HAPPY WITH CHURCH TONIGHT

From the Bible we see that God invented marriage and God hates divorce. Marriage is God’s idea. As a pastor I counsel many women (and men) who struggle in their marriages. Many wives are ignorant of their husbands’ spiritual and physical needs. The devil takes opportunity of their ignorance and attacks their homes. That is why many marriages are like stagnant waters, dangerous, boring and unhappy. From what the Bible says and from my experience as a wife I bring to you some time tested wisdom. Dear sisters, please try to answer these questions: “What does my husband want from me? What shall I give him so that our marriage will be strong, spiritual and happy?” These are the first five qualities most of the husbands expect from their wives (in this particular order): Respect, Sexual satisfaction, Faithfulness, Friendship and Understanding. Pray about it!

2. SEXUAL SATISFACTION
“Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control” (1Cor 7:3-5)

God created the men and the women. Physically there are differences. The bodies of men and the bodies of women function differently. Generally, men appreciate the physical side of sex more than the women. There are exceptions, of course, but men love to see and to touch their wives more than the women. This is a difficult subject to discuss. Many women are ignorant of their husbands’ sexual needs. One thing is clear: God invented sex. Therefore sex is good! Sex is not sinful, dirty or shameful! Sex is God’s gift given only to the married couples. Any sexual activity outside marriage is sin. It is called fornication or adultery. Sin grieves the Holy Spirit. Sexual sin must be confessed to God and to the injured spouse. Forgiveness is God’s first choice to heal a broken heart and a broken marriage. Dear wife, God will give you the grace to forgive your unfaithful husband. But if you cannot forgive his adultery and you desire to divorce, then you may do so (Mt 5:32). The Bible also says that once married, the husband and the wife should not abstain from sex except they decide to fast and pray together for a limited period of time.. Some women hate sex. This medical condition is called ‘frigidity’. The frigid woman is sexually ‘cold’, unemotional, lacking passion, sympathy or sensitivity towards her sexually active husband. The cause is not known by the medical science. It is also a spiritual condition. It may be related to the stress of life, to hormonal imbalance or depression. Frigidity is a serious hindrance to a happy relationship. Sexual activity is a sign of a healthy and happy marriage. Pray for one another! Pray for deliverance and healing. Remember, nothing is impossible for God!

God bless you with the blessings of Christ and with the gift of a wonderful marriage! In Jesus name! Amen!

“Many waters cannot quench the flame of love, neither can the floods drown it. If a man tried to buy it with everything he owned, he couldn’t do it” (SS 8:7)

From the Bible we see that God invented marriage and God hates divorce. Marriage is God’s idea. As a pastor I counsel many women (and men) who struggle in their marriages. Many wives are ignorant of their husbands’ spiritual and physical needs. The devil takes opportunity of their ignorance and attacks their homes. That is why many marriages are like stagnant waters, boring and unhappy. From what the Bible says and from my experience as a wife I bring to you some time tested wisdom. Dear sisters, please try to answer these questions: “What does my husband want from me? What shall I give him so that our marriage will be strong, spiritual and happy?” These are the first five qualities most of the husbands expect from their wives (in this particular order): Respect, Sexual satisfaction, Faithfulness, Friendship and Understanding. Pray about each of them!

MY TESTIMONY AS A WIFE
My husband and I are happily married for 43 years. We got married as unbelievers. Then we became saved. Now we are pastors in full time ministry. We are parents to three adult children and have six grandchildren. Inspired from the Bible and learning from my experience, by the grace of God, I am now able to teach other women. I see marriage as a gift from God. I do not ‘merit’ to be called ‘a wife’. It is not because I am beautiful or educated. Marriage is ‘a grace gift’. Because I fear God, I fear to damage my marriage. I cannot be a happy wife without the help of the Holy Spirit. I read the Bible daily. I grow in wisdom and knowledge. Therefore my marriage becomes better. I pray daily for my husband, for our children, grandchildren, for our health and ministries. I pray to see Christ in my husband (in his words and deeds). I love peace in my home. I hate quarrels and divisions. I respect my husband not only thru my words and deeds, but even in my heart. I pray to be able to see him as a holy man of God. My prayer has been answered. I like to cook for him and serve his food. I like it when he is hungry and he sits at the table patiently waiting for me to bring the food. I like it when we eat together. I like it when he compliments me for the food I cooked. I like it when he encourages me to do better. I understand him and he understands me. We love each other and we take care of each other.

