THINK BEFORE YOU TALK.

TEXT: PROVERBS 15: 28

“The heart of the righteous studies how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil.”

The scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:31 that whatever we do, we should do it to the glory of God- that includes the way we talk or respond to conversations with people.

“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” (Colossians 4:6).

As believers, we should be careful how we talk either during formal or informal (joke/gist) time. Some get carried away during informal conversation; they let down their guard and talk recklessly throwing caution into the air that people will be wondering if they are genuinely saved!

Professing Jesus as your lord and saviour has given you some unpaid “watchdogs.” Their Eagle eyes watches every step you take without you knowing. They listen to verbal and non- verbal expression you make, they want to scrutinise you to find errors to accuse you with.

The devil is an accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10). Therefore, do not give him a foothold in your life.

Speak gracefully; let people see God in your conversation. Worldly slangs are not for genuine believers (that is conformity to the world).

Before you speak or utter a word, think “will this utterance glorify God?”

Some people are saints until there is a reason for them to be angry.

When anger takes over, you will marvel at their utterances- Let not your righteousness be evident around the church vicinity alone, show your righteousness EVERYWHERE and at all times (either at formal or non-formal setting).

If you are in the midst of unbelievers and they cannot see your light or righteousness in your conversation, if you flow easily with their “norms” then, there is a problem with your salvation.

Do not question the existence of God in your life with your utterances- think before you talk, make sure your conversation will bring glory to the name of God whenever you open your mouth to talk.

Be very careful to choose your word, be disciplined with word- do not talk carelessly thinking that “they will understand that I was joking or they will understand that I was being provoked to say what I did not mean.”

“How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life.” (James 3: 5-6).

In the same vein, do not let God down with your utterances when you are angry- lean to control your emotion. The scripture says in Philippians 1:27 that “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” In your anger do not sin, talk less when you are angry so that you will not utter what you will regret later.

I will leave you with this verse of the Bible “Patience is better than power, and controlling one’s emotions, than capturing a city.” (Proverbs 16:32).

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WHAT DO YOU HAVE THAT YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED?

TEXT: 1 CORINTHIANS 4:7-9

Human beings love to be respected and elevated. We like to showcase our skills, talents, wealth, affluence, intellect and so on. We boast of these qualities to step up the social ladder of the society.

We tend to think too high of ourselves that if care is not taken, pride may set in.

I have seen some people that the prefixes in their names are longer than their real names! (This is nothing but a way of getting recognition and applauds of men).

Men may give you standing ovation when you are addressed with your many “titles” before mentioning your real name. However, you must be very careful not to let these “lorry loads” of titles get into you and cause you to become arrogant.

The scripture says in 1 Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves therefore under God’s mighty hands, that He may lift you up in due time.” God does not like proud hearts; He loves meek and humble people.

Whatever you think you are now is by the grace of God- all good and perfect gifts are from above coming down from the father (God) of the heavenly lights (James 1:17).

Do not attribute your success to your wisdom, connection, intellectual ability, strength, or strategy. If you are able to acknowledge that God made that status possible by His grace, it will make you to be humble and be able to ascribe all the glory to Him and not to yourself.

In our text, Apostle Paul asked “What makes you different from anyone?” I will answer by saying it is the grace of God over your life that makes the difference not human wisdom, strength or effort.

Consequently, the grace of God that made you to stand out among your counterparts is also available to others- do not be intoxicated with success or achievement, rather, glorify God and be able to be a blessing to people.

You received your blessing, breakthrough and success from God- it will not stop with you, our God is not a partial God; He gives literarily without finding fault. What He did for you, He will do it for others as well.

Let no pride override your sense of gratitude- do not bully people with your success, relatively, bless people with it so that the name of the Lord can be glorified through you.

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BE OPEN TO CORRECTION

TEXT: PROVERBS 9: 7-9

 Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults; whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse.

8 Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you. 9 Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.

One popular says is “no one is an island of knowledge.” Another one says “Only a fool knows it all.”

Nobody is too “small” to learn from if you really want to learn. If the Lord can instruct us to learn from the Ants (Proverbs 6: 9-11) one of the smallest (if not the smallest) creatures on earth, then you have no excuse not to learn from your fellow human being.

