” Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me…” Isaiah 46:9. Often times, we blame our stagnancy or retrogression in life on the devil, curses or some covens elsewhere rather than taking a self-check on our own attitudes to see where we miss it. It’s worth noting that forgetting God’s goodness and the kind gestures shown us by others is also a sin that can hold one back in life. Jesus, having this insight, would always give attributes to the Father in Him as the doer of His works. The following paragraphs reveal more on the need to remember the positives. “For God  is  not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, …” Hebrews 6:10. If forgetfulness is unrighteous, then remembrance is righteousness ! One personal attitude I’ve always thanked God for is that, I always dwell on the positives of people ignoring their errs no matter how hurting it could be. And this should be every believer’s ...

  ” There is profit in all labour but…” Proverbs 14:23 Our opening scripture says there’s profit in every labour. That’s why He says, ” Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might;…” Afterall, you’ll prosper in everything you do. But the Bible points out that he that’s from above is above all. Thus, one can equally assert that the labour from above is above all other earthly labour. The paragraphs below prove the superiority of kingdom roles over earthly professions. ( Ecclesiastes 9:10, John 3:31 ) FAVOUR & PEACE. “The blessing of Jehovah, it maketh rich; And he addeth no sorrow therewith…” Proverbs 10:22. Peace is never found in wealth. Only God gives true divine peace. Accompanying the FAVOUR of God due to our continued submission to him, is Peace. Peace is the condition of The human Spirit that secures, sustains and multiplies the BLESSING. It comes as a result of our righteousness. And righteousness is the reward of FAVOUR. JOY “The seventy-two returned with jo...

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it (LUKE 9:24) A certain man counceled his Christian son against being too industrous for God. This man's fear was that his dear son could lose his life serving Jesus Christ and preaching the Gospel. But the son replied, “Dad, I’m only doing what Jesus said I should do; I’m serving Him with my life.”  The man took offence at that and asked back, “You’re doing what Jesus said you should do? That’s why He died young; at thirty-three! They killed Him!” Like that man, there’re many who neither understand Christ’s purpose, nor the meaning of life. It’s not how long you live; it’s about the life you live.   The truth is, for such people, the issue really isn’t that they want to live long or want their loved ones to live long. If that were the case, God promised them eternity; their real problem is the fear of death.   As long as the fear of death possesses...

    ” But solid food is for the [spiritually] mature, whose senses are trained by practice to distinguish between what is morally good and what is evil. “ Heb 5:14 AMP It’s an emphatic truth that God doesn’t only offer us His direct Voice and Visions. He also speaks and reveals through His creatures – living or inanimate. Yet, we cannot grab the import of these messages without the spiritual ability of perceiving, understanding and discerning them. There’s, therefore, the need for identifying and sharpening each of our five spiritual senses ! ( Psa 19:1‭-‬4 ) THE SENSE OF HEARING: “He who has an ear, let him hear what The Spirit says to the churches… ” Revelations 2:7. With this spiritual sense you are able to identify and discern the voice and sounds of God, angels, demonic spirits, and the sounds of activities in the spiritual realm. When your sense of hearing opens, you hear sounds while men hear noise. However, God’s not the only source of these voices; the...

  God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. Genesis 1:16 There are two major sources of God’s Word – the scriptures and the direct Voice of God ! Whereas the former of these sources is limited or general, the latter is specific,  more empowering, and most reliable. Apparently, the Voice of God is the greater of these two Lights. Not so, Peter wouldn’t conclude, ” We have a more sure of Word of prophecy”, referring to God’s Voice that had come to them on the Mount ( 2 Peter 1:19). But why is His Voice so indispensable? Let’s find out ! THE NATURE AND BENEFITS OF HIS VOICE. Inherent in His voice is the Spirit of Faith that comes to replace fear, dissipate darkness, and strengthen the weak. This Voice is self-reliant, forceful and fiery. It lifts up the seated back on his feet, and the one that already walks, it puts on the run ! Remember how The Spirit of this Voice lifted Ezekiel back on His feet while He spoke to Him. ...

