ARE YOU A GOOD SHEPHERD OR A HIRED HAND? (11)

TEXT: EZEKIEL 34:1-10

 The word of the Lord came to me:  “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?  You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.  So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them. “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:  As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock,  therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:  This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.

In the first part of this message, we read about Jesus as the good shepherd, we defined the meaning of the good shepherd both literarily and scripturally. We also mentioned the characteristics of a good shepherd and a hired hand.

Today, we will continue by looking at the in-depth meaning of what Jesus said in John 10:11 that “I am the good shepherd... this statement shows that there are bad shepherds if Jesus can qualify himself as the good shepherd. The adjective “good” in Jesus’ statement made it known to us that shepherds are of different categories.

Our text above listed the attributes of the bad shepherds:

·        They only take care of themselves. They only cares for their immediate family, they live in the best houses, ride the best cars, wear the best clothes while the members of their congregations are wallowing in lack.

·        They feed themselves and not the flock (selfishness)

·        They did not heal the sick or the injured, no encouragement for the broken hearted (wickedness)

·        Clothe themselves, and eat choice food without meeting the needs of their flock (greed)

·        They did not seek the lost or scattered (lack of compassion)

·        They dominate the flock with force and severity (autocratic leaders)

Jesus as the good shepherd did not manifest any of the attributes listed above. Instead he lived a selfless life, he healed the sick, and bound the broken hearted, and minister to the needs of everybody that came in contact with him.  He looked for the scattered Sheep and brought them back to God. Above all, he laid his life down for his Sheep!

What will be the judgement of the wicked and bad shepherd? The answer is in verse 10 “this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I WILL REMOVE THEM FROM TENDING THE FLOCK SO THAT THE SHEPHERDS CAN NO LONGER FEED THEMSELVES. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.”

Now as a shepherd you know if you are a good shepherd, bad shepherd, or hired hands. Make necessary adjustments if you need to, may we not be held accountable for wrong doings in Jesus name. Amen.

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ARE YOU A GOOD SHEPHERD OR A HIRED HAND? (1)

TEXT: JOHN 10:11-13

“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the Sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the Sheep. So when he sees the Wolf coming, he abandons the Sheep and runs away. Then the Wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the Sheep.”

A shepherd is a person who takes care of Sheep, he takes Sheep to eat, drink, keep them away from danger and guide them lest they go astray. In summary, a shepherd protects guides and nurtures his flock.

Jesus Christ called his followers sheep and he refer to himself as the good shepherd. As believers are sheep in God’s vineyard; they need shepherds to protect, guide and nurture in the way of the Lord. The shepherds are the pastors that God has given the mandate to protect, guide and nurture His people. Jesus was able to say confidently that “I am a good shepherd” unfortunately, most of the pastors that are supposed to be shepherds to their flock are nothing but hired hands! They care nothing for the Sheep, they leave their Sheep to danger, and they abandon their Sheep in time of trouble and need. They abandon their Sheep because they are not genuinely interested in them, but the benefits they would enjoy as pastors.

Jesus outlined the difference between a good shepherd and the hired hand in our text: A good shepherd lays his life for the Sheep; this is because he is the real owner of the flock, and therefore whatever affects the Sheep will affect the shepherd. On the other hand a hired hand is being hired to watch over the Sheep, and he gets paid at the end of the day for tending the Sheep.

The hired hands nurtures the Sheep not because he loves them or because he does not want evil to happen to them, he nurtures them because of the benefit accrued to watching over them which is the wages he would be paid at the end of the day. Hired hand’s interest is not on the safety and well-being of the Sheep but his wages. You cannot lay your life for somebody you do not love that is why a hired hand would run away when there is danger in the midst of the flock.

Many of the so called shepherds or pastors have no genuine interest in their congregation, but so far you are still useful to them in one way or the other, they would relate with you. As soon as your services or act of kindness to them and their ministry ceases; you will be left and abandoned! This is not Christ like, because it is not written anywhere that Jesus used and dumped anybody. This type of trait CANNOT be seen in a good shepherd but in a hired hand.

