Articles & Outlines

SEED OF ABRAHAM?

Gal. 3:29 “And if you belong to Christ, then you are now Abraham’s “child” and a true heir of all his blessings because of the promise God made to Abraham!” The moment a fellow surrenders his life to Jesus, his name gets written in the book of life and he becomes a seed of Abraham, as his seed, it is important the the fellow must be like Abraham his father by doing the works he did so he can continue to be his seed. If there is one thing Abraham is synonymous for, it is faith. Rom.4:19 “In spite of being nearly one hundred years old when the promise of having a son was made, his faith was so strong that it could not be undermined by the fact that he and Sarah were incapable of conceiving a child.” His faith in God made him become the friend of God and earned him the moniker “the father of faith”. The blessings of Abraham is only available to those who are his seed in the true sense of it. Therefore, having accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour, is your faith entrenched in His Word such that you will gladly share it and act on based upon the Word? It is not about the title one bears that makes a fellow a believer but the acceptance and deference to it. The angel of God can to Zachariah – a priest, to tell him of what God will do in his family, he asked for a sign, the same angel went with an even more serious message to a young woman- Mary, she believed. It takes faith to walk with God as Abraham did and it takes faith to please God. It is a thing especially now, in Christendom, that the focus is seeing before believing, we are so fixated on self help than a total reliance on the spoken word of God. Heb.11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].” Are you a seed of Abraham, doing the works he did, or are you another fellow seeking to see before believing that God loves you and desires the best for you, and has redeemed you with a great redemption? He has now sent you to go into the world and tell of His greatness and that signs are wonders shall follow you as you do so? Do you believe? Do you have and exercise your faith?

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LOAD YOUR CLOUD.

Eccl. 11:6 “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good.” Loading one’s cloud is akin to precipitation inducing operation called Cloud seeding. Cloud seeding is a weather modification technique that improves the ability of cloud to produce rain. This technique has and continues to work and regularly used by countries in the desert regions or for irrigation purposes. A nation seeds its cloud if it needs rain to fall, in the same token, as children of God we can deploy “cloud seeding” to get God to pour down His rain on us. The above verse of the scripture is very apt and instructive, for the cloud to send down rain, it must be continually loaded, the sun must keep taking waters from the earth and load the cloud until it bursts and rains falls on the earth. As a child of God haw regularly do you load your cloud? Do you even know or understand that it is your responsibility to do so? There are several ways to load your cloud. Ps. 5:3 “In the morning You hear my voice, O Lord; in the morning I prepare [a prayer, a sacrifice] for You and watch and wait [for You to speak to my heart].” You must invest time in the place of prayer (1kgs.17:1), when you pray without ceasing, then you will be able to stand up and decree a thing loke Elijah, and it will come to pass. Unfortunately, many Christians are lazy in the place of prayers, it is so bad that some cannot wake up early to pray. Even when invited to the place of early morning prayers online, they come up with many excuses, yet they do not have any other power to wrestle against the principalities and powers of this world. Beloved, it is the funds you have saved in the day of plenty that you will draw in the day of drought (Gen. 41:34-36). It is good to have somebody (parents, pastor etc) praying for you, remember however, that these individuals have other people to pray for as well, also, you are the one that wears the shoe, so you know where the pain is. It will be too late to start praying when you are in the midst of a crisis, it may not even be possible, imagine the 3 Hebrew boys starting to pray when they have been thrown into the fiery furnace, or Daniel starting to “bind and loose” in the lions’ den. When things are not well, pray, when things are good pray more, never get to believe that when things are better for you than it was, then it is time to relax in the place of prayer, if anything, it is time to intensify your prayers, because the brighter the light, the thicker the darkness. 1Cor.14:15 “So here’s what I’ve concluded. I will pray in the Spirit, but I will also pray with my mind engaged. I will sing rapturous praises in the Spirit, but I will also sing with my mind engaged.” The more you pray, the more you are empowered spiritually to do all things and receive regular downpour of Divine blessings in all ramification. Beloved, never get tired of praying or forsaking the assembling together of the Brethren, you do not know when you will need to draw from your prayer bank. LOAD YOUR CLOUD. 25/01/2025 14:49

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HE IS AWARE.

