HE WILL BLESS THE WORK OF YOUR HANDS

TEXT: DEUTERONOMY 28: 12

“¹² The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.”

God’s plan for us His children is for us to live in abundance. God wants us to bless us to be blessed to the point of being a blessing to people around us. He wants us to be lenders to nation without us borrowing from anyone.

God promised us that He would open the heaven’s storehouse to us and send us rain in due season- This means we will flourish like the tree planted by the river side. However, as good and comforting this promises are, there is a condition attached to it. All these promises will only come to pass in your life provided you engage your hands in any decent labour or endeavour.

God cannot bless an idle hand. Remember the widow that the creditors were coming to collect her children for the debt her husband owed (2 Kings 4). Elisha asked her what she had in her house and she replied that she had a little jar of oil… This tells us that no matter how intangible that job or business brings back to you, God would prefer to work with that than to encourage idleness! Proverbs 14:23 says “All hard work brings a profit but mere talks leads only to poverty.”

You cannot be idle and expect God to bless you. Our God worked to create the universe- He is not a lazy God; therefore Hr won’t overlook your laziness.

We have heard of stories of people that became   wealthy as a result of “one small hubby or business.” They did not start with the mind-set of having chain stores or business empire- They started small and the Lord fulfilled His promise by blessing the work of their hands.

As harsh as this may sound, permit me to use this word “NO WORK, NO BLESSING.” That is the gospel truth. Where will your blessing come from if you are idle? Your hands are not engaged productively and you are claiming kingdom blessings? My friend, it does not work like that. Engage your hands in any honourable endeavour and see where God will take you to. It will blow your mind what God can do with the little in your hands.

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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PEOPLE PLEASER?

TEXT:  1 THESSALONIANS 2: 3-6

“³ For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. ⁴ ON THE CONTRARY, WE SPEAK AS THOSE APPROVED BY GOD TO BE ENTRUSTED WITH THE GOSPEL. WE ARE NOT TRYING TO PLEASE PEOPLE BUT GOD, WHO TESTS OUR HEARTS. ⁵ You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. ⁶ We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority.”

We are in the era where people want to do things that please them without thinking if it’s morally right or wrong. The scripture is coming to fulfilment with the signs of end time visible around us.

We are in the dispensation where immoral behaviour, evil, wickedness, perversion, debauchery, lies, deception and so on are the order of the day.

However, as children of God, we are called to stand out- we are not to conform to these negative manifestation happening around us. We are to be examples of Christ (to show the right way of living- we are the salt and the light of the world).

The slogan of “If you cannot beat them you join them” is not for us believers. Rather, our slogan should be “I will stand for what is right no matter what it will cost me.”

Let us look at our anchor text (1 Thessalonians 2: 3-6) I will point out some key points from there- Apostle Paul wrote “For the APPEAL we make does NOT spring from ERROR or IMPURE MOTIVE, or are we trying to TRICK you… apostle Paul was bold to utter these statement because he was confident that he had not deviated from what the Lord sent him to do- he did not allow himself to be influenced by the people- he never watered down his message of the gospel to make the people “feel good and comfortable.”

Paul guarded his heart so that his motive and focus will be to do what God sent him- which is to preach the gospel of Christ. 

These days, we see some ministers of God on the pulpit teaching ERROR and HERESY because their motive of becoming ministers of God is wrong and impure. Some ministers teach error and heresy so that their congregation can accept and be happy with them in order to be able to bring “bountiful” tithe and offering!

Some ministers of God deliberately conceal the true gospel from their members so that these members will be tricked into believing ONLY in their pastors as their MESSIAH.

As genuine ministers of God, we are indebted to preaching and teaching the true word of God even if it hurts. We are not called to please man but God. Remember that when you are making effort to please man, you will displease God. Which one would you prefer?  Would you choose man over God?

Let your appeal (preaching/ teaching) be without error, speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.

Apostle Paul went further for more clarification… “We are not trying to please man but God, who tests our hearts.

As a minister of God, if you are trying to fit into what makes your congregation to be comfortable by preaching error and heresy, you will be uncomfortable with God!

If you water down your message or conceal the consequences of sinning from your members because you don’t want to lose them, would you prefer to lose eternity? Think of this!

Another keynote from apostle Paul’s writing is in verse five of our text which says “You know we never used FLATTERY nor did we put on a MASK TO COVER UP GREED…” Some ministers of God are very wise in the game of flattery. They prepare messages to flatter their congregation- they sweet talk them and make them believe that everything is okay with their sinful way of life. These so called men of God hide under the mask of the gospel to cover their greed and love for money. They rip off their members with the “price tags” placed on their “anointing.” They commercialise their so called anointing, they know how to do “spiritual jamboree” that would make their members to ascribe all the praise and honour that is meant for God to be given to them. Revelation 22:12 says “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.”

As ministers of God we don’t need praises from men but from God.

For men to praise you; you must please them and displease God.

The encouragement of today is that you should not live your life to please man- do not water down the truth of the gospel so that you will be accepted by man.

There is no wisdom in craving for the acceptance of man at the expense of God’s acceptance. It is not wise to please people and displease God.

Do not speak in error to gain the approval of men- rather speak like men approved by God.

