Isa.37:31 and 2.Kings.19:30 that it says that God will enable the remnant of Judah to take root below and bear fruit upward. We know from agriculture that the root is the part of the plant that draws nutrients from the ground and sends it up to nourish the plant and keep it alive. The deeper the root, the more it can draw nutrients that would be sufficient to sustain the plant. We also know that it is the root that causes the plant to be stable and strong. The deeper the root, the stronger the plant. The more it can withstand pressure from the winds and storms. We also know that the root keeps the plant established. The more established the plant because of its deep rooted system, the better its chances of survival and ability to grow, flourish and be fruitful. Just as in buildings, the stronger and deeper the foundation, the higher and stronger the building is. Skyscrapers have deep foundations and so tall and big trees must also have deep roots to support the tree structure. God wants us to take root in Him so we can become steadfast and unmovable standing our grounds in faith through Him (1.Cor.15:58).

This idea of God wanting to establish us so we might be fruitful can also be explained through the pillars in Solomon’s temple called Jachin and Boaz in 2.Chron.3:17. Jachin means “He establishes” while Boaz means “Strength”. “He establishes” goes with the thought of what we have been looking at so far about how God wants us deeply rooted in Him and we have seen so far that the reason God wants us to be established and rooted in him is so we can bear fruit upward. Fruitfulness is sometimes referred to as strength in the Bible. A man’s fruit or child is referred to as the symbol of his strength like Jacob did in reference to Reuben in Genesis.49:3. The strength of an ox is what leads to productivity according to Prov.14:4. Strength equals productivity or results which is like the end product from a plant – fruit. So you can say God wants to “Jachin” us (Establish us) so we can become “Boaz” (Display Strength – Be productive).

Let us be people who therefore trust in Him, hope in Him, meditate on His Word so we can be like trees planted by the waters and rivers who experience all we find in Ps.1:3 and Jer.17:8 and be people who take root in God downwards so we can bear fruit upwards.

Age, Rank or Training does not determine the Anointing or the Appointing – GOD DOES!!!!

Age, rank and training determine the level of responsibility many individuals are allowed to handle in many nations, companies, societies and cultures. This is not necessarily so with God and in the Bible. Of course, Age, Rank, Experience and training do count for a lot and do determine the level of responsibility and capacity an individual can handle but God’s ways are much higher than our man’s ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. God’s measuring standards and yardstick are much more higher than ours and He looks at the heart rather than the outward appearance or form.

When it comes to age, we see that God bypassed a lot of older men and women to use people who are much younger. An example of this is Solomon who was later known as the wisest King in the Bible and wisest king that ever existed. King David says in 1.Chron.29:1 that God had clearly chosen Solomon to be the next King to succeed him even though he was relatively young and inexperienced. Solomon had older brothers who many would have considered wiser and more experienced at the time. God, however, had other ideas!! He chose Solomon in His Sovereignty and that choice was justified as Israel went on to have forty years of peace and experienced a golden era of blessing and prosperity under Solomon’s reign. David was another person God chose in spite of his age. David was the youngest in his family and he had 7 older brothers. He was the lowly, red haired shepherd boy that God called to be the King and shepherd of Israel after King Saul blew it. His age was not a stumbling block for God to call him as Leader and King of the Nation of Israel. Joash became the King of the Kingdom of Judah at the age of 7 (2.Chron.24:1) and Josiah was 8 when he came the King of Judah (2.Kings.22:1). The ages of Joash and Josiah did not stop God from using them to lead His people in the Bible. We should never discount or disregard anyone because of their age. This is why Paul said to Timothy “Let no one despise your youth” in 1.Tim.4:12. We must not despise, discount, dismiss or write anybody off especially if they are an Anointed leader or servant of God because they are young. If God has Appointed them, we must respect and serve them in honour to God.

1.Chron.24:31 tells us Levites were assigned to their duties without regard to age or rank. Age and Rank matter a lot in Eastern and African cultures for example. In both cultures, the younger must submit to the older, they must not speak before the older, their opinions come second to the older and the older is more important than the younger. God, however, turns these cultures on their heads in the Bible. When God appoints a younger person in age or rank, it is not because they are more important but because in His purposes, providence and sovereignty, He has gifted the individual in question with talents that will fulfil a particular task or mission. Natural rank then needs to take a back seat to God’s agenda, plan and will. So we see many examples of God bypassing rank to use someone else in His Word. God bypassed Eli and his sons to use Samuel who was the youngest and lowest in rank in the temple to speak to young Samuel when he was still only 12 years old (1.Sam.3:1-21). David was only an errand boy delivering lunch to his brothers on the battle field when God used him to kill Goliath. David was only a shepherd boy who was not even enlisted in Saul’s army (1.Sam.17)!!! God chose Jacob in the womb and said the older will serve the younger (Gen.25:23). When we see how God has used his chosen vessels over the years we realise that God knows best and we are better off falling in line with his plan and purpose rather than resisting it to our detriment.

1.Chron.26:13 tells us that the Levites were assigned to guard gates without regard to age or training. Training is very important in the corporate world and especially in the civilized cultures of the West. Training determines position, rank, promotion and remuneration in our world today!! Don’t get me wrong, training is very important. The word of God encourages to get all the training we can (2.Tim.2:15, 1.Cor.11:1, Phil.4:9, 2.Pet.1:10) but training is not the be-all-end-all!! A close look at the scriptures shows us how God used people who might have been considered with little or inferior training. We revisit David again who was a shepherd boy and had not been to Saul’s school of elite S.A.S training in the army but because he was Anointed by God and God had taught him to perfect the use of the slingshot and taken him through the school of lion and bear killing, he was equipped and trained by God to face Goliath!!! Jesus’ disciples made an impression on the Pharisees, Scribes and Teachers of the law because even though they were unlearned men with no special training in the scriptures yet God used them in mighty ways to preach, teach and do mighty signs and wonders and what was their qualification – THEY HAD BEEN WITH JESUS according to Acts.4:13. So God used the Apostles of the early Church without any special training in the scriptures but rather they had been on the Jesus’ Evangelistic and Missionary training for three years where they ate, observed and listened to the teachings of Jesus along with a first-hand demonstration of how to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons and raise the dead – Not a bad school, Hey!!!. Paul also demonstrated this notion not in a scholarly fashion, although he was highly educated and trained in the scriptures, but in a different manner. In this, I am referring to the story in Acts 27.10-11. Paul brought a prophecy about what was going to befall the ship he was on along with other prisoners of Rome but the Bible tells us that the Officer in charge listened to the Ship’s Captain rather than Paul. In doing so, they encountered a ship wreck and there was loss of cargo and danger to their lives as Paul had prophesied. Paul was not a trained sailor neither was he a captain of the ship but he knew God and he had heard from God. So the so-called experts who have all the training and expertise might not be best placed to provide guidance in our lives even though they are highly skilled and trained. We need to be people who hear God’s voice even if we are not the best trained in that area. I am not advocating not listening to the experts but we must be sensitive to God’s voice if He tells us something the experts or the highly trained are not picking up.

Therefore, we must not let age, rank or training be our guide but we must let God show us those He has Anointed and Appointed. We must not concentrate on age, rank or training but we must let God show us His will as it says in 1.Chron.26:13 in the Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Answer to Prayer often comes in the form of Instructions from God!!!

When you look through Scripture and indeed if you examine your own life, you will have found that God does not usually answer your prayers through a miraculous delivery from Heaven on the spot or an angel floating down from Heaven on a chariot saying “Special Delivery” like an Amazon Prime delivery van!! I am a firm believer in miracles and I am not discounting instant miracles!! In fact, God has answered some prayers in my life through instant miracles, but oftentimes God answers our prayers by giving us what I call “Divine Instructions”. There are numerous examples in the Bible where God provides His people with Divine instructions that caused them to experience miraculous provision, deliverance and breakthrough.

The first example I would like us to consider is the story of Moses and the children of Israel by the waters of Marah in the wilderness ( Exodus.15:22-26). The people had wandered in the wilderness for 3 days without water and the water they found was bitter and not adequate for drinking. This made the people dissatisfied and they began to grumble and complain. This made Moses cry out to God or pray regarding the issue. God did not make water flow out of the rock or make water flow from the tree but rather, God showed Moses a piece of wood that he was to throw in the bitter water to make it fit for drinking. God did the miracle by instructing Moses to throw the wood in the oasis of Marah. You might be going through a situation in your life where you need a miracle, you need a solution, you need a Breakthrough? What is that piece of wood God wants you to throw in the river? That piece of wood is God’s instruction to you in that situation. Are you listening??

The second example I want to consider is the story of Naaman found in the Book of 2.Kings.5:1-19. Naaman was a Mighty General of the Syrian army but he was a leper. His servant girl who happened to be Jewish had recommended Elisha a Prophet in Israel as a solution to Naaman’s problem. Naaman went expectant according to the word of his servant girl and had a pre-conceived idea of how Elisha the Prophet would minister to him and heal him. Elisha did not, however, come out to lay hands on Naaman as he expected but rather Elisha sent a message through his messenger for Naaman to go and dip himself in the River Jordan 7 times. Naaman was offended at first but one of his servants suggested Naaman would have complied if the Prophet had asked him to do something more difficult. Naaman followed the instruction and the Bible tells us his flesh was like that of a newborn baby after the 7th dip. The instruction from God through the Prophet was for Naaman to dip himself in the Jordan 7 times. The Prophet did not lay hands on him neither did he ask him to roll on the ground 3 times nor ask him to eat anything in particular. The “Divine Instruction” was to wash in the Jordan and as he followed the Divine Instruction he was healed. Sometimes, when we pray for healing we need to receive a Divine Instruction from God before the healing manifests. Of Course, this is not always the case as we pray for the sick, lay hands on them and they recover but in some cases when healing does not manifest straight away perhaps we need to press into God to receive a Divine Instruction and that might be the key to our Miracle Breakthrough!!