  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Ephesians 6:13‭-‬17 KJV Paul wasn't intimated by the Romans soldiers who guarded him in prison. He would rather proclaim that he sat in heavenly places while God gave him an analogy of the centurion's armour upon which his eyes were fixed. The Apostle, in his letter to the Ephesians, touched on this revelation as in our opening scripture. Today's part of the subject, however, discusses The Helmet of Salvation. ( Ephesians 2:6 ) Now, snapily describing the centurian's headgear (...

  ” The fire must never go out,…” Leviticus 6:12 God’s kingdom as recorded from Genesis to Revelation, is fire-dominated. Moses, first, encountered Him in a burning bush; Elijah got swallowed up by horse-like chariots; his servant, Elisha, wasn’t left out when he witnessed similar chariots of angels surrounding him later, and the list is endless. So Paul, The Apostle, simply concludes that God ( in whom we live ) is a consuming fire – Hebrews 12:29. The fire of God is that zeal, passion or heated and burning urge contained in our spirits for The Lord. It originates from God, yet He charges us to keep it from going off, as revealed from our theme scripture above. This piece will, therefore, not be complete without unveiling a few ways of sustaining God’s holy fire. THE WORD ” Is not my word like fire…?” Jeremiah 23:29. Then, the Prophet affirms, “… His word is in my heart like fire…” Jeremiah 20:9. So you can imagine what the Word offers our Spirit as we commune with it. They’re woo...

  “…see that you also excel in this   GRACE OF GIVING .” 2 Corinthians 8:7. It’s an indisputable fact that our walk with God is strictly a walk of sacrifice or giving. We are either giving of our strength, possessions or money. But the seeds we sow, in the form of tithes, firstfruits, or thanksgiving often yield below the peak for some christians. Such are they that are advised by Apostle Paul to excel in The Grace of Giving. One may ask, “what extra Grace do we need for giving?” ; “aren’t we supposed to simply give and wait for results?” Emphatically, NO ! Giving is disciplined by principles. There’s the need for spiritual privilege – a reconditioning of The human Spirit so one can passionately, continuously and comprehensively offer of his or her own unto The Lord. And it’s only the Grace of Giving that positions us in this state. By this Grace, we first submit ourselves (our hearts ) to God; because our hearts are now governed by God, He alone – by His Spirit, determines ho...

“The eyes of the Lord run to and from through the whole earth.” Zechariah 4:10. The Greek name for God is Theos. It comes from the Greek root which makes up the word Theisthai, and that means, ” To see”. So God is the One who sees! God’s eyes refer to the all-knowing, all-seeing limitlessness of God, and yet at the same time His personal, ever-caring nature. Now does He see like men do? The content below exposes the uniqueness of God’s eyes. Emotional. God doesn’t only speak or show visions ! He often communicates with His eyes too. God’s eyes help Him to convey His feelings. The eyes He bears on His frowning face differ from those that appear on His smiley face. Now it takes spiritual discernment to ably tell what God says through His eyes at a time. Same eyes that show His displeasure, sadness, or anger now, at a different time may reveal His satisfaction, gladness or mercy. We can tell through His eyes if there’s an impending destruction or honour. We understand from Genesis 6:8 tha...

And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22 KJV . Our preliminary article has established that of all the weapons, including prayer, praise/worship, knowledge and faith, obedience is the greatest. Faith is proved by obedience. As the popular adage is, ” practice makes perfect.”, so knowledge itself is also not complete without obedience. Prayer, praise and worship are all forms of sacrifices, yet God says obedience is better than them all. Today’s piece reveals why Obedience is God’s number one ! As quiet as obedience is, it remains the loudest tone of faith amongst prayer, praise and worship. The three Hebrew boys had not even the slightest hint of deliverance from God if they disobeyed the king’s orders.But their faith-oriented obedience was voiceferous in the ears of God ! How about Daniel, Job and Joseph? They equa...

