What Are You Doing With The Word?

There are people I admire so much, but above all I admire is Jesus Christ, yea you may say “of course, why not”; but my admiration is not just out of respect, it is the high level of His wisdom in the way He handles things, how He speaks, the level of His faith in God, His command of authority and many more. I don’t know about you, but He is my role model. Well, my focus here is on the parable of the sower [ref. Matthew 13:3-20; Mark 4:2-20; Luke 8:4-15].

I have always read about the several places the seeds were sown; as Jesus explained, the soil represents the heart, but the same word was sown, the question is what made these hearts different?

The first soil which was the way side, then the stony ground, the one thorns and the good ground. The truth is that the types of soil which represents the hearts are actually the decisions people make, in other words, they are things one has fed his heart with. So, when you receive the Word, it is what you have fed you mind with that determines what you will do with the Word! Let’s take a look at these minds one after the other.

Using the book of Mark, it says, “The sower sows the Word. The ones along the path are those who have the Word sown [in their hearts], but when they hear, Satan comes at once and [by force] takes away the message which is sown in them.

And in the same way the ones sown upon stony ground are those who, when they hear the Word, at once receive and accept and welcome it with joy; and they have no real root in themselves, and so they endure for a little while; then when trouble or persecution arises on account of the Word, they immediately are offended (become displeased, indignant, resentful) and they stumble and fall away.

And the ones sown among the thorns are others who hear the Word; then the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamour and deceitfulness of riches, and the craving and passionate desire for other things, and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless” (Mark 4:14-19 AMP). As I said the different hearts represents what each mind-set is. I intend to make this as an introduction in analysing the types of soil and what each of them really mean. What made the good soil different from the rest?

There is an amount of time given to each person in order to achieve his goal. As we receive the Word, work with it immediately rather than beating around the bush. You are to learn how to use the Word properly, and in the next blog, I intend to elaborate on how to use the Word properly, using the parable of the sower to illustrate this.

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comment send them to my Google Plus account.

GOD BLESS YOU.

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)

Freedom In Christ

Jesus did not come to accept our sacrificial act, but to make Himself a sacrifice for our sins. He didn’t just die alone; He had to rise again to establish the fact that we are completely free from the powers of darkness. [ref. 1^st Corinthians 15:17; Colossians 1:13]

We were all supposed to be sentenced to death but Jesus died in our place, just as 2^nd Corinthians 5:21 says, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” We carried an unclean spirit, but Jesus carried a clean Holy Spirit of God. There was a divine exchange when Jesus was sacrificed on the cross. Jesus gave us His righteousness and took our unrighteousness. So, when He died, He went down to hell.

Now, in order for us to know that we were truly set free, Jesus who went on our behalf was expected to come out victorious which was expected to be a sign to us that our sins have been forgiven and truly set free.

Jesus was down to hell and came out victorious getting that which is rightfully ours, “[God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged against us and made a bold display and public example of them in Him and in it [the cross]” Colossians 1:15 (AMP). God seeing that then raised Jesus up, “Therefore [because He stooped so low] God has highly exalted Him and has freely bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, that in (at) the name of Jesus every knee should (must) bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue [frankly and openly] confess and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:9-11.

Jesus being our representative has given us this power also because we are in Him [ref. Romans 8:17]. This symbolised a new beginning for us, we are no longer condemned because we are under a new Adam [ref. Romans 5:12-21]. This is why “...if any person is in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!” 2^nd Corinthians 5:17 (AMP).

God saw us as condemned sinners because of the old Adam’s fall, but now in Christ He looks at us as being righteous because Jesus is righteous. It’s all because of His love for us and this is the gospel truth.

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comment send through my Google Plus account.

GOD BLESS YOU.

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from King James Version (KJV)

Christ's Love And Not Fear Compels Us

The earth is not a static place where nothing happens; man does things as a result of the decisions he made. However, there is a driving force involved in making choices; this is seen in every decision made by man. We are the result of the decision we make; but there are times where one is compelled to make a decision. To follow Christ, we have to be compelled before we accept Him, but are people compelled by the right force today? Let’s find out.

