“Say to this mountain: ‘Go!
Be cast into the sea!’
And doubt not in your heart
That it will be to thee.
It will be done! Stand on His Word!
Challenge your mountain in the Lord!”
(F B Meyer)

“For thus says the High and Lofty One

Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy!

“I dwell in the high and holy place,

With him who has a contrite and humble spirit,

To revive the spirit of the humble,

And to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Is 57:15)

The Almighty God tells us where to find Him. He who created the Universe has revealed to His creation, to us human beings, where we should go to seek Him. God is omnipresent. But there is a special place where God, whose name is Holy, dwells in a particular way.  The revelation of God’s dwelling place is not just for our general information, but it is an invitation to seek God until we find Him. In the presence of God there is peace, strength, revival, fruitfulness, fulfillment and fullness of joy.  Do not seek happiness for you shall never find it! Seek God and all these blessings shall follow!

Most people who called themselves believers do not pay the price to find God. They worship Him from afar and are satisfied with a distant, ‘second –hand’ relationship.  That is the tragedy of religion. Listen now to the Gospel: Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, left heaven for thirty three years and came down to earth to reveal God the Father. He died for our sins to restore us back to God. Our Savior is a Person. Only in Christ we can know God intimately and personally.

God lives in heaven. Most people believe that, at least in theory. But God says that He has a second home. He also dwells with ‘contrite and humble people’ for the specific purpose to revive their souls.  Who are these people? These are the children of God who take their cross daily to follow Jesus.

To be contrite it means to be repentant, to be deeply sorry for sin. In Hebrew the word means to be a victim of oppression, to be crushed to powder or to have a broken heart.  A humble man is a submissive man, one who is not proud and who thinks little of himself. In Hebrew it means to be put down, to be humiliated until you become depressed. God Almighty says that He dwells with these people just the way He dwells in heaven.

Emmanuel means ‘God with us’. This is the promise of God: if you humble yourself, repent of your sins, and come to Jesus, the Spirit of God shall comfort and revive you. In Hebrew, the word ‘revive’ means to give life and to keep alive forever. It is not just a temporary emergency procedure to a dying man, the way doctors are doing it. It means to completely destroy the bondage and the damage of sin and death; to nourish, restore, repair and made completely whole. It means to make a new man who lives forever with God.

God says He dwells with people who suffer injustice and oppression. Simply said, God is your ‘Tenant’ and Friend.  Can you imagine having Doctor Jesus living in your guest room? You will never fear any sickness, poverty or any life crisis at all. But this revelation is more than a dream, more than a nice imagination. It is the truth found in the Bible. Now you know why I never worry, why I love my home. Jesus Christ lives with me and in me. What a wonderful promise! What a mighty privilege! Glory to Emmanuel!

“Those You have given Me I guarded and protected, and not one of them has perished or is lost” (Jn 17:12; AMP)

This is the testimony of Jesus Christ hours before He died: He did not lose any of His children (except Judas, who is called ‘the son of perdition’, to prove that the Scripture is true!).

Child of God, Fear not! The Lord will not lose you! Your name is written in the palm of His hand! Your salvation is sure and eternal! Rest in His love! Rejoice always! Worship God! It is well with your soul!

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Mt 6:34)

All unbelievers worry about things they cannot control. And they can control nothing. This is God’s law: Nobody can control his future. God designed life in such a way that tomorrow always remains hidden in mystery. We need to live one day at a time. We pray for our ‘daily bread’. Today is the day of salvation! Tomorrow is not my property! Let me seek and find God today!

“Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (Jn 10:25-27)

In Greek, the word translated ‘church’ is ‘ecclesia’. It means to call out someone by name. In other words, the members of the Body of Christ are people who are ‘called out of darkness into God’s marvelous light’. The church on earth is a mixed multitude. Some are the true believers, called by God. Others have called themselves. These are the false believers. Jesus used a parable to describe the true believers as sheep and the religious unbelievers as goats. For a long time these groups of people look identical. But with time, as they mature, you shall see the difference. The true believers produce the fruit of the Spirit; they truly love God and one another. The false believers do not love anybody except themselves. You shall be deeply disappointed if you deal with them.

