Articles & Outlines

Gal. 5:9 A little leaven (a slight inclination to error, or a few false teachers) leavens the whole lump [it perverts the whole conception of faith or misleads the whole church]. The legendary Bob Marley in one of his songs said “give them an inch, they take a yard, give them a yard, they take a mile”, not sure it could have been better said, a little space allowed for error or heresy will keep going except we are deliberate in countering it with the truth. It reminds me of the classic Arab fable Camel and the Tent . According to this classic tale, one cold night, a camel asks his master if he can put his head in the tent for warmth. “By all means and welcome,” said the man; and the camel stretches his head into the tent. Soon after, the camel inquires if he may also bring his neck and front legs inside. Again, the master agrees. Finally, the camel asks, “May I not stand wholly within?” With pity, the master beckons him into the warm tent. But when the camel comes forward it becomes clear that the tent is too small for them both. “I think,” the camel said, “that there is not room for both of us here. It will be best for you to stand outside, as you are the smaller; there will then be room enough for me.” And with that, the man is forced outside of his tent. A little leaven, the scripture says leavens the entire dough. We must not be ignorant of the deception of the Devil, even though he is recorded as being like a roaring lion, he does not frontally attack his victims unless he is found out, for most times, he comes in as a harmless and maybe weak and feeble help needing or enticing preposition. He introduces things to the Christian that appears acceptable, unless one is discerning, falling for his tricks is very easy, for example in Matt.4:3, he reminded Jesus that He must be hungry after forty days of fasting, and that since food was not immediately available He should turn stones to bread, while that look like a valid point, Satan was actually testing for humility. When he made David in 2Sam.11 believed that he could just have a rest rather than go to battle, it kicked off unmitigable crisis in life, that ended up in him arranging the death of one of him most loyal soldiers and sinned against God. Han.1:15 Then the evil desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully matured, brings forth death. Holding fast to your faith by putting on the whole armour of God is the only way to be protected against all the strategies of Satan, never for a moment as long as you are alive believe that victory has been won, do not be like the prophet in 1Kings 13:1-24 who never lived to tell the story of the great things God used him to do. Always test every spirit and do not be carried away  by every wind of doctrines, if it is not the word and way of the Lord, it cannot be His will. 1Cor.15:58 “So now, beloved ones, stand firm, stable, and enduring. Live your lives with an unshakable confidence. We know that we prosper and excel in every season by serving the Lord, because we are assured that our union with the Lord makes our labor productive with fruit that endures.” Hold fast the confession of your faith, stay true to God, do not allow any space in your heart for any contrary opinion.  

Lk.5:2 He noticed two fishing boats at the water’s edge, with the fishermen nearby, rinsing their nets. Once in a while even as children of God, there are times when some things we so desire, pray and work hard for do get to be delivered to us even though we are more than qualified and prepared for it, we might then develop a feeling of lethargy both physically and spiritually because in our minds we focus on the “failure”. I understand that it is natural to so feel, however, I do not agree that anyone should become so drained of their confidence in oneself and particularly with God. Many times those disappointment are actually God’s way of either moving us to something better or helping us to find our purpose in life, and rather than sit mourning the loss, arise, and be encouraged in the Lord and your ability (1Sam. 30:6), like David, channel that energy into new and creative thinking that will change the course of your life for the better permanently. When Peter and his fishermen colleagues with all their expertise returned from a failed expedition, they were disappointed and discouraged, so much they could not go home because they were failures. However, nobody can call you a failure if God has not and if you did not agree with their categorisation of your life! By the end of that day, Peter not only became hugely successful in his business, he found the real meaning of his life…..Fisher of men(Lk.5:10. Beloved, that disappointment is for a reason, it could be that God does not want a man to take glory over your life ( like the man at the pool side for 38 years, he was disappointed by family and friends, even by his own strength, all abandoned him – John 5:7), or maybe, He wants to change the course of your life to something more meaningful – imagine if Peter had been successful in his expedition, he would have either gone home or busy selling his catch that he would not have had time for Jesus. The word of God for somebody reading this devotional is in Eze.30:15 “And I will pour my fury upon Sin, the strength of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No.” From this day, you will never be refused what will give you joy. Your jib is to ensure that your pour your anger on anything called sin, abstain from whatever can contaminate your life. Let that disappointment become a fuel, make you stronger in your walk with God and selfdiscovery, it was until David was disappointed by the people he had moulded into great men( they wanted to stone him), that his ingenuity came to the fore, use every disappointment as elixir that will speed up the manifestation of God’s endowment on your life. Focus on God alone, He has the final say and gives to His own all the things they need (Matt.6:33). DOWNLOAD THIS ARTICLE DISAPPOINTED – LET IT BE YOUR FUEL

