AN OPEN HEAVEN

“Who shall ascend into the hill of The LORD? or who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from The LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation” PSALM 24:3-5

“And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in The Lamb’s book of life” REVELATION 21:25-27

 

 

Unless perhaps you are an atheist or something the like, we who have believed know that there is a God. He who comes to Him must believe that He is, and that a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (HEBREWS 11:6). Even we who believe, our faith is not based on some vague presumption, because that which may be known of God is manifest in us, God has shown it to us. The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that we are without excuse (ROMANS 1:19,20). Our instinct as humans is to run to a higher power in our greatest need when we are overwhelmed. Wherefore the Psalmist said, “From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I” PSALM 61:2. The Hill of The LORD will be opened both now and throughout all eternity to those who call upon Him. Our subjection to Him as God and Father not only demands our will worship but also the recognition that He meets our needs as well. I should think that you agree with me, that our subjection to our earthly fathers are not only down to our respect for them but the recognition of their responsibilities to us as well. A father who willingly neglected his responsibilities in meeting my needs throughout my life cannot just show up and demand respect and subjection. God is our Father because we run to Him in times of our needs and He meets them. God will never shy away from His responsibilities as a Father. His responsibility as a Father also demands our obedience as children. His Word says if we are willingly and obedient, we shall eat the good of the land ( ISAIAH 1:19)

The righteous ascends to the hill of God as he lifts up his hands in prayer. To ascend to His holy hill one needs to have clean hands and a pure heart. Paul the Apostle said, I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting (1 TIMOTHY 2:8). The eyes of God are too holy to behold iniquity. Our diligence in seeking Him receives no reward sometimes because of our iniquities. Our prayers sometimes becomes abominable to Him because of our sins, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to The LORD: but the prayer of the upright is His delight,The LORD is far from the wicked: but He heareth the prayer of the righteous” PROVERBS 15:8,29. It is quite clear that the gates to the city of God are not shut day or night, we only cannot ascend when we are defiled by our abominable acts. He hides His face because of our sins, ” Behold, The LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear:But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness” ISAIAH 59:1-3. Any form of diligence whatsoever in prayer will receive no reward unless we have clean hands and pure hearts. Drawing close to Him in full assurance of faith as a rewarder of those who seek Him is contingent upon we having clean hands and pure hearts, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised;) ” HEBREWS 10:22-23. I am convinced that God is obliged to answer every prayer of the righteous, for so His Word affirms. His gates will never be shut day or night to whoever seeks Him in righteousness. It’s about time we ascended the holy hill of God having our hearts sprinkled from every evil conscience, knowing that His gates will swing wide open, and that God will meet every need. Your life will never be the same again. In The Name that is above all names, Jesus Christ, Son of The Living God. Amen and Amen!

THE SIN OF HATRED

“Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him” 1 JOHN 3:15

“Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire” MATTHEW 5:21-22

 

May God search our hearts and rid us of all bitterness and hatred. These things are silent killers. They not only destroy the people we hate, they destroy us too. It is very easy to have these silent killers rooted in you and not know. It very easy to be a murderer and not even be aware of. Hatred in a persons heart is like cancer, if not properly dealt with at the roots, it spreads throughout the whole body. It eats your whole body up till it destroys you. To hate according to the text is to detest,love less, esteem less. The first ever murder recorded in history is that of Cain killing his brother Abel. Cain gratuitously murdered Abel. His murder was without any cause. He was killed just for being righteous and accepted of God. It is very easy to say that you wouldn’t physically kill someone and therefore cannot be classified as a murderer. The fact is, God judges intentions and actions equally. The thoughts of your hearts are judged as equally as your actions. Jesus said that if a man looks on woman to lust after her in his heart, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart (MATTHEW 5:28). It was in this same line by which he made reference to murder. You may not begin as wanting to kill physically, but it builds up. Hatred as a root not dealt with grows. Jesus dealt with a situation like that. The Jews said that they wouldn’t have murdered the prophets were they in the days of their fathers. Yet their hatred for Jesus was evident. It is the hatred that builds up till the final act is committed if not dealt with. Their hatred for Jesus made them no different from their fathers, and eventually they killed just like their fathers did, ” And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar” MATTHEW 23:30-35. The witness that they were murderers was not because they had physically killed anyone yet, it was in their hatred. They hated just like their fathers did and was to eventually end up like them. Wherefore He said, fill ye up the measure of your fathers! He knew that it was only a matter of time they made that transition.

