ARE YOU A MENTOR OR A TORMENTOR?

TEXT: 1 SAMUEL 17: 38- 50

³⁸ Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armour on him and a bronze helmet on his head. ³⁹ David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.

“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. ⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

⁴¹ Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. ⁴² He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. ⁴³ He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”

⁴⁵ David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LordAlmighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

⁴⁸ As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. ⁴⁹ Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.

⁵⁰ So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

The Merriam Webster online dictionary defines a mentor as a trusted counsellor or a guide. A mentor is the one that helps you to get to the highest level of your career or your life in general.

A mentor works on you to bring out the best in you, he or she helps to bring out your authentic power, call your inner power out from within and brush, polish, shape, dress, refine or sharpen it to become a “rare gem.”

A mentor encourages, trains, and impacts you to become a better version of yourself- he or she helps you to develop new idea, skills and knowledge.

A mentor makes all effort within his or her reach to add value to you and make sure that you become successful in your chosen filed.

A mentor is a personal advocate in the secret that the evidence of his or her mentorship will become evident through the life of the mentee without having the feeling of insecurity or jealousy. A mentor leaves you a lot better than he or she met you.

A tormentor on the other hand is the one who causes repeated emotional pain, distress or annoyance to another. A tormentor does not want anybody around him to be successful.

When anybody tries to do something better than him (the tormentor), he gets jealous and angry and will look for every means to jeopardise the effort of the tormented.

Some Christian leaders, departmental heads in the church are tormentors. They get jealous and feel insecure as soon as anybody under them starts excelling. Instead of them to support and help build such person as a mentor will do, they will use all available channels to pull him or her down- this is ungodly!

Some leaders will bet on their lives never to see any of their subordinates successful. Instead of being a mentor to their subordinate they will become his or her tormentor by making life miserable and unbearable for the helpless subordinate. A tormentor would device all mechanism to frustrate his subordinates. He can demote him or her; he can remove the subordinate from any position that will accelerate his progress. Some wicked leaders (Tormentor) can go to the extent of plotting to kill the excelling subordinate.

In first Samuel 16 when God told Samuel to anoint David as the king, David was appointed by Saul to be playing the instrument for him. Saul was the king and David was his “music boy.”

“David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armour bearers. Then saul sent word to Jesse saying “Allow David to remain in my service for I am PLEASED WITH HIM.” (1 Samuel 16: 21-22).

David continued in Saul’s service. There was no rivalry or discord between them until David killed Goliath and people started to praise David. Saul became jealous and wanted David dead by all means.

“⁸ Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?” ⁹ And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David.

¹⁰ The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand ¹¹ and he hurled it, saying to himself, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.

(1 Samuel 18: 8-11).

Saul’s once “undying love” for David became hatred as soon as David’s fame started to spread. The plan of God came to pass on David and he triumph over Saul despite all odds. Learn from this account, as a leader do not be a tormenting leader to your followers, because either you like it or not the plan of God will come to pass in their lives.

 A tormentor will be disgraced and a mentor will be promoted and be blessed. Be a mentor and not a tormentor for God will reward you accordingly.

THE MIGHTY HANDS OF GOD

TEXT: EZRA 8:32 ^b, 8:31

 “The gracious hand of our God is on everyone who looks to him, but his great anger is against all who forsake him.”

^31 “On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canalto go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God was on us, and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way.”

Our God is a mighty God that created the universe by the outstretched of His hands. The hands of God are so strong and mighty that nothing can hinder Him from whatever He wants to accomplish.

Talking about the mighty hands of God is talking about His awesome power. The mighty hands of God make the impossible to become possible- His hands are “situation changer.” This is why people say “Lord, I can see your hands in my life- that means the power of God has changed their situation for good. “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.” (Ezra 8:22 ^b ). This verse is telling us that the hands of God have “dual functionality”- To us His righteous children; His hands will work in our favour to deliver, heal,  give blessing and breakthrough set free, fight and win our battles, make way for us, makes us to advance over adversaries and so on. On the other hand, God’s mighty hands work to bring calamity, defeat, hardship, failure, wrath and judgement on His enemies and the enemies of His children.

I said earlier that God’s hands mean God’s power- we will be considering the wonders that God did in the Bible with His mighty hands.

Our first reference is going to be the mighty hands that delivered the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt (Genesis 14).

Pharaoh was very stubborn in the beginning; he did not want to release the children of God to be free from the age long bondage of slavery.

The wrath of God came upon Egypt when God stretched His mighty hands on the land and affected them with plagues.  The lord proved his power and might at the Red sea to the detriment of Pharaoh and his chariots.

God’s out stretched hands parted the Red sea and the children of Israel walked freely on dry land to safety- the Lord granted deliverance to His children with His out stretched mighty hands!

However, the same mighty hand that delivered God’s children was what drowned His enemies the Egyptian army.

The hands of God can be seen positively or negatively it depends on where you stand (if you are for Him or against Him).

I pray for you that you will not encounter the hands of God in a negative way in Jesus name.

Another example of God’s mighty hands at work is in the book of second Chronicles 20. It is the account of Jehoshaphat. The Ammonites, the Moabites and the rest were coming to wage war against Jehoshaphat. He went to God and asked for God to help them fight their battle. Jehoshaphat followed God’s instruction of inviting worshippers and playing, singing and dancing to the Lord at the war front.