When the children are grown and leave the home, any sweet memory of them is sweeter, it becomes a treasure. This evening I remember something about our daughter, Jemine. One of her all times favorite snacks was roasted plantain. It is called ‘bole’ in Nigeria. Each morning I will give her money to buy ‘bole’. Once I was very busy with my patients in the hospital and I forgot to give her ‘pocket money’. Jemine went to school early that morning. I was in my office when the door opened. It was Jemine with our driver, Monday. Breathing hard she said: “Malia, I told Monday to make a U turn and to come back so that I can collect my ‘bole’ money”
I smile as I write this. I hope Oliver, her son, will like bole too…

(in the picture you can see ‘bole’)

“There is no need for you to defend a lion when he is being attacked. All you need to do is to open the gate and let him out”
(Charles Spurgeon – The Prince of Preachers)

Preach the Word of God! In season and out of season! The Word of God can never fail! The Lion of the tribe of Judah will roar and all the goats will run or die!

HAPPY WITH CHURCH TONIGHT

The prayer meeting was wonderful. We praised God in songs. We thanked God for the privilege to know His Son Jesus Christ, to be saved, to read the Bible, to come to the house of God, to listen to sermons, to pray, to be led by the Holy Spirit and to live in victory.  We should never take these holy things for granted. Then the sermon followed:

“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.  ”Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Mt 16:15-18)

THE ROCK CONFESSION

Jesus Christ builds His church. He needs stones. The children of God are the living stones. The question still remains: who do you say Jesus Christ is? Peter answered correctly and ‘passed the test’: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God! This confession, when made with all your heart, in full assurance of faith, it is the proof that you are saved. The revelation of Peter is directly from God the Father. It was not thought or manipulated. It was a direct revelation from God. With your heart you believe and with your mouth confess that Jesus Christ is Lord; you preach Christ crucified and resurrected.  Professing the Lord Jesus is the proof that you are a material approved by Him, a living stone to build His Church. Religion or just going to church does not transform you into a living stone to be used by the Master Builder, Jesus Christ!

THE CHURCH

The Greek word for church is ‘ecclesia’.  It means ‘that which is called out’ from the multitude. To be a living stone, you must hear the voice of the shepherd and follow him. Then you are a living stone. If you are deaf to the voice of the shepherd, then you are not saved. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (Jn 10:25-27)

STONES AND THE ROCK

In Greek, the word Peter is ‘petros’. It means a little stone cut from a bigger one. This describes the one David used to kill Goliath. The second word translated ‘rock’ is ‘petra’ in Greek. It means a massive unmovable rock, a mountain. Therefore, the church of the Living God is built not on Peter (as the Catholic Church says) but on the massive unmovable authoritative heavenly confession and declaration that His Son Jesus Christ is Lord of all!

THE GATES OF HELL

For a long time I thought that ‘the gates of hell’ describe active attacks coming from outside, from the devil. The revelation I got now it’s this: the Kingdom of God is always advancing. To the increase of God’s kingdom there is no end (Is 9:6).  The Church is moving on. It conquers new territories. As you move on, you shall meet these gates of hell, hindrances and strongholds directly on your path. They will try to stop your progress but they will always fail! The proof that you meet these attacks is that you are moving on, you are making progress! The gates of evil cannot stop the advance of God’s kingdom! The building has always opposition. The battle is continuous but unsuccessful! There is no man saved without opposition. No church is built without opposition. But the victory is sure!  Praise God!

God will bless you with new surprising fresh blessings! In Jesus name!

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” (Is 43:19)

“In unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the LORD… saying: “He indeed is good for His lovingkindness is everlasting,” the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God” (2Chr 5:13-14)

The ways of God are opposite from the way of the natural man. In the world, if you withdraw from an exam, it is considered that you failed. I remember, long ago, in the medical school, I did not prepare enough for one examination. I chose to withdraw from the examination room. I was given a paper to repeat that same exam. Thank God I passed it later. But I still have the memory of feeling like a failure, bad, lost and cheated. To my surprise, the Holy Spirit gives me the option to withdraw from a test, if I chose to. It is not called failure. It is called sensitivity, strength and wisdom.

We just ended the evening service. We praised God and we shared testimonies of God’s goodness and faithfulness. Then it was time for me to preach.  I prepared the sermon. But as I stood on the altar, I did not have the liberty to tell the people to sit down and listen. There was an opposition, a type of oppression, a spiritual intimidation. The needs of the women were many. One sister just came from the hospital. Her husband is lying there unconscious for the past three days. Others told me that they were sick, victims of armed robbery and all. I felt inadequate to preach or teach. They needed the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, not me. The best I could do was to facilitate His coming, His moving in our midst.

