Articles & Outlines

2Tim. 2:15 Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skilfully teaching the word of truth. The word study is either a noun or verb. As a noun, it refers to the devotion of time and attention to gaining knowledge of a subject, or a detailed investigation and analysis of a subject or situation; as a verb, it is to devote time and attention to gaining knowledge in a field or subject, it can also mean to look closely with the aim of observation and gaining knowledge. Many are Christians today that are oblivious of the responsibilities imposed on them by the virtue of being a child of God, therefore you find gross misbehaviour from those that professed to have given their lives to Jesus. It is obvious however, from our memory verse that without the understanding of our rights and responsivities as Christians, we would not be approved by the Lord neither will we be able to rightly preach the saving grace that Christ purchased for all as a gospel, nor see Him in glory. I suppose the lack of thorough study and understanding of the Word of God is the reason there are so many unstable brethren in our churches today who are easily swayed by all manner of doctrines, especially those that does not saddle them with responsibilities. Many have believed in lies, conjectures and innuendos which suggests that God is the only One that has responsibility to the Christian. Acts 17:11 They found that the Jews of Berea were of more noble character and much more open minded than those of Thessalonica. They were hungry to learn and eagerly received the word. Every day they opened the scrolls of Scripture to search and examine them, to verify that what Paul taught them was true. When a fellow studies the scriptures personally, aside from debugging what they have heard, their knowledge of God will increase as is their understanding of what they can and cannot expect of God. It is for example easy for the story of David to be referenced by a preacher and get people excited, but it takes studying the lives of people like Abraham and Job to understand that sacrificial giving and affliction are part of the package and will lead to the blessings being hungered for, just as Jesus alluded in Matt.16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If you truly want to follow me, you should at once completely reject and disown your own life. And you must be willing to share my cross and experience it as your own, as you continually surrender to my ways” Your approval to God is not based on your service, offerings, the payment of your tithe or any outward exercise for that matter,( while they are needed for the body of Christ to grow), it is premised of your personal knowledge and interaction with Him. That will help you understand that He is the God of individual and not of the multitude. Even though His call was to the whole world, a careful analysis will reveal to a studious fellow that He addressed Himself to an individual (John 3:16; John 7:37 and Rev.3:20). Anyone that understands the scriptures on the back of their personal study, knows that things happening nowadays in both the Church and world are signs of the end times, today for example, there are all manner of people professing to be preachers of the gospel, but their conduct and mannerism points to the contrary; all the world today, nations rising against each other resulting in wanton destruction of lives and properties and evil is no longer being done in secret but openly, the list goes on and on. Matt.24.11-13 And many lying prophets will arise, deceiving multitudes and leading them away from the path of truth. There will be such an increase of the sin of lawlessness that those whose hearts once burned with passion for God and others will grow cold. But hold your hope firmly to the end and you will experience life and deliverance. Are you approved of the Lord, have you studied and continues to study the Word of God including especially hearkening to the instructions therein? It will be a mere and useless exercise if all you did was to study but not hearken, for it is in following through, the Word, that ultimate approval rests

Matt.7:13-14 Enter through the narrow gate because the wide gate and broad path is the way that leads to destruction—nearly everyone chooses that crowded road! The narrow gate and the difficult way leads to eternal life—so few even find it!” Every individual at one point or the other needs to make decision, these decisions in many cases are such that will forever define them, or determine their eternal location. We decide who our friend are, what career path we want to pursue, who to be married to and so on. Decision making id quite harder than it seems, if anything, it is trading in darkness, because we can only speculate what the outcomes will be. When Adam was faced with a decision whether to take the forbidden fruit from his wife or not, two decisions faced him, ie either to make the easy decision or the right decision, he chose the easy decision. Apostle Paul said if faced with decision of whether to eat meat sacrificed to idol when in company of those whose faith is not yet strong, he will defer, he would rather deny himself than indulge himself. Many people have lost the respect, integrity, even love of their spouses because at one time or the other they took an easy decision when they found themselves in dire situation. The truth is whenever a person takes an easy decision it is because they want to avoid presumed hurt for lack of understanding that there is no free lunch anywhere, at best they will have an easy passage now, only to have a difficult life down the road. Jesus said, the taking the broad way, is doing as everybody else does, seeking the approval of the world, speaking their language, dressing like the world etc is the easy way after all, you will not be castigated or even ostracised, it is the wide road whose the end lead to destructions. On the other hand, doing the right thing is hard, unpopular and seemingly an uncooperative stand, the very narrow road that only a few finds, yet the Lord says it is the good way that leads to life in eternal bliss. Beloved, prior to taking any decision, regardless of your circumstances, be sure to run it through the test easy of right. Do not ever be deceived by the “harmless” nature of doing it the easy way, it always ends in tears, make sure to do the right thing always. It is possible (Phil. 4:13