When a man lusts sexually so much in his heart, it is only a matter of time before he commits physically. It’s like a cup that fills up gradually. The root of every murder is hatred. People don’t just begin as murderers. The hatred builds up in them until one day it erupts. What can make a man kill his own blood brother? Joseph’s brothers didn’t just wake up one day and then decided to kill him. The hatred was built gradually over a period until they filled up the measure and decided to go for the kill. He who hates another is no different from a murderer according to God’s Word. A murderer strongly detests his victim, so does the hater. A murderer has less esteem for his victim, so does the hater. A murderer has less or no love for for his victim, so does the hater. Racial bigots detests people from other race or ethnic backgrounds. Their hatred is so strong that they have no respect whatsoever for their existence. It is hatred that makes one group of people lynch another group. The whole of the commandments is summed up in love. Love does not puff up. The colour of your skin does not make you feel more special, your tribe or ethnic background doesn’t puff you up if you have love. Love is the cure to all forms of hatred because it thinks no evil. No man that hates his brother or that is a murderer has eternal life in him.We may all have been guilty of murder in one way or the other. I don’t know about you, but I ask God to search my heart and purge me from all hatred. May the love of God be shed abroad in our hearts. May He purge us from every form of bitterness. Our lives will never be the same again. In The Name that is above all names, Jesus Christ, Son of The Living God. Amen and Amen!

THE MEMOIR OF A WARROIR

“I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members” ROMANS 7:21-23

“If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto theeshall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him” GENESIS 4:7

 

Over six millennia of war raging and still counting, the battle between good and evil, the flesh and the spirit, until all His enemies are made His footstool. Creation pants, and groan in pain together until now, looking forward to the manifestation of the sons of God. Till the physical delivery from bondage unto the glorious liberty of the sons of God, till corruption puts on incorruption, till death is swallowed up in victory, it’s on, the raging continues! Sin lies at your door, God said, his desire is have you, but you must master it. Teach my soul how to war, be the Captain of my soul, should be our prayer. From victory unto victory, The Captain of our souls will lead us until every foe is vanquished. He teaches my hands how to war, said the Psalmist, that a bow of steel is broken by my arm (PSALM 18:34). And of Joseph he said, The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob (GENESIS 49:23-24). In this battle between good and evil, sometimes the arrows of sin and its poison takes a hit, sometimes we are sorely grieved and wounded, but the arms of our hands are strengthened by the hands of The Almighty God. The bows of the sons of God will always abide in strength, sin shall not have dominion over us.

Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth! A little leaven leavens the whole lump. There is this fire in our members, this leaven in our flesh, which wars against the laws of our mind. It wars against the wholesome truth, the engrafted Word which is able to save our souls, and brings us to captivity. The writer cried and said, O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? But then God left us not without a witness, the nemesis is always crouching, he is always present at the door, but we must master him. Walk in The Spirit, He said, and you shall not fulfill the desires of the flesh (GALATIANS 5:16). This is the witness of God, God teaching our hands to war. The desires of the flesh, the will of the sinful nature lies at the doors of our hearts. Every now and then its motions work within us to bring us to captivity, yet left He us not without a witness. Lest the enemy takes advantage over us, we are not ignorant of his devices (” CORINTHIANS 2:11). His desire is to steal, kill, and destroy, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ our Lord. He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly.