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STOP THE CRAVING!

TEXT: PSALM 106:13-15

“But they soon forgot what He had done and did not wait for His counsel. In the desert they GAVE in to their CRAVING; in the waste land they put God to the test. So He gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them” (Psalm 106:13-15)

Many times we tend to have forgotten where God started with us, all He did for our sake (sending His only son to die in our place). The seen and unseen battles He won for us, previous evils He averted for us, unmerited mercy and favour showered on us, providing for us in the midst of scarcity… the list is endless. Instead of giving thanks to God for all these unmerited blessings, people give in to craving and complaining about the things they don’t have. They compare themselves with others, and they ask why unbelievers should be flourishing while they are struggling. God knows you more than you know yourself, those craving may be the things that He knows that could cause problem, destruction, unfaithfulness, even separation from Him! God does not want to lose you to blessing that will destroy you, to avert problems; God may ignore such cravings (request) to preserve your life.

So many people have put God to test and God has been “forced” to GIVE THEM WHAT THEY ASKED FOR, and what did they get in addition to their request? HE SENT A WASTING DISEASE UPON THEM! (V 15).

Many have gotten the blessing that have sent them to their early grave; some have traded their glory because of their craving. Stop that craving and wait patiently for the counsel of God. He has your best interest at heart; He will not forsake or disappoint you if you wait for Him.

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MAKE THE MOST HIGH YOUR DWELLING

TEXT: PSALM 91: 9-13

“If you make the most high your dwelling, even the Lord who is my refuge, then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the Lion and the Cobra; you will trample the great Lion and the Serpent.

The best place to be is the presence of God, because in His presence there is no sorrow, danger, evil occurrence or any negative circumstance. A dwelling is a home or a place of shelter where you can have access to some basic needs that gives comfort. The safest place to be is the presence of God; making the almighty your dwelling guarantees your safety. There is no amount of trained security men that can guarantee safety, the scripture says in Psalm 127:1 that “unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman wakes up in vain.” We have heard of great and powerful men around the world being killed despite the maximum security they put in place. This buttresses the fact that no amount of gadgets or trained security men can give you assurance of safety. The bible tells us in Psalm 16:11 that in the presence of God there is fullness of joy. Why? Because our God is the custodian of unspeakable and unending joy, joy never ceases from His presence! Hence you should make the presence of God your dwelling so that you can enjoy all the benefits abound in His presence.

This brings us to the point of analysing the benefits of His presence. The first benefit is security, if you make the most high your dwelling; no harm will befall you. Secondly, no disaster will come near your tent because you are dwelling in His presence; this makes your tent to become God’s habitation. The third point is that the Lord will make His angels to guard you against evil; you will be untouchable for the devil. The fourth point is that the Lord will command the host of heaven to lift you up in their hands, far above principalities and power, the Lord will cause the angels to pamper you that you will not strike your foot against a stone (this means that you will be well attended to that you will not experience a moment of hardship or pain).

Making the lord your dwelling entails mutual relationship with God, having close fellowship with Him, following His leading and listening to His instructions and warning. Anybody that is living in disobedience cannot make the lord his or her dwelling. Proverbs 1:33 says “whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease without the fear of harm.” Absolute obedience to God is what makes us dwell in the presence of God, and when we make the lord most high our dwelling our safety is guaranteed.  

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KEEP THE FIRE BURNING (2)

TEXT: LEVITICUS 6:12-13

¹² The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. ¹³ The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.

If you refuse to flame the fire on your  Spiritual altar, it can be taken over by ashes. If ashes takes any Spiritual altar; it denote that there is no more fire or heat on such altar, therefore the altar can become an  abode for any creature  in as much as there is no heat coming out from the altar any more.

In the book of Acts 28:1-5, the scripture recorded an account that Paul was putting bush wood in the fire made for them by the people of the island of Malta because it COLD. As he was putting the sticks in the fire, the HEAT of the fire drove out a Viper that has been hiding. The snake was able to hide when the place was cold and there was no heat, but when heat came, the Viper could not stand the heat! This illustration shows what happens when your Spiritual is hot and when you allow your altar to be cold and full of ashes.