I like to wake up in the morning knowing that he is my husband. I do not dream about any other man. My imagination is limited only to him. Even after all these years, I appreciate his love for me. I appreciate the fact that out of millions of women he chose me to be his wife. He has his own favorite chair at the table. If a visitor comes and by mistake he sits there, I will not allow it. If we have visitors at the table, I do not use his (particular) plate for other people. These may not be ‘big things’ but to me, these are symbols of respect.

Long ago I knew that my husband will be a man of God and I will be a pastor’s wife. I started studying the Bible with great passion. The knowledge of the Word of God is for my own soul and to help my husband. I love it when we discuss the doctrines and new revelations from the Bible. I love it when I have something good to add to the discussion. I also pray for sexual compatibility. Sex is a great blessing from God that brings happiness to any marriage. It satisfies the bodies and the souls. It brings peace in the bedroom and in the home. We are colleagues in the ministry, we are friends and we are lovers. We rejoice with one another. We ‘gist’ and laugh a lot. Time has not reduced this joy. In fact, it has made it better. The water is now wine. The ordinary taste of life has become sweet. We drink from this cup of intoxicating love and have no apologies for it. We feel old and young in the same time. We feel weak sometimes and strong most of the times. The passion to love God and one another is the holy fire that keeps burning in our home, making it safe and secure. No man or devil can quench it.

May God bless you with the blessings of Christ and with the gift of a wonderful ever sweeter marriage! In Jesus name!

“Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me” (Ps 50:15)
A young sister who attends our church sent me this note. She is about 35 years old. She lives with her mum. She is a successful business woman. She is praying to get married. She faithfully attends the church activities. But last Saturday she said that she could not come to church because she had no ‘transport money’. Initially she wept out of frustration. But then she wisely chose to use the pain to worship God. The Holy Spirit filled her afresh. This is a good example how to use your problems to go closer to God. If for whatever reason you can’t come to church, do not give us. It is easy to give us. Pray and worship God wherever you are. The Holy Spirit is omnipresent and He will meet you at the point of your pain and need. To God be all the glory for each disciple of Jesus who pays the price for spiritual maturity! Amen!

“Good evening MaLia and happy Easter. I have a testimony to share with you. It is wonderful to me. Yesterday I attended a wedding and by evening I was unable to attend the prophetic class because of financial constraint. As at 4.30 – 5 pm I started to feel very depressed. So I went into my mum’s bedroom, shut the door and at first I started to cry pitying myself. Then a voice told me to talk to God instead of crying since crying will not give me any solution. So I said to myself that since I couldn’t attend the prophetic class I will just pray and worship on my own and do my own ‘prophetic class’. I started with asking God so many questions amid tears. Why this why that, why He never talks directly to me or show me things like He used to. Why there is so much doubt in my heart… why is He not fulfilling His promises yet…. and so on. For the first time I talked like I was really talking to my friend and father and someone really close and present with me. I asked Him to speak to me directly even if it is through dreams, to help me get rid of the depression and bitterness in me, to help me trust Him more….

Then I started to worship and praise. MaLia!!! The worship took me to another level where I forgot about myself and issues. I really can’t explain all what I prayed about… but I’ve never worshipped that deep or for that long before. I shouted the name of Jesus again and again. I got up at past 8 pm, took my bath and dinner and later went to bed. I then had a dream that I was walking on a road, looking for somewhere to sit so I found this uncompleted shop with no windows or doors and not floored, just sand. I sat on the ground with my knees to my chin like I was patiently waiting for someone to come. Someone came, a woman who looked like you. I know that He is God who came in that form. He asked me what my problem and why I was complaining? Immediately I started to complain again. Stopping me half way He said “why are you complaining? I can hear you! You don’t have the right to doubt. You should never doubt” those were His exact words and He repeated it twice. Although those weren’t the words I was expecting to hear but after hearing them it felt enough, like the answer I needed. I felt peace. Like my restless hunger had been quenched. MaLia!!! God heard me and answered me! I am so happy! I give Him all the glory…”

My answer to her:
“Dear …Thank God for everything! I see that you have allowed an evil spirit of religion, fear, doubt and bitterness to influence you. Now that the Holy Spirit has revealed the truth to you, continue to do warfare until it is completely out of your mind. Do a Bible study on faith which is the opposite of doubt. A grace door has been open to you. Pass thru it. Complete the good work you have started. I wait for you with more testimonies!”