We have not received the spirit of bondage, but The Spirit of adoption. If we live in The Spirit, so must we walk in Him. The mind of The Spirit is the mind of a victorious warrior, that of the fleshy carnal mind is an enmity. It is not subject to things of God, neither indeed can be (ROMANS 8:7). Strive to enter in at the strait gate, He said (LUKE 13:24). In that He said strive, he meant to contend as in a war. The battle line is already drawn. In any contest or battle, you sometimes get hit, but he who endures to the end shall be saved (MATTHEW 10:22). It’s almost like sometimes we go out of town living the doors wide open, yet crouches the nemesis at the door, yet know we that as a serpent, he lies by the way, as an adder he lies in the path. He bites the horses heel, so that its rider fall backwards. He who endures to the end… Tough times don’t last but tough people do. Thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph through Christ Jesus. May He help us yield to His Spirit, and not to the will of the flesh. May He lead us from victory to victory, and from glory to glory. We shall live and not die, win and not loose. Till all His enemies are made His footstool, till corruption puts on incorruption, till death is swallowed up in victory, lean on that everlasting Arm. May The Arm of God be your strength, sin shall not have dominion over you. In The Name that is above all names, Jesus Christ, Son of The Living God. Amen and Amen!

STRENGTH FOR THE FAINT

“And Samson called unto The LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes” JUDGES 16:28

“The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of The God of Jacob defend thee; Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion; Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice” PSALM 20:1-3

 

My prayer today is that God hears everyone of us through the dark clouds, that through the abundance of His mercy and compassion which fails not, He bows down His ears to our prayers and hear us. That in wrath He remembers mercy, and accept our burnt sacrifices. When He looks down from heaven, from His holy hill, and glorious sanctuary, may He behold our frame and remember that we are but flesh and blood, we are but dust of the earth, we are like vapour which appears and vanishes. We have heard LORD of your renown, your glorious deeds and mighty works, your just judgement. We have heard how fearful you are in all your mighty deeds,  glorious in holiness and fearful in praise. Who can ascend to your holy hill, but he that is of a pure heart and clean hands, who have not lifted his soul unto vanity and sworn deceitfully, yet still we remember that a broken heart and a contrite spirit you despise not. Bow down your ear LORD and hear. When you do, wrap up, and bundle us with your love, and compassion which fails not.

For twenty years he judged the people of God. A ruler and a protector he was among them. His strength was unheard-of. The mere whispering of his name made the hearts of their enemies faint for fear. The mention of his name made their knee joints smote one against the other. He was spoken of before he was born. A one man army he was, fierce strength he had. He could rise and lift up the gate of a whole city, and climb the mountains with it. With the jaw bone of an ass he slew a thousand men. When his soul was athirst after that mighty victory, he drunk miraculously from the hollow cleave God made through that same jaw bone. He wrought many victories and had many conquest yet had he an Achilles heel. His strength and confidence sometimes was his weakness, yet had he a far more greater weakness. Why would God put such precious treasure in a vessel of clay? This has confounded righteous men throughout every generation. The excellency of power and praise is all His and not of man. His strength became his weakness, his weakness his corruption. He woke up one day on the wrong side, and found his glorious locks shaven. Before he could say jack, he lost his eyes. How art the mighty fallen? How are princes now walking bare foot and servants riding chariots? How art the mighty fallen? The beauty of Israel was cast into prison, and bound with fetters and chains. Tell it not Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, David said of the death of Saul, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. Mighty men were made to triumph but here was one made a byword and a laughing stock. The Philistines rejoiced because their greatest enemy was not only blinded but had lost his once mighty power. However in prison, his locks began to grow. The wrath of The LORD will not abide forever. I have loved you with an everlasting love He said, and with my loving kindness have I drawn you. In His wrath, He remembered mercy, when the weak man began to pray. The Most High will not forsake forever. For a small moment have I forsaken thee, He said, but with great mercies will I gather thee (ISAIAH 54:7)

Arise O weary soul and cry to your God, arise O prodigal son and return thou home! A great feast has been prepared for you. With a royal apparel and a signet you will be adorned, in Him there is no shadow of turning. Blessed is the men whose iniquities are forgiven, blessed is the man to whom The LORD will not impute iniquity. However, in prison his locks began to grow. Ain’t it comforting that there is always a ‘however’ with God and His dealing with men. Say to the weary man, He said, your God will surely come, He will come and save you. Samson called upon The LORD and said, O Lord GOD remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me. May God remember all our burnt sacrifices of repentance as we lay them upon the altar. From His sanctuary may He send help, may He defend us in the day of trouble. May He draw us to Himself through His loving-kindness  Our lives will never be the same again. In The Name that is above all names, Jesus Christ, Son of The Living God. Amen and Amen!