Do not flatter your members because you do not want to lose them because the price of losing eternity is greater!

GOD'S PROMISES WILL NEVER FAIL

TEXT: 1 KINGS 8: 56

⁵⁶ “Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.”

God is not a man that He should lie. The scripture made us to know in 2 Corinthians 1:20 that God’s word is yes and amen- What does this mean? It means that when God speaks it will come to pass; all you need to do is to believe with faith.

God is not a talkative that loves to talk for fun or for the sake of talking without being serious about his words.

Once He speaks, He will fulfil His word because our God is a God of integrity- He does not talk to impress because He does not need to impress anybody.

God is capable of bringing all His promises to pass because no situation can be beyond His power- He is above all situation- He is God over everything.

God does not need to cajole or sweet talk anybody to gain their favour.

On this note, when God promises you anything, hold on to His promise without losing hope. It may tarry, it may seem not coming forth, but no matter how long it takes, if the promise is from God He will bring it to manifestation. The scripture says in Isaiah 55:11 “so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth, it shall not return to me void, but shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

Our text said “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to all His people Israel according to ALL THAT HE PROMISED, Not one word has failed of ALL THE GOOD PROMISES HE GAVE THROUGH HIS SERVANT MOSES.

The children of Israel went through hardship, trials and different difficult situations before they all the good promises that the Lord promised them. He promised them a land flowing with milk and honey and He fulfilled His promise.

The lessons here are – waiting is inevitable to enjoy the goodness of God.

Secondly, you may need to go through obstacles and many difficult situations before His promises will come to pass in your life. God never promised problem free life, He told us in John 16:33 that in this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer because He (God) has overcome the world. For the fact that a promise is from God does not mean it will be easily achieved.

However, the best part of the promises of God is that GOD WILL NOT FAIL HIS PROMISES- ALL WILL BE FULFILLED! Therefore, no matter how long it takes, wait for the promises of God – let Him fulfil His promises for you in His own time. Don’t look elsewhere for the fulfilment of God’s promise. Wait patiently and expectantly. Shalom!

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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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THE REWARD OF FAITH

TEXT: JAMES 1:6, MATTHEW 17:20 

“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” (James 1: 6-8).

“He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."(Matthew 17:20).

What is faith? The dictionary defined faith as complete trust or confidence in someone or something- faith is absolute trust in someone or something. The scripture defines faith as the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

Now that we have explained what faith is, the question here is who should we have absolute faith in? The only person that we can put our absolute faith in without being failed is the only wise God- the Lord Almighty. Hebrews 12: 1 says “Looking unto Jesus the author and the finisher of your faith… Jeremiah 17:5 buttressed this by saying “This is what the Lord says. Cursed is the one who trusts in man who draws strength in mere flesh, and whose heart turns away from the Lord.

Do you wonder why the Lord is advising us not to put our trust in fellow man? The reason is because God knows that there is limit to what human beings can do- our strength, wisdom and knowledge are limited as human beings. Only the almighty God is the unlimited God. Nothing limits Him if He’s set to do a thing.

Human being may promise to do something for you and they may genuinely have the mind of helping, but because of the limited power, strength and wisdom of human beings, they may faith you. Only God will not fail you; that is why He is the only one we should put our trust in.

The reward of faith is that when you put your faith in God He will not disappoint you- He will not fail you, He will bring your expectation to pass. As good as that sounds, there is more to it. To walk with God in faith you have to “leave your brain behind you” What do I mean? Faith requires what does not make sense to ordinary mind (example is when Jesus spat on the ground and used it to heal a blind eyes). It is scientifically proven that human brain is wired to protect and guide human being against any harm. That is why when you want to embark on any new idea, task or endeavour, your brain automatically tries to talk you out of making the move to do what is planned because your brain wants to protect you from “danger”. When walking with God in faith and you are told to do what is “humanly unreasonable” your brain will “enlightens” you not to do it because it makes no sense- this makes trusting God and walking in faith to be impossible.

There were people in the bible that got the rewards of their faith in the word of God- the Lord did not disappoint them, their expectation were made to come to pass.

King Jehoshaphat in second Chronicles 20 defeated all the people that waged war against his nation only by singing praises to God as the Lord instructed him to do. He won the battle without any weapon - without raising his hands to fight! The wall of Jericho came down flat only by marching and shouting of the people of God- they followed the instruction of God with faith and they had victory.

If Peter was using human wisdom when Jesus told him to go to the river to catch the first fish and open its mouth to get money for them to pay their tax, Peter would have said no- but because Peter had done away with his human brain (wisdom) his faith in Jesus made his expectation to come to fulfilment.

To cap it all, I will talk about Abraham’s faith- he was called the father of faith because of his “dangerous” faith in God. He demonstrated his faith to his son Isaac when God told him to sacrifice the boy for Him. When the boy asked the dad that he could see other thing for the sacrifice except the Ram, the father told his son that the Lord shall provide. Abraham believed that God is a loving God and wouldn’t allow him to sacrifice his long awaiting son. Lo and behold, the Lord proved himself as the ever faithful God again- He provided the Ram as Abraham expected!

The take home today is to be steadfast in your faith to God knowing well that the Lord will reward you by granting you the expectation of your heart and give you victory on every side provided you did not doubt Him.

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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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