If you are not open to correction, if you believe you have known it all, you will be limited in wisdom and knowledge.

You will only be able to perform in the level of the wisdom and knowledge you acquire.

We need to learn from each other so that we can add to what we know- for your knowledge and wisdom to increase and not become obsolete, you need to constantly learn from others.

Wisdom and knowledge can come to you as a form of CORRECTION. When it comes like that let your heart be open to receive it will joy and gladness, so that you can add to your wealth of wisdom.

We need to learn from each other so that we can add to what we have already known. Nobody is hundred percent complete- that is why we need to rob minds so that we can exchange ideas, knowledge and wisdom.

Your area of weakness could be someone’s area of strength. If you are not open to correction, how will you be able make amends and work on your weakness?

Would you prefer to continue in the act of foolishness rather than accepting to be corrected in love?

 People that are not ready to be corrected are proud people. Their pride is what hinders them from adding to their wisdom and knowledge- Pride has made their mind to be closed from all great ideas, wisdom and knowledge that they could have gained from others.

They become narrow minded because they refused to inculcate into their lives Romans 12:2 which says we should be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Your mind can only be transformed and be renewed from its original state when you are open to correction.

Our text says “Whoever corrects a mocker invites insults; whoever rebukes the wicked incurs abuse. The Bible refers to those that are not open to correction as mockers, wicked and foolish people. The text says they hate you when you correct them- when you want good thing for them, they want evil for you- they take you as their personal enemy!

The text said on the other hand that when a wise person is being corrected, he will take your correction on board and make amends; and add to his wealth of wisdom and knowledge to become wiser. Wise people accept correction with gladness of heart and love you for correcting them. What a big difference between the wise and the foolish.

“Rebuke the wise and they will love you. 9 Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.” (Prov. 8b-9).

The conclusion of today’s message is that you should not be too “big” to be corrected- have a receptive heart to corrections, good ideas and advice – if you want your wisdom to be relevant at all times, learn new wisdom from others.

For you not to be a mocker, a fool and an evil person, you must be receptive to corrections. God bless.

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GET UP AND WALK!!!

JOHN 5: 1-15

“Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.  Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. ³ Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.  ⁵ One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷ “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” ⁹ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, ¹⁰ and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

¹¹ But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

¹² So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

¹³ The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

¹⁴ Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵ The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.”

At a point during the cause of our lives we are faced with situations that are overwhelming. We find ourselves in a place where it seems we are stagnated, we are not making progress. We feel that we need help and assistance which is not forthcoming.

There are periods when we struggle to breakout of hardship and unpleasant situations, we tried all possible means but all into no avail.

Many looks for help from friends and families but help refused to come from them, because the families and friends need help themselves.

Many times we look for help in the wrong direction- and when we don’t get our desired result because we look in the wrong direction, we become frustrated and we give in to fate without making effort or trying harder.

The disappointment that many people faced in life has made them to be “handicapped” and become “crippled” to every good things of life. they have chosen stagnation over progress, and failure over fruitfulness.

In our text, the blind man at the pool was expecting help from the people around him to help lower him into the pool so that he could be healed. He felt disappointed when help did not come from them as he expected. The blind man accepted his fate and stayed at the pool for thirty eight years without any effort; before Jesus came to rescue him!

The blind man was helpless and hopeless because he looked in the wrong direction for help.

The word of God for you today is “Do not allow the situation of life to make you become hopeless.” Look in the right direction for help- Jesus is the help of the helpless and the hope of the hopeless. Do not accept the negative situation to overwhelm you.

Jesus is your sure hope and your ever present help in time of trouble. Call upon his name today, he is ready and willing to help you to get up from failure and stagnation, and walk you to your place of breakthrough and abundance. DO NOT EXPLAIN IT AWAY LIKE THE BLIND MAN- DON'T GIVE EXCUSES-DON'T JUSTIFY  YOUR STAGNATION. GET UP AND WALK!

Do not let any problem stagnate you. With Jesus there will always be a way around your problem- Nothing can hold you bound if you don’t allow it- Get up and walk out of stagnation!

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WISDOM: THE WAY TO LIFE

TEXT: PROVERBS 3: 13-18

“Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding,
 for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold.

 She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.
 Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honour.
Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.”