(If you want to counsel her, please do so. She will read your words. Thank you! God bless you dear intercessors)

“I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close” (Rev 3:8)
We checked in a hotel. It was an average hotel. The lady at the reception gave us the room’s key. On top of the key it was written: ‘Open doors you never knew existed’. God speaks in so many ways… For a moment I stood there, in the hotel’s corridor, and my heart missed a beat. I felt God’s love come close. Did I forget that God can open any door? It is so easy to forget good things…and so hard to forget negative things, to forgive offences of the past…But that is another story…
Back to open doors…God knows no limitations, no boundaries and no hindrances…Nobody can say ‘no’ when God says ‘yes’. Did I limit God? Did I write a list with possible miracles, breakthroughs and open doors? Do I desire to control God, to lead God? Why such a foolishness? Sin has planted folly in our hearts and we are ignorant of it. But then, the Holy Spirit comes and breaks the bands asunder, breaks cages and padlocks, and the bird is ready to fly, once more…

HAPPY WITH CHURCH TONIGHT

The prayer meeting was very good. We praised God with songs and dancing. We shouted the name of Jesus with all our hearts. Thank God for the Holy Spirit who always directs our thoughts towards the Lord Jesus Christ. Tomorrow we shall celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. We prayed for the Holy Spirit to help us identify with the death and the resurrection of our Lord. Thru a spirit of religion, the devil tried to deceive us. He wants us to come to church and feel ‘spiritually detached and cold’ when the service is going on. But we resisted the devil and he fled from us. For as long as these wonderful events, the cross and the resurrection, remain buried in history, we cannot gain any wisdom or spiritual impartation today. The Holy Spirit helped us to pray to ‘see and touch Jesus’. We worshiped the Lamb of God who was slayed for our sins and rose up for our glorious justification. When the Lord rose from the dead He proved that His victory is total. We prayed and came closer to God. By His death and resurrection the Lord defeated death, man’s greatest enemy. The grave could not hold Him captive! Death was disgraced for it could not keep its prisoner. The resurrection of our Lord is the proof that as believers we can daily live a victorious life. Sin does not have to be our master. God’s dreams given to us but long buried in our hearts can still come to life and be fulfilled. The resurrection of our Lord is the planting of unending hope and glory. By faith, let the sick say: I am healed! Let the weak say: I am strong! Let the poor say: I am rich! Because of what the Lord has done! We rejoiced that our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of life! We rejoiced that our future is better than our past! We rejoiced because Jesus lives and we live in Him! I know that tomorrow’ service will be powerful because we have tested a little from the glory revealed! Jesus is Lord!

‘Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels and living creatures and elders encircling the throne, and their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. In a loud voice they said: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever.” (Rev 5:11-13)

“If they listen and obey God, then they will be blessed with prosperity throughout their lives” (Job 36:11)

If you are a true child of God, then you have to go to the school of the Spirit and learn obedience. God commands and you obey! It is as simple as that! It can never be the other way round. For example, the Holy Spirit will send you on ‘errands’. He will say ‘go there… do this or that… speak My word to that man…give that boy 500 Naira…’ These commands may sound childish. Often they ‘make no sense’. Faith itself ‘makes no sense’ most of the time. Why will the weak declare: ‘I am strong?’ Why will the poor say: ‘I am rich?’ It sounds foolish, but the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom! That is the message of the Cross! No matter how you feel, you need to believe God’s Word and declare it in your circumstances! It is easier to doubt for doubt ‘makes sense’! It is easy to give up the battle of faith and accept defeat! That is normal. But we are called to live supernaturally and to walk upon the water. Believer, stand up for Jesus!