The third example of a Divine Instruction in response to a request can be found in the story of the blind man by the pool of Siloam found in John.9:1-8. Jesus was walking along with His disciples and found the man that was born blind. Jesus spat on the ground, made mud with his saliva, spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes and asked him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. Jesus could have just laid hands on the man’s eyes, Jesus could have just said “Receive your sight” or he could have said to the man “Your Faith has made you whole” like he did with some other blind people He healed but He used a different method in this situation. Firstly, because He never did anything except what He heard from the Father according John.5:19-20, John.12:48-50, John.14:10-12. Secondly, Jesus’ Divine Instruction to the blind man led to him experiencing the miracle of receiving his sight.

The Bible tells us that the weakness of God is stronger than men and the foolishness of God is wiser than men (1.Cor.1:25). God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts according to Isa.55:8-9. So when God gives us a Divine Instruction, it might not make sense like using a branch to make water from a bitter river drinkable, washing in the Jordan River 7 times in order to get cured of leprosy or having saliva and mud rubbed on a blind man’s eyes and washing it off in a pool in order to get his vision restored. The instructions might defy logic but we must be like the servants at the wedding of Cana who Mary the Mother of Jesus instructed saying “Whatever He tells you to do, just do it” (John.2:5). Whatever Divine Instruction God gives us after prayer we should “just do it” too.

God is Looking For Quality Rather Than Quantity

The story in the Book of Luke Chapter 21 never ceases to amaze me anytime I read it or hear it referenced in a sermon. We are told Jesus was in the Temple observing the giving process. He noticed a woman put in two mites or two pennies and remarked that she had given more because the other rich men had given of their abundance but she gave the last pennies she had on her (Luke.21:1-4). Ordinarily and according to how most of us view things, we would have assumed the other men who perhaps gave a hundred pounds or even five hundred pounds gave more than the woman who only gave two pennies. Jesus is challenging the way we measure giving here and make a judgement based on quantity. It seems Jesus is more concerned about the quality rather than the quantity. Jesus could see the sacrifice involved in this woman’s gift. The rich men who gave a hundred pounds or even five hundred pounds would not miss the gifts they had given as much as the woman who gave the last two pennies to her name. We can safely say Jesus would like an offering that costs us and is a worthy sacrifice rather than one that does not cost us anything or is not one offered as a sacrifice. We can now understand David’s comment in 2.Sam.24:24 where he says he would not offer burnt offerings to the Lord his God that cost him nothing. David was not about the free ride, he was not about offering God second best or the left-overs. David wanted to give God his best. That is what the woman in the story in Luke 21 displays. She gave God her best, she gave him everything she had and she held nothing back for herself. Such was the quality of her gift and offering that Jesus said she gave more than the other men who gave more on paper and gave more outwardly but it was not their best gift. It was not a sacrificial gift. It was not costing them much. They were not going to miss the offering that much after they got home.

The Story also illustrates the fact that God’s ways are much higher than our ways and His thoughts are much higher than our thoughts (Isa.55:8). According to our thoughts and our ways, we think in terms of logic and mathematics. There is nothing wrong with logic or mathematics but in God’s Economy and in God’s Infinite Wisdom, He seems to be saying “Less is more” in this instance. God is saying less is more in this case not because of what it looks like in terms of the quantity but what it represents in terms of the quality. God is a God of Justice. God is a God of equity and Fairness. He is the Author of Proportionate Expectations. He knew the poor widow could not match the amount or level of the rich men. He knew her background, her ability, capability and affordability. He was not expecting her to give the same amount as the rich men but He was expecting the best everyone could offer based on what was available to each one. We could further state that God would not expect a person who earns a hundred thousand pounds to give the same amount as a person who earns a million pounds. That is why the Apostle Paul uses the term “in keeping with your income” in 1.Cor.16:2 in relation to giving money. God does not expect us to give more than we can afford but He expects our best.

Another point we can learn from this story is that man looks on the outward appearance but God looks upon the heart according 1.Sam.16:7. We see in this verse that God does not see things the way we do and He does not look at things from the outward appearance but at the heart from where the gift is coming from. We as people can only see what men do outwardly. We only notice the actions and are usually oblivious or unaware of people’s motives, methods and means. God can see every heart and nothing is hidden from his sight (2.Chron.16:9, Prov.15:3). While men can be quick to praise people who give large sums out of their abundance God can see whether they have given sacrificially or whether it has cost them something. Only Jesus knew the woman had given her last two mites. Only God knew she had given the last pennies to her name and the sacrifice she was making by giving on that particular day. Jesus could see the woman was giving out of worship, out of sacrifice and out of wanting to please her Lord by giving her best.

This was also the difference between Cain’s offering and Abel’s Offering. Abel offered to God the best lamb while Cain offered God the shrievelled vegetables and fruit. God accepted Abel’s offering because it was his best while He rejected Cain’s offering because they were the left-overs. Choosing to give God our best comes from an attitude of honour, gratefulness, humility, gratitude, sacrifice and worship. Giving God our left-overs comes from a heart of dishonour, disrespect, disregard, half-heartedness and mediocrity. Let us be people who give God our very best out of a grateful and thankful heart of worship and servitude because He deserves it and gave His best – The Lord Jesus – as a sacrifice for us so we can have access to the Throne of Grace, Amen.

Being Men & Women of the Times

God wants us all to be men and women of the times like the Men of Issachar in 1.Chron.12:32. In this verse, we read that there were 200 from the tribe of Issachar who understood the times and knew what Israel ought to do. In understanding the next course of action to take we need to see into three different areas I believe. We need to be able to look back, we need to see into our current and present situation and we need to see into the future. We need to have hindsight, which deals with the past and hindsight is a wonderful thing as the saying goes. We need insight to see our current situation so we can take honest stock and evaluate where we are and where to go next under God’s guidance. We need foresight so we can see where God might be taking us in the future. These three areas relate to the past, the present and the future; In other words, History, Current Affairs and Future Events. To be men and women of Issachar, we need our Prophetic lenses on accurately to, discern all three time frames by trusting God to help us see through His eyes. In being able to accurately discern the times like the men of Issachar, we need to remember, time is all before God’s eyes as He is outside time. He dwells and lives in Eternity according to Isa.57:15 and He is the one who is, who was and will forever be (Rev.1:8). He declares the end from the beginning and from the ancient times He reveals what is to come (Isa.46:10). So, God is the one with the true Hindsight, Insight and foresight. He has got perfect and untarnished knowledge but He, however, wants to make us like the men of Issachar so He can impart the Revelation Knowledge we need to accurately discern the times.

With regards to Hindsight, different characters in the people referred back to their History when they were in difficult and sticky patches in their walk with God. One such example can be found in 2.Chron.20:5-12, where Jehoshaphat uses the basis of the History of the Children of Israel as a means of crying out to God. He referred back to God’s promise in Verse 8 that God will deliver them when they called on His name in the Temple and He will save them, hear them and rescue them. Jehoshaphat used a promise from the past, from the History of the Israelites and from Hindsight to cry out to God in the present when they were facing invasion from the armies of Moab, Ammon and Edom. I like to say, Jehoshaphat used Testimonies of the past to inspire prayer of deliverance in the present because he referred back to God bringing the Children of Israel to the part of the promised land where they had settled. In the same way, we can look back to previous answers to prayers, previous promises and previous victories as a way of inspiring our prayers for the present. We need Hindsight to see what God has done in the past and what He has done in the past, He can do again because God never changes according Mal.3:6 and Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forevermore (Heb.13:8). We overcome the devil by the blood of the lamb and the Word of our Testimony according to Rev.12:11. When we testify of God’s goodness from the past or even the present we overcome the devil. But it is God who enables us to see His goodness and recall it from the past when we need to be reminded in the present to infuse Holy-Ghost energy in the battle and Spiritual Warfare.

We need Insight for the present like men of Issachar to see what God is doing and see what God is up to in the now. We need to pray Ephesians 1:17 on a regular basis that God would grant us the Spirit of Wisdom and of Revelation so the eyes of our understanding will be enlightened. As we have the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation that comes through the Holy-Spirit, we will be sensitive to what God is doing and how God is moving in our present situation and like men of Issachar we would know what to do when we understand the current situation. The men of Issachar were really like the the Intelligence Agency for the Military Force of Israel during the times of King David. Before any Military force goes into battle, The Intelligence Unit need to gather a lot of information and the information gathered forms the basis upon which the army strategizes and draws up Battle plans. Knowing your enemy’s strengths, weaknesses, tactics, potential opportunities and threats is down to the information gathered by the Intelligence Unit. During the times of David, that was down to the 200 men of the tribe of Issachar. They can be likened to MI5 and the MI6 behind James Bond’s undercover missions. James Bond will be ill-equipped without the information provided by the Intelligence Services. When the Intelligence Services provide the Secret Agents with information then they know which course of action to pursue. In the same way when the Holy-Spirit gives us Wisdom and Revelation and when He opens our eyes to see wonderful things in His law (Ps.119:18) or when we see what He shows us of His miracle-wonders according to the Message Translation of the same verse then we know what to do next. Even though eyes have not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered the heart of man of what God has prepared for those who love God, God still wants to show us by His Spirit (1.Cor.2:9-10) and He will if we ask him to show us what is going on so we can flow with the choreographic moves of the Spirit and be men and women of Issachar in the process.

We also need the Spirit of God to give us foresight in keeping with the men of Issachar. Part of Military Intelligence is anticipating the move of your enemy and trying to intercept or thwart such moves before the enemy has the time to execute their plans. We need God to show us the future so we can intercept the plans of the enemy too and thus be like the men of Issachar. The Bible tells us that the Holy-Spirit will show us things to come (Jn.16:13). The New Living Translation says God will show us the future. We can count on the Holy-Spirit to give us inside information about warfare tactics like God did in the days of Elisha. Elisha by the Word of Knowledge revealed every move of the King of Syria and this gave the children of Israel the edge and victory in battle. The issue perplexed the King of Syria so much that he thought he had a spy in his camp but one of his servants told him Elisha knew everything the King said including what was uttered in his bedroom (2.Kings.6:8-12). Here is an example of someone operating in foresight to intercept the plans of the enemy. God also tells us in the book of Joel.2:28 that in the last days He will pour out His Spirit on all flesh, the sons and daughters will prophesy, the old men will dream dreams and the young men will see visions. One of the ways God shows us the future is through dreams and visions as He did with Joseph, Pharoah, Nebuchadnezzar, the Wise Men from the East, Peter, Daniel and Paul. Just like God spoke in dreams and visions to these people, He is willing to speak to us today about the future and guide us regarding His plans and destinies for our lives.