THE SINNER’S PRAYER

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free Spirit” PSALM 51:10-12

“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” HEBREWS 4:15-16

 

King David in this particular Psalm prays to God after he was convicted of sleeping with Bathsheba and killing Uriah her husband. This conviction was by The Holy Ghost through the Prophet Nathan. I think it will be very helpful when on your own spare time you read the whole of PSALM 51. Here we have The Spirit of God baring the inner and secret things of men, bringing to light the secrets of a believers heart. In David we have a believer struggling with an infirmity not dealt with properly, which leads to other grievous crimes. One thing about sin, and certain individual infirmities is that, when they are not dealt with in the right way, they can lead to so many things, and our final destruction. Every now and then, in the letters of Paul the Apostle, you find him talk about the old man, and the new man. The old man according to scripture is corrupted by deceitful lusts, whiles the new man is renewed  and after God is created in righteousness, and true holiness (EPHESIANS 4:22,24). I am yet to see a single person on earth who sins not. Jesus Christ, The Son of the Living God was the only person to walk this earth without having committed any sin. Sin is so powerful in the way in takes hold of a man and strangle him into subjection. First it comes to you in a subtle way and through deception slays you. Once it brings you to subjection, it takes the grace of God to break you free from such strangle hold. Before we were saved by Christ, our manner of life was according to the prince of the power of the air, Satan, the same power which according to The Word of God now works in the children of obedience (EPHESIANS 2:2). King David was walking one day on the roof of his house and saw a woman bathing. This woman he later found out was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, a soldier in his Army. Scripture says that the woman was so beautiful to look upon (2 SAMUEL 11:2). King David overcome by his lustful desires sent for the married woman and slept with her. Bathsheba after this encounter with the king became pregnant, and to cut a long story short David found ways to kill Uriah her husband after various unsuccessful attempts to trick him into sleeping with her wife so it may appear that the baby was his. Bathsheba then became Davids wife after the death of Uriah. Tragic right? The whole story can be found in 2 Samuel 11.

David upon conviction by The Spirit of God went straight before the throne of grace by prayer. With a contrite heart, and a broken spirit, he first and foremost asked for mercy from God, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions” PSALM 51:1. These things were written as an example unto us. Like king David, believers sometimes find ourselves trapped, and guilty of certain hidden and besetting sins. God have mercy on our souls if the things we do in secret are brought to light. If God should count iniquity who shall stand? (PSALM 130:3). God feeling the infirmities of men does not want us to fall apart but to be upheld by His Spirit through the grace we have in His Son Jesus. He prayed for a renewal of the right spirit within him. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy spirit from me, he said. When the infirmities of our flesh have the better of us, we run like David to the throne of grace and find mercy. We do not flee from the presence of God like Cain when he killed his brother Abel (GENESIS 4:16), we run to His presence, the throne of grace to find help. Every now and then we slip and slide into sin, but His mercy is always available to forgive, and His grace for help. If you struggle with any besetting sin, pray like David prayed. Run to the throne of grace and ask for a clean heart. Tell God to renew you and cleanse you, spirit,soul, and body. Sin shall not have dominion over you. The blood of Jesus is more powerful than any weight of sin. May He free us from any guilt, and draw us to Him through the cross of His Son Jesus. May the weight and conscience of sin be destroyed by the blood of Jesus. Our lives will never be the same again. In The Name that is above all names, Jesus Christ, Son of The Living God. Amen and Amen!

THRESHED AND SANCTIFIED

“And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto The LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite” 2 SAMUEL 24:18

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him” JOHN 4:23

 