Know this: there is no particular immediate reward for obeying God’s commands. But you still have to obey! If you put conditions to God saying: ‘Lord, explain to me why You send me there. If not, I will not go…’ or if you query God saying: “Lord, tell me why you send me there?’ I need an explanation before I move…’ …then you have a rebellious spirit. You have grieved the Holy Spirit! This is sin! You need to repent. You need to obey God ‘if you like it or not’. Your feelings should not interfere with your obedience to God. Remember that He is God and you are dust! You are a bondservant to God. The Lord Jesus died on the Cross for you and He bought you with His Blood. Obedience is a ‘faith sign’ saying that you are grateful to God for your salvation. The Lord Jesus said that obedience is love, is worship! Just like Him, if you truly want to please God, you shall learn obedience mostly ‘thru the things you suffer’. Even if it is hard, you need to obey God just because He is God. After some time obedience becomes you very nature. You will be filled with the Holy Spirit and you will joyfully obey the Father like Jesus did. Don’t be discouraged! Sooner or later the reward for obedience shall come. Supernatural blessings shall ‘be added’ and even ‘overtake’ you. For God owes no man. This Good Friday morning, I pray for you, that faith and obedience become your life style! From now until forever! “Trust and obey, for there is no other way, to be happy with Jesus, than to trust and obey”

“Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will. (2Tim 2:22-26)

Dear child of God, you should know this: The devil hates God, His children and His servants. He will tempt you to disobey the Word of God. He will call you to indulge in ‘youthful lusts’ that corrupt the body and the heart. Young people fight greater temptations against sexual lusts and the desire to be rich quickly. Young people have many inferiority complexes that produce a tendency to passionately argue to prove a point. They want to please friends and to be accepted by men. These feelings produce strife and divisions among them. That is why it is very hard for the young people to have solid, long lasting friendships. They quarrel easily and so they separate easily. If a young Christian is to live a successful life these ‘youthful lusts’ have to be killed at the cross.  They need to learn to be wise and patient and to avoid quarrels.  Many believers are ignorant that the devil is behind all these selfish wild ambitions, these anxieties to succeed in life at any cost, so to become rich and famous.

As a child of God you need to do warfare. You need to be watchful and prayerful. The devil cannot kill a child of God but he can mislead him to go astray, to backslide and lose his testimony. A backslider is recognized by religious pride, impatience, a tendency to argue and to insist on his own opinions. He is ignorant of the truth but claims to be a teacher of truth. He is basically a hypocrite. He is not gentle, not humble and not teachable. This is the snare of the devil that has trapped the foolish believer ‘to do his will’. The devil is happy when the believer becomes foolish. Losing the wisdom and the humility of His Lord, the backslider will be a bad ambassador for Christ. Losing your testimony for Christ is worse than losing millions.

I woke up this morning with a burden for the foolish trapped children of God! I pray for you, the ignorant backsliders! I plead the Blood of Jesus upon you, servants of God! I destroy the spell the devil has placed on you, to be blind and foolish at such a time as this! Open your eyes! Wake up from this slumber! I pray that your eyes open to see the truth that sets free. I pray that you may be able to hate sin and to hate the devil. I pray that your spirit is strengthened and revived. I pray that you desire to come back to the Cross, to be a serious Christian! I pray that you desire once more to be filled with the Holy Spirit! Like the prodigal son said, it is better to be a servant in the house of God than a prince in the tents of wickedness! Father God, have mercy on us, Your children! Son, daughter, come home! In Jesus name I pray, amen!

“I will give him the Morning Star” (Rev 2:28)
This is a wonderful promise given by the Lord to the faithful believers in Christ. I do not pretend to totally understand these words. But I know a little bit because I have tasted them. Our Lord promised to give us ‘the Morning Star’.

I discovered that planet Venus is also called the Morning Star. Next to the sun and the moon it is the brightest of all planets. It is closely connected with the sun. It appears just before sun rise or immediately after the sun sets. Our Lord is the spiritual Morning Star. He gives Himself to the faithful believers in a special way. Our Lord Jesus Christ is also called the Sun of Righteousness.