Ashes can be caused by the situations of life. What are ashes? They are problems that can make you to abandon your Spiritual exercise; it may be any of the following:

·        Unanswered prayer

·        Sin

·        Confusion

·        Death of loved ones

·        Depression

·        Anger and bitterness

·        Problems in marriage/ breakup

·        Hopelessness

·        Unrighteous living

·        Worldliness

“The priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it” (Leviticus 6:12). You can keep your fire burning by adding your “Spiritual firewood” which is prayer/ daily devotion. You can also keep your fire burning by doing the following: repent of your sin, give God the totality of your life by allowing Him to lead while you follow, forsake worldliness, study His word, become a living sacrifice by living in holiness, fellowship with other believers, and lastly everything (ashes) that can hinder or quench your fire must be removed from your Spiritual altar.

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KEEP THE FIRE BURNING (1)

TEXT: LEVITICUS 6:12-13

¹² The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. ¹³ The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.

Fire generates heat, it brings out light and smoke, it is a chemical reaction. When fire is burning, no one can stand the heat that comes out from it. In the scripture when the three Hebrew boys were to be thrown into the fiery furnace, the heat of the furnace killed the men who took the three Hebrew boys to the furnace (Daniel 3).

Today we want to talk about Spiritual fire and altar, every genuine believer has a Spiritual altar. In fact the scripture made us to know that we are the temple of God (1 Corinthians 6:19). There is no temple without an altar.

However, what you have on your altar determines the effectiveness of your temple. Is the fire on your altar still burning or it has been taken over by ashes? The Lord commanded us in the text that the fire on our Spiritual altar must be kept burning, IT MUST NOT GO OUT… this means that the Lord wants us to be “hot” for Him at all times, He does not want us to be hot this minute and the next minute to be cold. Keeping your Spiritual fire burning means you always have unending fellowship with God, you communicate with Him constantly through prayer, praise and worship, and by studying and meditating on His word daily. God our father is called the “consuming fire” therefore as His children we must be as hot as our father, so that the fire that our Spiritual altar is generating would be hot enough to consume the devil and his cohorts.

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A COMPASSIONATE OR A CRUEL LEADER?

TEXT: NEHEMIAH 5:14-19

¹⁴ Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year—twelve years—neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. ¹⁵ But the earlier governors—those preceding me—placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I did not act like that. ¹⁶ Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. All my men were assembled there for the work; we did not acquire any land.

¹⁷ Furthermore, a hundred and fifty Jews and officials ate at my table, as well as those who came to us from the surrounding nations. ¹⁸ Each day one ox, six choice sheep and some poultry were prepared for me, and every ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this, I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people.

¹⁹ Remember me with favour, my God, for all I have done for these people.

A leader is someone who influences a group of people to achieve a goal or purpose. A leader is the one that leads by example for others to follow him. He is the one that is committed to the goals of an organisation or an establishment. We have different types of leadership style, the type of the leader you are determines the type of the followers you will have. From the definition above, it shows that leaders have influential power on their followers; they influence their followers either positively or negatively. If you are nice and compassionate to your followers, they will in turn be nice and supportive for your vision to be accomplished, but if you are cruel and wicked to them, they will also be mean and make every effort to see to your down fall! An autocratic leader will breed rebellious and insubordinate followers, this could lead to anarchy.

From the text, we can see that Nehemiah showed an example of a leader that led with the fear of God. He saw how the people were suffering, how the poor were being oppressed by the rich among them. When the poor complained, Nehemiah took it upon himself he summoned the usurers and rebuked them, he used his position to deliver the poor from being oppressed.

Verse 14 talked about how Nehemiah forgoes his lawful emoluments attached to his government, he did not eat the food allotted to the governor, because he was a compassionate governor, he could empathise with the poor. He does not want to burden his people with his position as the governor. He made this known in verse 18^b “I never demanded the food allotted to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people”.