May we be those with hindsight who look back to recall the positive things God has done and use them in the present. May we be those who have insight to see what God is doing in the present and hear what God is saying in the present. May we be those who foresee danger and hide according to Proverbs.22:3 and not be the simple who pass on and are punished so we can be true men and women of Issachar.

The Vision Puts You To Action

The word tells us to write the vision upon the tablets and make it plain that he may run who reads it (Hab.2:2). It was like the Lord could see well in advance that we would have a digital device called a tablet. Of Course, God was instructing Habakkuk to write on tablets of stone as the scribes and writers of the day were prone to use to record important and worthy oratory. We could apply the same principle to what God speaks to us today as writing on a notepad, a journal, a laptop, a digital notepad on our phones and tablets or a recorder on our phones. God is instructing us through this verse to write and not just write anything that comes to mind but to write the vision. The Vision is a picture God gives you about the future. It’s an image of God’s plan, purpose and design for your life. A vision is so important that God says without a Vision, people perish (Prov.29:18, KJV). This is why we must take the Vision for our lives seriously because without it we will wander through life aimlessly, blindly without direction and purpose. One of the three main questions that human beings ask themselves is “why am I here on earth?” God wants to reveal that purpose to us more than we want to find out. People go to unusual lengths to discover their purpose. These include consulting fortune-tellers, psychics, tarot cards and clairvoyants but the Word tells us that eyes have not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love him (1.Cor.2:9). God has awesome plans for our lives and He wants to reveal them to us by His Spirit according 1.Cor.2:10. God wants us to record the things He reveals to us by His Spirit in the various Journals, notepads, digital pads, tablets, laptops and computers. We really have no excuse in this day and age regarding information storage as we are blessed with so many options.

The scriptures tell us to make it plain on the tablets we write on according to Habakkuk 2:2. What does it mean to make it plain? It means to write with clarity, without obscurity, concise, precise, accurate and with a purpose. God wants us to hear him precisely, without obscurity and with clarity so we can write the vision down and record it in a way that it inspires, motivates and energizes us to take action when we read it.

Staying with Habakkuk.2:2, when the Vision is written down with clarity, precision and accuracy, then the reader can run. The vision is meant to activate us and move us into action. The Vision is meant to inspire and motivate us to pioneer, break records, discover new horizons, break new ground, go for unprecedented breakthroughs, scale new heights, push through walls, move mountains, remove barricades, climb mountains and overcome obstacles. The Vision is the vehicle that carries you from your present into your future so when God speaks to you about it, you must not take it lightly. You should cherish it so much that you treat it as a treasure worth keeping and that is why you write it down.

Receiving the vision is like having our heart or capacity enlarged as it says in Ps.119:32. This causes us to run in the path of what God has for us. Knowing the vision, getting a revelation from God broadens, energizes and invigorates us into running with action, purpose, fervour and zeal.

Receiving the vision which motivates us to run can make us accomplish the impossible according Ps.18:29. When God speaks and reveals His plans we can run through a troop which signifies problems, obstacles and impossibilities. When God speaks and you are fuelled by His Vision for your life, there is no stopping you because you can run through a troop or an army and you can scale a wall; With the vision as your motivating factor, mountains can become plains and valleys can be exalted. God wants us to Journal the Vision so we can run with Divine Speed to fulfil His Glorious Purposes. Let’s continue to wait upon the Lord for Him to reveal the vision so we can run and not be weary and walk and not faint (Isa.40:31)

2023 – The Year of Consolidation and Establishment

This is going to be a year for Consolidation and Establishment according to the Prophetic Word God has given me for 2023. Consolidation is the process of making something stronger or more solid. When I was thinking about this word back when God gave it to me around October or November of 2022, I was thinking of how this word of Consolidation lines up with the Word of God because we must always test every Prophetic Word with Scripture. The word that came to me is Establishment and that is how God helped me formulate Consolidation and Establishment. In going by the meaning of Consolidation, if you make something stronger or more solid, it becomes more established.

We are going to need to get more established in 2023 because the shaking is not over. If anything, there will be more shaking. The trials will intensify, disasters will increase and the crisis will get stronger but our foundations need to be strong, otherwise we won’t make it. The rains and the storms will be on the rise but we need to make sure our houses are built on Christ the Solid Rock. We need to make sure our foundations are built on the Word of God so when the storms come, our houses will not crash according to the parable of Jesus in Matt.7:24-27. The house speaks of foundations of our faith, family, finances, health, marriage and every other area of life. Even if any aspect of our lives are shaken, our faith must never be destroyed because that is what will see us through the hard and difficult times.

God gave me 3 Scriptures to do with Establishment which I will like to encourage us to go into this year with.

The First Scripture is Isaiah 54:15 which says “in righteousness you will be established for you will not fear”. Righteousness means having a right-standing with God through the Blood of Jesus. Through the Blood of Jesus, we are justified. That word “Justified” carries with it the notion of God treating us “Just like we have not sinned”. This right-standing will lead to right-doing. As we constantly stand before God with a sense of confidence that comes through the blood of Jesus, it will lead to a life-style of practicing right-living. This cycle of righteousness will cause to be stronger and more solid which will enable us to experience Consolidation and Establishment as we establish the good habit of right-standing and right-doing.

The Second Scripture is 2.Chronicles.20:20 which says “Believe in the Lord your God so shall you be established. Believe His prophets, so shall you prosper”. We experienced some hard times in 2022 with the energy crisis, cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine. The harder the times get, the more we need to trust and believe in God because according to this scripture, believing in God is what will cause us to be established. The just shall live by faith according to Rom.1:17 and if you believe in the Lord Jesus, then you are just in His sight and He expects you to live by faith or lead a life that is totally dependent on Him. As you do, He will cause you to be established, unmoveable and fixed despite the difficult times.

The Third Scripture is found in in 1.Peter.5:10 which says “God of all grace who called us to eternal glory by Christ Jesus will perfect, stablish, strengthen and settle you after you have suffered a while”. If you look this verse up in the Berean Study Bible, it says God will restore, secure, strengthen and establish you. Some of you have suffered in 2022 but God is going to establish you in 2023. I don’t know what challenge you went through in your health, marriage, work or finances but God is going to establish you.

If you look 1.Pet.5:10 up in the Passion Translation, it says God will set you up firmly in place and build you up. This is in correlation with the metaphor of buildings that we started with from the Jesus’ Parable in Matthew 7. Builders and Architects tell us the higher the building, the deeper the foundation. God wants us to dig deeper and firmly establish our foundation in Him so He can take us to higher heights in Him this year. So, in the light of this scripture in 1.Pet.5:10, you suffered in 2022 but God wants me to leave you with these 4 statements:

• You have been squeezed but it’s so you can give life (2.Cor.4:11)
• You have been exposed but it’s so you can be a refuge
• You have been under attack, so you can be a Haven like the Mustard seed that grew into a mighty tree in Matt.13:31-32
• You have lacked but it’s so you can become a Distribution Centre

As you are established, you can be a blessing in 2023 to many.

Uganda Mission Praise Report

Praise God for the opportunity to Preach and Teach at Rhema Community Church for the Pastors and Leaders Conference from the 30th of October to the 4th of November. I was invited by Pastor Joseph Mugwanya and God gave me a safe journey to Entebbe Airport in Kampala, Uganda via Amsterdam.

Sunday the 30th of October

Sunday Commenced with a Service in the Morning and I noticed there were lots of children at the morning service. God inspired me to do a Rap about Jesus for the kids and tell them the story of Samuel before preaching to the adults. During the service, God gave me words of knowledge about a Sister being concerned about her children and a brother carrying a Business Anointing and both were confirmed as I gave them Personal Prophetic Words. I preached a Message on Jam.3:17-18 about the wisdom from above being pure. I was going to carry on with the qualities mentioned in James 3 about the wisdom of God but God changed my message and told me His people needed a breakthrough. So I proceeded to preach on God being a God of the Breakthrough from 2.Samuel.5:1-17. Prophetic words followed as God had me make an altar call for those who needed a Breakthrough in their Businesses, Finances and Health. Many responded to these words. Many were blessed by this message and claimed it was a word in season for them.

Monday 31st of October

God directed me to preach from Isa.28:21 which speaks about God being a God of the Breakthrough (Arising in Perazim), a God of Miracles (Being angry as in Gibeon) and wanting to do the strange and unusual. Some pastors who were present from a Bible School confirmed they had been looking at some of the topics mentioned in the sermon about the gifts of the Spirit, some had been looking at Joshua and another had been teaching about Jesus calming the storm the previous night which I mentioned in the sermon. This was confirmation that I was on the right lines as God changed my sermon from continuing with James 3 to Isaiah 28:21. There were some encouraging testimonies during the service as a sister shared how God had given her a financial breakthrough after the service from the previous night. After she received prayer for a Business and Financial Breakthrough, she received a phone call immediately after the service with someone offering her a business deal worth 10,000 Ugandan Shillings. Others testified about receiving revelation from the sermon that had raised them to a new level, Praise God!!! God gave me words of knowledge about Him wanting to minister to people with disturbed sleep, trouble at work and trouble in their marriages. Many responded to these words. There was also a personal prophecy about a young lady in the choir with God saying He wants to release the Anointing of the Psalmist on her. In the evening, I carried on with Isa.28:21. After, the sermon, God led me to release a word of knowledge based on Ps.119:83 which describes someone feeling like a bottle within the smoke. A sister responded to this word and was slain the Spirit as I prayed for her. I was led to lead the congregation in a Prophetic Declaration I normally use from one of the devotionals I use during my time of prayer. As I did so, a lady fell out under the power of God without anyone touching her. I was also led to pray for singles to find the right spouses.