“They (the older Christian women) may teach the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, and to be self-controlled, pure, homemakers, good and obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored” (Tit 2:4, 5)

Recently, a sister in Christ sent me this letter. She shared with me her happiness as a mother. I am very happy for her! It is not easy to be a godly wife or a godly mother, especially when you come from a difficult unbelieving background or from a broken home. The hope we have is that now, as believers in Christ, we can be different than our parents who made mistakes in the past. There is no excuse to repeat those ‘familiar’ mistakes. We forgive our parents. They did the best they could with the information they had at that time. But now, we have more spiritual light than them. We must do better. We should be not just natural mothers but spiritual mothers to our children. The Holy Spirit will give us the wisdom, the strength, the love and the compassion to be ‘mothers-pastors’ to our children (natural and spiritual). To be a successful, strong and spiritual mother is a great achievement. By your fruits (your children) you shall be known! Mothers, be encouraged today! We, the older women (wives and mothers), should train, help and mentor the younger ones! May this wisdom of ‘holy motherly anointing’ pass on, from generation to generation! In Jesus name, amen! To God be all the glory!

“Good morning Malia! Last week, my ten years old daughter saw signs of mensuration for the first time. This was just before we left for church. Hmmmm! I refused to panic… Somehow the Holy Spirit gave me a hint that it will be sooner than I tot it would happen. Earlier, we had a discussion and we prayed about it. I had spoken to her in a very different way my mom handled this issue when I was a teenager. I remember being so scared and sad that day. I did not understand what was happening to me and I was afraid to ask my mum. It was my friends who helped me accept the changes in my body. But my daughter’s case is different. She seemed prepared for it. So when she called me into her room, we prayed together thanking God before going to church. During the service I saw her looking happy and I thanked God for her, for us… as I remembered my childhood. As I told you, it was a very difficult childhood… my mom made too many mistakes with us her children, both the boys and the girls. Long ago I resolved that with the help of the Holy Spirit, I will not to repeat her mistakes. I am a child of God and I should do better. That decision, to be a woman of God, a godly wife and a godly mother has helped me a great deal. I look back today and am so thankful for the woman I have become. I know that there is a still a long way ahead, but today, I am grateful to God for His presence in my life and in our home. I thank you Ma for guiding me. Long ago you told us to pray so that we become spiritual moms to our children, not just Physical moms. This prayer request has worked for me. I can hardly stop praying now, and to the glory of God, I see answers already.

Thank you soooooo much Ma…

Your daughter…”

“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you HIGH ABOVE all nations of the earth…. The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall BE ABOVE ONLY, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them” (Deut 28:1-14)

These are some of the many wonderful blessings coming on the faithful and obedient children of God. Read the whole paragraph and meditate upon these wonderful promises. Please note that no unbeliever has the right to claim such benefits. These blessings are conditional. Please note the word ‘if’ in the first verse: “If you diligently obey…” In Hebrew, the word ‘obey’ means to listen intelligently and attentively. By the power of the Holy Spirit you understand what God is saying. You give your heart and your ears only to God, refusing and rejecting the devil’s voice. It means to be approved as a witness for God. You shall speak His words and people will listen to you.

What are these blessings? Generally speaking, God will promote you in life. You will be a man (a woman) of God. He will trust you with His supernatural un-limited wisdom and wealth. That is why will be able to complete every project you start in God’s presence. You have faith in God. Therefore you will not need to borrow money from others. You will have more than enough. Therefore you will be able to ‘lend’ wisdom and money to many others, becoming known as a rich, kind, wise and generous person.   You will always be the ‘head’. It means that you will be the leader, the mentor, the teacher or the pastor of your people. You have the vision. He who has the vision is the leader. Others shall have no other option than to be the ‘tail’. Like a dog shaking its tail when it sees its master, so others will advertise your ministry and success. Your enemies will go down ‘lower and lower’. The word means to fall, fail and become blind. For as long as they rebel against your authority, they will remain spiritually handicapped. You can’t help them except they repent. As you follow God, men will follow you. This promotion, this authority is not forced, stolen, artificial or borrowed from others.  It is genuine, original and safe, coming from God to you. It is a gift that comes without sorrow or regret. It is stamped and sealed on your spirit and defines your destiny. God’s grace is on you; therefore you are ‘blessed and highly favored’. Rejoice that He has set your feet on the Rock! Hallelujah!