There are many people today who accepted Jesus as Lord because we Believers told them they would go to hell if they don’t accept Jesus. They tell them about the sins they commit and how God will punish them if they don’t accept Jesus. [True, hell is real]. But in accepting Jesus, this is done after the compelling by the Holy Spirit.

God gives mercy to those who are not saved several opportunities to get saved and they are obvious signs that the unsaved cannot deny it (ref. Romans 1:20-21). This opportunity happens over and over till the second coming. This is when those who deliberately don’t accept Jesus go to hell. My point here is that fear is not the way Jesus taught us to win people to Him; the way Jesus taught us is through love!

The bible says God so loved the world [ref. John 3:16], this is to imply He wants us back with love in order to save us from the disaster prepared for the devil and his angels. Jesus showed this aspect of love in the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. Jesus asked those who wanted to cast stones at her to cast stones if anyone was without sin, since no one was without sin they dropped their stones and left. But the point here is that someone had the freedom to cast stones at the woman but didn’t, who was that? Jesus! He was without sin. When Jesus noticed that the woman’s accusers had gone, He said to the woman, ‘“Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said “No one Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”’ John 8:10-11. This was an act of love; the woman naturally would stop her act of adultery because she was shown love instead of condemnation. Note that Jesus didn’t support sin but He didn’t condemn her.

However, what we have today is Believers spelling out the sins of people, instead of spelling out the love of Christ. It is explaining the love God has for us by sending His Son to die for us and what He did on the cross that really gets one saved; because then the unsaved would truly know God loves him and would want to follow Christ. But people just talk about the sins committed and how they would suffer is they don’t repent; so people turn to Christ to save their heads, but this is not genuine repentance. This is why we find half baked Christians today, because they can’t defend the scriptures, why? This is because the entire bible talks about the love and mercy of God towards man. The bible says in John 3:17 that, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. This verse comes immediately after the verse which explains how God loves us.

Apostle Paul when explaining the Ministry of Reconciliation in 2 Corinthians 5 said in verse 14, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.” NIV. The Message puts it thus, “Christ’s love has moved me to such extremes. His love has the first and last word in everything we do.” The point we have to understand is that condemning people doesn’t actually save them, it makes them worse and frustrated. This is when the person sins more and struggles not to sin; but when the love of Christ is what is shown and nothing else; this transforms their lives toward Christ.

Remember, it’s about Him and not us; we were never qualified. When we focus on ourselves we won’t have the opportunity of focusing on Christ. This was what happened to Adam and Eve; they lost their focus on God and started to focus on themselves. It is our focus on Christ that transforms us and not the focus on our faults. His strength is perfect in our lives and this is the gospel truth.

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comment send them through my Google Plus account.

GOD BLESS YOU.

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from King James Version (KJV)

Know Your Right As A Believer [reviewed]

The other time on the topic 'Be Careful For The Wiles of The Devil', I wrote on the how the devil deceives Believers by imitating the God. Well today, I'll elaborate a little more on that, showing  Believers how to know their right.

The bible says “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” Ephesians 6:12. Many a times, some Believers misinterpret this a lot; true the devil attack Believers with deceit but it is not for us to focus on him or to ask him to die when we pray, it is not in our place! The question we are to note is, how did the devil get to you in the first place?

We should know that the devil CANNOT touch a believer. Why? It is because we have been bought by Jesus. The devil doesn’t have a conscience like man, so he shows no mercy, he wants every believer dead that is, have every believer in his court.

Remember Jesus disarmed the devil completely, the only ability the devil has is deceit. Now, what are his intentions in deceiving Believers? He was banished from heaven permanently and the things he wanted were given to man, as man had total control over the earth. So, he hates man and wants man to be sentenced along with him on the last day.

As Believers, we are alive in Christ, Christ is our life, our heart, our all in all, thus without Him we can do nothing. This is what the devil doesn’t want, so he does everything to distract believers using his deceit schemes such as bringing things that negate the believers stand with that of Christ. He does this involving our five senses. For instance the devil deceives a believer that he is feverish, but in the real truth the man is not feverish till he affirms he is. This is because our words contain power on whatever we declare. So, if the believer says he feels feverish he becomes feverish because he declared it into his life and he has been deceived by the devil.