Before there ever were threshing machines, farmers used threshing floors to thresh their grains after harvest. They were located close to farms or farmhouses, and could be owned by an entire village, a person, or a family. They often were built in high places to take advantage of the winds which helps in winnowing, a process of separating the grain from the chaff after threshing. The grains after harvest were spread on the threshing floor. Pairs of oxen would drag round a heavy threshing board on the floor to separate the ears of grain from the stalk, and also the grain itself from the husks. The broken grain afterwards were collected and and thrown into the air with the aid of a winnowing fan. The chaff is blown away and separated from the grain. Threshing floors are always mentioned with harvest, they are synonymous. They are are made for the harvest, and it is profitable for separation. It doesn’t just separate the grain from the chaff, it also does separate them from certain pests like weevils. The aim of the farmer is to take the pure grain home void of any impurities, and that is where the threshing floor helps. He who ploughs always do that in hope of harvest. Harvest times are days of reckoning when we assess the outcome of our toils. They are the times when we reap what we sow, and evaluate the fruits of our labour. God is the farmer, and we are the grains in His field. As a good farmer He sows good seed in His field and make everything needed available to facilitate healthy growth in expectation of good harvest, “Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes…” ISAIAH 5:1-2. His fields are already white,ready for harvest, and He is sending labourers into His harvest. He is taking only the pure separated grain into His barn. He will take us to His threshing floor and thresh His grains, He will separate His grains from the chaff. To ascend to His holy hill, we must be threshed, “Who shall ascend into the hill of The LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully” PSALM 24:3-4.

 

Pure worship, that is, worshiping God in Spirit and in truth is born from the threshing floors. On the threshing floors we are separated. Sanctification is necessary if we are to ascend to His holy hills. On the threshing floors we are searched if there be any hidden vanity, and then purged unto true worship. David was told by Gad the Prophet to rear up an altar unto The LORD in the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. The altar is a place of worship. It is a place of sacrifice, it is a place of atonement. On the threshing floor of Araunah, David built an altar and sacrificed unto Him, there the wrath of God was a pacified. On the hills of Golgotha, a threshing field was built. An altar was raised and a Lamb sacrificed. The blood from the veins of The Lamb purges and cleanses. By this blood we are sanctified, through the blood, the wrath of God was pacified. In Christ Jesus we are threshed by God and separated as a peculiar treasure unto Him. Having therefore being threshed, we do not return to our filth any more. Scripture says to come out from among them and be ye separate, and we shall be received (2 CORINTHIANS 6:17). Without any controversy God seeks true worshipers, and is coming for a Church without spot and blemish. We do not return to our filth as a dog returns to its vomit. We were threshed and purged to ascend to His holy hills. We were threshed to walk in the newness of life and to maintain good works, “This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men” TITUS 3:8. The final harvest of Christ is at hand, and He will gather His wheat into His garner, but the chaff will be burnt with fire, “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will clear His threshing floor, gathering His wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” MATTHEW 13:12 (NIV). The day of reckoning is at hand, where will you be? Will you be separated and gathered into His barn, or burnt with the chaff? May God grant us a true heart separated unto a true worship. May we be found in Him on that day. In The Name that is above all names, Jesus Christ, Son of The Living God. Amen and Amen!

SIN AND THE CARNAL MIND

“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God” ROMANS 8:6-8

“If so be that ye have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” EPHESIANS 4:21-24

 

We need to understand as children of God that our whole disposition which in fact is our obligation, is to please God and walk worthy of Him. Paul the Apostle in his letter to the Colossians urged and prayed for them that they may walk worthy of The Lord unto all pleasing (COLOSSIANS 1:10) When God called Abraham and made a covenant with him, He told him to walk before Him and be perfect (GENESIS 17:1). This is not like an imposition to enslave you, and not to make you have your own free will. Matter of fact, as a moral agent you have your own free will. You have the right to choose which ever way you want to go and decide what ever life you like to live. The mind of God concerning us from the beginning, His thoughts of us is to bring us to a good and expected end. When God tells us to stay away from sin, it is for our own good. When He lay down His law for us to live by, it is for our good and not because He is some tyrant or killjoy, ” And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it” DEUTERONOMY 32:46-47. The nature of sin is to destroy. Sin has only one destination, death. When one is set on the road of sin, barring any divine intervention and God graciously saving, one is bound to go the way of death. The desire of sin has always been to bind and enslave us and later sting us with death. Our obligation which is a necessity for the preservation of our lives is to do that which is right, the provisions made by God in His Word, and sin shall have no dominion over us. Reason been that we are not subject to sin so as to obey, but subject to righteousness through obedience to God and His Word. Let’s see what God’s prescription was to Cain when he sinned and later killed his brother, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him” GENESIS 4:7. Sin Lies at your door, God said. It is always present, desiring to have you and rule over you, but we are urged by God to rule rather over sin. We are always servants to whom we yield ourselves servants to obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness (ROMANS 6:16). Man was made subject to corruption through sin from the beginning. Man willingly yielded to the deceptions of sin and sold our right to rule to sin and became slaves to sin. Being therefore slaves, we were no longer free to do what we will, but the will of our master which is sin, because slaves even though they have their own will, yet are they not free to do what they will. Wherefore the writer said, for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. Then he said again, O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (ROMANS 7:18,24). But, for this purpose was The Son of God made manifest. That He might destroy him that have the power of sin and death (1 JOHN 3:8). He was made manifest, and destroyed sin in the flesh, that we being delivered from wherein we were held,in corruption and slavery of sin, we might live a newness of life in freedom to serve God unto righteousness and life.