Wisdom is the right application of knowledge. Knowledge on the other hand is information gained through experience and acquaintance. It is possible for one to be knowledgeable and lack wisdom, but not the other way round.

For instance, you can be knowledgeable in how to drive a car, but it is your wisdom that will tell you not to overtake another car at a bend or at a dangerous spot.

Go wants us to be wise. The book of James 1:5 emphasised the importance of wisdom by admonishing that whoever lacks wisdom should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault.

The right place to get wisdom is from the almighty God that gives liberally. Any wisdom gotten from any other source is foolishness as the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:19.

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom, and in all thy getting; get understanding (Proverbs 4:7).

The place of wisdom for godly and successful living cannot be overemphasised.to live and to have good success, you need wisdom. To walk with God and be blameless, you need wisdom. For divine direction and guidance; you need wisdom. For supernatural healing and sound health’ wisdom must come to play. To live in this sinful and perverted world gloriously, the wisdom of God must be evident in your life. Nothing can be achieved without wisdom, no matter how knowledgeable you are- you need wisdom in other to be able to apply your wisdom in the right way.

Having knowledge without wisdom is like using a dull axe to cut a tree- it involves using greater strength and energy; and achieving less success.

“Using a dull axe requires great strength, so sharpen the blade. That is the value of wisdom; it helps you succeed.” (Eccl. 10:10).

Our text in Proverbs 3: 13:18 highlighted some of the benefits of wisdom:

·        Wisdom makes you the blessed of the Lord

·        You will be valued more than gold

·        You will be profitable

·        You will be more precious than rubies

·        Wisdom guarantees you long life

·        Wisdom gives you riches and honour

·        Wisdom gives you peace of mind

·        Wisdom makes you a blessing to your generation

·        Wisdom protects you (Prov. 4:6)

·        Wisdom exalts you (Prov. 4:8)

I I pray the wisdom of God will reign in our lives in Jesus name. Shalom!

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THE DEVIL’S MINISTRY

TEXT: JOHN 10:10

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

From the time that the Lord disqualified Lucifer from His kingdom (from being one of the angels of God) till present day, Lucifer the devil has not rested on his oars to destroy the children of God in order to vent his anger and revenge.

The devil is in a big battle with the children of God because he has been disgraced and banished from the presence of God as a result of pride. In his quest to retaliate he established a destructive “ministry” to kill, to steal and to destroy the children of God.

Many great and mighty destinies have been stolen by the devil. Many great men and women with promising future have met their untimely death as a result of the scheme of the devil to kill them before they could fulfil their purpose.

Countless seed of greatness that were meant to be used to do great exploit for God were destroyed from ignorant owner of the seeds before these seed could become mighty and fruitful seed, and as a result of this, the owner of the seed could not fulfil his or her God given purpose.

The disposition and purpose of God for our lives is that we would become great, fruitful, replenish and dominate the earth and be fulfilled. God did not create us for the earth to dominate us. It is the devil that brings evil, bad occurrence, set back and non-achievement into the life of the children of God. God didn’t create anybody to be a failure.

Many people are not careful or vigilant enough as the scripture has advised us in 1 Peter 5:8 “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” They are careless and carefree about their destiny- They allowed the thief (devil) to craftily come into their lives unannounced to steal, kill and destroy their destinies!

Some of the strategies that the devil uses to destroy great destiny is DECEIT! The devil deceives people to see “poisonous package” as “marvellous breakthrough” and in this wise; they trade their promising destiny for something that is unreal or genuine- it could be by enticing them with treasure that will not last or blessing that will bring sorrow to them later in life.- Like engaging in fraudulent activities, sexual immoralities and so on.

The devil tried to destroy the ministry of Jesus Christ by asking him to turn stones to bread so that he (the devil) can give Jesus the whole world as his own. Jesus was able to defeat the devil because he was always vigilant and always in tune with God. In fact, he just came down from the mountain where he went to pray when the accuser and the thief came to tempt him. Only by prayer and vigilance can you defeat the devil the destroyer.

Do not help the devil to fulfil his ministry in your life, resist him by being careful of any offer or favour that looks very “enticing”- it could be a bait to catch you into his trap- be vigilant and PRAY without ceasing. Shalom!