Tuesday 1st of November

During the Morning Service, I was led to speak on Exodus 14:1-14. During the service, the sister that responded to the word from Ps.119:83 testified about what God did for her as a result of responding to the word of knowledge and being prayed for. God did two outstanding things in her life. She had responded to the word about disturbed sleep, a condition she had for 12 years and for the first time in 12 years, she slept well. She had also had chest pain for 6 years and God healed her chest pain too. Praise God!!! Another Sister testified about getting victory in her dream. People responded to words of knowledge about heart trouble, diabetes and blood disease. In the evening, I finished off the passage from Exodus 14 about “The Egyptians you see today, you shall see them no more”. 3 people were delivered from demons as me and other pastors prayed for the people and many responded to the call for being filled with the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.

Wednesday 2nd of November

Before the service I was led to pray against the interruption we had been experiencing about electricity and other issues within the country. God led me to preach on Psalm 46 on Wednesday. During the service, the same sister who received a Financial Breakthrough had received another blessing. Her landlord had decided to be lenient and allow her to move in the house without the required rent or deposit. In the evening, I carried on with preaching on Psalm 46, people responded to the altar call for prayer about bad relationships with their fathers and there was a testimony from a brother about being healed from chest pain after I had laid hands on him. The interpreter who translated my sermons from English into Luganda also received a promotion at work to become a supervisor and there was news about an imminent sum of money coming to him in the near future which confirmed the Business and Financial Breakthroughs mentioned on Sunday Night.

Thursday 3rd of November

On Thursday, I began preaching on the need for discernment from Hebrews 5:14 and the parallel of our 5 physical senses in the Spirit. During the service, the same sister who had received 2 Financial Breakthroughs had another miracle. A Pastor in the congregation, felt led to give her some clothes for her business as someone had given him some clothes asking him if he knew who could make use of them. The same Pastor also felt led to pay for 5 months rent for the sister which would be a real help for the Sister. Halleluyah!!! As I read a word from Nehemiah 4:1 about someone being the object of mockery, someone fell under the power without being touched and others responded to this word regarding their lives. Praise God the electricity stayed on without being interrupted after prayer. During the evening service, there were more testimonies after I preached on Discernment of Spirits. A sister was healed of abdomen pain after prayer even though she had been to hospital and not received any relief from the hospital, an older gentle-man was healed of shoulder, back and knee pains. He could move them in ways he had not been able to do before the conference. Another Sister also received healing in her body even though she had been to the hospital and received some prescriptions. She felt healed to the point that she saw no more need for her medication. Praise God!!!

Friday 4th of November

The conference finished on the Thursday but we travelled to a different rural village called Kakiri. This village contains a branch of Pastor Joseph’s Church called Rhema Community Church. We had the orphans from the village who are cared for through the Church attend the meeting in the church and some adults who belonged to the church and other churches. I felt led by God to do the rap about Jesus, sharing a Gospel story with the children and preaching to the adults from the book of Matthew chapter 10. I finished the session by leading the children in a Prayer of Salvation. Halleluyah. I had a safe flight back home via Amsterdam. Praise God!!!!

Don’t Limit God

Can God be limited? Yes!! He can according to the scriptures. We must never be guilty of this in our lives as the scriptures tell us in Ps.78:41. Apparently, there are certain qualities we all exhibit from time to time that can limit God. As difficult it is to think God – The creator of the Universe, the awesome one, the great and mighty one, with whom nothing is possible, can be limited is quite astonishing. The qualities that can limit God are turning back and tempting God according to Ps.78:41. This chapter is referring to the attitude of the children of Israel in the wilderness where they tempted God and turned back from God by complaining, murmuring, doubting and voicing unbelief. If we display these characteristics in our lives, we could be guilty of limiting the Holy One in our lives too. This is why the Apostle Paul warns us not to have an evil heart of unbelief that departs from the Living God (Heb.3:12). This evil heart of unbelief that departs from the living God is the type of heart and life that limits God. We cannot allow ourselves to be in such a state and we must pray and ask the Holy Spirit to show us when we are drifting into murmuring, complaining, grumbling and unbelief so we do not fall into the trap of limiting the Holy One of Israel.

A basic Revelation of God will help us cure this disease of limiting God. The fact that God is Omnipotent (All Powerful), Omniscient (All Knowing) and Omnipresent (God is Every where). If we know God as the All Powerful, the All Knowing and Ever Present God, then we know we cannot limit God. God is Unlimited, Unstoppable, Indomitable, Invincible, Amazing, Wonderful and Incredible. If we know God as God, as the Awesome one, then we should not limit him by turning back, tempting him and doubting Him. We must be still and know He is God (Ps.46:10)

God is the Omnipotent, the all powerful one. The God with whom nothing is impossible, the one who made Heaven and earth with whom nothing is too difficult, He is God there is no other (Matt.19:26, Jer.32:17, Isa.45:5). He parted the Red Sea, He caused the walls of Jericho to fall, He fed the Israelites with Manna and gave them water to drink in the wilderness, He fed Elijah by the brook of Cherith with Bread and meat through the ravens. When Jesus was on the earth, He healed the blind, cured leprosy, turned water to wine, made the cripple walk, healed the deaf, cast out demons, raised the dead, fed the multitude with 5 loaves and 2 fish, walked on water, calmed the storm and to top it all when He died on the cross for our sins, God raised Him from the dead on the third day. If the God we serve can do all these things, indeed there is nothing impossible with Him (Mark.10:27) and if we believe He said nothing will be impossible to those who believe (Mark.9:23) and those who believe Him will do the same works as He did and do greater works than He did because He has gone to the Father (John.14:12). So we must not limit God because He is an All Powerful God!!!

The second reason we must not limit God is because He is Omniscient; He is All-Knowing. The problem with us as human beings is that our knowledge is limited. We only know what we have experienced in the past, what we have learned or what we are experiencing in the present. God, however, has knowledge of the past, present and future. Nothing is hidden from him whether past, present or future. He is the Beginning, the end, the God who is, who was and who is to come (Rev.1:8). In other words, there is no time where God is concerned because past, present and future all exist before him as the same, He dwells in eternity and He is outside time (Isa.57:15). He is the source of all Wisdom and Knowledge as all treasures of knowledge and wisdom dwell within Him and He gives wisdom and out of His mouth proceed all knowledge and understanding (Col.2:3, Prov.2:6). If He is all Knowing, then how and why as limited people in knowledge, wisdom and understanding can we limit someone who knows everything about every known subject matter whether they be mathematics, science, space, engineering, art or technology. He knows about every thing whether visible or invisible, present, past or future ever since time began until the very end. He even knows a lot more about things we have not discovered yet as human beings and everything was made by Him, for Him and subject to Him (Col.1:15-18). Every now again, He chooses to reveal some of this wisdom and knowledge to us by His spirit (1.Cor.2:9-10) and through the Gifts of the Spirit (1.Cor.12:8). But we need to realise He is the source and not us.

The third reason we must not limit God is because He is Omnipresent; God is everywhere. As human beings we are limited to being in one place at one time and relying on our 5 physical senses of sight, speech, taste, hearing and touch to navigate through life but the God we serve is not limited to one place at a time. His eyes run to and fro throughout the earth (2.Chron.16:9, Prov.15:3), His ears are not deaf that He cannot hear (Isa.59:1), His arm are not shortened that they cannot save (Isa.59:1), when He speaks things happen (Num.23:19, Ps.29). One of the names of God is Jehovah Shammah which means the Lord who is There (Ezek.48:35). Where is He? He is everywhere as the Psalmist acknowledges that He cannot escape the presence of God because He is in Heaven or whether he makes his bed in hell, God is there. He is in the wind and He can see the farthest ocean (Ps.139:7-9). So if God is everywhere, why limit Him by trying to box him in the cage of our natural senses and locations.

God owns Heaven and earth, everything belongs to Him, He can move anything, anywhere, however and whenever He chooses. That’s why we must never limit Him realising He made Heaven and earth, our help comes from Him and He wants to do the impossible by literally moving heaven and earth to show himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are right towards Him. Trust Him, don’t limit Him!!!

Don’t let them Limit You!!!

So many people try and limit you and put you in a box because people can’t help but compare. We are all familiar with the adage “Keeping up with the Joneses”. Everyone wants to be like their neighbour, nobody wants to feel left behind or feel like their neighbour is surging ahead of them in life. While there is healthy competition in sports, academics and employment, competition out of pride, selfish ambition, ego and the need to get one up over your neighbour can be dangerous. This is why the scriptures tell us not to do anything out of vain glorying and selfish ambition but in lowliness of mind to esteem others better than ourselves (Phil.2:3). The Bible also warns us against comparing ourselves against other people and suggests it is not a wise thing to do (2.Cor.10:12).

People, in comparing themselves with others out of jealousy and pride, try and put them in a box, put a limitation or ceiling over them as they measure them up because ” How dare them surpass them”. So in measuring them up, such people seek to drag people down to their level, put people in a box which they feel they are not supposed to outgrow and seek to keep others down because they are not supposed to outstrip, outgrow or flourish more than them. Such instances occurred many times in the Bible and we should not be surprised if it happens to us. People put a limit on Jesus, David, Nehemiah and Joseph, so we should not be surprised if they try and put a limit on us too.

With Regards to the Lord Jesus, people questioned his wisdom due to the fact that they knew his brothers and sisters and that he was the son of a carpenter. They wondered how Jesus came by such wisdom and how He displayed such power (Mark.6:2-3). They limited Jesus based on His Family Background, their familiarity and His Family’s Status. All the qualities people use to write us off today!!! Jesus never let them limit Him and place Him in the box of their expectations. Rather, He broke out of their box of expectations and limitations by retorting that a Prophet is without honour except in his own household, in his own town (Mark.6:4). Jesus knew “Familiarity breeds contempt” especially among your family or the people you expect to believe in you but you must never let that deter you from pressing forward in your calling or destiny. Jesus did not let the nay-sayers deter him from His goal, vision and objectives; neither should we.

