During this Sunday service Pastor Richmond Leigh (my husband) preached from the Book of Acts. ‘So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans’ (Ac 8:25). Pastor Richmond Leigh said that Peter and John, two of the leading disciples, after finishing the work in Samaria, they did not rush back to Jerusalem. They preached the Gospel in many villages in Samaria. This is an astonishing statement of a deep revelation. Why ‘waste time’ preaching to the villagers? This action is in contrast with the way the world does its things. So, why did they do this?

The first reason why the Apostles preached to the poor people in the villages is because of the nature of the message. The Gospel is designed to be preached to all men, but to the poor people in particular. This is God’s plan and purpose. The Gospel is the Good news of the Cross. Jesus died for our sins so that we might live. This Gospel makes people happy. The effect of believing the Gospel is that people begin to sing. Even if their voices are not very melodious, they cannot stop singing. This is a sign of joy, freedom and thanksgiving. When the angels announced the birth of our Lord, they were singing (Lk 2:14). Once you believe the Gospel, you shall experience a new desire to tell everybody about it. It is like you have discovered a treasure. The believer is talkative! The Gospel was so wonderful and amazing, that Peter and John could not contain themselves, they could not refrain themselves from preaching it. They were happy to preach it to the poor men and women in the villages. Halleluiah!

This attitude or strategy is the opposite with that of the world. The world tells its preachers to go to the bog cities and preach to the rich, famous, educated and emancipated men. The world loves brilliant ideas but unfortunately for them, the Gospel is not meant for the worldly wise brilliant men. The way God designed the preaching of the Gospel, is that the wise men of this world will regard it as ‘foolishness’ (1Cor 1:17-24). The proud wise men cannot find God thru their proud investigation. But the simple poor men believe what the big men rejected. Their faith leads to salvation. They believe that Christ crucified and resurrected is the wisdom and the power of God! That is how they get saved! That is why they rejoice!

Let’s look at our Savior, Jesus Christ! Imagine for a moment that He came into this world as the world wanted it. He could have been born to a rich, educated couple, in a palace. He could have gone to the best schools in Jerusalem. He could have come with pomp and pageantry. But see the way He came! He was born as a baby, in a manger, among animals. His parents were poor simple people. God came in the flesh as a helpless baby. He worked with his hands. He was a carpenter. When He started His ministry, Jesus did not go towards the rich, noble, educated and famous people. He went to all, but especially to the poor people. He was not a Pharisee.

Can you imagine that? A whole Jewish Redeemer who did not train in their Bible schools or prophetic classes! He chose disciples among the simple people, mostly the working class and the fishermen in particular. “And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?” (Jn 7:15). Jesus did not start a School of Philosophy where the great question of the unity of Christ could be thought, where debates could have been rewarded. Jesus did not come as a military general to set up a military academy. He did not go to Jerusalem to set Himself as the King of the Jews. He could have appeared to all saying that He needs qualified men to be His assistants. Their CVs should show a minimum requirement of PhD in Philosophy, working as a Pharisee for 20 years or being a senator in Rome for at least two terms, with exceptional oratory skills. In that case, none of us could have been saved and none of us could have been able to work for God! What a Savior!

When Jesus sent a word to John the Baptist, to encourage him while in prison, He said that the Gospel is confirmed by miracles and it is ‘preached to the poor’ (Mt 11:3-5). The Gospel is preached to the Poor! This is the distinguished quality of the Gospel! That is why it is different from any other religious teaching or worldly philosophy! The Pharisees and the Greeks wanted nothing to do with the low class, uneducated poor men and women.   In the Parable of the Great Supper, the king’s invitation was rejected by the rich men. ‘Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ (Lk 14: 21). This is what King Jesus says: “Bring in here the poor, that they may feast at the royal table!”