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BEWARE OF EVIL HELPERS

TEXT: EZRA 4:1-5

When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “Let us help you build because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.”

 But Zerubbabel, Joshua and the rest of the heads of the families of Israel answered, “You have no part with us in building a temple to our God. We alone will build it for the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia, commanded us.”

Then the peoples around them set out to discourage the people of Judah and make them afraid to go on building. They bribed officials to work against them and frustrate their plans during the entire reign of Cyrus king of Persia and down to the reign of Darius king of Persia.

Help can be defined as the act of rendering assistance to someone in order to get a task done faster and quicker. It is an assistance given to accomplish a task in a less difficult way.

As human beings, we all love it when someone offers to render help for us in order to accomplish our mission. As good as help and assistance may be, we must be careful of the offer of help and assistance we would accept because not all helpers are genuine or real.

The devil knows how to “wrap” and present disaster and calamity with an attractive “wrapper” to make it enticing and irresistible to his victims.

Many believers have fallen victims of the deceit of these “evil helpers” and have missed their glorious destiny as a result. God promised to help us by sending helpers our way. However, it is not all helpers that are genuinely from God.

Some so called “helpers” are from the pit of hell working for their master the devil to frustrate and truncate great destinies- TAKE HEED!

Some people have met their Waterloo as a result of “strange helpers” that “helped” them to destroy their destiny instead of improving it as expected.

Our text today shows how the devil can be cunning in destroying people’s testimony by pretending to be their “helper.”

“When the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the exiles were building a temple for the Lord, the God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and to the heads of the families and said, “LET US HELP YOU BUILD…” (Ezra 4:1-2).

These people were not genuine helpers but enemies that pretended to be helpers. They disguised themselves as helpers so that they can frustrate the good work that the builders of the temple were doing. Thank God for the spirit of discernment that the Lord gave to the builders to recognise them as enemies rather than helpers.

In the same vein, you have to be very careful of the offer of help you would accept from people, because some “helpers” are meant for your destruction and not for your elevation. Pray for the spirit of discernment to identify godly and genuine helpers.

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THE KINGDOM OF GOD OR OTHER THINGS?

TEXT: MATTHEW 6:33

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

The scripture tells us that the first and paramount thing to seek or to long for is the kingdom of God and His righteousness. That is, we would strive to know God genuinely; we should seek Him not only with our lips but with the totality of our life- body, soul and spirit.

We you are seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness; it means you are passionate in pleasing the Lord your maker in all your ways. It means you are always conscious of your ways of life, and you examine yourself at every point in time to see if you are still in tune with God. It means you are heaven minded, courteous to live a life without blemish, spot or wrinkle; a life that glorifies God.

Kingdom seekers are those that believe that there is a place they will go to after leaving this world (eternity).

Kingdom seekers put their minds on things that are not seen (which are eternal) and not on things that are seen (which are temporal and perishable).

The Lord did not say we should be poor, he did not say He will not bless us; He did not say He will not take us to the height that we aspire to be. All He’s saying is that we should seek and love Him genuinely, to have a genuine relationship with Him. God wants us to be rooted and grounded in Him, so that when the day of evil comes; we will triumph.

It is so sad these days that people have put the first thing last and the last thing first. They have put the cart before the horse! Instead of seeking the kingdom of God first, they are busy seeking and running after other things (the world and its pleasures).

People want to become rich overnight. They are passionate and more concerned about building multi-million dollar Business Empire than genuinely seeking after the Lord their maker.

Many people out of desperation have gotten themselves in dubious, sinful and ungodly way to acquire these things that are just for the time being.

Men and women of God are not left out in this quest for the pleasures of the world. The motive of some pastors has changed from genuinely seeking the kingdom of God, to milking and exploiting their members to fulfil their worldly desires.

Many so called gospel singers are lost in the world of deceit. They sing songs that glorify man rather than God. They have diluted their songs with the worldliness of this world so that they would be widely accepted and make money as a result.

Gone are those days when a sinner will hear gospel music and be convicted of his or her sin! The subject and the focus have been changed from the Almighty God to worldliness disguised as gospel of God.

The mistake that people are making is that they refused to follow the instruction of God that says “SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO IT.”