David is another example from the Bible of someone who did not listen to people who tried to limit him and confine him to their level. As you are aware of the story of David and Goliath, when David showed up on the battle-field and noticed Goliath’s taunts and challenge, he asked what would be done for the person who manages to kill the giant. The first nay-sayer was David’s brother, Eliab who asked David about who was looking after the sheep and accused David of pride and naughtiness saying David wanted to see what was going on at the battle field. David simply replied his brother by asking what he had done and if there was not a cause (a reason, a destiny, something to fight for). David did not let the limitation of him being a youth, a shepherd, being a younger brother to Eliab or his motives being misunderstood prevent him from fulfilling a date with destiny. People will use age, background and the misunderstanding of your motives to try and put you in a box or place a limitation on what they think you can achieve but you must not let that stop you. Like David, you must ask “Is there not a cause? Is there not a date with destiny? Is there not a calling to be fulfilled? Is there not a future God has for me? Before David went up against Goliath, Saul told David he was not able because Goliath had been a warrior from his youth but David was still young. Saul also gave David his armour and weapons to wear in battle against Goliath but David refused them saying he had not proved them, neither was he used to such an armour. So people might try to limit us like Saul because of our age or might try and hand us their armour which could mean their ideas, thoughts, methods or concepts but we must be like David who relied on God, used the stone and sling and conquered Goliath (1.Sam.17:28-51). We must not be limited by other people’s thoughts or ideas but move forward through Faith in God using the weapons and methods He told us to use in our battle against Goliath and in our quest to fulfil destiny.

Joseph is another good example of this notion of not letting people place a limitation on us or put us in a box. When Joseph shared his dreams with his brothers about the sun, moon and eleven stars bowing to him and the bundle of sheaves bowing to his own bundle of sheaves, his brothers were annoyed with him asking “Shall you indeed reign and rule over us” (Gen.37:7-11). When people sense someone might have a special destiny or calling, people ask the same questions today in a different way. Through their attitude, actions and words, you sense them belittling, undermining and patronizing another individual they believe should not outstrip, outgrow or outdo them.

In their jealousy, they sold Joseph but Joseph kept trusting God, worked hard with a good attitude wherever he found himself, kept serving God with his gifts until he finally ended up where God wanted him and the very people who tried to prevent it ended up bowing to Joseph (Gen.42:6). In the face of jealousy and suffering, we must keep serving, be faithful, work hard and keep using our gifts and God will make sure our gift make room for us and bring us before great men like He did with Joseph (Prov.18.16 )

Nehemiah was another Biblical example who did not let people prevent him from him from reaching the heights of what God had for him and fulfilling God’s calling upon his life. Nehemiah was charged with rebuilding the walls in Jerusalem after they had been destroyed after some exiled Jews had returned home ( Neh.1:3). Nehemiah found favour with the Persian King who allowed Nehemiah to back to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. After Nehemiah started on the project, Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, Ammonites and Ashdodites mocked, plotted, schemed and did everything they could to prevent Nehemiah from concluding the project but Nehemiah remained focused, steadfast and unmovable mustering and mobilising the Jews to finish the project. We must be like Nehemiah and not let the ridicule, plans, ploys and distractions of the enemy limit us from fulfilling our destiny. (Nehemiah Chapter 4 to chapter 7)

Don’t let them place a limitation on you, don’t let them put you in a box, don’t let them put a ceiling on your potential, don’t let them label and fix a measure they think you should reach with your life. You are who God says you are and you can be all God has called you to be, people are not God and it is not up to them to decide how far you can go. You mainly need God’s approval and not people’s permission to fulfil your calling and destiny (2.Cor.10:18)

The Theology Behind Blessing

The priests in the old testament were charged with the privilege of pronouncing blessings on the Children of Israel (Deut.10:8) and the Lord commanded the priests to pronounce the Levitical Blessing on the Children of Israel in Num.6:22-26. The fact that the priests pronounced the blessing in the New Testament does not mean the concept has ceased in the New Testament. We are called the Priests and Ministers of the Lord in Isa.61:6. We are also called Priests and Kings in the New Testament (1.Pet.2:9, Rev.1:5-6). Therefore as Priests and Ministers of God we have been given authority by God to pronounce Blessings like the Old testament priests.

It is very important to realise the role of speaking and what the Bible has to say about the Words that proceed from our mouth if we are to effectively and confidently pronounce a Blessing over a person, a group of people, a town, a village, a city, a nation, a continent and the rest of the World.

In Isa.65:16 (Amplified Classic Version), we are told that anyone who will bless himself should do so by saying. So we see in this verse that the Blessing is released by saying and we see biblical examples of Isaac pronouncing the Blessing on Jacob and then Esau got the remnant of the Blessing by what Isaac pronounced upon him. Jacob pronounced the blessing on his 12 sons and on Joseph’s sons as well. So the blessing is released by saying and the curse is released by saying too as Elisha demonstrated by cursing the youth who laughed at his baldness (2.Kings.2:23-25) and Jesus cursed the fig tree (Mark.11:12-25)

We need to realise that our words have power, in fact Prov.18:20-21 tells us that the power of life and death is in the tongue and anyone who loves it will eat the fruit thereof. If you speak life (words of encouragement, edification, peace, love and joy) that is the Blessing and if you speak death (Words of discouragement, fear, doubt, unbelief) that is death. That is why we are told in Deut.30:19-20 that God has set before us Life and death, Blessing and Cursing. We are encouraged by God to choose Life. Life and Blessing go together, Death and cursing go together. We speak Life when we speak the blessing and we speak death when we speak Cursing.

The Word of God tells us our words have power. We are told that if we decree a thing, it will be done for us in Job.28:22. We need to realise that God will only sanction His Word. God is not under no obligation to fulfil anything that does not line up with his Word. So when we decree a thing it should be in line with His Word because he watches over his word to perform it (Jer.1:12). It is the Word that proceeds from His mouth that He sees to that it prospers (Isa.55:11) and the angels carry out assignments and commandments by obeying the voice of the Word of God (Ps.103:20-21).

We need to be careful about what we say therefore because God is listening and the angels are also listening. That is why God admonishes us not to be hasty with our words (Ecc.5:1-6). The children of Israel found this out the hard way as God told them they will experience all they had declared in His hearing (Num.14:28). The Children of Israel complained in the wilderness and said “Moses, you have brought us in the wilderness to kill us”. They complained and murmured saying they were going to die in the wilderness and that was exactly what they got. Majority of them died in the wilderness apart from Joshua and Caleb whose confession was different because they had the Spirit of Faith. They said they were well able to possess and inherit the land and that was what happened to them. They possessed the promised land because they uttered words of faith rather than words of doubt and unbelief like the rest of the children of Israel.

It is very important to have the Spirit of Faith like Joshua and Caleb if we are going to pronounce a blessing over a person, situation, town, village, city or nation. We need to believe God’s Word and speak like David says in Ps.116:10, 2.Cor.4:13. It is the Word of God declared in faith that releases the blessing.

It is the Spirit of Faith that would allow us to enter the realm of Rom.4:17. The place where we call the things that are not as though they were. The realm of the God kind of faith where we speak to things that are dead, hopeless and impossible and believe God to turn dead, hopeless and impossible situations around by having the Abraham kind of faith that did not stagger at the promise of God but was strong in faith, giving glory to God (Rom.4:17-20). The way Abraham believed God was accepting God’s title of calling him a “Father of many Nations” before he had many children. God called him a father of many nations when he only had Ishmael, the son of the concubine, not the child of promise. Abraham believed it, allowed people to call him “Abraham”, introduced himself as “Abraham” and he became a Father of a Multitude like the stars of Heaven and the sand on the sea shore as God promised him. So we see a correlation between believing God, speaking the blessing according to the Spirit of faith and experiencing the Blessing according to what we pronounce. The key is saying what God commands us to speak like he did with Abraham. God gave him the name and he accepted it. We need to do the same. Take God’s word regarding our situation that He leads us to and pronounce that as the blessing over our situation. When we speak Faith, we call the things that are not as though they were and that’s why God told the weak to say he is strong (Joel.3:10)

It was Jesus that told us that if we have faith we can speak to the mountain and ask it to be removed and it will obey us and be cast in to the sea. The Lord Jesus said if we do not doubt in our hearts but believe that we say will come to pass, we shall have what we say (Mark.11:22-23). The Lord Jesus said you will have what you say. So we need to speak His Word of Blessing and His Word of Faith that He has inspired us to speak if we want to see the Blessing in operation.

So we can speak words based on scripture for healing, prosperity, peace, comfort and these words will be words of blessing if they are based in scripture. We need to be people who speak healing rather than death (Prov.12:18). We need to be bearers of life rather than messengers of death. When we are messengers of Life, we are channels of blessing. When we are messengers of death, we are channels of the curse.

Knowing that our words have great power we need to be people who speak words of Faith, life and the blessing. We can be people who use the words of life and blessing to exalt the city rather than bring the city into destruction by our words (Prov.11:11).

When we praise with our mouth, it has an effect on the land around us. As we praise God and as people praise God, the land will yield her increase and God will bless us (Ps.67:5-7). This verse of scripture shows us the correlation between praise, worship and blessing as we use our mouth in a positive way.

So as Priests and Ministers of God, let use our mouths to pronounce the blessing over our lives, families, towns, villages, cities and nations. Amen

Don’t get Depressed, be Impressed!! Don’t get Jealous, be Zealous!!

How do you react when you meet someone more gifted, talented or dare I say even more anointed than you. No matter how gifted or talented you are, there will always be someone out there doing better than you, being more used of God, getting more exposure, more opportunities and attention than you. What’s your first reaction? Be Honest! Is it jealousy? Pride? A Competitive Spirit? Insecurity? A Territorial Spirit perhaps? There is no need to be jealous and there is no need to be insecure in the presence of more gifted, anointed or talented individuals – Particularly if they are in the same field or area of service as you.