Nehemiah was feeding one hundred and fifty Jews and officials; as well as people from other nation, out of his own resources. Remember as a leader you will not be there forever, is either you leave at the expiration of your tenure, or by death (for lifetime position). Whichever way you CANNOT be there forever, one day you will be out of the office! The question is how do you want to be remembered? Will your exit be a relief to your followers or will you be greatly missed? A leader that is walking in the fear of God will not be greedy or cruel to his followers, if you are a child of God, you won’t find it pleasant to be a problem to your fellow brethren. Nehemiah delivered the poor and the needy from the hands of the oppressors by calling the oppressors to order, he used his position as the governor to minister to the needs of his people. Rather than being a burden to them; he lifted the burden of the masses by providing them with food at his table, he deprived himself from eating governor’s food just because he was a compassionate leader.

Are you are compassionate leader or you are a cruel leader? Don’t forget whatever you sow you shall reap in due season.

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BEWARE OF NEGATIVE PEOPLE

TEXT: NEHEMIAH 4:1-3

“When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and was greatly incensed. He ridiculed the Jews, ² and in the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?” ³ Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, “What they are building—even a fox climbing up on it would break down their wall of stones!”

It is not everybody around you that wants you successful, while some are positive in their words and actions about your visions, some people won’t be happy that you are doing something great. These people that are never happy about other people’s achievement are called negative people. They are those that never see anything good in what other people are doing; they are haughty scorners that look at the good work that the lord has committed in your hands with contempt. Their words never encourages! All they have in their mouth is negative words that can pull people down and destroy people’s destiny. Negative people never applaud or appreciate any good thing; they are proud and full of envy. Once they see somebody doing any good thing; they develop envy and hatred for the person.

There are some negative people waiting to laugh you to scorn, but as the lord lives they will wait in vain in Jesus’ name. Amen. Sanballat and Tobiah the Ammonite were angry with Nehemiah and his people for rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, with ridicule and sarcasm they said the good work that these strong and able men did wholeheartedly could be fallen by a mere Fox! This comment would have been able to cause Nehemiah and his helpers to give up on building the wall, but thank God for the spirit of “we must accompany our mission through Christ” that they had. Nehemiah ignored their negative comment; he prayed to God and they continued their good work. He did not lose focus on what he wanted to achieve, he refused to pay attention negative people around him, rather he gave his full attention to finishing the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem.

Consequently, if you want to accomplish your mission on earth, you must learn how to make advancement in the face of opposition. You must comprehend that negative comments and people will arise as long as you are doing something outstanding. Like Nehemiah did; learn to ignore all negative people and remarks around you, and let your focus be on God and His assistance towards the accomplishment of your purpose. Friends may become your enemies because of your vision, societal opposition may arise, humiliation, all sort of difficulties and pressure will erupt to derail you from your vision. The likes of Sanballat and Tobiah are still here on the earth, and Satan is ready to use them to provoke, frustrate and discourage us. Never throw in the towel in the midst of opposition, do not forget that “greater is He that is in you than he that is the world”. Pray to God and He will frustrate the plan of the enemies. May you finish well in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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DIVINE SUPPORTERS

TEXT: NEHEMIAH 2: 8^b, 17-18

“And because the gracious hand of my God is upon me, the king granted my requests.” (Nehemiah 2: 8^b).

“Then I said to them, you see the trouble we are in; Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned by fire. Come let us rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace. I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied let us start rebuilding “so they began this great work.” (Nehemiah 2:17-18).

To fulfil purpose in life you need some positive people that believe in you and are ready to support your vision until it becomes reality. These people are better referred to as divine supporters or destiny helpers.

A supporter is a person who is actually interested in what you are doing, and they would want to put every effort to make your idea or endeavour a success. A supporter is a person that has keen interest in what you are doing, and they are passionate about how they can put their effort together with yours to make your vision successful. Divine supporters are ordained by God to join hands with you to make His plan and purpose for your life come true. It is not everybody that will support your vision, your family members and friends may not be willing to help your vision to become reality. Do not be angry with them; the fact is that God has not put your help in their hands.