Jesus was a humble preacher. The world did not understand him. Even His brothers did not understand Him. When He was arrested He did not struggle with the soldiers. He went to die ‘like a sheep going to the slaughter’. He did not ‘phone’ His friends in high places. When He was crucified, Jesus died ‘quickly’. The Roman soldiers were surprised. Crucifixion is a slow and painful form of death. But He died quickly. Why? So that the prince of this world, the devil, will not change his mind and bring Him down from the Cross. He died for us that we may be free from the judgment of sin and death! What a Savior!

In everything that He did, from His birth to His death, Jesus was the reverse of all that the world expected.  Look at the mother of Jesus! Mary was a simple girl. She was not a queen. She did not live in Herod’s palace. The first people who received the good news were simple shepherds. The announcement of the birth of the Messiah, was not given to the Governor of Judea, to the High Priest in Jerusalem or the Pharisees. The Word of God bypassed the big men, the politicians and the religious leaders and went to the wilderness, to a simple man called John the Baptist (Lk 3:1, 2). Why God did avoid the wise and powerful men of the world? This is so that ‘no flesh should glory in His presence’ (1Cor 1:26-29)!

Let us remind ourselves that it is the Gospel of Christ alone that has ever given hope to the poor. Revivals rarely start in big cities. They usually start in places nobody has heard of, or in places people think that they are too ungodly. They do not start in majestic cathedrals but in simple homes where the humble and faithful children of God gather to pray.   To many people, Warri/Effurun in Nigeria is a village. Many say: ‘What good can come to Warri? There is nothing good in Warri!’ But in this humble town, the Gospel is preached! This is great news! Jesus has come! The Holy Spirit is pouring fresh wine upon us! That is why we rejoice! Not because Warri has skyscrapers or beautiful parks (because it does not yet have them). But we are witnesses that the Holy Spirit loves it! That is enough for us to continue to sing unto the Lord! If Warri is good enough for Jesus, it is good enough for me and you! Jesus is the Simple Savior! He brought the simple Gospel to give salvation to simple people, like me and you! Never forget! Salvation is of God! He saves whom He wills! If you are a rich man, educated and famous then humble yourself! Believe the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved! (Ac 16:31). Worship the Lord!

“Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding” (PV 4:7)
Somebody gave me this advice long time ago. It has been useful to me all these years. It will be wisdom of life to you too! Never forget! This is the order of importance starting with the greatest:
1-Your relationship with God! (Know God!)
2-Your relationship with yourself! (Know yourself) 
3-Your relationship with your spouse! (Know your husband/wife)
4- Your relationship with your children! (Know your children)
5-Your relationship with church people and your co-workers
6- Your relationship with others! 

This list must be in this order! Once you switch the order, you will fall into trouble! For example, if you love your children more than you love your wife, you will fall into trouble! But the most important thing to remember is this: God first! God first! God first!

“If you come across a bird’s nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young” (Deut 22:6)

God loves the mother bird and her chicks. This is a warning to the hunters. If a bird has babies, leave them alone! Do not kill them! Do not take them as pets! God’s special covering protects them! According to the Word of God, Motherhood is blessed holy safety! Praise the Lord!

“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” (Lk 12:49)

When Jesus came into this world of sin, His express desire was to bring ‘fire on the earth’. John said that Jesus will baptize His own with the Holy Spirit and with fire. God is described as a consuming fire. What is the source of this fire? That volcano is found on the Calvary hill, at the Cross of Christ. It was there, hanging on that tree, the Son of God became a curse for us. It was there, when Jesus died for our sins that the fire of God came from heaven and consumed all things. The history of humanity, nothing and nobody was ever the same, after the Cross. Old things passed away and everything became new.

Fire stands for judgment. We are afraid of fire, for we know that fire has no mercy. All things, all labor and ministry shall be tried with fire. We all shall have an encounter with the fire of God. There is no salvation, deliverance, promotion or blessings that come without the fire. It purges the hearts and kindles the passion in pure vessels. Once you pass thru the fire, you are safe. For example, the patient who survived the sickness called Ebola, has nothing to fear anymore. The wicked virus has tried to kill him but failed. The immunity of the body has won. This survivor is the best candidate to go back to the Ebola infested villages and with bare hands help the others. That is a picture of a man who has passed thru fire and survived. There is no more fear; only power and only joy. That is a picture of a believer baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire. Nothing shall hurt him anymore. The devil has failed in his life.