God challenged me one time that when you meet people who are more gifted or anointed than you there are two reactions. You can either get jealous or you can be inspired. That is why God has given me the title of this blog. Rather than get jealous we should become zealous or inspired to function more effectively in what we are called to do. Rather than get depressed because of the feelings of insecurity, inadequacy and feelings of not measuring up we should be impressed by what God has bestowed on others. We can get to the stage of being zealous and being impressed by celebrating the gifts and callings of others rather than feeling the need to compete and vy for superiority.

God spoke to me about the fact that in order to celebrate the gifts, anointing and talents of others we need to be secure in who God has called us to be and in the measure of anointing and grace He has Sovereignly bestowed upon our lives.

There are three scriptures that have helped me to combat feelings of jealousy, insecurity, competition and rivalry.

The First Scripture is “Do nothing through strife or vain-glory but in lowliness of mind esteem other people better than yourselves” (Phil.2:3). God spoke to me about seeing the talent in everyone I meet whether saved or unsaved. There is something they have got that I haven’t got. There is a gift in someone else that does not reside in me. They are better at something than I am. When I meet them, I don’t focus on the gifts that I excel at better than them but I focus on the gifts within them at which they excel. This squashes any need in me to compete or operate in pride. I concentrate on them, I celebrate the goodness of God in their lives. If they have a bigger or more popular ministry, I will still celebrate them because they are fulfilling God’s call upon their lives. It does not mean God loves them more than He loves me. They are functioning under the Anointing God has Sovereignly and graciously bestowed upon them and they are accountable to God for how they use the gifts and callings. My job is to love and pray for them. If I am already esteeming them better than myself according to Phil.2:3, there’s no room for an inferiority complex! Just Thanksgiving to God for making me unique, loving me and giving me an opportunity to fulfil a tailor-made purpose to accomplish that cannot be fulfilled by anyone else.

The second Scripture God has used to encourage me is found in 2.Cor.10:12. It says those who compare and measure themselves against other people are not wise. God’s wisdom is pure, full of mercy, full of good fruits, without hypocrisy and without partiality (Jam.3:17). God’s wisdom does include rivalry, jealousy and competition. Where there is bitter envying, strife and jealousy, there is confusion and every evil work (Jam.3:16). The way to combat the feelings of envy, strife, jealousy and competition which are not wise according to 2.Cor.10:12 is to adopt the characteristics of the wisdom of God found in Jam.3:17. Which is the heart that operates out of purity, gentleness, transparency, a lack of hypocrisy and a lack of partiality.

The Third Scripture is found in Ps.139:14 which tells me I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am unique, special and precious to God. There is only one me and there would never be another. I am so unique, my finger prints and DNA are only unique to me. With that, there is a purpose and destiny only unique to me. There might be others who do what I do and function in similar gifts, talents and anointings to me but there is only still one me and God loves me just as I am and for whom He has called me to be. He has something for me to do for him which has my name, and only my name on it! I am His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do the works He has prepared for me to do before the foundation of the world (Eph.2:10). God actually re-created us to fulfil the destiny He has given each of us (Eph.2:10 – TPT). A destiny tailor-made, custom made and specific to each individual. So I do not have to be jealous rather I need to zealous about the gifts, anointings and talents God has embedded in me. I do not need to be depressed about how gifted, anointed or popular other Ministers are but I need to impressed by how God has bestowed his gifts on others, be thankful and content with where He has placed me and who He has called me to be because I am known by God, special and precious to God. So don’t be Depressed, be Impressed! Don’t be Jealous, Be Zealous!!!

India Mission 8th – 17th of August 2019

 

Long Prayer vs Short Prayer

Many people struggle with prayer and quiet times. In fact, it’s one of the main sources of guilt in a lot of Christians’ spiritual life. Many people don’t know how to pray, how long for or what format their prayer life should take. Some might even wonder – How long should I pray for? The best answer to all these questions is to look at what the Bible says. How did Jesus do it? How did the Early Church do it and how did the great saints of old do it?

I would like to suggest Jesus as our best example before considering other characters in the Bible. There were times Jesus prayed all night ( Luke.6:12), there were times Jesus woke up early to pray (Mark.1:35), there were times Jesus prayed before making important decisions like choosing the 12 disciples (Mark.3:13) and He had prayed all night before making the decision about the people He chose as His disciples(Luke.6:12-13). Jesus was praying on the mountain before he was transfigured (Luke.9:29). There were also times when Jesus offered spontaneous prayers publicly and in front of everyone (Matt.11:25-26) and there was the great prayer Jesus prayed for His disciples and the future Church – (Jn.17:1-26), Jesus prayed the prayer of submission to the will of God in the garden of Gethsemane for three hours before his Crucifixion (Matt.26:39-45)  and Peter and John went to the temple to pray at the hour of prayer which was 3 O’clock.

So in observing the Life of the Lord Jesus, there is premise for all the different kinds of prayer as Paul says to pray always with all kinds of prayer and supplication in the Spirit for all saints (Eph.6:18). It was Jesus that taught the principle about men praying always and not giving up (Luke.18:1) and the Apostle Paul admonishes us to pray without ceasing (1.Thess.5:17). So in following these examples of the Lord Jesus and the teaching of Apostle Paul, we can have All night prayer, early morning prayer, special prayer times for important decisions, prayer of preparation in readiness for an encounter with God, spontaneous public prayers, prayers of intercession for our friends and the Church, prayer of submission to the will of God and afternoon prayers.

It should also be mentioned here that the disciples recognised the importance of prayer in the life of the Lord Jesus that they did not ask him to teach them to heal the sick, cast out devils or raise the dead but for the Lord Jesus to teach them to pray ( Luke.11:1). No wonder they cultivated the habit of going to the temple to pray at the hour of prayer in (Acts.3:1). They followed in the footsteps of Jesus in prayer and the healings, signs, wonders and miracles followed in the book of Acts just as they had been evident in the life of the Lord Jesus.

We should all cultivate these forms of prayer because we are called to follow in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus and the saints who have gone ahead of us.

God did Awesome things in Cameroon!!! – Mission Report from recent trip to Cameroon from the 9th – 17th of February:

Friday the 9th of February -Praise God for the awesome things he did during the recent visit to Cameroon. I travelled  from London Gatwick Airport on Friday the 9th of February to Cameorun via Istanbul and landed in Douala at 11.50 pm to work with Pastor Hamegni Guy of the Christian Faith Missionary Chapel, Foumbot, Cameroon. I spent the night in a hotel in Douala after Pastor Guy met me at the airport with another Pastor called Rehoboam

Saturday the 10th of February – We travelled to Foumbot by coach on a 8 hour journey from Douala. I was scheduled to preach at Pastor Guy’s Minister Friend called Pastor Zephraine on the Sunday. Pastor Zephraine’s church is located in Bafoussam and we had to pass through Bafoussam to get to Pastor Guy’s home and Church in Foumbot. As we were passing through, God told me there was an open heaven over that city.

Sunday the 11th of February – I was scheduled to preach at the Church in Bafoussam. We had a lively time of worship featuring upbeat African Praise and Worship by the choir, a drama and some testimonies as well. I preached from Acts.3:19-20 about “Times of refreshing from the Presence of the Lord”. Before I preached, I shared the prophetic word God had given me about the city the day before as we were passing through about the ‘Open Heaven’ over the city. After the time of preaching, I had some prophetic words for certain people. The first lady God had told me earlier in the service that she wasn’t married and God wanted me to speak into her life, so I prayed as I was led, prayed and prophesied over some singles in the church and was led to pray for the church that God would send families and as I was praying I declared prophetically that there would be an open heaven and it would be like Jacob’s ladder. After the time of ministry, the Pastor came over and said all the prophetic words had been accurate and spot on. He said God used me to pray prophetically into the problems the people were facing. He said the first lady I prophesied over regarding marriage had gone through traditional marriage but had not been through the wedding ceremony in the church and had not had the Pastor’s Blessing on their marriage. I also prayed for the fruit of the womb without realising they have been seeking a child for 4 years. The prophecy for the Church regarding the Open Heaven was also apt because the Church was called Bethel Church and I did not know the name of the Church prior to my visit. Jacob named the place where he had a dream about a ladder going from earth to heaven, angels descending up and down and the Lord at the top of it Bethel saying “The Lord is in this place and I did not know it. This is surely the House of God and the gate to Heaven” (Gen.28:12-17).  This was significant because people have been laughing at the church saying how could your small church be the gateway to heaven? God used me to encourage them because the church was founded based on this passage!!! Praise God.

Monday, the 12th of February – We had an evangelistic outreach in the evening where we used someone’s balcony and the open space in front of the balcony which would normally be a market place during the day for our outreach. I did some rapping which seemed to go down well and preached the Gospel from Luke.4:18. I dealt with the good news to the poor this evening. God drew many to hear the gospel through my rapping which was duly followed by evangelistic preaching carried out through Pastor Guy’s interpretation into French. After the outreach, we got a chance to pray for the sick and minister to the owners of the property we used for the outreach. The wife had severe back pain while the husband had prostate cancer. I asked the woman whether she felt any better after we prayed, she said she was slightly better but not completely so I prayed for her again and while I was praying God revealed to me that stress was the cause of her back pain. I shared the word of knowledge and she acknowledged it and we prayed for her again and God led me to ask whether she had any children. I shared with her that God was telling me she was worried about her children and this was causing stress which led to the back pain. She broke down in tears at this stage because she was indeed worried about her only son who had been in a lot of trouble with the police. The couple promised to attend the conferences scheduled for later in the week. Praise God for this opportunity.

Tuesday, the 13th of February – We started the Evangelistic outreach by taking testimonies and quite a few testified about God healing pain in the body, neck, back and nerve pain. One of the most remarkable healings happened when a father laid hands on his own head on behalf of his son who was lying in bed with a fever because Pastor Guy had asked people the night before to lay hands where they were sick and asked me to pray the prayer of healing for the people. Praise God for the healings. I did some rapping again and preached from Luke.4:18 about Jesus coming to heal the broken hearted. We prayed for the sick at the end again and asked for testimonies straight after and there were testimonies of neck and back healing, pain in the head and body healed and the healing of a broken heart. After the outreach, God protected one of the young girls who was nearly hit by a motor bike as she was returning one of the benches used for the outreach. She only had a minor wound on one of her toes when the accident could have been fatal – Praise God.