If you follow this instruction or commandment of God, you will be doing yourself a lot of good; because life will be very easy for you(not that problem will not come, but you will have victory).

If you devote yourself to serving and pleasing God wholeheartedly, wealth, blessing and every other thing shall be added to you freely as bonus. You wouldn't need to struggle tooth and nail for it.

Solomon never asked for wealth but wisdom to lead God’s people. Because of his commitment to God’s assignment in his hands, God decided to bless him richly beyond his request. Great wealth was added as a bonus to his request.

The scripture says “The blessing of the Lord makes riches and adds no sorrow to it.” (Proverbs 10:22).

Be determined today that you want to genuinely seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness; don’t run after “other thing”- (material blessings). Leave other things for God to add to you as a reward of your steadfastness in seeking His kingdom and His righteousness.

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GET THEM INVOLVED!

TEXT: EZRA 3:8-9

As I was doing my morning devotion. I was studying the book of Ezra. I was on Ezra chapter 3 ( Rebuilding the Temple).
The Lord called my attention to something from the verses. Ezra 3: 8-9
" 8 In the second month of the second year after their arrival at the house of God in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, Joshua son of Jozadak and the rest of the people (the priests and the Levites and all who had returned from the captivity to Jerusalem) began the work. THEY APPOINTED LEVITES TWENTY YEARS OLD AND OLDER TO SUPERVISE THE BUILDING OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD. 9 Joshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah[a]) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers—all Levites—joined together in supervising those working on the house of God."

The words in capital letters caught my attention. We know how our children and youths find it uneasy and uninteresting to be in the church. Some of them only come to church to please mum and dad. From the look on their faces during praise and worship, and also during the sermon. One can conclude that they were just physically in the church, but their minds and souls are elsewhere!
As I was studying, when I got to the verse above ( those in capital letters). The words jumped out on me, like "this could be the solution to the "I am not part of this attitude  of our children" thinking church activities are for  adults alone!
If we get them actively involved in EVERY aspects of the church like getting them to usher, sing, cleaning and arranging chairs, teaching younger children, teaching in their classes rather than having an adult to teach them at all times. It would make them to be more interested in the "church thing" instead of leaving them on the chairs to wallow in "boredom".
As an educationist, I was taught by my lecturers and profs. That children are more active when they learn by DOING, rather than learning by ROTE (memorisation) method.
Getting them involved in the planning of their teaching methods, and giving them the opportunity to teach would get them closer to their Bibles! ( They would want to study to show themselves approved ).
The church becomes less interesting to our youths because many are idle in the church.Therefore, they did not see themselves as part of the church.
Also, we need to make the service to be interesting in some way that will not contradict the way of the lord, and yet will be interesting to our children and youths.
Educational curriculum and syllabus are being reviewed periodically, so that it will be suitable for the changing world.
Pastors, preachers, Evangelists, Sunday school teachers, Children teachers. A clarion call to you all. Review your teaching methods, let's move from the age- long methods of teaching, let's bring new innovations and ideas to our teaching methods in the church. The world is not static, it changes by the day.
Let us move with time, so that we will not lose our children to the WORLD!!!

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THE PRICE OF SUCCESS

TEXT: GENESIS 26: 12-16

¹² Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. ¹³ The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. ¹⁴ He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵ So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth. ¹⁶ Then Abimelek said to Isaac, “Move away from us; you have become too powerful for us.”

As well as we all love to be successful; not all of us is ready to pay the price of being successful. There are many unpalatable situations that come with being successful- this I refer to as the “price of success.” Either you like it or not; as soon as you become successful, you will start paying the price that comes with success.

 Some of these prices are ENVY, HATRED, JEALOUSY, BACKBITING, BACK STABBING, HAVING TO LOSE CLOSE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES, and so on.

When you are at your struggling stage and trying to figure out your life, you may not encounter any problem- why?  This is because people have no reason to envy you because you have not achieved anything tangible. Nobody will oppose you because you have not made headway in your Endeavour. Rather, pity parties that are not ready to help you will be all over you.

As soon as your situation changes for better, you will also see negative changes from close friends and associates that used to pity you! You will now be wondering “are these not the people that were consoling and pitying me when I was struggling? Are these not the people hoping and praying for a change in my situation? Even your fellow believers that you pray together may end up becoming your enemies at your elevation!