Your divine helper or supporter may be a total stranger that you have not seen before, but if God has placed your help in his care, he will surely fulfil it (Even against his wish!). in verse 8 of our text, Nehemiah was saying that the Lord has granted his request because the Lord was gracious unto him. Yet he was unable to build the wall of Jerusalem alone, he had to call on some people to join hands with him. This tells us that for you to fulfil purpose; you cannot do  it alone, you will need positive people around you to lift your hands up, so that your vision can become reality. Doing it alone without helpers prolongs and reduces success. You need the help of God to connect you to your divine supporters so that your success would be accelerated. I pray for you today that your helper of destiny will locate you today in Jesus’ name. Amen.

YOU CANNOT PLEASE THE WORLD

TEXT: MATTHEW 11:18-19

“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say he has a demon. The son of man came eating and drinking, and they say “here is a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and sinners...”

Human beings are the most difficult species of God’s creation. We have different ideologies, perspectives and views towards life. We have our different ways in which we believe things should be done, our views about life situations or issues differ from one individual to another. What is acceptable by A may be a “NO, NO” to B. what one person or a group of people think is right may be offensive to another set of people.

From our text we can see how difficult human beings are to please. John the Baptist did not eat or drink, he was hated because of that, Jesus Christ came he ate and dined with people they complained about him too. This shows that no matter what you do, people will complain, they can NEVER be satisfied with whatever you do.

Consequently, trying to please people may make you end up displeasing yourself and your God. The Lord encouraged us to live in peace with all men (Hebrew 12:14). As much as you would want to fulfil this scripture, you have to be sensitive to know that as you would want to live in peace with all men; yet you cannot please all men. This is so because by the time you want to do what will please A, you may be displeasing B by that same action, and vice versa. (Don’t forget we look at the world from different directions and from different windows). What you did that made people happy yesterday; if you do it today they may react in a negative way, human beings are subject to change, the only one that is ever constant and remain unchanged is the Lord Almighty. He is the only one we should try to please, when you are in the right standing with God, whatever people say or think about you does not matter. Let your attention and focus be on how to please God and not how to please human beings that are difficult to please. In most cases what you will do that will please the world will definitely displease God. The scripture says in James 4:4 that friendship with the world is enmity against God, all that are acceptable by the world are forbidden by God. As a child of God do not try to please or impress the world, rather strive to please and impress the Almighty God. Let me leave you with this verse of the scripture to dwell on.

 “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10). 

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NOT BY FAITH ALONE

TEXT:  JAMES 2:24

“You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” (James 2:24).

Faith is the evidence of things not seen yet believe, to have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, and to be certain of the things we cannot see. As believers the Lord Almighty admonished us to have faith in Him and believe in His words. In fact the Lord made it clear that without faith we cannot please Him (Hebrew 11:6). As essential as faith is in our Christian walk, we need to add action to compliment the measure of faith in us so that we will be able to please God, and be able to get a desired blessing and experience positive change in our lives.

For your faith to complete you need to enhance it with action, it is only unwise people that will be exercising faith without necessary action.

“You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without actions is useless? How was our ancestor Abraham put right with God? It was through his actions, when he offered his son Isaac on the altar. Can you see? HIS FAITH AND HIS ACTION WORKED TOGETHER; his faith was made complete through his actions” (James 2: 20-22). For example if you are believing God for a job; you need to write application and send your C.V to places that you know your service would be required, you need to attend interviews and faithfully believe that the job will be yours. Your faith will only work for you after you have taken action by writing application, sending C.V and attending the interview. Nonetheless if you are trusting God for a job and you refuse to take action by applying and sending your C.V’s, such faith is useless. For your faith to produce positive result, you need to play your part by taking necessary actions. God can do all things, but He will not do for you what He has committed in your hands to do. Compliment your faith with actions so that you would get a desired result.