Without them having any weapon of war, the Lord gave victory to Jehoshaphat. The Lord took it upon himself to fight the battle with His mighty hands. There are other numerous instances where God used His mighty hands to bring deliverance and judgement accordingly.

If you are against Him, He will show you His hands negatively and if you are for Him; He will show you His hands positively. May destruction not be our portion in Jesus name.

May the mighty hands of God that does wonders work in our favour in Jesus name. Amen.

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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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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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YOU CAN SING TO GOD IN THE STRANGE LAND

TEXT: PSALM 137: 1-4

By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, sing us one of the songs of Zion.

 How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?

The lord created us to declare His glory in praise and exaltation. God delights in His children making a joyful noise to Him.

Regardless of what you are going through, it is mandatory for you to give God your genuine praise and exaltation.

Psalm 150:6 says “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” The Lord did not say “Let everyone that is rich praise the Lord. He did not say let everyone that has achieved everything in life praise the Lord.”

Therefore, as long as you still have the breath of life that He breathed on you, you must sing and exalt the giver of life.

The scripture says in John 10:10 that the thief comes to steal, to kill and to destroy. Satan uses discouragement and hopelessness to still to kill and to destroy people’s praise life.

In our text, the children of Israel were taken into captivity in Babylon. They were so depressed and down that they could not open their mouth to sing to their maker again. They were so heavy and down casted that they hung their musical instrument. They wept when they remembered Zion the place of God that they left. Zion is a place of glory, peace, comfort and freedom. All these they were enjoying before they disobeyed God and God gave them to the Babylonians to enslave them. The Babylonians were mocking them that they should sing their Lord’s song for them, but the children of Israel were so down and confused that they asked how they can sing the Lord’s song in a strange land of hopelessness, depression and confusion.

Satan is so crafty that he would make people not to see any good things in their lives that deserve praising God for. Talking about “strange land”, what does it mean? A strange land is a place of discomfort, a place of dejection, a place of failure, affliction, stagnation, delayed progress, fruitlessness, hopelessness and so on.

I called these situations “a strange land” because that is not the plan and purpose of God for us.

The plan and purpose of God for our lives can be found in the book of Jeremiah 29:11. “For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of good and not of evil; to give you a future and a hope.”

Having given us this promise, God did not assure us a stress free life (John 16:33).

Peradventure you found yourself in a strange land, do not stop praising the Lord. You should be able to sing and dance to God in anticipation that you will arrive at the Promised Land, because it is sure you will not die in the strange land.

The Lord promised the Israelites that they will dwell in the Promised Land. They did not get to the Promised Land without going through the wilderness.

In the same vein, the Lord has promised you that you will live in the Promised Land, but at a point in your life, you will find yourself in the strange land while you are on your way to the Promised Land.

The people that were taken into captivity in Babylon asked “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?”

Many of us are at this stage in our lives- asking “why do I need to sing to God? What is so praise worthy in my life?

The lord is encouraging you with this message today that it is okay to lose EVERYTHING, but DO NOT LOSE YOUR PRAISE! Your victory, deliverance, healing, success and breakthrough are in your praise.

I pray that the Lord will deliver us from any strange land that we may be in. he will take us to Zion a place of peace and comfort in Jesus name. Can I hear amen?

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DON’T BE SELFISH

 TEXT: JOSHUA 1 : 14b-15

“You are to help your brothers until the Lord gives them rest, as He has done for you. And until they too have taken possession of the land that the lord your God is giving them.

After that, you may go back and occupy your own land.”  (Joshua1:14b-15).

There is a popular saying that “we should be our brother’s keeper.” This means that we should be able to render help and assistance to our fellow human beings that need our help.

Rather than being indifferent or carefree of what other people are going through, we should be available and be happy to provide help and assistance for them.

As believers, we should have the mind of Christ to live a selfless life like Jesus did. We should not be self-centered. “Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others.

Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

 (Philippians 2:3-5).

Selfishness is when you think of yourself alone without thinking of other people around you. When all you can think of is your own success while some other people are struggling in the area where you can be of help to them, and you refused to render your help and assistance; it means you are selfish!

A selfish man would not render help for other that are struggling to make it, even though they have the knowledge and skills needed for the person to be successful.

God is using the anchor text to teach and encourage us not to be selfish, or think of our own interest alone. God wants us to use the gift and knowledge He gave to us to help others that are in need. The same way the Lord has supported you to be great in life, do the same to others that are looking up to you for help and assistance.

Whatever you are is by the grace of God and not by your own power. As the lord has been your help and your guide to be successful, so also should you be a guide and help to others that are coming behind you.

You will be more fulfilled when you know that you are impacting lives.

When you help other to build their destiny, the Lord will make you to be more established in your endeavors.

Lifting others up will not make you to fall. Do not be afraid to help other to grow or become successful. As you nurture others to grow, so shall you continue to grow and wax stronger because the Lord will continue to nourish you.

Make it a lifestyle to help others to be successful. Selfishness is not of God, be an exemplary of Christ!

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