  “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds…. “ 2 Corinthians 10:4 KJV As christians, we are not improverished of ammunitions with which to withstand the enemy and his wiles. Yet these weapons are variably effective. There is, therefore, the need to look into the nature of each of them and reasonably determine the most productive. According to Paul, in the preceding scripture, our arms are not physical; prayer, praise/worship, faith, obedience and Light, are all rather abstract though results-yielding. Now, which of these does satan fear most? Let us find out from the following paragraphs. Prayer is a good arm. It transforms both on the inside and on the outside of us. But if prayer is a request, then satan can pray too; he got far into God’s presence, requesting of His permission to try Job. He demanded of The Lord to sift Peter like wheat. Thus, prayer is not satan’s most-feared ! Afterall, he too can pray to God. D...

  “… They honour me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.” Isaiah 29:13 Why would a miniser’s relation be downtrodden while this same minister ably delivers others outside his family? Why would a virtual participant be positively touched while those in his physical presence are left unimpacted? Could it be that one’s faith is stronger than the other’s? If ” YES “, how possible is it that those that are rather physically far from God’s servant can have stronger faith than those present in his immediate circle? Beloved, the simple reason for all these oddies lies in ” SPIRITUAL DISTANCE “. Whereas PHYSICAL DISTANCE has to do with the space between physical bodies, SPIRITUAL DISTANCE refers to the distance between Spirits. The two do not yield same profit(s). One that is physically close but Spiritually far accesses only physical benefits from the other; the person that is spiritually close, whether physically present or not, stakeholds all things from his or her partner. ...

SALVATION simply means” Rescue or Deliverance “. In the Old Testament ( OT), it is represented by the Hebrew word, ” ישועה ” , which means ” to rescue or deliver from a real, physical danger or trouble. But the Greek Word that stands for it in the New Testament (NT), “sotiria”, means ” to deliver from sin and it’s consequences” A consummate definition would, therefore, be ” deliverance from sin, and other life-time troubles ” – 1 thessalonians 1:10, Psalms 54:1 & 2 Kings 19:19. The preceding introductory paragraph simply unclothes what we are saved from; to put things into broader perspective, it is worth noting that, as referenced from Psalms 20, God alone is the source of salvation in the OT. Paul would, however, refer the people to Jesus when he was asked what they would do to be saved in the NT. ( Acts 16:30-31). And we are saved to be reconciled with God. Salvation is triune – Past, Present and Future. The first but elementary level is a one-time experience that simply ushers...

  HER CHARACTER:  An inhabitant of Joppa, a town on the Mediterranean coast, thirty-five miles northwest of Jerusalem, she belonged to one of the earliest Chris tian congrega-tions. She was a disciple known for her practical works of mercy. HER SORROW:  To have suffered a grave illness. HER JOY: To serve Jesus by serving the poor. STORY IN BRIEF: Dorcas, whose Hebrew is " Tabitha" or " Gazelle", was a disciple of The Lord Jesus - Dorcas learned of The Lord, and followed Him, forsaking her world, previous jobs and lifestyle. Dorcas was a kind - hearted lady who demonstrated her belief in Jesus by her generosity - she sewed to clothe the poor and baked to feed them. One day, she fell sick to death. So Peter's attention had been drawn to this. Peter had just healed a crippled in a city close by. Peter successfully prayed for Tabitha and she was revived.  REFERENCE SCRIPTURES: ACTS 9:36-43

  CHARACTERISTICS: A Gentile adherent of Judaism, she was a successful businesswoman who sold a type of cloth prized for its purple color. As head of her household, she may have been either widowed or single. So strong was her faith that her entire household followed her example and was baptized. She extended hospitality to Paul and his companions, even after their imprisonment. Her Sorrow: To see Paul and Silas beaten and thrown into prison for the sake of the gospel she had embraced. Her Joy:  That God’s Spirit directed Paul and his companions to Macedonia, enabling her and others at Philippi to hear the gospel for the first time. STORY IN BRIEF: Lydia, a business woman who made her living by selling clothes, lived in Philippi, Macedonia. She was a gentile but Judaism-addict. Paul had a vision where a man pleaded that he came to Macedonia with the gospel. So he headed there. After sharing the good news with the Philippines along the coast, Lydia and her household believed an...

