A VITAL KEY FOR COMING INTO ALL THAT GOD HAS FOR US AS A CHURCH AND AS A PEOPLE

We must understand how laws operate. We must have respect for one another but at the same time, we all have equal access to our Father.

When we gather around the word of God, everybody is free to ask questions, free to talk. You are free to make contributions. It is not a function of age or position. Where there is no constant engagement, there can’t be growth, there can’t be progress. Parenting and Pastoring are termed discipleship and discipleship are both training and relationship.

As an assembly, our goal is not just to run services or entertain you. If at the end of the day you don’t understand or come into the light of it, the aim is defeated. You are free to ask me (Pastor) questions whether it’s through phone, come over to the office or my home. You have access to me. No one is hindered or being hindered to reach me.

Wanting to live an independent life is the height of ignorance. Even the way the world is moving, they are seeing the need for more and more collaboration. It’s so sad that unbelievers can collaborate and run a business successfully, whereas most believers end up being antagonistic and at loggerheads.

Everything that succeeds physically has a spiritual basis and there are laws that make it happen. The fact is, we are against the process but want the result. We don’t want to fellowship but want the benefits of fellowship. It’s people that pray together, play together, that fellowship together that can do stuff together. We will not receive the benefit of fellowship if we refuse to fellowship. When we start allowing things to happen in our midst or with one another naturally without coercion or in a mechanical way, especially with the men leading it, then the journey has begun into our coming into many of the prophecies hanging over our heads.

UNTIL SUCH BECOME OUR LIFESTYLE, WE WILL NEVER SMELL THAT LEVEL OF GLORY to become a force, to be reckoned with. For every prophecy to be accomplished, it also comes with many casualties. And by your own attitude and lifestyle, you can become a casualty to the process that is being accomplished. You are either opposing or cooperating with God by your lifestyle.

- Nobody knows when you travelled or when you returned

- You are not accountable to anybody; you just want your space. It’s not the Kingdom way, it’s anti-Christ spirit and it is to the advantage of satan and a disadvantage to you. Don’t create a convenient day/space for satan in your life

The Scriptures mention that as the day is approaching, fellowship one with another will get harder and harder. Fellowship is more than just coming to Church or being a member of a church. There is no fellowship in the Church, there is no fellowship in our homes. Everything God will do in the life of a man is in the place of fellowship. Let’s pay the price for fellowship.

Any great man you see does not walk alone. He has his company, his clique. It is in the place of fellowship we can reveal Christ and draw others to it. Be afraid when someone is doing what you are supposed to do, it shows your crown is being taken away from you. The I, Me, Myself syndrome is destructive.

We are not wasting any time when we give God attention in every aspect of our lives. We don’t have all the time in the world. Life does not run on sentiments. Principles must be established in every sphere. All our problems and struggles are rooted in the non-acceptance of reality. 

How rich you are can be measured by what you have that money cannot buy e.g. relationship. Your wealth is not measured by money. For you to be able to spend relationships, you must invest in relationships. Just as you cannot go to the bank and withdraw money without having deposited or invested, so also you just can’t spend relationships without investing. A good name is to be better desired than great riches.

One of the greatest lies you can tell yourself is that you don’t have anything to offer. Fellowship is vital, generosity is vital, liberality is vital likewise. Nobody is an island unto himself. If you want mercy, you must show mercy. To be selfish or self-centred is a cheap life.

We are in dangerous times, so discern the times, understand the demands of the times and live accordingly. Don’t live an independent life.

Jesus spoke against the children not being allowed to come to Him. He was using it to illustrate the point that if we are going to inherit the Kingdom, we must not lose sight of the childlike qualities that children have. It is at the point we stopped being children that we stopped assessing God. Children are not suspicious, they are open, they don’t keep things in their heart, and they are forgiving, loving and excited most of the time, and exciting to be around with. Where children are, are usually lively, they don’t have secrets. And in that atmosphere, there is liberty.

The majority of our struggles began at the point we lost that childlike attitude and began to be suspicious. We cannot deny the wisdom of God. By losing that childlike attitude in dealing with our Father God, we limit His power in our lives and the fellowship we have with our Father. When we build walls around ourselves, He can’t move. Children can fight this minute and settle the next. This can also play out with adults who are friends. The real problem however is that we don’t have true friends.

Many times, we don’t build relationships. Your friend should be able to call you to order when you err and you won’t take it to heart or feel insulted and to make matters worse, there are marriages that such kind of relationship does not exist. Never get to the point in your life where nobody can talk to you. What we stand to lose because of lack of fellowship is nothing compared to what we gain when we have fellowship.

Build fellowship, stay on the path of truth, be contented, be humble. If nobody greets you, greet them, be generous, be godly. Don’t wait to receive, give, pray for somebody. Just remain a blessing and you will be growing in the blessings.