You may grumble in your heart saying: God is not fair! God is ‘partial’. Actually, He is not! The truth is that God is sovereign. He created the universe. He sent His only begotten Son to die for sinners on earth, that they may be free to worship Him.  Therefore, as a Creator and Redeemer, God has the right to do anything He wants to do. This world is His. God rules this world without any helper. God is always right. He has no counselor. Of His wisdom there is no limit. He wrote the laws in the Bible. He expects obedience. He blesses faith and obedience. He promotes and He demotes any man just as He pleases. He gives grace to any man He chooses. We can only rejoice at the work of His hands! We praise God for who He is! Join the choir of the worshippers, in heaven and on earth, and sing Hallelujah to the Lamb of God! All glory to God!

Last night we had our monthly “all night” service in our church. It was to start at 9 pm. There were many people in the church’ hall. Many came as guests from other churches. We were about to start when suddenly, there was a major fault with the sound system. Pastor Leigh came to the microphone and explained that the two ‘sound system computers’ refuse to ‘harmonize’. He encouraged everybody to be patient, pray and wait. The brethren knowledgeable in these matters worked non stop to repair the fault. They even bought the old sound system trying to by pass the faulty one. Suddenly, at about 12:30, the computers started working. It was like the invisible finger of God pressed the right ‘button’. The praise and worship started with a vengeance.

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28)

This is the true story of a young beautiful woman called Lauren Scruggs. She was a fashion model. One day in 2011, she went with a pilot friend in a small private plane to see the Christmas lights from the sky. They landed on a small airport near Dallas where there was semi darkness. By mistake, she walked into the moving propeller of the plane. She survived but the accident left her without the left hand and the left eye. She was a born again Christian before the accident. The doctors told her parents that, because of her head injuries, she may have life time mental problems and depression. But God helped her recover, both spiritually and physically. She now uses an artificial hand and artificial eye. She says that God has a purpose in everything and that she is now closer to God. In the past, she was doing interviews for the fashion magazines. Now she tells people about Jesus. She says that your identity should not come from your physical beauty but from the heart. Let people see Christ in you! That is true beauty!

She wrote a book about her testimony. Listen to her words: “At first, I was angry with God; then came despair. I thought I was ugly and that no guy would ever love me and I just thought that my life was ruined… But God has healed me miraculously… He has healed my body and my soul…I think I’m seeing that this life is way bigger than me and that I think a lot of things that I held important earlier even in my career were quite shallow. II just want to use what I’ve been through to talk to young girls and let them know that our appearances are not what define us, even the insecurities that we hold onto, these don’t define us…. God has called me to just be open about what I’ve been through and just be vulnerable… God has such a different plan, and often times it’s shocking or unexpected but it’s still something really beautiful.”

This is what her mother Cheryl said: “As a mom you never dream your child is going to go through something like this. I couldn’t give her hand back to her. I couldn’t save her eye. There was nothing I could do to change it. But I did know she had a deep faith and I knew God would be our rock and Jesus would be our stronghold and that’s what we had to rely on.”

Let this young woman inspire us today. She has lost parts of her body. But she has gained a closer relationship with Christ and a higher anointing to preach His word, to encourage others. Therefore, in Christ, she is a winner! We should learn from all the experiences in life, both good and not so good. Let’s find the purpose of God in all things that concern us. Things may be difficult today. But we can gain peace, joy, wisdom and spiritual strength thru the pain today. God gives us songs in the night, in the midst of weeping! Do not look at what you have lost. Look at what God has deposited in you in the middle of that ‘loss’. Share your testimony of struggle to glory! Be sure to give all the glory to God who alone makes all things beautiful in His own time!

“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, He will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you” (Rom 8:11)

In 2010 we all read about a wonderful story of deliverance. Thirty three Chilean miners got trapped beneath two thousand feet below the earth. Their only exit tunnel collapsed. They knew that except for a miracle, they will die there, all of them. They decided to pray for a miracle, for the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit. They encouraged one another with memory Bible verses. They made a survival plan: they will eat very little so that they can economize their food. Every other day, they ate two spoons of tuna, a sip of milk and a bite of peaches. For two months they prayed for someone to save them.