  STORY IN BRIEF: Though a Gentile, she addressed Jesus as “Lord, Son of David.” Her great faith resulted in her daughter’s deliverance. A gentile whose daughter was demon-possessed. She, on learning that Jesus came to Tyre, followed through for her daughter's deliverance. Though, there was a thick hedge of crowd, she pressed on to meet with The Lord. Now, Jesus would not mind her pleas. His disciples suggested that He sent away the woman,but The Lord's response only urged the woman; Jesus told his desciples He came for the lost sheep. When the gentile implored Him more, Jesus responded that it was not right to throw the children's bread to the dogs. But the Syrophoenician replied that even the dogs benefit from the crumbs that fall off the master's table. Then, Jesus said to her, "thy request has been granted; go in peace ! ". So the woman returned and realised her daughter was healed in that very hour.  REFERENCE SCRIPTURES: Matthew 15:21 – 28; Mark 7:24 – 3...

  MEANING OF NAME: The Lord gives graciously. STORY IN BRIEF: A wealthy woman who worked in the courts of Herod Antipas. Her husband, Cuza, was also the estate manager of Herod Antipas. Joanna followed The Lord on missions, supported His Ministry with her gifts, and was privileged to have witnessed the resurrection of Jesus. These happened after The Lord delivered her from demonic obsessions. Obviously, Joanna would have attempted winning Herod Antipas over to Jesus. But her Spirit probably was dared when Herod beheaded John for Herodias and Salomey. SHORT BACKGROUND ON HEALING: Healing, from ancient Bible days, was seen more as spiritual than physical. Egyptian physicians would often drill holes in the heads of patients in order to create an exit for these "ailment-causing spirits". There were medical doctors, yet most patients were rather sent to the priest-physicians. REFERENCE SCRIPTURES: Luke 8:1 – 3; 24:10 (and Matthew 14:1 – 12) Luke 23:7 – 12

  HER CHARACTER: She was a notorious sinner, possibly a prostitute or adulteress. Rather than trying to defend what was indefensible in her life, she admitted her sin and made a spectacle of herself in a passionate display of love and gratitude. STORY IN BRIEF: She was a notorious prostitute or adulterous woman that followed Jesus to Simon's house. There, she kissed The Lord's feet, mobbed it with her tears, wipped wit her hair and finally perfumed it. Simon, surprised at Jesus' silence, loudly thought, " would the son of our holy Father just watch on without repelling this sinful woman? " Jesus quickly narrated to Simon - a creditor cancelled his debtors debt( one 50 denarri, the other 500 denarri). Then, He asked Simon which of the two debtors he thought would be most appreciative. When Simon judged right, saying it would be the debtor with much debt, Jesus explained that it was the reason the woman did as much; she perceived that her much sins would be forgiven...

  To everything, there is a season - a time to sow, and a time to reap; the farmer ( sower ) certainly has his time of harvest but until he waters his seeds, rids the wheats of the tares and applies the fertilizer he is not guaranteed a good yield. So also is every other sower. Until harvest time comes, there is always something we must do in order to maximize our yield. Some of these are explained below: 1. Clear the weeds from your field “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.”—Genesis 2:15, KJV The word translated keep in Hebrew means “to put a hedge of thorns around, to watch over; to guard, protect and safeguard.” When a farmer plants seed in a garden, he doesn’t just walk away and hope for the best. No! He has much to do to protect his crop. And so do you. What can choke your crop? Walking outside of love. This includes unforgiveness, bitterness and strife. So, keep a watch on your heart, pull the “weeds” out by the root...

MEANING: Grace. SORROW: As a widow, she would probably have been among the most vulnerable members of society, with no one to provide for her financially or to take care of her if her health failed. JOY: That her own eyes beheld the Messiah she had longed to see. STORY IN BRIEF: Anna, a Prophetess from the tribe of Asher, became a widow after seven years of marriage. She spent whole of her widowhood fasting and praying to God. Anna worshipped in Herod's temple. This temple had tour segments - the outer court for Gentiles or non-Jews; the inner court divided into Women's and Israelites'; the Priestly court for the Leviticus Priests which also surrounded the temple. Anna could only access the Women's court yet God was merciful to her - She witnessed the Messiah; while Anna worshipped in the temple one day, Someon came holding the baby Jesus in his laps. REFERENCE SCRIPTURES: Luke 2 : 22 - 38