Build healthy relationships and other things will spring naturally out of the relationship. If no one can tell where you are per time as a member of this Church, then your membership is questionable. It shows you are lost or on the way to being lost. The quality of your life and the bigness of your life can never be above the kind of relationship you have built. It requires sacrifice, time and effort. As you lose the childlike spirit, you lose it.

Make God your focus, pursue God, commit to the ways of God and God will bless you. Let’s make amends where we should, repent and align.

 

WORD FOR 2022

We are entering A Very Dramatic Year. What we have seen unfolding is nothing compared to what is ahead. There are unprecedented events that will be unfolding but those who trust in God will not be put to shame but only be riding higher and higher. In these events unfolding, testimonies will be abounding.

The way out

- It will only come by as we function from the place of rest. The fact that you crossed into 2022 in Christ is an honour and mustn’t be taken for granted.

“Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint” (Prov. 29:18). The word revelation means the ability to see beyond what is physical as a light present in the darkness. People are exposed where there is no vision, when they cannot see beyond the physical, they are exposed to the arrows of the enemy. You must see what God is saying.

THE KEY TO THE JOURNEY OF 2022 IS DIVINE GUIDANCE.

Any plan that will work now is because that is what God showed you to do, and not because that’s what you want to do. In order to be divinely guided, it must start from our daily life, from the personal life to the home and to the public.

“Then the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation” (1 Samuel 3:1). This scripture gives a clear cut picture of what is going on in our time. There is no open vision, even in the church, and in the nation.

“Then the LORD appeared again in Shiloh. For the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD” (1 Samuel 3:21).

- The men who rule the unseen world are those who see into the unseen world.

- Jesus didn’t go about guessing about every day of His life, while His disciples were afraid and worried in the storm at sea, Jesus was peacefully sleeping because He had seen into the unseen.

In our day, we are fast losing relevance as the body of Christ because we cannot tell the source we are connected to.

 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children” (Hosea 4:6) You reject knowledge through the lifestyle you have adopted. We must not be comfortable in the realm of the physical because conventional Christianity will take us nowhere.

What we must avoid

"Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord GOD, "That I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine of bread, Nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the LORD” Amos 8: 11. We must not let it get to this point. We must choose to become a people who can see into the unseen and operate from that level in the physical.

Further scriptural references: Jeremiah 29:11-13, Amos 8:11-12, Psalm 74:9.

CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS - Pastor (Mrs.) Bibi Couragge Ode

The day Jesus was born should not be a controversy to us. A date has chosen a date to celebrate Him, and that’s what is important. However, we have to note that these days; the Christmas we claim to celebrate is far from Jesus. People even celebrate the season as HAPPY HOLIDAYS and do not in any way refer to Jesus.

There is nothing wrong with celebrating and being among family and friends but the core of the matter which we MUST not forget is to make people know what the season is all about. We must not be among the number that has lost sight of the real focus because there is a reason why God did what He did, why Jesus had to be born, why He had to take on humanity. It was for the redemption of man Jesus needed to be born. There was a necessity of a Saviour.  God, Himself had to come and took upon Himself the form of Man to save us from eternal damnation. He was the only perfect sacrifice for sin- “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises”. (Hebrews 8:6)

“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins. So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is translated, God with us. Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS”. Matthew 1:18-25

Jesus came to save us from our sin. This was the real reason why He came. Humanity changed because man sinned. It was the sin of man that brought about the turning. Jesus did not come so we will be wealthy, have fine houses, cars etc. The low state of man was because of sin-“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)

JESUS CAME TO SAVE US FROM OUR SIN

Jesus saved us from our sin, so we need to tell people about it. But sometimes, it is our experiences we preach. Any message that is not anchored on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is not the gospel. So as we celebrate, we must be sure of the message we are passing across.

 We need to make room for Him in our hearts. For those that have received Him, He needs to be formed in us. “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you” (Galatians 4:19) Paul had to pray like that because if Christ is not formed in us, it will be hard for us to communicate the message to others. The true expression of Christ in us will be seen in us when we allow Him to be formed in us.

GOD WITH US

Also, Jesus was born and named ‘Emmanuel’ which means God with us. It makes a lot of difference that no matter what we are passing through, God is with us. As we think through the fact that Christ was born, we must be conscious that God is with us. The birth and redemptive work of Jesus gave us access. God is with us and in us.

However, the fact God is with us does not mean that all our experiences will be pleasant. There will be hard times, the valley of the shadow of death, tests and trials but, no matter what, Emmanuel…God is always with us.