On the surface above, the Chilean rescue team worked around the clock, meeting with experts. They designed a thirteen-foot-tall capsule and drilled, first a communication hole, then an excavation tunnel. There was no guarantee of success. No one had ever been trapped underground this long and lived to tell the story. On October 13, 2010, the men began to emerge, singing victory songs. There was a great-grandfather… then a forty-four-year-old who was planning his wedding…. then a nineteen-year-old, training to be a miner… All had different stories of survival but all had made the same decision: They trusted someone else to save them. No one down below was foolish enough to trust in himself. No one said: ‘I can get out of here on my own…’ They all agreed from the beginning that they need help from the outside, saying: ‘We need help. We need someone to penetrate this world and pull us out.’ And when the rescue capsule came, they climbed in. They were all saved! Praise the Lord!

Their story should encourage us to trust the Lord Jesus Christ. No one can come out of the stony tomb of sin and death except by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ who lives ‘outside’ this world of sin. He died that we may live. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us who believe in Him! Dear friend, this is the truth: you cannot make it on your own! You cannot save your own soul! Sin is too sinful. The wicked devil is a slave master who never let’s go of his victims. But Jesus destroyed his claim over you by the Cross. Give your life to Christ! Like these miners in Chile, you shall live to tell the story of His amazing grace and unfailing love!

(see some pictures from the dramatic rescue in Chile: the capsule arrives underground, the miners are taken up one by one and once outside, they kneel to thank God)

“Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD” (Jer 9:23, 24)

Today I shall obey God’s command to boast in the Lord! Think of this: God made every snowflake different from every other snowflake. He made every fingerprint different from every other fingerprint. The stripes on the zebra are all different. There are no two alike. He made 9,000 kinds of birds and 200,000 kinds of flowers (see some in the picture). God is so extravagant! He forgives every repentant sinner. He hears every sincere prayer. He supplies every legitimate need. In Nigeria we praise this generous and creative God in a special chorus: “We go de hail-o! Jehovah Over-do! We go de hail-o!” In other words: Glory to God in the Highest!

“So Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea; then they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water. Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people complained against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”… “(Ex 15:22-27)

The evening prayer meeting was very good. We started strong expectations. The Holy Wind was blowing in the sails of our faith. Therefore we made progress. The presence of God was strong in our midst. We declared that we have entered a season of peace (Shalom). One of the hindrances of peace is the root of bitterness. The passage we read is from the Book of Exodus (15:22-27). This story follows the great triumph and deliverance experienced by the people of God. The Red Sea opened for them and they crossed over to the other side. The same Sea closed its watery mouth and all the Egyptians drowned in it. Jehovah God proved that He cares for His people. They praised God like never before. Hopefully, in two weeks, they should reach the Promised Land. But it was not to be. Just three days later after this mighty deliverance and ‘fearful praise’, the same people started grumbling for water to drink. They found a pool of water in the desert. But the water was bitter and after swallowing a mouth full, they cried to Moses, asking for water to drink.

The word ‘bitter’ in Hebrew is ‘Marah’. The word means to rob somebody until the place becomes sore, to provoke somebody for a long time until he becomes angry. The word ‘grumble’ means to complain, to express anger or pain, to find fault, to disagree or to attack. Be careful! The people who complain about their circumstances are not harmless. They are using their tongues to attack your spirit. Their bitter words of complain are like viruses. They inject their poison into your spirit so that you can share in it. One of the most frequent arrows of complains is the lack of money. They will tell you that they do not have food to eat, or clothes to wear, or their school fees are not paid. They may describe a true situation. But as a child of God you must make a spiritual assessment. You cannot act just from your natural emotions. If you give them just money, you have not solved their problem. They will not be grateful and they will come back to you again for more money. Not only that but you have ignorantly sponsored ‘a bitter root that causes trouble and defiles many’ (Heb 12: ). You are to identify such grumbling as spiritual attacks and you are to resist these poisonous words with the shield of faith. You are to tell such a person that the only thing you can do is to pray for their deliverance. Direct their attention to the Lord Jesus. Tell them that they need Jesus as their Savior and Provider. Tell them that you are not God. If not, ignorantly, you are contributing to the spreading of spiritual poison in this land. We prayed against the bitter root! We separated ourselves from any relationship that is a source of spiritual bitterness. We prayed that we may be free form grumbling poisonous spirits. We prayed that we may enter the blessed land of Peace! We pray that we may be filled with the Holy Spirit, sweet, spiritual and strong! In Jesus name, amen!

