Mission

Mission: To connect every burdened soul to the Lord by the power of the Word and anointed prayers for self transformation and actualisation of divine blessings.

Vision

Vision: A transformed society of believers, basking continually in the glory of Christ Jesus.

Friday 29 April 2011

KNOWING THE GOD YOU ARE SERVING

Text: Daniel 11:32b, John 17:3, Isa 49:9b, Jer. 32:27, Gen 17:1, Rev.1:8

To know God is to know whom He is, His character, what He has done, what He is doing and what He is capable of doing. To know Him is to know how He can affect you, your life and your future and how He controls the universe which He created.

If you want to know God, you have to be close and have knowledge of Him by studying His word.

The Bible says in Daniel 11:32b "But the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits". You are expected to know Him so that you can be strong and be able to do many things in the business of the kingdom. Jesus said in John 17:3 "And this is life eternal that they might know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent". God in Lev 18:1 said to Moses "Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them I am the Lord your God". From Lev 18:1-4 God repeated it three times; "I am the Lord your God". In Isa.46:9b God said; "For I am God and there is none else. I am God and there is none like me". Isa 46:10 "Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure".

In Jer.32:27 the Lord said, "Behold I am the Lord, the God of all flesh, is there anything too hard for me?” In Gen.17:1 the Lord appeared to Abraham and said unto him; "I am the Almighty God, walk before me and be thou perfect. I will make my covenant between me and thee and will multiply thee exceedingly.” In Matt.22:32 the Lord said, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob". God is not the God of the dead but of the living. In Lev.11:44; the Lord said "For I am the Lord your God, ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves and ye shall be holy, for I am holy." In Rev.1:8 God said "I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is, who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

As mentioned above. God Himself made it known that He is Holy, He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He will keep His covenant. He is the Almighty God. He is the Lord. He is a God of multiplication, that there is none like Him. He is the God of the living. He is the God of our ancestors. Nothing is too hard for him. He can do all things. He is perfect. With Him all things are possible. He is the creator and sustain er of every thing.

All the characteristics mentioned above are confirmed in the scriptures. Let us consider God in various ways:

God as the Creator:
He formed the Earth by His command. Going through Gen.1:1-31, from day one to six, God created the universe. In Gen.1:26 "He created man after His own image. He created heaven and earth. Thus the heaven and the earth were furnished and the entire host of them and on the seventh day He rested". God created everything in heaven and on earth, including you. Automatically He controls all things. He controls everything about you. He gave you dominion over all the things He created and prophesied multiplication unto you.

God as Love:
1st John 4:16 says "And we have known and believed the love that God hath for us. God is love". God demonstrated this in John 3:16 "For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life”. God loves you and I so much that he sent his son to us to reconcile us with him after Adam has fallen. Who else can show you this kind of love? It is unquantifiable. Apart from sending his son, He sent His word to be a lamb unto our feet and a light unto our path. The word is to guide you as a compass and all you need is in the word. In addition, He sent us the comforter, who is the Holy Spirit.

God as a generous giver:
In James 1:5 the Bible says “If any one of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him”. Also in Matt 7:7, the Bible says “Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you”. In addition, Jer 33:3 says the Lord “Call to me and I will answer you and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know”. This is the Lord you are serving, He asks you to ask, He says you should call on Him and He will answer you. This is an assurance for you that God is there for you all the time. Just call on Him. He is interested in the affairs of all His creatures particularly you.

He fights battles for you:
He is called the mighty warrior. He fought for King Jehoshaphat, He supported David against Goliath, He supported Gideon in battle, and He fought for the Israelites against king Pharaoh. Are you in to any battle? The mighty warrior is there for you.

He is a miracle working God:
The birth of Jesus Christ was a miracle. Parting the Red Sea for the Israelites was indeed a miracle. He is still performing miracles. He answers prayers. He answered Jabez (Isaiah 4:10), He answered Hannah.(1st Sam 1:20). He is ready to answer your own prayers too.

He is an ever present help in time trouble:
Psalm 4:1 says “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble”. For your sake He does not sleep. His eyes are moving to and fro, watching over you. He promised you long life in Psalm 91:16. He says whatever challenges you are passing through He is there with you. He promised He won’t leave you alone. He is ready to contend with whoever contends with you, to bless whoever blesses you and curse whoever curses you. What a caring and loving God!

In addition to the above, His mercy endures for ever. He is compassionate and slow to anger. He is your healer, provider, defender; He has chosen you and has given you the privilege to call Him father.

Your God is eternal, immortal, sinless, faithful, omnipotent and omniscient. That is your God. He is sufficient for you and His grace too is sufficient to see you through life. What God is cannot be exhausted. He does new things daily. He loads you daily with many benefits and blessings.

As you read the scriptures you will know Him more. The more of Him you know, the stronger you become and the more of His kingdom work you will be able to do. You should know your God very intimately. His power is in you. He is able to do immeasurably more than all you ask or imagine.

Prayer
I pray in Jesus name you will know Him the more, and you will harness all the capacity He has embedded in you; that God will reveal Himself to you so that you can know Him more and grant you the grace to appreciate Him the more. AMEN.

