About Bode Ososami

Bode Ososami has pastored and faithfully declared the gospel of Christ at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Nigeria for ten years. In the past, he has published 4 books. His second book, Wealth out of Ashes, was recognised for an award by USA BookNews (2009 National Awards) in the Christian Inspiration Category. His third book " The Majesty of God" was published in December 2010. His latest work Perfect Fall Wedding: The Coming of Christ was released in October 2011.

There is no Mercy in Hell

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Bode Ososami

Faith is basically believing that God still loves us. He does not love our sin. He does not want us to continue in our sin. He is like a father who sees his child’s diseases and hates those diseases, but loves his child. Think of a mother who sees her child full of leprosy or tuberculosis. That mother loves her child so much, but hates those diseases with all her heart.

God loves sinners but He hates their sin. We see God’s love for sinners and His hatred of sin on Calvary’s cross. His love for sinners is seen in that He allowed Jesus to die on the cross for us. His hatred of sin is seen in His turning His face away from Jesus when Jesus bore the sin of the world on the cross.

People sometimes ask how a God of love can send people to Hell. What is Hell like? Hell is a place that God has forsaken completely – a place where God cannot be found. This earth has not been forsaken by God. That’s why there’s still so much of goodness and beauty on this earth.

Look at the beauty of creation, for example. Look at the decency and goodness there is in many human beings. Demons would like to possess ALL human beings, but they are unable to, because God has put a restraining wall around people, so that demons cannot do what they like. It is God’s mercy also that gives man health, prosperity and many other comforts. All these blessings are bestowed by God on both good and evil people. All this proves that God has not forsaken this world. But Hell is not like that. In Hell there is no mercy at all – because Hell is a truly God-forsaken place.

There is goodness in many unconverted people in this world, because the influences of God are still over them. But once they go to Hell, those very same people will become as evil as the devil himself – because the mercy of God will no longer be over their lives.

In Hell, people will experience for the first time what it is like to be totally forsaken by God. That was what Jesus experienced on the cross. Jesus experienced Hell on the cross for those three hours of darkness, when God actually forsook Him. There we see how much God hates sin.

So what is the answer? Can a God of love send people to Hell? The answer to that lies in the answer to this other question: Could a God of love allow His own Son to face Hell on the cross, when the sin of the world was upon Him? If He could do that, He can send people to Hell too. A God of love will turn His face away from those who continue in sin, who say to God, “I am not going to listen to you. I have chosen my own way and I will continue along it forever.”

The Bible says in Proverbs 29:1Proverbs 29:1
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
29 ¹ He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. He...: Heb. A man of reproofs

WP-Bible plugin (paraphrased) “A man who is corrected many times and refuses to accept correction will one day suddenly be destroyed and he will not have another chance”. If a man keeps on refusing God’s loving invitations, he is in real danger. Now I don’t want any of you over-sensitive brothers and sisters to feel condemned hearing that – because that verse was not written for those who fall into sin, but to warn those who love to sin and who want to continue in it. It was not written for those who try to live in purity but keep falling. It was written for rebels, who defy God and want to keep on sinning. How can you know whether you are a rebel? That’s very easy to find out. Just ask yourself whether you have a desire to repent and to turn back to God? If there’s even the slightest desire within you to turn to God and to love Him, then that proves that the Holy Spirit is still working in your life and that God is seeking to draw you to Himself. You may be a failure, but you are not a rebel. There is a vast difference between one who is failing and one who is rebelling.

Originally published by Zac Poonen

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“Thou art my hope in the day of evil.” By Spurgeon

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Bode Ososami

Jeremiah 17[17]Be not a terror to me; You are my refuge and my hope in the day of evil. [18] Let those be put to shame who persecute me, but let me not be put to shame; let them be dismayed, but let me not be dismayed. Bring on them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.

The path of the Christian is not always bright with sunshine; he has his seasons of darkness and of storms. True, it is written in God’s Word, “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace;” and it is a great truth, that religion is calculated to give a man happiness below as well as bliss above; but experience tells us that if the course of the just be “As the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day,” yet sometimes that light is eclipsed. At certain periods clouds cover the believer’s sun, and he walks in darkness and sees no light.