WORRY NOT

TEXT: MATTHEW 6:25-27

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry⁾ about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

What does worry mean? It means to feel uneasy or concerned about something. It means being troubled over a situation that is uncertain. As human beings we are created to exhibit our feelings through various emotions. These emotions can be joy, sorrow, fear, anxiety, agitation, hate, hurt, worry and so on. Emotion can be positive or negative; you can decide to respond to a situation either positively or negatively.

Worry is a negative emotion that the devil is using to weigh down God’s children; it is the weapon that the enemy is using to make believers to shift their concentration from God to their problem. Naturally speaking as human beings, we are prone to worries, but the fact that we know God should make the difference. The text admonish us that we should not worry about our LIFE, neither should we worry about food, drink, or clothes, why? Because our heavenly father knows we need them. He knows our pain and our burden, and He has made provision to carry the burden for us (If we allow Him).

Someone said worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do; but won’t get you anywhere. That is why verse 27 asked “WHO OF YOU BY WORRYING CAN ADD A SINGLE HOUR TO HIS LIFE?” Getting worried over a situation won’t change the situation for better, rather it will change your mental state negatively, it will drain your strength, weakens you physically and spiritually. It will make you to start living in unbelief and doubt, and the scripture says in James 1:7-8 that double minded man shall receive nothing from God.

When you are waiting on God for a change of situation or circumstance, wait in anticipation, be full of hope, be steadfast and let your faith be strong. Remember His word in Romans 8:28 that “ALL things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose. Stay in the will of God, He will saturate you with His peace and everything will work for your good.

Prayer: Lord; saturate me with your peace and endue me with your Spirit, let me not be dominated by worry; deliver me from every spirit of worry in Jesus name I pray.

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN 11

TEXT: MATTHEW 13: 47-50

⁴⁷ “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. ⁴⁸ When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away.⁴⁹ this is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous ⁵⁰ and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Jesus made another parable to explain the kingdom of heaven. In his illustration he attributed the kingdom of God to a net that is being let down into the lake and caught all kind of fish. This simply means that the call to salvation is for all and sundry, God wants everyone to be saved through the redemption that came from His son Jesus.

To explain the parable; the net signifies the call to salvation by our lord Jesus Christ, the lake is the world and the fish represents people in the world. The net of salvation has been let down into the world by our lord Jesus by giving out the great commission which says “go and make disciples of all nation.” The net has caught all kind of fish (both genuine and “make believe” believers).

Like the fishermen did by sorting out the fish in the net, the good fish were kept and the bad ones were thrown away, consequently at the end of the age, the angels will come to separate the true believers from the hypocrites. Gone are the days when nobody wanted to be called a Christian, now Christianity is like fashion. Everybody wants to be called a “Christian” even though they have no relationship with Christ! People around you may not know your true colour, but God cannot be deceived He knows who are His (2 Timothy 2:19). Pastors are like the fishermen who use their nets to catch fish, they gather souls to Christ. The fishing net gather fish indiscriminately, it catches fish of every kind. Pastors preach the word of God, they evangelise and bring all sort of people to Christ (both genuinely saved and yet to be saved). The phrase “WHEN THE NET IS FULL” means the end time; when the Lord will separate the faithful and the righteous from sinners and the wicked. The good fish (faithful believers) will rise to everlasting life, while the bad fish (sinners) will be thrown to everlasting damnation as the scripture tells us in Revelation 22:12. The church is a mixture of mixed multitude consisting of faithful and unfaithful believers, but you can make a difference by living up to the standard of the kingdom so that you can enjoy eternal life. LIVE RIGHT TODAY!

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN (1)

TEXT: MATTHEW 13:44-46

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasures hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought the field. Again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls, when he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it”

 (Matthew 13:44-46).

Treasures are wealth or riches accumulated especially in form of precious metals, money, jewels or plate. Pearl is something of a great worth. The finest quality natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries, and because of this, the word pearl has become a metaphor for something VERY RARE, fine, admirable, and valuable (www.en.wikipedia.org ).