Believers must remember that the devil cannot inflict sickness, disease or anything contrary to the finished work of Jesus because taking sickness for example; Jesus bore all our infirmities we would ever face when He died on the cross. By the stripes of Jesus we were made healed [ref. Isaiah 53:4-5; 1^st Peter 2:24].

So, when you feel anything that is contrary to the finished work of Christ, rather than confessing what is felt, confess your stand in Christ which is the truth. If the Word says you were healed and you are feeling sick, then someone is lying and it can’t be God! Our confessions must be by faith and not with our five senses which the devil always use to deceive us. Meditate on the finished work of Jesus Christ and its benefits to you.

Remember, the devil shows you what is NOT REAL. Only focus on Jesus and you will not fall for the wiles of the devil. All these benefits we get are because of Jesus’ love for us and this the gospel truth.

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comment send through my Google Plus account.

GOD BLESS YOU.

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)

The Benefits of Humility

Several times we’ve heard a lot about humility being a good moral virtue, but humility is actually beyond just a good moral virtue; it is a path way to greatness and power. However, many people don’t know the importance of humility.

Let’s take a look at Mr. A and Mr. B who had a deep misunderstanding. Mr. A was the true cause of the misunderstanding and Mr. B on the other hand wanted an apology which Mr. A refused to give; he also refused to admit he was at fault. However, Mr. B decided to apologise even though he wasn’t at fault; this ended the quarrel. The power to do this is humility even when it isn’t easy. This act didn’t only strengthen Mr. B, but it also strengthened Mr. A, of whom the apology was made to. What Mr. B might not know is that he earned more respect from Mr. A than before! This is a sense of maturity.

In the bible, to allow God into your life, thus dropping everything and following His will is the highest form of humility you could offer, because the bible says. “Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you, casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.  1 Peter 5:6-7 AMP.

When you allow God to take charge of your life, you do things you knew you wouldn’t have been able to do before, if not for the grace and the strength given to you by God. When you see the life of Jesus, you see humility, the bible says, “And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross! Therefore [because He stooped so low] God has highly exalted Him and has freely bestowed on Him the name that is above every name...” Philippians 2:8-9 AMP. God gave Jesus the name that is above every other name. This happens to us when we do what the scriptures say in 1 Peter 5:6-7.

As a believer, having challenges and claiming you can take charge of it by yourself won’t take the problem away, it would only worsen it. This is why you see a believer who is poor and the poverty doesn’t seem to get any better. It is pride that is in your way, nothing else! Some believers feel it is wrong for believers to have great wealth, so they decide to remain contented with their level. Others feel when they have health issues it is normal. This is pride and not humility!

God doesn’t make anyone poor or sick or have challenges. The moment we face any challenge it is the moment where we look up to God and cast our problems on Him [ref. 1 Peter 5:7], this is the humility God expects from you. As you allow Him to take charge you see all your challenges fade away gradually and miracles start happening. Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls." Matthew 11:28-29 AMP. This is the life God wants for us, and it's all because of His love for us and this is the gospel truth.

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comment send them to my Google Plus account.

GOD BLESS YOU.

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)

Be Careful For The Wiles Of The Devil (2)

Yesterday, I wrote on being careful for the wiles of the devil. I explained how we could overcome the devil by using the armour of God, according to Ephesians 6. However, it doesn’t happen all of a sudden that we just make use of the armour of God just like that. We need to properly understand how the sly the devil is and how we shouldn’t be caught unaware of his moves.

There is just one thing we need to understand about the devil. The devil ones coveted the throne of God, of course he couldn’t dethrone God. So he said he would be like the most high. What we have to understand is that even though he has been banished from heaven into eternal damnation, he still wants to be like the most high. The question now is to understand the glory of The Most High GOD which would make us know exactly what the devil wants.