I heard of a story. There was a man and his little son walking in a park in New York. Suddenly a fire started burning along the path. In few minutes they were trapped by the blaze. The father tried to use branches to quench the fire, but all in vain. The wind was driving the flames closer and closer to them. Then the father knew that the only way of escape is to pass thru the fire. He carried his son on his shoulders, comforted him that all is well, and jumped thru the fire to the other side. Behind the blaze all was calm. For all things were burnt off. The fire can never go back to a place that is burnt. That is the law of the fire, it never goes back to where it has damaged.

There is a spiritual lesson here. Whatever things you have suffered, if God was with you during that trial, you shall never go back to them again. The devil tried to kill you. And really, you should have died. That sickness should have sent you to the mortuary. That stress should have given you incurable depression. That loss should have made you homeless sleeping under the bridge…But, by the grace of God you survived…This is your testimony, that passing thru the fire, you did not end up a corpse. Even the things that got burnt, have a new meaning for you, for God promised to give you beauty for ashes, joy instead of weeping and a victory song nobody can quench. In the furnace of affliction, Shedrack, Meshach and Abednego met with the Forth Man, the Son of God who is the King of kings and also the King of fire.

This is my testimony: fire tried but failed to destroy me; its heat was not enough to disfigure my anointing; its flames could only purify my heart and my vision. I passed thru the fire of rejection, misunderstanding, sickness and slander. And I survived. Not only survived, but I am now qualified to encourage others coming behind. So this is my word to you: Fear not! Like that father and son, let’s jump together to the safe place behind the fire…Follow me as I follow Christ…Let’s go to the Cross where Jesus died for our sins…Let’s go behind the Cross, where no sorrow, no pain, no rejection and no sickness can ever attack. Come on…that is the way…thru the fire, into the freedom of worship, the power of true anointing and the victory of the blessed!

My book, Fruit that will last, is available thru Amazon or at our church’ Bookshop. Thank you for buying it! God bless you!

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit- fruit that will last… (John 15:16) . Fruitfulness is not a strange thing. It is strange to be unfruitful. God himself is eternally fruitful, and so shall it be with his children and everything in his kingdom. Are you fruitful? The author invites the seeking heart to experience a delectable basket of personal revelations and scriptures that will inspire the reader to pray for the fullness of the Spirit. Fruit that will Last is a spiritual event that will manifest as a physical experience. The fruit of the Spirit will manifest on you like oranges on an orange tree. At the beginning they are few and sour. No one enjoys an immature believer. But after some time the harvest will increase and become steady, others will ‘eat’ your words and find them sweet and strong. You will start to taste and enjoy the words that proceed from your own mouth.”

SERMON PREACHED BY MY HUSBAND, PASTOR RICHMOND LEIGH OF FATHER’S HOUSE, EFFURUN/WARRI!

This Sunday service, Pastor Richmond Leigh preached from the Book of Galatians. “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal 5:19-21; NKJ).

Pastor Richmond Leigh said that envy is one of the works of the flesh. Envy is defined as a strong feeling of resentment, anger, bitterness, dislike or hatred, mixed with a desire to have a quality, possession or a desirable thing belonging to someone else. Jealousy on the other hand, has a slightly different meaning. Jealousy is defined as a negative feeling, fearing that someone else takes what belongs to you. In the Bible, envy and jealousy are used interchangeably. They are a twin spirit. The operate together. Bringing the two definitions together, it works like this: ‘I want by all means to have what that man (woman) has. I don’t care if he loses all he has so that his property becomes mine’. Envy is a strong sentiment, synonymous with covetousness. This twin demons are from the pit of hell.