We prayed and rejected all evil spirits, especially the spirit of fear, doubt, religion and depression. We invited the Holy Spirit to come. He came… as a cloud… as a rain… as hope and peace and strength for tomorrow. This is the truth: The Holy Spirit had free access in our midst. The cloud of glory filled our church. There was nothing more I could add. I withdrew and allowed Him to do His work, His peculiar work. I do not know exactly what He did, but without any doubt, it is a good, deep and strong work. Testimonies shall surely follow, to the glory of God! That is why I say, that I am happy with church tonight!

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Mt 24:35)

It is my greatest eternal privilege to honor and worship my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ! This scripture spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ reveals the eternity, power and glory of God’s Word. In Greek, the words ‘pass away’ mean to disappear, to become a thing of the past, to fade away, to become irrelevant, to ignore of neglect.  Our Lord says that nobody is able, now or in the future, to shun or to avoid the Word of God. It means no man who has heard the Word of God can depart, withdraw or run away like nothing has happened. The Word blesses or condemns. There is no room for ignoring the Word of life!

No man is able to prevent the effectiveness of the Word of God. No man can expel the Word of God. To expel it means to throw out by physical force or higher authority; to fire from job, to force to resign or to leave an organization, to take away the person’s rights and privileges. No man can do that to the Word of God. No man can evict the Word of God! To evict it means to drive out someone from his house or home. No man can do that to the Word of God!

Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh!  Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever! He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords! At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven, on earth and under the earth; every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father! All hail the power of Jesus’ name! Crown Him with many crowns! Jesus is Lord!

“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,

And do not return there,

But water the earth,

And make it bring forth and bud,

That it may give seed to the sower

And bread to the eater,

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me void,

But it shall accomplish what I please,

And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Is 55:10, 11)

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Mt 24:35)

I am a white woman and a pastor living in Nigeria. Last night we had our mid-week service and it was wonderful. This story touched me; that’s why I write this letter. This morning I heard this breaking news: last night, a ‘white’ young man went to a church in Charleston, USA. This is an old, historical ‘black’ church. The congregation was doing Bible study at their mid-week service. For some time, the young man stayed in the pew and listened to the preaching of the Word of God. Suddenly, he drew his gun and shot the pastor and eight others. They all died on the spot. Many were wounded. The criminal ran away. Police is calling this a ‘hate crime’. The police are looking for him right now. Most people are now afraid of backlash, of increase hatred between the races. This is the normal thing to do. But I pray that God glorifies Himself in this tragic story! I pray for a miracle of reconciliation, peace, forgiveness and hope! I pray that men and women all over the world, black, brown, white or yellow give their lives to Christ! I pray that God will do something new in that city! I pray that revival will come to America, that these believers did not die in vain!  Holy Spirit please comfort the broken hearted!

As for the young man who hated blacks, Christians or the Bible, one thing is sure: He cannot run away from God, from His Word. I do not know the topic of the Bible study in that church last night. But whatever the pastor preached, it is the Word of God and this man listened for some time. He may hide from men, from family and friends even from police, but he can never hide from God, from the Word of God he heard last night! The Word of God has done its work in him! God can never lose!

“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,

And do not return there,

But water the earth,

And make it bring forth and bud,

That it may give seed to the sower

And bread to the eater,

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me void,

But it shall accomplish what I please,

And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it” (Is 55:10, 11)

Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever!
There are seasons when I long to know the Holy Spirit better. There are other times when I long to know God the Father. Since yesterday, I had a deep longing for my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. I shared my feelings with the congregation this evening. I told the choir that I want to hear the name of Jesus Christ, in songs, in prayer or praise. That is what we did. We just sang praises to the Lamb upon the throne. Until the very atmosphere became charged with the presence of the Holy Spirit. I prepared a sermon but I could not stop the river of life flowing down from the throne of God. So I joined in the celebration. Eternal life has a taste, a sound and a feel. We experienced all these during the service.

Lastly, we all sang:
“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow, because He lives, all fear is gone,
Because I know He holds my future, my life is worth a living just because
Christ lives!”

“Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise— why destroy yourself?

Do not be overwicked and do not be a fool— why die before your time?

It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other.

Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes” (Ecc 7:16-18; NIV)

Have you seen a man walking on a tight rope? To me and you it seems impossible!  But some men are trained to stay fearless, focused and balanced. They do not look right, left or down! They keep balanced all the way until they cross to the other side. They are the champions we admire!