When you read the book of Isaiah 14:13-14, you will find the key things the devil coveted from God. “For you said in your heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” These things were what Lucifer (later the devil) saw that God had control of. So, my point here is that the devil still wants everything God is getting such as praises, glory, dominance, and so on. So if that’s the case what do you think the devil would do to achieve this? He would imitate God, but of course being a semblance doesn’t mean it is the real thing.

This is why as someone put, “Satan is not fighting churches; he is joining them. He does more harm by sowing tares than by pulling up wheat. He accomplishes more by imitation than by outright opposition.” Satan is a wolf in sheep clothing, he lures righteous people to the wrong way as he twists the scriptures and if you are not careful, you could fall prey. He attacks our thoughts in order for us to confess the wrong things. For instance, as Christ is our Lord of all, He is our protector and shield, however, we have the power to leave His protection or do any other thing because of our free moral agency.

Now as the devil knows that we are protected by Jesus and can’t touch us, the devil sends a false feeling, take for example a headache. As we are under Christ’s protection, we cannot be attacked, once we remember that, we are to cancel any false stand against our solid stand in Christ through the word of God which would dissolve the headache because it isn’t real. But the sad news is that, many of us would confess, ‘I have headache’ and once that is said, the headache becomes a real headache, just because of our confession.

What does this mean? It means that we are only to confess only on what is true, just as Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy-meditate on these things.”

Your Doctor’s report saying you have cancer is not true neither is it good report; your bank saying you have financial deficit isn’t lovely at all. I could go on and on. The point is all these things may appear so real to you, but it is either the word of God is lying or the world is, the answer is left to you. You have to be convicted by something, because you can’t sit on the fence! If you’re are for Christ, then go all out and accept His fully, and not partially. If He has said He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings, then why do we think we are poor? All these falsehood is from the devil!

What we don’t understand is that just as the bible says in Hebrews 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Without faith we can’t please God, and to have faith in God we have to believe in His existence first. Faith and belief pleases God and this is what the devil wants, it is either you believe God or the devil. And the devil wants us to believe him, which is in line with his quest for power.

As I said yesterday, if we don’t regularly study and meditate on the scriptures which contains Philippians 4:8, then we could easily be deceived by the devil. A sparkling white shirt and an off white shirt could both be white shirts but they’re not the same. Be careful for the wiles of the devil by focusing on the word of God and not the word of the world. The moment you receive any news that doesn’t correspond with where you are right now in Christ, start to confess who are so that what is not of Christ would not dwell in your mind and becomes a fact. Remember the devil is the father of lies, there is no truth in him.

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comment send them to my Google Plus account.

GOD BLESS YOU.

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)

Be Careful For The Wiles Of The Devil

There is no doubt that when you humble yourself before the Lord He would lift you up in due season thus, casting your entire burden upon Him because of God cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7 says this but verses 8 and 9 say, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” KJV. You are expected to resist the devil in faith by being careful of the devil wiles. But to do this you need to be equipped.

Ephesians 6 talks about the whole armour of God and the whole armour include: loin girt of truth; the breastplate of righteousness; feet shod of the gospel of peace; the shield of faith; helmet of salvation; and the sword of the spirit. All these can be achieved by being humble before the Lord who in turn empowers you on how to interpret the scriptures properly.

Every part of the armour are the privileges we after becoming Believers, but we need to develop ourselves through the meditation of the scriptures day and night which would in turn strengthen our use of the whole armour of God and eventually not fall for the wiles of the devil.

When you are close to God through the regular study and meditation of the scriptures through the leading of the Holy Spirit you can’t be deceived by the devil, because if it’s not of God, it can’t be God.

Things become straight forward with God when you meditate on the word of God with the help of the Holy Spirit and as you grow you won’t fall for the wiles of the devil. It’s all because of God’s love for us and this is the gospel truth.

Why not accept Jesus today if you haven’t. Pray out loud, “Jesus, I confess that You are my Lord and Saviour. I believe in my heart that God raised You from the dead. By faith in Your Word, I receive salvation now. Thank You for saving me!” Congratulations, you’re born again, you are now brand new!

Log on next time.

For prayers and comment send them to my Google Plus account.

GOD BLESS YOU.

Unless otherwise stated, the following scriptures are gotten from New King James Version (NKJV)