What are the main characteristics of this demon of envy?
*It is a familiar spirit. This demon operates mostly in the families, among friends, classmates, members of societies, fraternities, sororities, communities, tribal groups etc and even in the Christian church assemblies. Every time people gather, this demon is present. Leah was fruitful, her sister Rachel became angry and envied her (Gen 30:1). Because of his coat of many colors and because of his dreams, Joseph was envied by his older brothers (Gen 37:3-11). They wanted him dead. David was King Saul’s personal musician, armor bearer, army captain and son in law. But Saul envied David and tried to kill him (1Sam 18:6-9). Jesus was referring to this demon when He said: ‘A man’s enemies will be those of his own household’ (Mt 10:36).

*It is a secretive spirit. This demon stays quietly and unnoticed in his host until something happens that triggers him. It is secretive because it does not want to be detected. Generally, it is considered a shameful thing to envy another, to desire to harm a family member and take his property. That is why this demon is always embedded deep in the heart! What is it that triggers this demon to the point that it becomes active and it openly manifests? The answer is that Good news coming from the will be victim announcing his or her promotion or prosperity! For example, when you announce that: ‘I am promoted! I am getting married! I am pregnant! I am building a house!’ Any good news that shows that you are about to be elevated or that you are already elevated or any news that gives the impression that you are prospering more than the predator, will trigger and provoke this demon into action.

*It is a hypocritical spirit! It does not fight openly or publicly! But in the secret, it fights ferociously! For this reason, envious people end up resorting to the occult. They do not want you to know that they are your enemies. They pretend to be relatives or friends. “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there” (Jam 3:16). If this demon has to manifest and fight openly, it will make sure that you are alone and there are no witnesses. If you go to the peoples court to make any accusations, it will be his word to your word (that is if you are alive to tell the story). For a long time King Saul hid his jealousy for David. But one day it manifested. He tried to kill David with his javelin but David escaped the attack and ran away (1Sam 19:10).

*This demon hides behind a friendly attitude! It hides behind a friendly smile. In order to cover up the hatred, the bitterness and anger. Jealous people try to come closer to you, to become your friends. In this way they become even more dangerous. Suddenly, they become generous and offer help to you. But their help is never enough to solve your problem so that you do not become better than them. King Saul promoted David to become a captain in his army and even promised to give him his daughter as a wife. This was done to conceal his envy and so David can be killed by the Philistines (1Sam 18:13-17).

How do you know that you are under the attack of this twin spirit? The answer is this: it is difficult to know it! It may take a long time before you identify this demon. The most important thing to know is this: You need to be born again and be Spirit filled! A child of God who is sensitive to the Holy Spirit will also be sensitive to the presence of an unholy spirit. A great asset in this matter at hand is the gift of the Holy Spirit called ‘discernment of spirits’ (1 Cor 12:10). Pray to receive this gift! Of course, once the demon manifests and starts ‘throwing javelins at you’, you will know for sure who is hiding inside your relative or ‘friend’.

How do you deal with envious people? Keep them at arm’s length! Isolate them! Stop being over friendly with them! Do not tell them about your progress in life! Do not hate them but be wise! Conceal important information about yourself! Love your enemies but be careful! Jesus said: “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Mt 10:16). Fast and pray! God will help you!

How do these people end up in life? Except they surrender to Jesus, repent of their wicked deeds and become born again, they never end well. They shall go deeper and deeper into the occult, without any hope for eternity. If you can, pray for them!

Finally, it is good to be reminded that as a child of God, you are safe! These wicked people may succeed to hinder your progress for a while, they may torment you with sickness and anxiety, but they cannot destroy you! This is the Word of God: “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2Cor 4:8, 9). Worship the Lord!

THE WORD OF GOD
In Christ I declare:
‘We are not crushed!
We are not in despair!
We are not forsaken! 
We can never be destroyed!”
‘I believe! Therefore I’ve spoken!’ (2Cor 4:8, 9, 13)
Glory to God!!!!