Friday 15 April 2011

STANDING UP FOR THE GOSPEL

Text: Acts 7:54-60, 1 Cor 9:16-22, Daniel 3:1-30, Phil 3:7-9

Standing up for the gospel means holding out, defending and promoting the gospel; something that may be extraordinary, giving your ‘all’ in support of the doctrine/the truth/message of Christ and truth about Him.

Things to do can be in form of preaching, winning souls for Christ, holding on to faith, not compromising on truth, surrendering your life to Christ, or as it were, being in chains for the gospel, sacrificing your comfort in your effort to defend the gospel, and standing by faith no matter what.

Let us consider some examples of people in the Bible who had given much for the sake of the Gospel. People like Paul, Deacon Stephen, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Bishop Polycarp of Symrna and Bishop Ignatius of Antioch.

Paul said in 1 Cor 9:16, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel”. Paul believed he was discharging the trust committed to him and had to preach freely. He was committed to preaching freely, noting that not preaching could be a curse for him. Like Paul, what will you do for the sake of the Gospel? “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone to win as many as possible. To the Jews I become like a Jew, to win the Jews”. In v22-23, “To the weak I become weak to win the weak; I do all this for the sake of the gospel”. Paul was able to adjust and come to the level of those he wanted to win for the sake of the gospel.

What are you ready to give in? There is blessing in doing that. The rich should be ready to associate with the poor for the sake of the gospel.
In Philemon 1:13, Paul said, “I am in chains for the gospel”. Paul was imprisoned, he served God with humility and in tears, yet he carried on. His being in chains advanced the gospel. What have you suffered for the gospel sake? Do not be discouraged. A crown awaits you.

In Phil 3:7-8, Paul said, “But whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ”. Have you lost anything for Christ sake? Properties burnt? Persecuted? Lost job?, Denied promotion?, Imprisoned? Do not be discouraged. Everything is transient on earth; Heaven is home. Christ has gone to prepare a place for you.

In Daniel 3:1-30, King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold and instructed his people in Babylon to come and worship it. Anybody who did not worship it will be thrown into a blazing furnace. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, the three men around did not worship the image. The king, furious with rage, ordered that they should be thrown into the blazing furnace seven times hotter than normal; the king then said in v15, “Then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?” These three men held on to their faith and stood their ground for the sake of the gospel. In v16-17, they said, “O king, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter, if we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescue us from your hand. If He does not, we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up”.

The Lord saved them for they were not affected by the furnace. The king was amazed and baffled that they were not consumed. The king acknowledged the supremacy of their God and even decreed that nobody should say anything against the God of these three men. He later promoted them. He knew their God is the Most High God. If you stand out for the gospel as these men did, the Lord is ready to deliver, save and promote you. They were able to win over the king and his people to God’s side.

In Acts 7:54-60, Deacon Stephen was always following the disciples, sitting at their feet to learn about Christ. He was among the first seven deacons chosen by the disciples. He was full of the Holy Spirit and faith. He was falsely accused and testified against for witnessing for Christ. He was brought before the Sanhedrin and was stoned to death. While being stoned, Stephen said, “Look, I see heaven open and the son of man standing at the right hand of God.” In v59, He prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”. He fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”. Then he died. He suffered like Jesus and also prayed for his murderers. He was convinced that the gospel was worth dying for. Stephen’s death made a great impact on Paul who was to be the pillar of spreading the gospel to the gentiles as he witnessed participated the event. Hence Stephen became the first Christian martyr.

There may still be many ‘Sauls’ waiting for your involvement and actions in standing for the gospel to witness before they can become the ‘Pauls’ of our time. I pray the Lord will encourage you and fill you with His spirit.

There are other martyrs such as: Bishop Polycarp of Symrna, Bishop Cypian of the church in North Africa and Bishop Ignatius of Antioch.
The non-Christians referred to Bishop Polycarp as “destroyer of our gods” because he was teaching people not to sacrifice or worship the Emperor. He was always praying for Christians all over the world. But on his day of arrest, Herod persuaded him to deny Christ and that he should say ‘ Ceasar is Lord’ but he refused. When he was about to be burnt, Bishop Polycarp said, “Eighty and six years, Christ has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” “I am a Christian, and if you want to hear the doctrine of Christianity, appoint a day and you shall hear it”. After saying this, he was set ablaze but the fire did not consume him.

Bishop Ignatius of Antioch was thrown into the Lions’ den in about AD117 by Emperor Trojan because he pronounced that he had Christ. Some of those who watched him and listened to him before he was thrown to the Lions’ den were so much encouraged by his boldness and loyalty that they became Christians.

Bishop Cypian of the church in North Africa was beheaded because he proclaimed the name of Christ. Thomas J. Bowen from Southern American undertook the study of a Nigerian language to be able to preach when he came to Nigeria. He later wrote books on the language. This made his preaching easier.

Also for the sake of the gospel, Erasmus tried to encourage the sound teaching of the Bible and for availability of the scriptures in the people’s native language; he translated the whole Bible into Greek and the New Testament into German.
Martin Luther protested against the indulgencies in the church and he circulated his write-up titled, “The Just shall live by faith”. He did this for the sake of sound doctrine.

What are you busy doing? What role are you playing? Are you in a place where false doctrine is being preached? You must stand up for the gospel. Are you advertising Jesus? What are you known for?

Prayer
Father in the name of Jesus, let me be filled with your spirit and be full of faith so that I can be bold and courageous enough to go all out for the sake of the gospel. Amen