In Genesis 39:1-4, 20-21, we saw that the Lord was with Joseph. Even his master saw that the Lord was with Him. Potiphar’s wife accused him of rape and Joseph landed in prison but the Lord was still with him. Joseph’s experiences were not pleasant, but he was mindful that the Lord was with him. Another example we see, is in Judges Chapter 6:11-12, the angel said to Gideon “The Lord is with you”, yet so much had befallen them as a nation.

God has assured us that He’s with us. So no matter the path we are taking, no matter the challenges we are facing, God is with us! Even Mary, the mother of Jesus experienced trying times though the Lord was with her. (Luke 1:26)

In the midst of all our circumstances, God causes us to triumph and spread His fragrance around. “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place”. 2 Corinthians 2:14

Sometimes, the weight of our testimony is an encouragement to somebody. Through the comfort we have received from the Lord, we can also comfort others.

We must say it to ourselves and be persuaded that God is truly with us. Emmanuel has come to save His people from sin and to be with His people forever. This is the assurance that we have, that Christ came, and He’s with us!

 

PROPHETIC ALARM: As The Day Draws Near

 My motivation for the things I am sharing:

- I fear God. (Eccl. 12:13)

- I will not cease to pray for you and tell you the truth. I’m committed to it. (1 Sam.12:23)

- I exercise myself to have a conscience void of offense towards God and men. Thus, if I truly love you and are interested in your welfare, I owe you the truth even if it is at the detriment of your liking me. (Acts 24:16)

I’ve been privileged to see into the coming days. What I want to share is applicable to you wherever you are based.

“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes”. (Judges 17:6), “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes”. (Judges 21:25, see also 1 Cor. 14:33,40) As long as everybody does whatever is right in their own eyes, satan will take advantage and there can’t be progress.

This was the state of the Israelites, they did what they liked. There was no order. You can be born again but still living your own life. (Prov. 16:25)

Please note these points as I received from the Lord

- We have to deliberately prepare for the coming days because it’s getting closer and closer than we think. There are character and structures that cannot accommodate the coming days. You have to upgrade and improve.

- Don’t be taken unawares

- Don’t settle for regrets of what you could have done and being but did not

“…but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth”. 1 Timothy 3:15

From the above scripture, we can deduce the following;

- How you can function with or without supervision

- How that all your years of being in church and coming to church will not be in vain.

“For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established”. Romans 1:11

What is the way out?

“Trust and Obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey”. The words of this song are very true and ever relevant. What you are facing is not the problem, the real problem however is in your attitude toward God.

- Trust, obey fully and willingly God’s word-the principles of scriptures, be committed to it without any reservation because God is faithful, reliable, dependable, follow the dictates of the Spirit

- The only place of safety, deliverance, salvation, preservation, is in Christ Jesus. Be deliberate in partnering with God, be intimate with Him. Don’t be selective (in obedience, participation), withdraw or compromise because that’s the easiest thing to do in these times. It is the time to walk with God and cooperate with Him.

- This is not the time to be independent or isolated but to be totally dependent on Him. Every time God allowed Israel to go through difficult and terrible times, it was for one purpose only, to walk intimately with Him.

Some practical steps as it applies to us

- When service or program is going on and you are not around. How do you feel? What you feel is a pointer to your state.

- What do you do when you miss a service or program? Do you get the message to listen?

We mustn’t lose sight of the real parameter to measure and what we truly are.

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching”.  (Hebrews 10:23-25) As the day is getting closer, it will be getting harder and harder and becoming more difficult to gather but we must.

“And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart”. As we are getting closer and closer to the due season, weariness will be setting in. (Gal.6:9, see also Matt. 24:12)

The system of this world was not designed to make serving God easy.

There are certain cultures we must outgrow now and those we must grow into and imbibe, such as;

- You cannot come to church only when it’s convenient for you. You mustn’t lose the culture of coming to church regularly and early. We must revive it. You have to forbid the spirit of Sunday, Sunday Christianity. Weekday service is no less important.

- Make attendance and punctuality a must

- Pay attention to the message, listen again and again. (Romans 10:17). If the enemy succeeds in stopping you from coming to church and listening to the message, He has succeeded. Fulfilling your destiny is tied to the message.

- Deliberately apply the message to your life. “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves… But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does”. (James 1:22-25) The blessing is in doing the work that the word demands of you. “Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all”. (1 Tim. 4:15, see also Acts 2:41, Luke 6:46-49)

To take what God is saying for granted is to take God for granted.

The focus, tenacity that this ministry is known for, should be evident in your life also.

“Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct”. (Heb. 13:7)

Thus, in running your home, life, business, who are you following?

- As a member of this Assembly, you have the liberty of participating in the Kingdom activities

going on in this house, the prayer structures, e.g. prayer watch, units etc.

- Where is your commitment in all the various openings in this house concerning giving? When you

are not giving to the things of God the way you ought, you are cheating yourself.