Wednesday the 14th of February – We started the day by paying the District Governor a visit. Pastor Guy normally meets with this District Governor every week to pray and have Bible Study sessions with him. I got a chance to pray for the District Governor and his wife and as I was praying, God led me to pray prophetically regarding enemies that might be setting a trap for the District Governor. I was led to pray for them to fall into any pit they were digging for the District Governor. This turned out to be significant too because later that day a member of parliament was leading some individuals from her political party to go and complain about the District Governor regarding his absence from witnessing their processional march on the National Youth Day. This accusation was not true because the District Governor had been present and waited for 45 minutes for the party members to turn up while he witnessed other youth organisations, political organisations and groups pass by but the political party in question did not show up. Unfortunately, the political party heading up to the capital, Yaounde, to complain had an accident on the way and the leader of the group died. This was astonishing judgement but it is because the District Governor is key to furthering the cause of the Gospel in the area.

The Evening witnessed the commencement of the Presence of God Church Conference at Pastor Guy’s Church called the Christian Faith Missionary Chapel. I preached about the Presence of God from Exodus 33. God moved powerfully in the service, many were touched by the Holy Spirit and God used me to deliver a prophecy to the Church.

Thursday, the 15th of February – We had the Presence of God Conference at the Church again and I preached about the Presence of God in Joseph’s life from Genesis.39. There were testimonies of prophetic words God had spoken through me into certain people lives that had been fulfilled that week and diverse testimonies of healing again as God had healed people of pain, God healed a man whose legs were weak and could not walk properly. God strengthened his legs to attend the meeting on the Thursday as he had been prayed for on the Wednesday. He felt better after prayer on Wednesday but he had doubts about whether his legs will be strong enough to attend on the Thursday but when he got up to attend the meeting he found his legs were strong enough to come. I prayed for him on Thursday and he had more mobility in his legs after prayer. God also healed a lady with bad pain in her stomach, the pain would get so bad that she would be immobilised sometimes and sometimes she would pass blood when she visited the toilet but God healed her of the pain after she was prayed for earlier in the week. 5 people also gave their lives to Christ this evening and God used me to bring a tongue and interpretation at the meeting. We ended the meeting by praying for the nation of Cameroon. Praise God for all the things He did. I also want to thank God especially for the grace He gave me to carry on preaching on the night of both conferences when there was a power cut but I continued without reference to my notes even though I could not see and the only source of light in the hall were people’s mobile phones.

I really enjoyed the food and the cultural aspect of the trip. The weather was pleasant in Foumbot because it was significantly cooler than that of Douala which was hot and humid. My night at Foumbot was infested with mosquitoes trying to eat me alive even though I was in a hotel room!!! It was a personal time of reminiscing because I grew up in Nigeria and there were a lot of cultural, geographical and nutritional similarities. Pastor Guy went out of his way to get me any foodstuff I commented about having as a youngster in Nigeria. I also got a chance to visit the Sultan’s palace which was a magnificent piece of architecture and great exposure to the Cameroonian Culture. Please see pictures of the trip on the Home page (https://www.fullnessoflifeministries.org) and the Missions Page (https://www.fullnessoflifeministries.org/mission).

I travelled back to Douala on Friday the 16th of February, boarded the plane in the early hours of Saturday the 17th of February at 12.45 am via Istanbul  and landed safely at London Heathrow at 2.45 pm. Since I got back from Cameroon, other good reports have come regarding the trip such as miraculous protection brought about through prayer, a business upturn and breakthrough and healings of HIV and a life-time diagnosis of low blood pressure.  To God be the glory for all the great things He did in Cameroon. Halleluyah!!

                          Grace Versus Maturity

There are so many gifted people out there. God has anointed His people with various gifts, graces, abilities and talents. There is one question though? Are people with great gifts better than more seasoned Christians who might not be equally gifted but have been walking with the Lord a lot longer. For example, a young Christian of say 22, saved radically by God and called straight into a wonderful ministry and manifesting fruitfulness in souls being saved by their thousands, numerous signs, wonders and  miracles taking place after  the first few years might still not be as mature in the faith as an 80 year old who has been walking with the Lord for 50 years, faithfully serving the Lord and doing all God has called him to do. The young man can still learn from the 80 year old provided the older Christian is mature in the faith. Am I saying age determines Spiritual Maturity? Absolutely not!!! There are 50 year old Christians who are really 3 years old in the Spirit while there are 3 year old Christians who are 75 years in the Spirit.  Spiritual Maturity is determined by many factors but the foremost are hunger, desire, passion and pursuit of the things of God. So the degree to which you pursue God, will be the degree to which you mature in Christ.

In getting back to the Grace Versus Maturity issue, it is important to note that the most gifted individual might not be the most mature. People with great gifts are put on a pedestal by man and highly praised at the height of their powers but severely criticized when they fall. People seem to forget they are only human!! Very much how the press treat celebrities. Massively Celebrated one day and harshly crucified the next. We need to understand highly gifted individuals are only human capable of the same weaknesses as everybody else and they must not be worshipped or unfairly expected to be perfect. When gifted men fall, could it be due to maturity (That’s not always the reason for a mistake) or some other weakness? What I really want to address in this blog has to do more with the fact that a gifted person being used mightily by God is simply functioning in the grace, destiny and purpose God has planned for them. This is a free gift (Grace). They haven’t worked for it, they haven’t earned it. It’s simply a divine endowment from Heaven. Maturity, however, takes time and effort. Maturity also needs to be attained by grace. For without the grace of God, we can’t grow in Christ. Maturity, does not just come on you as a gift. Indeed, when a baby is born, he or she is a baby first, then a young child, a young adult and then a full adult. The scripture gives us this outline too. When we are born-again, we are as new born babes (Jn.3:3, 1.Pet.2:2, 1.Cor.3:1) and then we must grow to be little children (1.Jn.2:12), then grow into young men (1.Jn.2:14b) and then fathers (1.Jn.2:14a, 1.Cor.4:14-15). It takes time for a person to grow from childhood to manhood. Grace, gifting and endowment comes from God from birth physically and spiritually. There are certain gifts and talents we are born with and there are some imparted at New Birth. It’s freely given and predetermined by God according to His Sovereign grace. Here are 5 factors highlighting some similarities and differences between Grace and Maturity:

1. Grace is a free gift from God (Eph.2:8) while maturity needs to be cultivated (Phil.2:12)
2. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (Jn.1:17), nothing to do with man. Man could never institute Grace but Maturity involves the co-operation of man. To mature we need to actively pursue, hunger, thirst and desire (Matt.5:6, 1.Pet.2:2).
3. From Christ’s fullness, we receive Grace upon Grace (Jn.1:16). Nothing to do with the fullness of man, man is incapable of fullness because of imperfection anyway. Maturity comes line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little (Isa.28:13) and it comes in stages, first the stalk, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear (Mark.4:28).
4. By the Grace of God we are who we are according to the Apostle Paul – 1.Cor.15:10. We are saved by Grace but that Grace comes on us for a specific purpose. Paul was saying He was what he was by Grace but he had to develop that grace so that grace was not in Vain. By Grace he was saved and that grace was upon him to be the Apostle to the Gentiles. That Grace then enabled him to labour more abundantly than the other Apostles. The fact that Paul had to labour in this verse means he had to cultivate, nurture and develop the grace that was upon him. In other words, he had to allow God to mature the grace upon his life. Here we see the need to bring Grace to Maturity.
5. We Mature as we feed on the strong meat of the Word according to Heb.5:14 but we also need the Grace of God to grow and mature -2.Pet.3:18

In referring back to the initial point of gifted and charismatic (A word derived from the Greek for Grace – Charis/Charisma) individuals  not necessarily being the most mature, it is important to note that gifted men can fall, we must be gracious, understanding and loving; knowing they are only human beings gifted by grace on the journey to maturity in Christ.

Since grace and maturity are so linked and inter-twined, one could conclude we need Grace to Mature and the more we mature in Christ, the more grace is multiplied to us (2.Pet.3:18).

As important as grace is to the Christian faith, after salvation, maturity should be our goal – Being conformed to the stature of the fullness of Christ is the end goal for the five-fold ministry of Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers (Eph.4:11). They are given for the perfecting of the saints (Maturity of Character), the work of the ministry (Maturity of Service) and for the edifying of the body of Christ (Corporate Maturity) – Eph.4:12. Until we come to the unity of the Faith, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Full Maturity -Eph.4:13). So we need the Grace working through the 5-fold Ministry to bring the Body of Christ to full Maturity.

In the light of all the above, a gifted young minister still needs a mature father or mother in the faith to provide counsel, mentorship and spiritual cover no matter how gifted he or she might be. In the same way, a mature father or mother in the faith should respect the grace and gifting on a young minister and be available to the young man or woman for support, encouragement and motivation. The older Christian must not be jealous, dismissive and judgemental while the young minister must not be proud, conceited, self-sufficient nor self-deceived. Both need each other for challenge and encouragement.

TIME TO SWIM DEEPER

God showed Ezekiel waters flowing out from under the House of God and the waters reached to the ankles first and he was led out 1750 feet and the water came up to his knees and another 1750 feet and the water came up to the waist and another 1750 feet and the water was deep enough to swim in (Ezek.47:1-5). God is calling us to take a dive into the River of His Spirit, into the River of Life. He does not want us wading in the shallow end, staying in the outer court or the fringe of the action, on the periphery of what God is doing today.

The places to which the waters come up are indeed symbolic. God wants His River to come and affect certain areas of our lives. Firstly, the River came up to the ankles. The ankles support the sandals of the gospel of peace (Eph.6:15). God wants to touch our evangelism with His River of living water. When people first get saved, they are usually on fire for God wanting to share the good news of the gospel with everything that moves. God wants us to re-capture that zeal, hunger and passion to tell others about Him. But we need a touch of His Spirit to take that message out afresh with renewed vigour for it’s not by power, not by might, it’s by His Spirit (Zech.4:6).