The scripture therefore said, O death, where is your sting, O grave, is your victory? There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, walking not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. It is The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus which makes us free from sin and death (ROMANS 8:1-2). The old man which was sold under sin is destroyed by the death and resurrection of Christ. There is a new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. We put on this new man, and walk in the newness and liberty, and sin has no dominion over us. We use the liberty we now have to renew our mind daily in the newness of The Spirit which tends to life. Every now and then, the old carnal mind will try to fight, but by enforcing Christ’s victory over sin, we overcome in victory. The old carnal mind is and will not be subject to the things of God which brings life, matter of fact, it can’t. Its path is that of death. When it takes hold of a man, it leaves him not until it has destroyed him. Ever known a man who is a slave to alcohol, who has destroyed his liver and kidney through drinking? He is well aware of what the alcohol has done to him but has no power whatsoever to stop drinking. His will is to stop drinking having seen all the destruction it’s wrought and still doing but can’t stop. Why? Because he is a slave sold to alcohol. He is bound to do the will of his master even unto death. So is the old carnal mind, it is never subject to God, it just can’t, even though that will give him life in the end. We are renewing our minds today through God’s word and prayer. We are subjecting the old man to defeat and walking in the newness of life through Christ’s victory over sin. Our lives will never be the same again. In The Name that is above all names, Jesus Christ, Son of The Living God. Amen and Amen!

WILL GOD HEAR ME TOO?

“Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months” JAMES 5:17

“Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him” ACTS 10:34-35

 

There are times when we feel that certain people are out of this world, that they are so unique and different from us when it comes to prayer and accessing God. Certain people seem to pray effectively with results, whiles our prayers seem to hit the ceiling and fall to the ground. We look on such people with awe and amazement, we wonder at the success rate they get from prayers. We wonder why they get results, why God listens and answers them but not us. You may have asked questions, you may have asked why? Are they so different from you and me? Do they have the same flesh and blood like us? Are they really humans like us? There are times when many us may have doubted whether prayers do work, or whether God has chosen just not to listen to us. The fact that you have seen and witnessed results from someone else’s prayer means that prayer does work. Question is, will God really hear me the same way He hears others? Yes, why not? You don’t take it from my mouth but from what God says in His Word. Scripture says that God is no respecter of persons, in other words He’s not biased, partial, nor show any kind of favoritism. Everywhere and in any nation, he who fears Him, and work righteousness is accepted with Him. The secret then is not in God being partial, and those people not being so special, but fearing God and working righteousness. God is always opened to the prayer of the righteous, those who fear him and eschew evil ” For the eyes of The Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of The Lord is against them that do evil” 1 PETER 3:12. There is no doubt as to whether God hears us or not. He knows the secrets of our hearts. There is not a single thought in our hearts, but He hears them all. The dark and hidden things of a man’s heart are open before His face, He knows when we lust after someone in our hearts. Will He then be oblivious to our prayers? “Behold, The LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear:But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear” ISAIAH 59:1-2. Those who readily receive answers to prayer are just like you and me. The secret of their result is in their sanctity and in their righteousness. God will accept any man from any nation without partiality who fears Him and eschews evil. He answers them even before they ask since He knows already the hearts of all men “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” ISAIAH 65:24