Ps.15:1-5   Integrity is defined as the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. A person of integrity is a person regarded as honourable, a man of his/her word.   As children of God, we must strive to become like Jesus our Saviour, the man of integrity. Integrity stands a person out among the crowd, setting them apart for honour. Integrity is a combination of honesty, strong moral principles, consistency, wholeness of purity and without any shred of corruption. It is the ability to stand firm at all times regardless of circumstances or situation that may arise, Ps.15:4 describes a person of integrity thus   “They will despise evil and evil workers while commending the faithful ones who follow after the truth. They make firm commitments and follow through, even at great cost.”   As Christians, one important element we must have is stability of minds as our Lord who despite the pain He would suffer to purchase salvation for humanity kept the faith to the end. Unfortunately, today, many Christians find it difficult to keep their promises nor stand by their commitments, advancing one excuse or the other. It is even sad that ordinary time keeping is a problem for many, so we keep coming late for church services and activities, but never to work or parties, sadder still is that some churches have joined the bandwagon, for example an event starting at 4pm will be advertised as starting at 2pm thus making allowance for lateness, the unfortunate truth is that all these are clear indication of lack of integrity!   As we walk with the Lord, one of the most important things we must imbibe if we hope to see Him on the last day is integrity, and that must be clearly seen not by God alone, but by men. A man without integrity cannot win the battles of life nor positive landmark experience because he is unstable in all his ways.   Our Heavenly Father is integrity personified, therefore, we must strive to be as He is.   Num.23:19   “God is not a man, that He should tell or act a lie, neither the son of man, that He should feel repentance or compunction [for what He has promised]. Has He said and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken and shall He not make it good?”   Can men vouch for your integrity?   DOWNLOAD THIS ARTICLE AS A PDF

Eph.1:4   And in love He chose us before He laid the foundation of the universe! Because of His great love, He ordained us, so that we would be seen as holy in His eyes with an unstained innocence.   Before the world was made God’s love towards His children made Him chose us by the salvation we got through Christ, making us holy and without fault in His own eyes, what a great God we have!   In Heb.1:1-3, the scripture says God who used to speak with men of old with revelation that was only a fragment at a time, now speaks to us openly in the language of a Son, accomplishing through His Son in us, the complete cleansing of our sins. Meaning that now, He has made us holy to Himself, such that whenever He looks at us, He only sees blameless people. Our selection is of ancient time (Jer.1:5).   Our ordination is for a purpose as is the baptism with the Holy Spirit, it is that we will be His ambassadors, representing Him and His will to those who have not accepted or who are oblivious of the privilege that they have been created into. He said in Act.1:8, that we are to be His witness to the entire world, without exception! It is important to note that, in choosing us, He did so, so that we may grow and be better versions of who we presently are. Whether it is Abraham, Moses, Elisha, Peter or Paul, the moment they heeded the call to be His ambassadors , their lives became better and the became better people, plus they became too important in their generation to be ignored.   The Lord is calling out to all His children to go out and make disciples of the whole earth, but many are not responding….Are you? Power has been given to you to become a wonder to your generation and those unborn, you however need to activate that power by rising and going in His name. The men of old that went, have a good heritage and left their print on the sand of time. It is your turn to do the same, being an also ran is destiny not fulfilled ( do not be another Methuselah).   You were selected before the foundation of the world was laid, justify the confidence God has in you. DOWNLOAD THIS ARTICLE AS A PDF