Acts 15:18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. The God we serve is the All-knowing, there is nothing that happened or will happen that He does not approve, for example for you to be born a human being to certain parents on a determined date are all His works, therefore, for any discerning mind, it should be gratifying that no one is an accident nor have been abandoned. Regardless of the situation you may be going through at the moment, God is aware of it, whether it be good or not, as a matter of fact He allowed it for His own glory. Where you are not satisfied with your situation, it will now depend on you to go back to Him to change the situation. In many instances however, the unpleasantness people experience is not of God’s making but the choices they made, in Luke 15:11-24, the younger son had everything he needed, wealth, health, protection, joy and peace , all in abundance, but one day he decided to leave all these behind for the world – he exchanges his glory for worthless items (Ps.106:20). He soon realised that it was a grave error after he lost everything, as he made up his mind to return to his father, even as a slave, he was welcomed back home as a son! Beloved, the life of many who are in pain and sorrow today are akin to this story, as long as you are “outside of God’s authority” you are exposed to the vagaries of elements of the world, who initially treated you with what you thought was love, very soon they will become your masters, and they are terribly wicked masters. Jer.29:11 “Here’s what Yahweh says to you: “I know all about the marvellous destiny I have in store for you, a future planned out in detail. My intention is not to harm you but to surround you with peace and prosperity and to give you a beautiful future, glistening with hope.” God is aware of you and knows you, He has you written on the palm of His hand and has brilliant plans for you, however, He will not force you against your will. To come into those great plans He has prepared, everyone must come to Him at Him own terms and abide with His instructions carefully (Deut.28:1-2). The first step into that glorious destiny is that Jesus must be the Lord of your life on an ongoing basis and forever, just like the freezer must stay connected to electricity to be powered to be useful. John 15:5 I am the sprouting vine and you’re my branches. As you live in union with me as your source, fruitfulness will stream from within you—but when you live separated from me you are powerless.

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THE LIFTER.

Ps.3:3 But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, My glory [and my honour], and the One who lifts my head. There are different ways a person can be promoted, however, being promoted is not as important as the sustenance of it. There are lifters but there is only One authentic Lifter. When the world and its people lifts a person, it is only to satisfy their own desires, thus the fellow will be subservient to their demands and commands, and since the things of the world not of the Father, then worldly promotion belongs to Satan, if so, then is a trap to steal, to kill and destroy the life of such as he promotes. Ps.75:6-7 This I know: the favour that brings promotion and power doesn’t come from anywhere on earth, for no one exalts a person but God, the true judge of all. He alone determines where favour rests. He anoints one for greatness and brings another down to his knees. When God lifts up a fellow, not only will he be lifted, everyone around him will benefit from such lifting, for example, when Joseph was lifted and became the prime minister, his extended family was equally lifted, away from poverty, famine and hunger. It is therefore important to know where to seek promotion. Although, a fellow may know where real and enduring lifting can be accessed, the condition precedent is that one must be a member of the family of God and an abstainer from all manner of unrighteous ways and living, it is impossible for the Lord to lift a sinner neither can a sinner know the ways of the Lord. Jesus is the real lifter whose everlasting arms are underneath the righteous to lift them over and above the world. Is your name written in His book?

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NO HIDING PLACE.

Heb.4:13 There is nothing that can be hid from God; everything in all creation is exposed and lies open before his eyes. And it is to him that we must all give an account of ourselves. Today, most of the mobile device we use, be it phones, electronic wristwatches, tablets etc are all equipped with capability to pinpoint the exact location of the item and the one in whose possession it is, however, if the fellow switches off the GPS capability, it will be difficult if not impossible to locate, and therefore the fellow may be able to hide their whereabout. The above scripture however seems to say that every human being are Heavenly GPS enabled and cannot be switched off, thus they are not able to hide the location from God, also it says even the thoughts of their hearts are known to Him, and finally all human being will give account of their days on earth to HIM. Pro.20:27 The Lord’s light penetrates the human spirit, exposing every hidden motive. Nothing can be hidden where light is, as all things will be exposed, our God is Light. For as many who profess to love the Lord and yet are deeply into sinning, the Lord sees and knows them. He will recompense everyman according to their doing (Gal.6:7). Therefore, let us check ourselves to be sure that we are in the running for a good reward from God whenever the time comes. The thing to remember is that sin thrives in darkness and secrecy, yet even the darkest things are light noonday brightness before the Lord. Having this understanding, let everyone who sins and are unrighteous depart from their wicked ways, because all that things are open before God, as result, there is no hiding place from or before His face. When David killed Uriah and took his wife, he thought he had his act securely covered, until the Prophet Nathan accosted him, have you done an evil to someone and you think nobody can ever find out? God saw it and has a record of it. It could be the reason your life is not at the level it should be. Take time and go to the Lord in repentance, confess those things you did, ask for mercy and turn away from them. If restitution is require, do not delay in doing it. Thereafter, surrender your life to Jesus genuinely and start walking in His precepts and guidance, God does not want the death of a sinner but that the sinner will turn from his ways and embrace salvation. There is no hiding anything from the One to whom you will give account.