But there is good news: in the midst of this troubled situation of bitterness, anger and grumbling, the revelation of Jehovah Rapha, God the Healer, is given. We shall continue next week…

“A joyful heart is good medicine, But a broken spirit dries up the bones” (PV 17:22)
“And Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me” (Gen 21:6)

As a pastor, I often meet sad ‘dry bones’ Christians. Their sadness is like a virus. If I am not filled with the Holy Spirit of peace and joy, their faces and their words will make me sad too. But joy is my strength and my shield. A born again child of God is commanded to ‘rejoice always’! It is true that life in this world is difficult and there are many reasons to be sad. (I live in Nigeria since 1980. I worked as a medical doctor here for about 20 years. In all my practice I did not encounter anyone who desired to commit suicide. But now, I hear now stories of people who are so depressed that they chose to terminate their lives. How sad… This is the devil at work).

If you are not saved, please give your life to Christ! This will be the best decision you can ever make! If you are born again, then have faith and ask the Holy Spirit to fill you! The first time the Holy Spirit fills your heart, it is the greatest experience. Nothing compares with it! You feel life entering your spiritual veins. You feel wisdom entering your tired and confused mind. Hope will enter and you can see the wonderful plans God has for you, you can see your bright future. Peace will come in and you feel a sense of good rest in your soul. Faith will ignite like dynamite and it will destroy all the gates of hell at once! You feel alive!!! You start to sing a new song unto the Lord!

But the greatest of all gifts is joy! I mean heavenly joy! It is the joy of Jesus! He died on the cross to save your soul and to fill you with His own joy! This joy destroys the weakness of the body and mind. Suddenly you feel strong! It is like rivers of laughter overpowering you. Once you start this holy laughter, you can’t stop it easily. It is like the Holy Ghost tickles your feet. You laugh like a baby. Your face will be wet with tears of joy. The only thing you can say is ‘Jesus… Jesus…’ You forget your name and your address. This joy is ‘good medicine’. It cures any sickness like an injection of fire in the bones. God is not the author of confusion. If He gives you the gift of laughter, it means that something good is going to happen. Fear not! Rejoice! And I say again, rejoice! Like Sarah, you will laugh supernaturally and your joy shall spread to many people.

Finally, this is my question: if you are a child of God, when last you really laughed and laughed! As we say in Nigeria, when last you laughed ‘bele-full’? When last you laughed ‘well – well’? The devil is a liar! The devil has stolen your joy! Take it back and swallow that ‘good medicine’! I know that if you are proudly addicted to sophisticated depression you will hate this letter. You imagine that your sadness is better than my laughter. I cannot change your mind. But I can pray for you that you may simply ask God for joy so that you can receive joy! Your breakthrough, your healing, your deliverance is just a prayer away… Trust God for a new (happier) beginning! What do you lose if you believe?

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2Tim 1:7)

I saw this sign inside a lift, in a hotel in Lagos. In Nigeria, NEPA (electrical power) can go off at any moment. Imagine how you will feel, if you are inside the lift between two floors, waiting in the darkness. In the past, just imagining the trouble will make me afraid. To some, reading this sign, could have added to their fears. Somehow, the words ministered to me and gave me peace. I took them seriously and spiritually. I am reminded that just in case the unexpected crisis happens, I should not fear! I should not allow the demon of fear to influence my mind and pollute it with lies. I should reject fear always, no matter how tempting it is to be a sophisticated coward. Jesus never panicked! Therefore, in all situations, I should remain calm and strong for God is with me. My Christianity should be proven to be true, not only when things go well, but even when nothing around makes sense. I made a covenant with God and with my soul, that I will live a life free from worries and fears. Peace shall be my companion! Patience shall be my friend! Faith shall be my shield! The glory of God shall carry me into the forever. Prayer and praise shall be the air I breath. It is good to be alive. It is even better to know that I am saved. God loves you! Give your life to Christ today! Let us rejoice together!