Matt. 28:1 After the Sabbath ended, at the first light of dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to take a look at the tomb. To win in a legal battle or an argument, you must be able to provide incontrovertible proof that will swing judgment in your favour, in the same way, the love for anyone must be evidenced in action not by rhetoric, for example John 3:16 says For here is the way God loved the world—he gave his only, unique Son as a gift. So now everyone who believes in him will never perish but experience everlasting life. Love is an active expression, not an assumption or by word. Rom.5:8 But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us. Even though we were in a damaged and unloveable state, yet God showed us how much He loved us by sacrificing His Son so we can be repaired so can access His presence. And since love is a two way street, and unexciting if only one of the party is fully engaged, what is the evidence of your love for Jesus? In our memory verse above, we found two ladies, one of them delivered from seven demons that had made her body their abode, who could not wait till daylight to visit the tomb of their Lord, and they did not go empty handed, they went to perfume His dead body! What is the evidence that you love Him, how faithfully are you seeking Him, do you serve Him because of Him or because of what you stand to benefit? As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ today, it is a great time to start showing concrete evidence of your love towards Him, by living your life for and in Him, like Apostle Paul Phil.1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Happy Easter! DOWNLOAD THIS ARTICLE AS A PDF

Gal. 6:7-8   Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.   To a large extent, thoughts determine virtually everything a man does, very few actions are carried out off the cuff. According to James 1:14-15, the thought of a person is what leads him to go into error, it is therefore safe to say, that the direction of a fellow’s thinking will determine whether he lives or dies.   Do not be deceived, your thoughts are very powerful, they have the ability to determine what becomes of you both now and in the afterlife. It can lift you up or brings you down. Whereas Daniel’s thoughts were to seek the glory of Gos always, Lucifer’s was how to overthrow God’s kingdom, therefore we saw their ending, Daniel held in honour and glory, Lucifer shamed and cursed to everlasting destruction.   Proverbs 23:7 says you are your thought, and as a seed can only produce its kind as fruit, whatever you focus on in your mind will always expand and that is what you will see and do.   Phil.4:8   Keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honourable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always.   Doing right or wrong is an intentional choice, they are products of the mind. Your thoughts are expressed in the things you do or desire, many Christians are so focused on satisfying the flesh than the Spirit, irrespective of their position in Christian circles, it will be safe to say, such folks are sowing to the flesh, and can only reap corruption, because whatever a man sows, that he will reap.   Be mindful of what and where you are sowing your seed because you will reap the same in multiple fold from the place you have sown. Peter sowed obedience and generosity, he reaped a great harvest and became a major instrument in the hand of God, Judas sowed greed and profited from selling Jesus, he reaped eternity in hell.   Do not be misled, you will always reap what you sow, therefore watch your thoughts.   DOWNLOAD THIS ARTICLE AS APDF

Heb.11:1   “Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for. It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen.”   When people ask the question, “How is your walk with God”, it a question asking about how much faith in the Lord you have. The word of God made is clear that without faith living within us it would be impossible to please God. For we come to God in faith knowing that he is real and that he rewards the faith of those who passionately seek him. Since it is not possible to walk together with a fellow except there is an agreement between both of you, so it is with God, a person cannot walk with Him without totally believing in and having absolute faith in Him.   Men of old who greatly impacted humanity had unflinching faith in God, whether we talk about Abraham who left all that he ever knew behind and followed God’s instructions, even to the point of “sacrificing” his beloved son, or Isaac, who right in the middle of a severe famine stayed in the land because God said so, and even cultivated and planted on his farm at His behest. Or, we can also talk about Moses who, despite endangering his life went back to Egypt to lead the Israelites out bondage. In each case, their responses would appears like madness to the ordinary person, but indeed it is! That is faith, to the ordinary man, a man who has faith in God is a crazy fellow.   Is.43:1-2   “But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”   When we put our complete trust in God and abide in faith, He will always have our back. Whom do you trust your into, how much of God’s Word do you believe and act on?   Beloved, God loves you dearly and has given you all things freely, you therefore have no business suffering from Satanic oppression, suppression and intimidation, Jesus Christ has destroyed every ordinance written against you.   Gal.3:16   Abraham, our father of faith, believed God, and the substance of his faith released God’s righteousness to him.   How is your walk with God.   DOWNLOAD THIS ARTICLE AS A PDF