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FAILURE IS NOT THE END.

Micah 7:8 “Rejoice not against me, O my enemy! When I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light to me.” The race of life is not determined by the fact that a fellow fell, but because they refuse to rise up. Little children, when learning to walk falls many time, each time they fall, they laugh and have a go again until they perfect the art. This is the mindset to possess if anyone wants to reach their full potential. Failure is not an end, it is life lesson teaching that the step taken was a wrong one. Recently, the 2024 CAF African footballer of the year said rather philosophically, ” Just over four years ago, I failed in front of the world. Fast forward four years, and I’m the best player in Africa. I want to say to the young children and people watching this: don’t let your failures weigh you down to the point they break your wings. Matter of fact, turn your pain into your power and continue to fight.” Do let your failure break or clip your wings, if anything, failure should be turned to an elixir that pump you up for the next big thing. It is important to know that failure is part of life process, the best inventors in the world did not get it the first time, they tried again, and again …… and again. Noone truly celebrates efforts, what people celebrate is result. When SpaceX started out, its first three launches were failures, then followed by two fairly low success rate, after that however, the success rate at present is 99.72%, do not any failure define you, because you have the capacity to turn it around. But for you to obtain the ability to rise up again from failure, you need help from someone who is able to support you in covering the ground lost, and present fresh opportunities. Pro. 24:16 “For the lovers of God may suffer adversity and stumble seven times, but they will continue to rise over and over again. But the unrighteous are brought down by just one calamity and will never be able to rise again.” Are you a lover of God, then you can be sure that as long as you are not lazy, even though you might have fallen short, He will carry you with Him hands and place you ahead of the pack. Concerning those that love the Lord the scripture says If they fall, they will not stay down, because the Lord will help them up (Ps.34:24). Failure is a mere blip in the journey of life and a testament to the fact that we are humans after all, we are neither all-knowing nor all powerful, there the lack of the ability to control our future is the reason for failure. But if we come to the Lord in all sincerity, although we may fall and fail, we have the assurance that we will never lose out. Rom.8:31(AMPC) “What then shall we say to [all] this? If God is for us, who [can be] against us? [Who can be our foe, if God is on our side?].

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Pastor's Corner
thejoyofallsouls

WILL OF THE FATHER

Matt.7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven. One of the thing that makes humans a higher level of animal is the possession of freewill, the ability to determine what we want, how we want and when we want it done. So while one of a pair of twins may decide to be a Christian, the other may decide otherwise. The bible tells us of the story of Esau and Jacob, while Esau loves the wild, Jacob would rather stay at home and enjoy its cosiness, yet they were twins! The different path they took was because they had freewill, not forced to do anything. Rev.3:20 Behold, I’m standing at the door, knocking. If your heart is open to hear my voice and you open the door within, I will come in to you and feast with you, and you will feast with me. When Jesus made the invitation, it was a blanket one directed to no particular individual but to the entire huma race, just as many will accept the offer, many others will spurn it. Accepting the offer, however, is just the beginning of a life long journey, therefore, it cannot be an off the cuff decision, it is akin to a marriage, nay, it is! The moment we come into this relationship, the person losses their will completely. It is unacceptable to hold on to any contrary view or will than that which He sets out. Beloved, are you a Christian, and are you doing His will and abiding in His good pleasure completely or you’d rather hold on to yours? Maybe, you need to go back to ask God for help, especially if you are not. It is important to accept your inability to do His will by your human self, that is a situation that God knows and thus has made provision for help. Phil.2:13 AMPC [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight. It is impossible for a person to do the will of God except God helps him, therefore, stop trying to please God by your own power, rather, cry to Him for help that your will be subsumed in His. The good new though is that help has been made available – Glory to Jesus!

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Pastor's Corner
thejoyofallsouls

BETTER ENDING.