Tit.3:9 ”But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.“ We live in interesting times, when people have many different ideas about the truth or facts . A few years ago, what fact is is incontrovertible , for example what is right and wrong, what exists in the realm of fiction and reality, it is important to distinguish between scientifically proven facts and politically motivated speculation which are designed to appeal to emotions and beliefs, they cannot be held to the same scrutiny as scientific propositions. Fact is not dependent on individual beliefs but universal, what is the fact in Asia, if tested in Europe or America and Africa will be found the same. If it is not universally factual then it cannot satisfy the condition of being a fact. The claim of alternative facts about Jesus is absurd and is script from the pit of hell! There are those who believes that Jesus Christ is not the Messiah, and have come up with all sorts of theories to support their claims, however, it is absolutely clear that these theories are not only shallow but have holes all over them. For example, they say that there are many who claims to be the saviour of humanity, is Jesus Christ not the same? Others have even argued that He was not born in December, yet some says He was not born of a Holy Spirit infused pregnancy through a virgin, a few have even gone ahead to claim that He did not resurrect from death. It is not surprising that these wild tales are being bandied about and gaining traction, because Satan will do anything to discredit the plans of God. So when you are preaching salvation through Jesus to some they may allude to one of the highlighted lies, arguing same to be the fact because according to 2Cor.4:4 they are those ”in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.“ But for us children of God, we are encouraged and warned in Heb.13:9, that we ensure that ”Do not be carried away by diverse and strange teachings…… Therefore, as you embark on soul winning activities, all you need to know and tell is that Jesus Christ is the only Way to salvation and eternal glory, we must be careful to not allow ourselves to be drawn into unnecessary arguments with potential converts nor with teachings that are not in tandem with those in the Bible, otherwise you will as unprofitable as the nay sayers. Whether they believe or not, the fact was, is and remains that Jesus is Lord…… Hallelujah!!!

Is.45:1-3 ”Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron: and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.“ According to Amos 3:3, it is impossible for two people to walk together if they are not in agreement, in the same vein, it is impracticable for one person to hold the hand of another and use it for great things except they both agree to work together. In taking stock of happenings in 2023, how much can you boldly declare what God achieved through you, and how much did you achieve for God? Was your best good enough for God in the year, do you feel God sees you as an approved individual before Him? How eagerly did you seek God’s approval throughout the year? As we go into the new year 2024, bear in mind that God seeks the diligent in faith and works for Him to pour His grace into. A man who is approved by God is a man who is unstoppable by any powers that be, he has the authority of God to subdue and dominate, to stop the onslaught of the enemy. The word of God for you as you go in 2024 is that He will go before you and level the mountains. He will smash down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. He will give you treasures hidden in the darkness— secret riches. These will be done so you may know that He is the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name. That God has the capacity to do all these and more for you is not in doubt, the challenge is, does He know you by name? Our God will not give the bread of children to dogs, the quality of your relationship with Him is the basis of which God will do anything for a man. Therefore, see to it that you eagerly seek to, and develop robust relationship with God in the new year, doing so starts by becoming a member of the family of God and being yoked to together with Jesus in discipleship. The new year holds great promises for those who will be on the side of God, for they are the ones he will hold in His hands and give power and authority to, with a view to becoming unstoppable success story. Do everything within your ability to be known and recognised by God as we go into the new year