We approach certain people to pray on our behalf because we feel they are unique and specially chosen by God, we do not feel confident enough in our own self and prayers. If we have confident in Him and our prayers, we are assured of them, we rejoice in ours and not another man’s prayer “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him” 1 JOHN 5:14-15. Why pay a middle man to access your goods when you can do that yourself? You see those T.V Evangelist who appear as if they are from another planet, who make merchandise of you, who claim that they have received a special mandate from God, and that those who pay certain amount of money shall receive special prayers that destroy certain yoke? They won’t be on T.V if you could pray yourself. They won’t milk you and live sumptuously in private jets and those mansions if you knew the secret of prayer and could pray yourself.We are instructed by God to come boldly to Him ourselves when in need, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” HEBREWS 4:16. This is not to say that it is wrong to tell someone to help you in prayers, or that every T.V evangelist is a fraudster. Scripture says that we should pray one for another (JAMES 5:16). It should be a prayer of agreement and not a contract. Scripture says that if two shall agree on earth touching anything they shall ask, it will be done (MATTHEW 18:19)

Elijah the Prophet is an example of how a man can have a direct access to God via prayer. He is an example of how effective the prayer of a righteous man is, how God will not withhold anything from him who walks upright, how the heavens are opened to the cry of the righteous. One man prayed that the heavens give no rain, and it was so. There was no rain on the earth for three and half years. He prayed again and the heavens gave rain. This is one of the many things this righteous man achieved through prayer. He was the same man who called fire three times from heaven. Scripture says that he was just like you and me, a man of like passions. If he achieved such great results through prayer, we can also. May God purge us from all unrighteousness and make our prayers a sweet scented offering accepted by fire. May our prayers be a sweet song in His ears. Our lives will never be the same again. In The Name that is above all names, Jesus Christ, son of The Living God. Amen and Amen!

HOW SOON IS BETHEL CORRUPTED?

“Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king’s chapel, and it is the king’s court” AMOS 7:12-13

“And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts” MATTHEW 8:34

 

As I searched some archives to check the life of Amos, I saw an artist’s impression of him with the inscription, Amos the fearless Prophet. O, how I wish we had men like the Prophet Amos who will be fearless in days of adversity and strong opposition, men who despite all the contrary forces shall stand and declare fearlessly the truth of the gospel, the unadulterated Word of God. For your information, he was not even a Prophet neither was he trained to become one in the school of the prophets. He was just a shepherd and a gatherer of sycamore fruit.When the real prophets were corrupted and forsook the truth, God turned to Him and said go prophesy (AMOS 7:14-15). In these last days God is doing the same. Just like Jesus said, the first shall be the last, and the last first (MARK 10:31). The axe is already laid to the root of tree, every tree which bears not fruit is hewn down and cast into fire. Isaiah took a parable and song, a song of his well beloved who had a vine in a fruitful hill ” Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes” ISAIAH 5:1-2. God’s own vineyard which we are, planted with the choicest of vine are now a disappointment. He looked that we bring forth grapes but we brought forth wild grapes. Now He says, be it far from me, as many as honour me will be honoured. He looks out for people with no pedigree and like Amos, and ordain them to push His Kingdom forward.

Bethel means the house of God, a place sanctified for God’s habitation. It was the place where Jacob first met God. It was the place of connection between heaven and earth (GENESIS 28:12). It was the place where divine wisdom, counsel, and revelation was given. It was a place of solace and comfort, a place of assurance and righteousness. It was the holy place of God’s habitation, His sanctuary. Bethel was a fruitful and sanctified hill. There, Jacob mounted the stone and poured oil on and made a vow unto God. But how soon is Bethel corrupted? Why is God thrown out of His own habitation? Now they longer want to hear from God any more. Now Bethel is corrupted and no longer wants the wholesome truth that it might be saved. They say to His prophets, flee Bethel and go somewhere else, we can’t bear your words any more. The House of God is now polluted with idolatry, the truth of God is now marginalized and scorned, it is now adulteralted. Just like Jeroboam built high places in Bethel and multipled idolatry in Bethel and caused Israel to stumble, so are the leaders of the Church now. But God is raising the Amos(s) of today who shall cry upon every housetop the wholesome truth of the gospel. A corrupted people and a corrupted heart cannot bear the truth of God “Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words” AMOS 7:10. It’s almost unbelievable that these days preaching of righteousness, and staying away from sin is unbearable. The corrupted Church block their ears and even scorn. You don’t preach righteousness because you are self righteous, because you feel you are holy than anybody. We are just heralds and messengers who present the message as given and instructed. How is holiness become unbearable? Why do the hearers now block their ears? Why are they throwing Amos out of Bethel? The corrupted priest Amaziah, and the Church can’t bear it any more. God is raising the Josiahs who will restore order and destroy the high places and the false priests.