John 7:37   “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.”   To thirst is to have a strong desire for something, and to which a fellow will push the limit to achieve, for example someone may thirst for political power or seek to achieve greatness in their chosen field of endeavour. It is driver behind most individual successes and breakthroughs. In Ps.42:1 David’s confessed that his heart thirsted for God, little wonder therefore when God said that David was a man after His heart. On the other hand, we saw Gehazi, whose heart longed for earthly possession than spiritual, he ended up with the leprosy of Naaman transferred into his linage forever.   What a man thirst after determines his actions and steps as indeed his worldview. It is therefore important to check what your utmost desires are, because it will either set you in right standing with God or not. In Acts 4:36 and Acts 5:1-11, two set of people did the same thing, however with different motives, while the Barnabas sold his property sincerely as an act of service and brought the proceeds to the Church, the couple did the same but with a different motive, their aim was to take glory, an unhealthy competition.   Are you thirsty for wealth, fame, success in life, marriage, children etc, these are all good things to thirst for, however, they are not enduring. These kind of thirsts after being satisfied stops to motivate a fellow, they are basically dead end thirsts, aside from the fact that they unreliable and can be an albatross to a life, for example it was the wealth of the rich young ruler that made him miss a record in Heaven, it was the Ahab’s marriage to Jezebel that destroyed him, the sons of Sennacherib (2kgs 19:37) killed him.   Matt. 11:29 says rest for your soul can only be found when your thirst is in the Lord, when pleasing Him is all you long and thirst for always. As you pant after Him, the Lord will command His endless love to pour over you in the day , and you will sing His songs and praises all night long. Thirst for anything or anyone else that God is an invitation to non-fulfilment of destiny and being cut off in the middle of the day.   Jesus is sending another invitation to All today, He says “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink”, He is the only One that can truly satisfy your thirst nothing and no one else, He will give you the living water and you will never be thirsty again. For when you drink the water He gives, it will become a gushing fountain of the Holy Spirit, flooding you with endless life!   I counsel you today, let the love for Christ alone be your only thirst and soon you will see all other things being added to you. DOWNLOAD THIS ARTICLE AS A PDF

1Sam.16:7   “But the Lord said to Samuel, Look not on his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”   When God looks into your heart, what will He see, or if He is to give a verdict about you, what will He say?   The story above should cause every child of God to critically consider whether or not they will be celebrated by God or otherwise. Eliab to Jesse was not just a perfect son raised in the way of God, he was a gentleman, beautiful stature and handsome, even the highly anointed man of God thought so, but God knew better than they.   Today, many parade as Christians, tongue talking, firebrand and visibly hardworking in church activities but they are perfectly described in   Jer. 17:9   “There is nothing more deceitful than the heart of man; who can understand it? Man’s heart is sick, in need of healing.”   The content of the heart is the limit to which the Lord can relate with with him. In Acts 5:1-10, the content of the hearts of the deceptive couple led to their untimely demise, regardless of their supposed zeal for God and dedication. We may be able to get a pass from man by our actions and activities, however God does not look on the outside rather the content of the heart.   Have you checked the reason behind your actions, is it about God or your personal interests. Your salvation claim, is it genuine, what is the purpose of joining the church workforce, is it to belong or to see the kingdom of God on earth expand?   Beloved, have a look at your heart to see that what is in there can please God, if you feel what is there will not, then, purge your heart of any filth that you know God will not be pleased with, you do not have to wait for Him to expose it at the junction of promotion and honour.   May you never be rejected IJN.