Job 8:7 And though you started with little, you will end with much. Just like that, we have come to December the last month of the year 2024, how time flies! It is that time if the year to begin a honest stock taking of how the year went, with a view to ensuring that one’s God ordained blessing for the year 2024 is birthed even in this last month of the year. Eccl.7:8 “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof……. The plan of God for His children is for them to get better by the day, therefore, it does not matter how you started the year, the Word of God for you today is that although you might have started the year crawling, you will end the year flying, that is a settled matter in the Heavens, however, it is important that you align yourself with that plan of God to see it come to pass. Many there be that God’s plan for them to end on the high, but they ended up shamefaced. One month is a very long time and sufficient period to change the narrative and ensure that you end the year 2024 on a high note. The plan of God is that you may prosper in every way and that your body may keep well, even as your soul keeps well and prospers. For that to happen and end the year gloriously, therefore, it is important to ask yourself the question, is my way aligned with God’s? it is possible to be surrounded with water and still die of thirst (Gen.21:15-19), yet it is possible for God to make rivers flow in the desert for those that are on His side. For the one fellow that will surrender all to the Lord, no matter how you started the year, it will not determine how they finish it, Esther started as a slave and ended as Queen due to God’s favour, that God is still in the business of making the impossible possible. Jabez (1Chr.4:9-10), started a year as the son of sorrow, but ended that same year as being more honourable than all his family members, because He cried to the Lord for help, if only you will call upon God and let Him truly be God of your life and you carry your cross following Him, you will see Him do great things in your life. For you to have a great ending to 2024, let Him have pre-eminence

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Pastor's Corner
thejoyofallsouls

CHANGE COMES

Job 14:14 “If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, Till my change come.” Generally in life, the only constant scenario is change, and this happens throughout the human lifecycle, from birth to death. Change though happens in several ways and could be responded to in different ways as well, for example after the children of Israel were delivered from slavery they were glad for the change, but when change came in the food, they complained bitterly and were ungrateful to God. In the case of Job however, notwithstanding his change from grace to grass, he vehemently resolved to trust God even in the circumstances. Is. 40:31 “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” The good new is that wherever you are at, whether your case is like that of Naaman, wealthy and influential but unwell, or like Jabez who had a poverty decreed upon his destiny or even like the Shunamite woman, wealthy, powerful yet barren or even if you are tired of your current situation, there is a chance for your change to be birthed even now. All you need is to wait on the Lord, i.e trust Him for a change in your circumstances, He is the One that determines times and season. Job was sure that he will not die a sick man because he knew that God is reliable and will not leave His own to suffer corruption, and it turned out to be just as such, if only you will want on the Lord, commit your ways and plans to Him, He shall surely make the change happen for you. Those the ever waited on Him are never ashamed nor disappointed, He will not start with you. It is time for your chats come, arise and take it.

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Pastor's Corner
thejoyofallsouls

BE STRONG IN THE LORD.

Eph. 6:10 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” To be strong in the Lord is to have good knowledge about God and/or solid faith in Him. The admonition was first given to Joshua in Josh.1:6-8, this strength is that which flows from within and not physical, it is knowing that the Lord is Jehovah El Shaddai. Knowing this will help a fellow live the life of a victor, as Christians, it is important for us to be strong in the Lord for obvious reasons, for example, it will help to withstand every wind of doctrine because we know Him. The waves of satanic harassment will not move us, because we know that all thing works together for those who love God. The study of the lives of those that have gone ahead of us also, seeing what God did for them as a result of their being strong in Him. David though not a soldier confronted Goliath because he was strong in the Lord (1Sam.17:45), the Three Hebrew men also showed their strength in the Lord when they told the mighty king Nebuchadnezzar that they will not bow to his idol (Dan.3:17), and in Dan.6:20-21, Daniel said my God shut the mouth of lions that they could not hurt him, he being the son of the Lion of Judah. Dan.11:32b “………..but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” We must be strong in the Lord to shut the mouth of heretics, to preach the Gospel without fear or for personal gain, declare like Paul in Phil.4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Raising the dead, healing the sick, stilling storms, seeking God above all else and bringing joy to individuals and communities requires absolute strength in the Lord, it is against this backdrop that the encouragement stemmed. It is high time we took this seriously, remember, the Apostles all either denied Jesus or ran away when He was arrested and could not preach in His name, however, when they received power, they became open witnesses. Are you strong in the Lord? Now is the time to covet earnestly the most excellent gift.

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