In the parable, Jesus likened the kingdom of heaven to two valuable things, TREASURES and PEARLS. Jesus used this illustration to show how valuable the kingdom of God is. The parable described the kingdom of God as treasures hidden in a field, and the man that found the hidden treasures in the field went and sold ALL that he had to buy the field. A merchant that was looking for fine pearls sold ALL he had to buy the fine pearls that he had been looking for.

The explanation to this parable is that nothing can be as valuable as the kingdom of God. All the assets and the wealth of this world, that is causing people to run helter skelter is not worth comparing to the treasures in the kingdom of heaven.

In fact, the kingdom of heaven is worth forsaken ALL for! It is better to lose all the things that you count as “valuables” so that you would have access to the kingdom of heaven, because wealth and other worldly pleasures if not gotten rid of can debar your access to the kingdom of God. Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:7 that whatever was to his profit he now considers loss for the sake of Christ. In other words, Apostle Paul forsook all he had to be able to gain access to the kingdom of God. Don’t just be amassing wealth that would cause you to lose focus on the kingdom of God. The kingdom of heaven is of an inestimable value, no treasures can be compared with it. When the merchant found the pearl of great value, he stopped looking for pearls. Eternal life, our inheritance in Christ, and other blessing of redemption amount to the pearls which when found, makes other searching unnecessary. The value of the kingdom of heaven supersedes the whole world and everything in it. Therefore, deny yourself of all the desires of the flesh, let nothing prevent you from obtaining this valuable possession.

HERE I AM OH LORD

Here I am oh Lord, craving to know and do your will,

The flesh and its work are contending, protesting

And wagging war against my decision.

Flesh and blood cannot fight this battle,

Human knowledge and wisdom can do nothing,

By your help and with the Holy Spirit

I can win this battle warring against my soul.

You my God are like refiner of Silver and purifier of Gold.

Refine me lord and purify me for your use.

Here I am oh lord, thirsty for your truth always,

Blessed are those that long and thirst after righteousness,

For they shall be filled your word says.

 Fill me with your truth Lord; so that your truth can set me free

Nowhere else can the truth be found; except in you

Give me the grace to be rooted and grounded in you,

For one thing I ask from the Lord, that I may dwell

In your house all the days of my life, this I desire oh Lord.

Bola Folakemi Praise

copyright 2014

THE SPIRIT IS WILLING BUT THE FLESH IS WEAK

TEXT: ROMANS 7: 19-23

¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

²¹ So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.

After we have given our lives to God, we vowed and promised to do His will and obey all His commandments. The day we made that call to salvation, we sanctified ourselves unto God, meaning that we separated ourselves from the world unto God.

Consequently, as time goes on, we tend to find ourselves going back to our old way of life unknowingly. This is not because we want to disobey God deliberately, but because we are flesh created from the dust, therefore we are prone to attract dirt.

Apostle Paul lamented in our text that as much as he desired to do good, the evil that he does not want to do anymore was what he kept doing. This shows our level of weakness without the help of the Holy Spirit “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26: 41). Many are struggling to live a life that is pleasing to God, yet they find themselves falling into sin again and again, even against their wish. They kept going in and out of sin.

The only way we can live above sin is when our flesh is put to subjection. This can be achieved only by the help of the Holy Spirit; the scripture says without God we can do nothing. To live above sin, ask for the grace and invite the Holy Spirit to take His dwelling in you. Galatians 5:16-17 says “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves.
The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.” Living in the Spirit purifies you and guards you against falling into sin, your human strength, wisdom and knowledge cannot guard you against sin, only the Spirit of God can do that. In Matthew 26:31-33 Peter swore heaven and earth that he would never deny Jesus, even if he had to die. That was his desire, he desired to be loyal to Jesus to the end, but his flesh took over and he denied Jesus despite all his promises and vows. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in all truth, so that you will be able to live above sin at all times.

Image: Google Image

BE COMPASSIONATE (11)

TEXT: MATTHEW 15:32-37

 ³² Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” ³³ His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”³⁴ “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “a³² Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” ³³ His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?” ³⁴ “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.” ³⁵ He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. ³⁷ They all ate and were satisfied.