- It is spiritual to honour genuine men of God. In giving, let’s come to the reality of the work.

Don’t behave as if we are handling change here or that we are not doing anything here. The work

is growing. It demands some good money.

On the Issue of Tithing, if you claim not to believe in tithing and you are not giving regularly,

then you are wicked and hindering God’s work. But if you claim not to believe in tithing but

everything about your life is God’s and He tells you how to apportion what comes into your hand,

that is good. Give regularly, consistently and gladly.

We don’t levy because we are emphasizing spirit-led giving as it entails in the Bible.

The fact that we are not talking doesn’t mean there are no needs.

 “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance

“For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14) If you will not rise and take your place, God will send help from another place.

“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is

unjust also in much”. (Luke 16:10)

You are blessed to be a blessing and not to be comfortable. And it is on His terms not on

yours.

(Read Deut. 8:1-20, Mal. 2:1-2, mind what you are saying about your time, money, your

life.)

Every greatness has a genuine history.

Remember the ten virgins- five were wise and five were foolish.

God expects faithfulness from us. (Matt. 24:44-46)

Prayer

- May your testimony not be in the past

- May you not know a better yesterday

- And may another not take your place nor wear your crown.

(All of these scriptures is a call for us to serve God. Romans 12:11, Isaiah 1:19 & 20, Job 36:11,

Exodus 23:25)

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor

about your body, what you will put on. Matthew 6:25-34- Amp) If you stay in obedience with God

today, tomorrow is taken care of.

Concluding scriptures

(Read Hebrews 3:1-19, Job 22:21-30, Acts 3:19, Revelation 2:4-5, 3:11,19-20, Hebrews 12:22-

29, Luke 12:45-49)

Prayer

I have ears and I hear what the Spirit is saying to me. Revelation 2:7

SERVE THE LORD WITH GLADNESS

Only the living can praise God. If a man is alive and sees no reason why he should praise God that person is a walking corpse already. May we not reduce our life to naira and kobo. If these are the reasons why a man will not thank God, then he has missed it.

Thus says the LORD on this day to us: “SERVE THE LORD WITH GLADNESS”

It is a privilege to be a Christian. One of the things Paul preached was that we should always thank the LORD. All the letters of Paul were introduced with THANKSGIVING. Man in his natural state is ungrateful. We always complain about what we don’t have but are blinded to what we have.

*MAN IN HIS NATURAL STATE IS VERY ARROGANT AND BLINDED TO THE REALITIES OF THE GOODNESS OF GOD

We pay for what we do not know. The more we know the less we pay for what we know. To be a Christian is an honour: to know God is the greatest privilege we can ever have.

THE GREATEST THING GOD DID FOR HUMANITY WAS TO RESCUE US FROM CONDEMNATION AND TO GIVE US PEACE

We ought to be grateful for the peace God has given us and if we will not be GRATEFUL, we will not see whatever we think we do not have. God says to us to serve Him with gladness because we are in a privileged position.

SATAN ENVIES US

IT IS A PRIVILEGE TO BE A CHRISTIAN

Actually, Satan is very envious of us. He’s regretting what he did but just that he cannot reverse it. Satan is envious that you are a Christian, and that he lost grip over your soul, therefore, “SERVE THE LORD WITH GLADNESS”. If we didn’t have such an opportunity, then we can be excused, but we cannot have such an opportunity then throw it away. To be a Christian is not a burden but a privilege. Nothing can be more honourable than being rescued from eternal condemnation.

DON’T REDUCE THE VALUE OF YOUR LIFE TO THINGS. THE VALUE OF YOUR LIFE IS WORTH THE BLOOD OF JESUS

If we won’t serve God, we will serve Satan. Anything we do not handle carefully we will lose carelessly. It is folly to be in honour and not to know. When we serve the LORD with gladness we will never need any motivation to do what we ought to do for God.

Psalm 49:12,20, Psalm 100:2, Acts 2:41-42, Psalm 107:21-22

Serve the Lord with Gladness; serve Him as one who has an understanding that it is a privilege to serve God. The fruit that those who received the LORD served God with gladness was that they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in breaking of bread, and in prayers. None of them was forced or coaxed but served God gladly.

TO BE GRATEFUL IS A CHOICE

What we do with whatever God has given to us shows to us whether we are grateful to God or not. We must thank God with a sacrifice. It is not a sacrifice if it does not place a demand on us. The first thing God looks at first when it comes to thanksgiving is the HEART. The heart must be grateful. Thanksgiving must be offered joyfully in dance and in singing. Our dance, our singing, our substance is all part of the sacrifice (Hebrews 13:15, 1Peter 2:5,9)

OUR OBEDIENCE IS PART OF SACRIFICING TO GOD

Let's be deliberate about thanking the LORD. Make it an eternal commitment!