One of the sure marks of a mature believer is spiritual, emotional and mental balance. Our Lord Jesus Christ was perfectly balanced in all that He did. We should strive to be like Him. We should pay the price for spiritual maturity and divine wisdom. The reward is greater than silver or gold.

This is my testimony: as a young believer I had a tendency to go one way or the other. If I was in a bad mood, I will preach only hell to others. If I was in a good mood, I will preach only. The Holy Spirit helped me to go to the Cross, to die to personal opinions and natural feelings. He established my heart in His grace. The result was spiritual maturity and balanced poise. I could avoid all wicked, religious, dangerous and foolish extremes. With time, I could rebuke a sinner but also encourage a sinner. Nobody could tag me as a trouble maker or a fault finder. Nobody also could say that I am ‘a soft, sweet, prosperity or worldly Christian’. The Holy Spirit helped me to identify sin and giving me the strength to rebuke, to speak the truth in love. The same Spirit helped me to discern something good in the same sinner, to encourage him to move on, to go closer to God.

Divine balanced wisdom cannot be bought with money, learned from a Bible school or borrowed from men. Applying the Word of God daily to all that you do and to all your conversations, will make you wise and strong! If men hate God, they will avoid you. That is ok. But if men really want to hear from God, they will come to you! There is no need to advertise wisdom. It advertises itself! Her children, her fruits will speak well of her! This spiritually balanced mature fruitful wisdom comes only from above, directly from the Wonderful Counselor. This is my counsel: you should strongly desire to be a man or a woman of wisdom! To God be all the glory!

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

One of the major weapons of the devil is discouragement. This is one of his favorite fiery darts. To be discouraged it means losing courage and confidence until you are unable to do something you need to do. Discouragement is an attack on the emotions and the will. It weakens them. You cannot find joy and excitement in the things you need to do. Courage is the mental strength to stand and persevere in times of fear, danger or difficulties. Courage ends in success. Discouragement ends in failure and defeat. There is no middle road. No Christian should be discouraged! Reject depression! The Holy Spirit is life, truth, power, peace and joy! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!

“Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven” (Lam 3:41)

This is a great model to help ignite prayer or praise. Sometimes you are discouraged. Life is not easy. The devil sends its fiery darts of fear, doubt and depression. You do not ‘feel’ like praying. Your hands are limp, going down and your heart goes with them. But then, the Word of God tells you what to do, for the Holy Spirit to revive your soul. You cannot lift up your heart directly. But you can make the effort to lift both your hands towards God in heaven. By faith, your heart, your spirit and soul shall be stirred to go up too.

There is a lifting in the Spirit realm! I command every evil spirit of discouragement, depression, empty religion, doubt or witchcraft to leave you and to go away in the name of Jesus!

Child of God, be revived! The Word of God is an injection of life. Have faith! Practice the Word! It has worked for millions of believers! It works for me! It shall work for you! Now, lift up your hearts, to your hands, as you praise your Father in heaven!  Glory to God!

We have been praying for months for revival in our church, our homes and our city. We have followed the Psalms of ascents, going closer to God. We have prayed for our ‘dreams to come true’. Tonight our theme was the success of our homes, the godly marriages and families with children. There was opposition to our prayers.The devil wants us to ignore the need for intercession for our families. But we did our best in prayer and trust that the Holy Spirit will continue the work in the hearts of the people of God! This was the message:

“Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
It is vain for you to rise up early,
To sit up late,
To eat the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep” (Ps 127:1-2)

This is a Psalm written by King Solomon. It describes the beauty and power of a godly spiritual and victorious family! It can be applied to your natural family; father, mother and children. It can also be applied to the spiritual family, in particular your local church, as a part of the Universal Body of Christ. It describes spiritual parents, mentors, teachers or pastors who invest their lives in other people, thru the Word of God and by personal example. This family is a spiritual unit that God blesses and becomes stronger with time.

This is a song of ascent! It does not seem to do so! The interest of the family does not seem like ‘ascending’! After praying for months about ‘dreams to come true’ this looks like going down not up. But God wants us to have a deeper revelation of the grace, beauty and sweetness of marriage and family life with children, with grandchildren. The word ‘ascent’ means to go on a journey to a higher place or degree and promotion. Therefore a godly happy home is counted as a greater achievement than all the material blessings combined.