Rom. 11:33 Who could ever wrap their minds around the riches of God, the depth of his wisdom, and the marvel of his perfect knowledge? Who could ever explain the wonder of his decisions or search out the mysterious way he carries out his plans? The ways and acts of God are beyond what the capacity of the mind of man can comprehend or process, therefore, it will be unwise for any Child of His to question if their current situation can really be helped or if God can bring to pass the promises made to them. Mark 10:27 Jesus looked at them and replied, “With people it is impossible, but not with God—God makes all things possible! When the word of the Lord comes to you, regardless of your situation, simply believe even if it sounds ridiculous or events thereafter points in the opposite direction. His ways are not our ways, neither His thoughts as like of man. When the Lord said to Abraham (Gen.17:5), that he will become the father of many nations, he was at a point that he was not only childless but he was well advanced in age at 99 years and the wife was 89 years old, it appeared impossible, in fact Abraham supposed God was a comedian (Gen.17:17), he said to God, please let Ishmael live. He did become the father of many nations such that today anyone who is anything links themselves to him. In the case of Joseph, God told him he will become a powerful and influential ruler, but he ended up a slave in a foreign land, and to compound it, he landed in prison for no justifiable reason; he kept the faith, holding on to what the Lord showed him, and soon enough, the machination of Satan against him broke, he became a ruler and the people that sought to dim his stars eventually came a did obeisance to him. When the angel of the Lord came and said to Mary (Luke 1:28), you are blessed among women, he went on to tell her – basically, it was like sentencing her to death, that though betrothed to a man she will be pregnant but not for the man- what manner of favour? At the end, she is today a celebrated individual, the birth mother of the Saviour of the world. The crux of the matter is that, God has a way of doing His things which no man can understand, it is sufficient for a person to believe God and run with the vision even though it may tarry or appear unreasonable. Have you received a word from Him and it seems things are going in the opposite direction? Keep trusting Him, He will bring it to pass. Are you going through an impossible state in your life, yet His word says all is well, do not allow room for doubt. Cease trying to figure out how God will make it happen for you, our Lord is a specialist in making the impossible possible, and you can take His word to the bank. Remember to fix your gaze on Him and not on the circumstance/situation, He is the Author and Finisher who calls the things that be not as though they are determining times and seasons. The only responsibility you have is to keep trusting Him and being righteous, because He who promised is way more than capable to do what He has promised. He did it for Abraham, Joseph, Moses David and Mary, He is still the same God (Heb.13:8). He indeed carries out his plans in mysterious ways that are beyond human comprehension.

Pro.12:24The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: But the slothful shall be under tribute.The above verse of scripture affirms the time held truth that hard work is profitableregardless of the sphere of human endeavor. It would therefore seem to invite all tobe committed to any task assigned to them because it is in doing so that reward willbe given.Talking about diligence, Jesus told the story of the talent where three servants weregiven tasks in accordance to their ability and capacity, while two went to work withzeal and commitment , the third decided to do to sleep due to his laziness,callousness and carelessness. At the season of report rendering, while the first twohad profit to report, the lazy one only had loss to report. The first two diligent workerswere rewarded handsomely, but the lazy one was punished(being the only worthyreward he qualified for), this is an interesting story because while it seem to speak tothe contemporary human relationship, it is actually aimed at giving us an idea of whatwill happen in Heaven at the great white throne judgement.How diligent are you in your walk with the Lord and the assignment you were given,viz be with Him and be sent by Him (Mk.3:14)? How is your standing with Him, howclosely are you being with Him? He called you to be with Him in the first instance, themost important element of your salvation is to be with Him; studying and learningfrom Him at His feet and to be like Him so that the plans He has for you may come topass: preaching in His name, healing in His name, doing signs and wonders includingmiracles in His is good, however, it is secondary, you were called to be with Him.Second to that is for you to be at His beck and call, ready to go on any assignmentHe deems fit for Him; winning souls, preaching and doing signs and wonders etc.Although God may call and give a man an assignment, however the attainment of thepurpose is dependent on the called level of preparedness and commitment includingthe level of diligence. While the hard worker will go all the way to ensuring the task iscompleted ( like Gideon and Nehemiah), the slothful will rest on their oars countingtheir assumed successes (like Joshua), while there is yet more land to conquer.The diligent will not cease being with the Lord and at the same time giving hisassignment all the attention and commitment necessary, only the diligent will makeGod proud.Are you diligent in your call and assignment?