“Her children rise up and call her blessed” (PV 31:28)
I came from Europe where most women feel unhappy about their looks. They struggle so much to look beautiful. Getting old is seen like a punishment. But in Nigeria (where I live and do ministry), things are very different. Thank God! In my experience, the older people here enjoy life more than the young ones. Getting older is seen as a life promotion. After a certain age, people are free from any bondage feelings of self-consciousness. I am a witness that people here believe that all mothers are beautiful, no matter their size, color, social status, financial status, fashion sense etc… If a young man wants to describe what love and beauty means, he thinks of his mother. He says: “My mama? I no de take am play! My mama? Na the best mama! She don suffer for me. I love am well-well…”

TESTIMONY

For reasons beyond our control, we could not hold our women’ fellowship for two months. We were all eager to meet again to pray. The Holy Spirit gave me the ‘push’ and the word for the Women in our church. Yesterday we were to have the fellowship. I was ready to confront the evil spirit of Jezebel (also known as the Queen of heaven, Mammy water or Ogbanje). I was also ready to lead the prayer session. This was so that all the sisters who will come to church may be inspired to follow the lead and pray deliverance for themselves and their families. A leader must lead! The only problem was that yesterday I woke up without my voice. I could only speak in whispers. That made me even more angry with the devil!

The Holy Spirit gave me a word from Jeremiah 44. The people of God refused to listen to the Prophet Jeremiah. The women were leading in the stubborn rebellion. They decided to ‘relocate’ to Egypt. God has told Jeremiah that His people shall be sent to Babylon, to live in exile for 70 years. This will be so that they will become humble. But God promised to be with them throughout the journey, to Babylon and back. There shall be grace in this loving chastisement. But some of the people of God, led by some women, decided to go to Egypt where God did not send them. Over there, they publicly declared that since they stopped serving the Queen of Heaven and decided to serve only Jehovah, their lives have become worse. They are now poor, sick and depressed. Based on what their eyes see, they decided not only to go back to Egypt to live there, but they shall go back to serve the Queen of Heaven. They decided to backslide so that they lives will be better. This is complete nonsense! The women were leading in this foolishness and their ‘mumu’ husbands agreed with them. Of course, God was angry and told them so thru the prophet Jeremiah. They rejected God, His prophet and His words. God said that His people who were sent to Babylon shall be brought back. But the Jews who went Egypt by themselves, shall all perish there. Like we say in Nigeria: ‘If God no sent you, you are on your own. Anything you see, you take am’. It is true that both Babylon and Egypt and worldly countries. But there is a difference!

What is the lesson for us? If God sends you to a difficult place, His grace and presence will be with you there. The process is to humble you so that the same God will bless you at last. But if you decide to ‘punish yourself’, to a false humility, without the presence of God, no place can be a paradise on earth. It is the presence of God that marks the child of God and not the location! For example: many Nigerians I know who live in Warri tell me that their dream is to live in New York. But without the presence of God, New York will be hell for them. But when God is with you, even Warri becomes the Garden of Eden (I am a witness to this!).

This was the word God gave me to share with the women. There was fire on my bones. The only problem was that I could only speak in whispers. Jemine, my daughter asked me ‘Malia, how can you preach without a voice?’ I told her that ‘even if I have to preach with my nose, I will still go there to encourage the women to fight for their souls and families’. After we praised GOD and shared testimonies, it was my time to stand and talk. I took the microphone and I started talking in a whisper. But the more I talked, the more the anointing increased. In my weakness, God proved Himself strong on my behalf. After some minutes, my voice got stronger. The prayer session was so powerful!!! The Holy Spirit helped all of us to stand, pray, prophesy and reject this demon. Like we say in Warri ‘pidgin English’, ‘mammy water shocked in’. I Christ, we are free! We have the victory! I expect great testimonies of healing, deliverance and breakthroughs at all levels. To God be all the glory! ”

This morning I woke up happy and strong. And guess what? My voice is back! “Jesusssss….”