The most important lesson here is this: human labor without the Holy Spirit is useless. It is in vain. In Hebrew, the word ‘vain’ means a lie, something evil, destructive, useless, deceptive and false. It also means vanity and idolatry. The root of the word describes a storm that destroys everything in its path. It means without God, all our work, watching and worrying, will only be able to build sand castles in the path of the coming hurricanes. These labors and dreams will not last. Their fall, their destruction is sure and it means painful loss and danger to all. Without God, human labor ends in failure! That is the source of much sorrow to many!

This a great lesson: No matter how hard you work, how much educated you are, and skillful or talented you are, you cannot guarantee your prosperity in this life! It is God who blesses (or not) the work of your hands! There is no true success without God. But with God all things are possible and success assured!

All the doors in Malta have knobs for knocking. For centuries, the people there are very good in making them. Some are very old. Some a new and shining, ready for sale. I took this picture from a little shop selling them. It reminds me of the command of Jesus not to be intimidated by closed doors. “Knock and the door shall be open to you” (Mt 7:7)
This evening I made up my mind to keep on knocking, keep on praying and believing until God comes down to me! In Jesus name, amen!

“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him” (Mk 6:3)

Because I want to know my Lord better, I searched some information of what makes a good carpenter. This is what I have found: A good carpenter needs the following:

*Passion for his work; an admiration and understanding of the beauty of wood

*A desire to be perfect, to improve through experience having the skill of using wood to create durable and beautiful things that stand the test of time

Carpentry is not an easy work. It is not learned in a class room out of text-books. A carpenter learns most of the technical skills directly on the job. He is taught by an older carpenter who is his master while serving as a helper for three or four years. A good carpenter is focused on the details. An error of one inch can make a huge difference between success and failure. He can’t afford to be distracted when measuring and cutting.  A good carpenter is dedicated to his job. Old carpenters say they can train anyone with adequate manual dexterity and simple math skills to become a skilled carpenter. But it’s the attitude toward the job, the passion and the dedication to do your best that can’t be taught by men. Being humble, diligent, hardworking, grateful, happy and faithful to the Master are highly sought qualities in an apprentice.  A good carpenter needs good health and physical strength. The job is hard and requires considerable standing, bending, kneeling and climbing for many hours.

Our Lord worked as a carpenter for 18 years. Surely he had all the qualities listed above. Joseph, his foster father thought him all he knew. Because Jesus worked so long and so hard, he made work for daily bread to be special. By His labor, He condemned laziness and stealing. Many are unhappy with their jobs. They think that it is too low for their social status. Look unto Jesus and learned from Him! Never be ashamed of the labor of your hands! Jesus made yokes for the oxen. I am sure His yokes were the best in the country, smooth and easy to carry. All the oxen that were privileged to carry His yokes were happy and grateful animals. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Mt 11:28, 29)

Spiritually speaking, He was faithful to His heavenly Father, who was also His Teacher and His Mentor. Jesus Christ is God, but as a Man on earth He learned obedience to God by the things He suffered. That is why He is the Source of eternal salvation to all His obedient children (Heb 5:8, 9). He humbled Himself even unto death. He died on a Cross made by a carpenter like Him. Humanity is His raw material, His wood. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are His tools. Each time He touched a soul, something eternally beautiful was created for the glory of God! That is how we should be, trained by the gentle and strong hands of the heavenly Carpenter! Dear children of God, welcome to ministry!

“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him” (Mk 6:3)

Between the time when our Lord was 12 years old and His Baptism in the River Jordan that announced the beginning of His public ministry, nothing is said about Him in the Bible. These are called the 18 silent years. From the scriptures we deduce that He worked with His adopted father, Joseph, as a carpenter. This is a great revelation! Our Lord’s preaching ministry was about three years in duration. But His quiet ‘secular’ work as a village carpenter in Nazareth was six times longer than that. The lesson here is that preparation for full time ministry takes a long time. It is a time of quiet difficult labor done in obscurity, very far from the public praises of men. May we never be in a hurry! May our foundation be on the rock!

The people of Nazareth were amazed and also angry at the power of the Lord to do miracles and also at His wisdom. They could not see how or why their humble village carpenter suddenly received such supernaturally gifts. They became jealous and angry, and rejected Him from Nazareth. They did not mind Jesus to be their carpenter but they hated Him as a preacher. This is another lesson: when God calls you to ministry, the same people who accepted you in your secular work will reject you as a servant of God. For example, my husband and I, we are medical doctors by profession. When God called us to change our private hospital into church, most of our patients were angry with the idea. They wanted a doctor and not a preacher. They wanted medicines and not scriptures. But God’s will prevail at last! To God be all the glory!