Can you believe this, that Jesus was thrown out of a city for doing good, for healing two men possessed with devils in the country of Gergesenes? Can you see how low the city was, and how corrupted it was? See, darkness wants nothing to with light, and like Jesus said, if the light that is within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (MATTHEW 6:23). Yet in all these there is hope. God is calling out to us to turn to the truth, to seek the truth and walk in it, that we may find rest for our souls. He love the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting Life (JOHN 3:16). May we by His grace open up our hearts to Him. May we pursue His truth and walk in it. May Bethel be purged and God restored to His rightful habitation. Our lives will never be the same again. In The Name that is above all names, Jesus Christ, Son of The Living God. Amen and Amen!

RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE TRUTH

“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” 1 TIMOTHY 4:16

“Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest” JOSHUA 1:7

 

Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine was what Paul the Apostle said to his son in the faith Timothy, a young and able minister. Jesus also once said to his disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which by implication meant the doctrines of the Pharisees. Moses the servant of The LORD nearing the end of His life charged the people of Israel to be careful to observe the commandment of God as it is and not in any other way or form i.e perverted or adulterated “Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left” DEUTERONOMY 5:32. God also affirmed the same when He charged Joshua who replaced Moses after his death as the leader of God’s people to take head to the words and not turn to the right or left. You find other instances in the bible where God gives certain revelatory words or messages to His servants and tell them to say it as it is. For example in the book of Revelation, after God had given the message to John, He warned against adding or taking anything from it. Now, why is it important to let the Word be as it is? Why is God so insistent on sticking to  His Word as He says it? Why do we have to take heed to the doctrine, why not twist and turn The Word of God? Why are we urged not to turn to the right or left?. First of all we can get a clear picture from what Paul told Timothy. By taking heed to the doctrine, we save ourselves and others who hear us. In The Word of God is that intrinsic ability to save, and not only that but destroy. You go to the doctor’s and he prescribes a medicine to you according to a particular course, and tells you to stick to the daily course. He instructs you in that sense for your own good. Inside the drug is that which is able either to save your life or kill you. Taking a dose below what is required can make the parasites causing the ailment to be resistant to the drug, an overdose however could kill you. The right amount or dosage is just what is needed ,to make you safe. God’s Word is forever perfected in the way it is and presented to us. We have been given the requisite dosage in the way it’s revealed in the written form. He couldn’t give more or less required than that given us ” The secret things belongs unto The LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” DEUTERONOMY 29:29. We have been warned by God of the consequence of saying,doing, or teaching otherwise than that required “Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar” PROVERBS 30:6. Again “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” REVELATIONS 22:18-19. There are rewards of blessing in sticking to that which is given in the revealed Word as it is (REVELATION 1:3)

Saying or teaching anything besides what God truly meant as revealed in His Word is Heresy. Like His Word says, heresy is of the works of the flesh or the fruits of the flesh as opposed to the fruit of The Spirit, and no man who do such shall inherit the Kingdom of God (GALATIANS 5:19-21). There are some that are heretic, not willingly but as a result of lack of understanding “As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction” 2 PETER 3:16. Some however after knowing and understanding the truth of The Word, willingly swerve or miss the target and teach others to do so (1 TIMOTHY 1:6-7). By so doing, they willingly blaspheme the name of The Lord. A typical example of such people are Hymenaeus and Alexander who were both heretics (1 TIMOTHY 1:20). It is the desire of God that His Word blesses and prosper our ways by sticking to it as it is. It is the only way we can make our way successful. His Word is a lamp to our feet and light to our paths (PSALM 119:105). May God help us to rightly divide His Word and by so doing save ourselves and others. In The Name that is above all names. Jesus Christ, Son of The Living God. Amen and Amen!