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2Cor 12:8-10)

“Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit! Be smart enough to stop! ” (PV 23:4)

To be quickly rich without any labor, this is the dream of all sinners. That is the foundation of gambling.
Gambling – definition: To play a game for money or property; to bet, to take a chance, to risk on an uncertain outcome; to expose yourself to danger and to proceed in the face of it.

The attraction of gambling is love for entertainment and the love of money. Both are very addictive strongholds of satan. The victims are people who are lazy, covetous, foolish and ambitious in the same time. That combination is deadly. Gambling is a scheme to escape labor, but in reality, gambling is an evil spirit that kills and destroys.

In the U S gambling is an industry of billions of dollars. The lottery is the favorite legal gambling. Gambling is the fastest growing addiction in the world. 1/7 teenagers and 1/10 adults that gamble will end up as addicted to it. Gambling wrecks homes and marriages. The business is wicked and it attracts all type of men but especially the poor who believe in the get rich quick schemes. The poor neighborhoods have the highest number of location for gambling and lottery. These are sold in poor grocery stores to attract the people who buy food. Many times a poor man has gone home to his family without food and just with a lottery slip and the promise of millions. ‘The American Dream’ is intimately connected with the evil spirit of gambling.
The casinos machines are built in such a way that 80-90% of the winning numbers go to the patron. The chance to win there is minimal but the attraction to make money without work is very high. Even the few that win, statistics say that they will lose all their money in maximum two years and they are back to gamble again, ready to sell even their soul to satan.

If you study the Word of God and His ways you can deduce that gambling is a sin and it is to be rejected as a practice to make money. Gambling violates God’s law because of the following:

1-The foundation and the attraction of it is the love of money, which is evil.‘Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income’ (Ecc 5:10)

2-Gambling encourages laziness and covetousness in the same time. The Bible says that we should work and be good stewards of the income we make. We are to tithe to God, then use the remaining to take care of the family. Any surplus we are to invest it as seed in the work of God or to save for emergencies in the future. ‘Lazy hands make a man poor but diligent hands bring wealth’ (PV 10:4); ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife…’ (Ex 20:17)

3-Gambling may be entertaining but it is very addictive. All addictions are sins because they master the person who becomes a slave to them. ‘A man is a slave to whatever has mastered him’ (2Pet 2:19)

4-Gambling gives false hope to people and builds false imaginations. God is to be our only hope. Our future is joyful because God, in Christ, will change our sorrow into glory. Any other hope of riches and fame outside Christ is false and criminal. ‘The hopes of the wicked come to nothing…when a wicked man dies, his hope perishes; all he expected from his power come to nothing’ (PV 10:28; 11:7); ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom 15:13)

5-Gambling does not give glory to God but to the ‘luck or fortune’ of men. There are things in this world that may not be bad in themselves, but they are not beneficial to the kingdom of God and to our testimony as believers. ‘Everything is permissible for me but not everything is beneficial…but I will not be mastered by anything…but not everything is constructive’ (1Cor 6:12; 10:23)
That means that gambling does no good to me or to others. Its hope of success is a deception that will only destroy my life and my family. It is the entertainment of the devil and it is to be rejected, in Jesus’ name!

6-Man was created in the image of God. But gambling makes a man to be a fool ‘Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay is the man who gains riches by unjust means. When his life is gone, they will desert him and in the end he proves to be a fool’ (Jer 17:11); God is angry with them that believe in the idol of fortune or gambling. This is because it makes the people deaf to God’s voice and stubborn to His leading. Gambling is the backslider’s god and the fantasy of the rebellious (Is 65:11,12)

Let’s pray: ‘Dear Lord Jesus, I pray that you expose this wicked, seducing, evil spirit of gambling so that we can hate it enough to separate from it totally. We ask for forgiveness for any desire to be lazy, to cheat or to covet, and desire wealth in the same time. Let Your light shine on our understanding! In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!’