The next part the river comes up to is the knees. The knees speak of prayer (Ps.95:6, Eph.3:14, Acts.20:36). Remember, how much time you spent in prayer after you first came to Christ. If you are slumbering and flagging in prayer God wants to touch your prayer life with the Rivers of Living Water. He wants to make your prayer life vibrant, refreshing and alive by touching you by His spirit.

The River next came up to the waist. The waist speaks of what holds up the belt of truth (Eph.6:14). God desires truth, honesty and integrity in every area of our lives. That begins with knowing the truth of God’s word, standing for and upon the truth of the Word of God. From holding on and holding up the truth flows integrity and honesty. God desires truth in the inward parts according to Ps.51:6 which means we need to be utterly and totally transparent with God and we need to speak truth to our brothers and sisters in Christ (Eph.4:25). We need the Spirit to touch us afresh and infuse our hearts with passion for the truth of God’s word and speaking the truth to one another in Love (Eph.4:15)

Then the River was deep enough to swim in. God wants us to throw our whole being into the River of His Spirit. God wants all of us. He wants to use every part of our lives. Our head, our arms, our hands, our legs, our hands, our eyes, our mouths. God wants all of us, not just a part. God does not want a part of us, he does not want us to hold anything back, hang back in any way or refuse to throw all of us into the thick of the action. He is not satisfied with a little bit but he wants all of us.

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A SPECTACULAR MINISTRY VERSUS A SINCERE HEART

Paul wanted the Corinthians to be proud of him and his team so they can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than a sincere heart (2.Cor.5:12). What would you rather have? A Spectacular Ministry or a Sincere Heart? A Spectacular Ministry could mean thousands of souls being saved, people being healed, miracles and gifts of the Spirit breaking out, communities being transformed, people being delivered, marriages being restored and nations being impacted. These things aren’t necessarily bad, in fact they are quite good and should be desired. They should not be an end in themselves though. A Sincere Heart could mean serving God with all our hearts, soul, body, mind and strength. A Sincere Heart could also mean doing things to the glory of God, serving God out of humility, sincerity, love and gratitude. Serving God out of a Sincere Heart could also mean having a pure motive and not serving out of pride, vain-glory, glamour/lime-light seeking and showmanship.

Some individuals have the gifts to possess a Spectacular Ministry but lack the Sincere Heart to sustain the Ministry. It’s the common adage of your gift taking you where your character cannot keep you if you’ve got a bad attitude, the wrong motive and wrong heart despite being very gifted. The Spectacular Ministry could be seen as the gifts while the Sincere Heart could be seen as the Character. To achieve balance, we need a Sincere Heart and a Spectacular Ministry.

As human beings, we tend to focus more on the Spectacular Ministry rather than the heart but God says Man looks on the outside and God looks at the heart (1.Sam.16:7). God pays more attention to the heart than to the outside. This reminds us of why some people would say in the last day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied, have we not cast out devils and done many wonderful works in your name and the Lord would say to them – I never knew you, Depart from me you workers of iniquity (Matt.7:22-23). God is obviously interested in more than Prophecy, casting out devils and wonderful works. He wants to know us!!! The way He gets to know us is by searching our hearts as David prayed – search my heart and know me, search my heart and know my thoughts and see if there is any wicked way in me lead me in the way everlasting (Ps.139:23-24). Does that mean spiritual gifts and  Spectacular Ministries are wrong? Of course not. God told us to earnestly desire spiritual gifts and not to forbid speaking in tongues (1.Cor.14:39). When the Lord sent His disciples out in Matt.10:7-8, He told them to go and heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out devils. The same commission is still for us as Disciples of Today. All these were evident in the Ministry of the Lord Jesus, the Apostle Paul and the Early Church and the Lord is still doing these things today.

God does not want us to go after a Spectacular Ministry at the expense of a Sincere Heart and He doesn’t want us to concentrate on a Sincere Heart at the expense of a Spectacular Ministry. The best combination would be to have a Sincere Heart coupled with a Spectacular Ministry. Amen

I have just been on a Mission to the Philippines from the 12th to the 20th of February. You can see a Video Summary in the Movie above. God caused it to rain after 3 months following the Prayer and Intercession of Faith. The Lord gave me the Word to preach from 2.Chron.7:1-3 about the Fire falling which was in line with the theme of the Conference – “Catch the Fire” – which was unknown to me. God touched many after I preached from 13th to the 15th as many were slain in the Spirit, the Pastor saw fire in my face through a Vision, there were prophecies, 42 people got saved as we engaged in Evangelistic Outreaches through me Preaching & rapping and the Go Gospel Go Rescue Band and the Bible School Students ministered in Koronadal City and Norala.

On the way back from the Mission, I thought my flight from General Santos Airport to Manila was going to be at 11.00 am but on getting there, I found out it was meant to be at 9.05 am to arrive at Manila for 11.00 am, hence the confusion. The Pastor and her team had already seen me off and said their good-byes so I was alone at the Airport by this time. I was told I had to get a replacement ticket as the previous one had been forfeited because of my mistake. I only had 1,400 Filipino Pesos on me as God had led me to give away the 5,000 Pesos I had on me during the trip to cater for different needs He had opened my eyes to while I was at Koronadal City. I started to pray in tongues fervently asking God to get me out of this sticky situation. While I was pacing up and down and praying, a Taxi Driver came up to me asking whether I needed a Taxi, I told him I was trying to get through to my Contact and friends but my mobile would not work for making phone calls in the Philippines. He offered me his phone and I was able to speak to the Pastor asking her to come as I had missed my flight. Before the Pastor got to me, the Taxi Driver asked me what I was doing in the Philippines and I told him I had been on a Mission. He asked me what denomination I was from and I told him. It turned out that the Taxi Driver was also a Pentecostal Pastor and heard me praying in tongues!!! Halleluyah!!. When the Contact Pastor arrived, I was told that when she hung up from taking my call, she got a text from her husband’s cousin who lives in Canada and he had sent 5,000 pesos so that effectively paid for my flight to Manila. My ticket from Manila back to the U.K was still valid as my flight back to the U.K was not until 10.30 pm in the evening. So there was enough time to catch my connecting flight from Manila to the U.K. Praise God for this miracle!!!

I WOULD RATHER BE KNOWN AS A MAN OF LOVE THAN A MAN OF KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge puffs up but Love edifies. It’s so easy to acquire knowledge by reading, studying, researching and comparing notes. Since the advent of the internet, it’s never been easier to acquire more knowledge through websites, social media, blogs and webinars. But all that knowledge will be of no use if it’s not applied in Love. We are told in 1.Cor.13:4 that Love is not puffed up or proud. Am I saying knowledge is wrong? By no means!!! The Bible admonishes us time and time again to acquire knowledge (Prov.1:1-7 & Prov.2:1-7). There’s nothing wrong in getting degrees, Masters or PHDs. The main thing here is not to get proud or puffed up by the knowledge that we disdain and despise others or think we are better or superior because of the mere fact we are knowledgeable. Such an attitude is against the life prescribed in 1.Cor.13. If we are walking in pride and arrogance, we are out of Love. The saying “People don’t care how much we know until they know how much we actually care about them” comes to play here. People respond to Love first before they respond to knowledge. Let us acquire knowledge by all means but let love be the motivating factor behind the knowledge. Let Love be the fuel and vehicle through which the knowledge is used.

True Agape Love edifies according 1.Cor.8:1 but knowledge puffs up. Genuine, pure and undiluted Love according to 1.Cor.13 edifies and builds up while arrogant, boastful and displaying knowledge that puts people down is detrimental to the Body of Christ. Puffed up knowledge ascribes glory to self and the pride of life while edifying love  brings Glory to God and encourages the Body. Amen

WORD FOR 2016

I believe 2016 will be a year for increased Boldness, Authority, Signs and Wonders in Jesus’ Name according to Acts.4:29-30

CHURCH-PLANTING

Currently embarking on Church-Planting for from my local church called Kimmel Bay Church into a place called Bodelwyddan. We just started a house group and we are looking to get into the Hospital, School, Town Council and local Pub. Please pray for open doors.

GOD’S ON THE MOVE AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE!!!

I had the privilege of being involved in evangelistic missions over the summer in Llangefni, Carmarthen, Llangoed, Sandycroft, Baja in Hungary and Gwalchmai over the summer serving on  various Mission teams and we saw over 70 people saved of which 80% were young people . Praise God

DIVINE INTERRUPTIONS

Jesus was called upon to go and minister to Jairus’ daughter who was ill and close to death. On the way, the woman with the issue of blood grabbed the hem of Jesus’ garment and received her miracle. Jesus had time to ask who touched him and speak to the woman. Jesus was not too focused on going to minister to Jairus’ daughter that he didn’t have time for the woman with the issue of blood (Mark.5:21-43). We must be like Jesus. We must minister like Jesus and have compassion for the sick, the poor, the broken and hurting like Jesus. We must not let even legitimate things like prayer, Bible-study and fellowship prevent us from hearing what God is wanting to do right at that very moment. That is where the priest and levite missed looking after the Jew in the story of the good Samaritan (Luke.10:30-37). They were going to the temple to carry out legitimate service and duty but forgot to love their neighbour as themselves. Remember, God is after relationship rather than routine. God might choose to interrupt your routine so you can minister to someone in need. I call them Divine Interruptions. Don’t let routine prevent you from the blessing of Divine Interruptions.

2015 is the year for the Divine Turn-Around according to Ps.107:35, Ps.114:8 & Isa.32:15

Every time you have an encounter with God, you get a revelation of who He is like Abraham found God to be Jehovah Jireh on Mount Moriah (Gen.22:14), Moses found God to Be Jehovah Rapha at the waters of Marah (Ex.15:26), Moses & Joshua found God to be Jehovah Nissi at Rephidim (Ex.17:15) and Gideon found God to be Jehovah Shalom at Ophrah (Judg.6:24)