In the part one of this message, we talked about how Jesus empathised with the multitude that had been with him for three days without food. He realised that they must be hungry and he did not send them away to look for what to eat, instead he made provision for them to eat and be satisfied.

We also talked about how church leaders of these days are different from Jesus in the way some of them relate with their congregation. They preach the word, but they don’t live the word. The type of Christianity we practice these days is centered on greed, self-centeredness and lack of genuine love to fellow believers. Shepherds are living in affluence while the sheep are living in abject poverty without the leaders doing something to “be their brother’s keeper.” When Jesus was leaving the earth he told one of his disciples (Simon) to feed his sheep. Unfortunately these days the statement of our lord Jesus has been turned the other way round, it is the sheep that are feeding the shepherds now! They are ready to milk their members dry, all in the name of "sowing".

The scripture recorded that when the disciples started their ministry, they were breaking bread together; they shared things in common, selling their possessions, and gave to EVERYONE as he had needed. The church of the old were doing things in common, nobody was oppressing anybody. It is a different ballgame these days; many believers left their churches because there was no help coming from the so called “family of God.” Many spirit filled believers have gone into the world to seek solace in unbelievers that are ready and willing to help. Instead of love, empathy and compassion, oppression is the order of the day in our churches. Let us learn from Jesus, he did not discard the multitude after preaching to them, he met their physical and spiritual needs. Don’t use and discard your congregation! Always minister to their physical and spiritual needs, be part of their lives.

BE COMPASSIONATE (1)

TEXT:  MATTHEW 15:32-37

 ³² Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” ³³ His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”³⁴ “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “a³² Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” ³³ His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?” ³⁴ “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.” ³⁵ He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. ³⁶ Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. ³⁷ They all ate and were satisfied.

Compassion is the feeling of empathy for others. It is the emotion that you feel in response to suffering of others, that motivates a desire to help (Wikipedia). When Jesus was going about his ministry, he did not just only preach to the people, but he ministered to their needs in one way or the other. He was able to do this because he was able to empathise, he put himself in their shoes and he was able to feel their pains. Your preaching goes a long way in achieving its purpose when you are compassionate; your message holds water when you are not only ready to preach the gospel but when you are ready to live the gospel (doing what you preach). The text shows how loving Jesus was to the people that were following him. He was not only ready to feed them spiritually, but physically. The lesson here is that as a leader in the church, you should be concerned about the physical and spiritual state of your members. Jesus had interest in what was going on with those that were following him, many preachers of the gospel these days are not in any way like Jesus, they want their church to be filled with members, they want people to follow them, they want people to be part of their ministry, but they are not ready to be part of the people’s life. Whatever any member of the congregation is going through is none of their business. All they want is large congregation with large amount of tithe and offering.

The church is supposed to be a place of comfort and solace for believers, but this is not so any more. Some pastors cannot even come down to the level of their congregation! They are not approachable; they don’t relate with their members, they don’t know what is going on in their lives and families, because they don’t create time to talk to their members. Tell me, how can such pastor give comfort, solace and encouragement to his members? Or is it when you preach comfort and solace from the pulpit? The scripture admonished us to be an example of believer in words and in action (1 Timothy 4:12). Preaching word of comfort from the pulpit is not enough, you need to show what you preach to people by doing it, you need to have compassion for your congregation; feel their pain, minister to their needs, render help when necessary. Your good deeds to your congregation would win more souls to Christ than “anointed” sermon without backing it up with action. Let your priority be on spiritual, physical, emotional and material wellbeing of your congregation rather than placing priority on acquiring private jets, mansions and so on at the expense of your congregation. “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?…” (James 2:14-16). If you want to win people to Christ, you need to be able to convince them with your goodwill. Render help when needed, don’t leave everything to “Divine provision.” Make the move to help and let God take over, Jesus was willing to help though he had small food that won’t be enough for the multitude, but he showed his concern and when God saw his compassion for them, He intervened by multiplying the food. Do your part in meeting the need of your congregation and leave the rest to God to perfect.