Isaac came to Gerar because he had a problem of famine in his own land. He was well received in Gerar when he first arrived; he was living peacefully with the native of the land. Isaac had no problem with anybody until he became successful, the people that were friendly and accommodated him nicely suddenly turned against him in envy because the Lord has blessed him in the land.

The great lesson of this story is that you should be prepared to lose family and friends as you become successful! The people of Gerar that had loved Isaac turned to become the enemy of his progress. To truncate Isaac’s success; they filled all his father’s well with sand, even Abimelech that once gave an order to all the people of the land that nobody should molest Isaac and his wife if they don’t want to die ended up giving Isaac a “quit notice” from Gerar! This is to tell you that your friends and pity parties, those that you think are genuinely “upholding” you in prayer for a positive change in your situation may turn against you when you become successful.

To be able to stand and prevail over the devices of the enemies when you are successful, you must be sure that God is your sure foundation and stronghold. So that when the enemy comes like flood against you, the lord will fight for you and raise a standard against them on your behalf. Let God be the source of your success so that He can protect you against the enemies. Isaac was able to triumph in the midst of adversaries because it was God that blessed him. It is the blessing of God that makes riches without sorrow (Proverbs 10:22).

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NOT BY LABOUR BUT FAVOUR

TEXT: LUKE 5: 1-7
“So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2 and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. 3 Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. 4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at your word I will let down the net.” 6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. 7 So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.”
One day of God's favour supersedes many years of labour. No man can make it without the help and favour of the Lord Almighty. The scripture says Paul plants Apollo waters but it is God that gives the increase (1Cor 3:6). You may work and labour hard and have nothing to show for it. Your intellectual skills, your human effort and knowledge can take you nowhere without the favour of God!
Labouring with human knowledge and effort can be frustrating if the favour of God is absent. This is why many people toil around the shore of life engaging in different unproductive businesses, careers, and projects. Once one project is not productive as they planned, they switched to another one and another and continue in that pattern of failure until they get frustrated, weak, weary and depressed.
From our text, we can see the result of frustration in the statement of Simon to Jesus "But Simon answered and said to him” master, we have TOILED ALL NIGHT AND CAUGHT NOTHING... " (v5). Simon was a skilled fisherman; he had been in the business of fishing years before that very day of toiling without anything to show for it. In utmost disappointment he gave up and was washing his net to go back home empty handed.
However, the favour of God located him when Jesus chose to go into his (Simon) boat. Jesus turned Simon's disappointment into a net breaking miracle- FAVOUR!
When the favour of God located Simon who was preparing to go back home defeated, he was able to catch net breaking fish that he could not carry alone, but beckoned to the people around to come and help him. Favour moved Simon from level of failure to supernatural success without struggling and toiling for it.
The lesson of this story is that your human effort, skills and expertise may not generate the "net breaking success" you are expecting. It is the favour of God that can cause you to be successful without much labour or toiling.
Jesus said to Simon “launch out into the deep and let down your net FOR A CATCH." (v4). Simon was directed towards where his success lies without having to do trial and error with his net. Another lesson from this story is that ONLY GOD CAN DIRECT YOU TOWARDS YOUR SUCCESS AND ACHIEVEMENT. Hence, you need to be a beneficiary of God's favour for Him to help you. Do you realise that Simon was not the only fisherman around on that day of his divine favour and change in destiny? Yes, there were other fishermen around when Jesus chose to favour Simon. Therefore, you need to ask for the anointing of favour that erases the yoke of unproductive labour. For someone to be a partaker of God's favour, he or she must be obedient. Simon did not argue with Jesus that he was a skilled fisherman. He did not damn Jesus by saying “what do you know about fishing?" Instead he decided to obey in humility he said “nevertheless at your word I will let down the net." (v5b).
If you want to make headway in life, you need to be obedient to the leading and direction of your maker. God is our maker; therefore he has the instructions of our lives in His hand. To be successful we must adhere to these instructions.
I pray that the favour of God will locate us and terminate every yoke of hard and unfruitful labour in our lives in Jesus name. Amen.Image: Google Image