There are many who have rejoiced in the presence of God for a season; they have basked in the sunshine in the earlier stages of their Christian career; they have walked along the “green pastures” by the side of the “still waters,” but suddenly they find the glorious sky is clouded; instead of the Land of Goshen they have to tread the sandy desert; in the place of sweet waters, they find troubled streams, bitter to their taste, and they say, “Surely, if I were a child of God, this would not happen.” Oh! say not so, thou who art walking in darkness. The best of God’s saints must drink the wormwood; the dearest of His children must bear the cross. No Christian has enjoyed perpetual prosperity; no believer can always keep his harp from the willows. Perhaps the Lord allotted you at first a smooth and unclouded path, because you were weak and timid. He tempered the wind to the shorn lamb, but now that you are stronger in the spiritual life, you must enter upon the riper and rougher experience of God’s full-grown children.

We need winds and tempests to exercise our faith, to tear off the rotten bough of self-dependence, and to root us more firmly in Christ. The day of evil reveals to us the value of our glorious hope.

God bless you. Amen

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A New Terrorism and Attack on Free Speech

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Bode Ososami

The recent bombings of news media premises in Abuja and Kaduna, Nigeria by suicide bombers portend another fearful extension of the violence in an emerging nation’s socio-political terrain. The choice of houses of worship, law enforcement and western embassies perceived as supportive of an unresponsive government as targets is now inclusive of premises of unsympathetic media houses. Freedom of press establishes the opportunity for every perspective to have opportunity of unhindered expression given flaws in objectivity for which there are adequate legal avenues for relief. Seeking to spread the fear to speak sets a tone for fascist tyranny and attacks the very fabric that permits truth to be known. Someone once said … “it is a paradox that every dictator has climbed to power on the ladder of free speech but immediately on attaining power each dictator has suppressed all free speech except his own.”

“Without free speech no search for truth is possible… no discovery of truth is useful.” Charles Bradlaugh

I heard years ago the parable of several blind men examining an elephant … one holding the feet and calling it a tree…another leaning on its body and likening it to a wall …the other feeling its trunk and suspecting this must be a strange snake. The flaws in our insights will surprise us but it is better to have different parts of the jigsaw expecting that all the pieces of the puzzle will one day provide a complete picture.

It seems we have a nation where targets of irritation for bombing down are selected if government is not motivated in creating the safety nets that alleviate hunger and pangs for some form of recognition and fulfilment that only these carriers of terror define. The institutional structures meant to regulate for fairness and guarantee order are weakened and caged in strange prisons of silence and extra legal actions apparently prevail to provide solutions that puerile bodies refuse to offer. Without strong mature and effective institutions in all spheres … all that is bequeathed by the best of leaders to future generations are fears, tensions and grievances awaiting expression. Mutual distrust, tribal allegiances and prejudices embedded in new change maps already sabotage changes before they can even be initiated. Most will be silent for fear of being cruelly targeted.

The Bible says God is angry with the wicked everyday … have we become a wicked nation that must inherit only days of trouble? The Bible often describes the wicked as they who thrive by short-changing the weak and the vulnerable…rulers who rose through evil elevators and are trapped only to supervise the perpetuation of corruptions and oppressions in various forms. The only way to appease God is a genuine repentance – change of heart … as well as return of plunder.

Isaiah 57 [20] But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. [21] There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

A respected cleric recently asked …how can we transform or change anything for good when in our hearts we do not want to change or be transformed and deep wickedness thrives unchecked without repentance or restitution albeit in several masked strains.

The recent conviction of the former Liberian President and other similar landmarks in judicial history remind us that those who take advantage of the complex wounds of vulnerable emerging nations to raid their resources, foster troubles and sow evil, injustice and sorrow… will eventually be judged as criminal losers – no matter how long it eventually takes for them to be exposed and someday they will reap multiples of what they have sown.

Psalm 139[23] Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: [24] And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

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The Titanic and the search for Jonah

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Bode Ososami

It is 100 years since RMSTitanic, a passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, UK to New York City, US. The ship disappeared beneath the waves, causing the death of 1,514 people in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. The “unsinkable” RMS Titanic was said to be the largest and safest ship afloat at the time of her maiden voyage – designed to be the ultimate in comfort and luxury, with an on-board gymnasium, swimming pool, libraries, high-class restaurants and the most opulent cabins.

In my reflections on the Titanic … I am drawn to another less known maritime incident with a happier ending. The story of Jonah, God’s man who initially refused to go to a wicked people of Nineveh and preach a curt and unfriendly message they were more likely to mock at …

Jonah 3[4] And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

Many would equally flee to Tarshish if called to deliver such “hate speech” to Ninevites. Jonah probably was not just disinterested in their salvation but also failed to appreciate how the Ninevites would ever respond positively to such a dour crusader … no jokes, no promises to prosper, no chorale, no dance troupe kicking their heels and no happy-ending tale. The trip of vanity to Tarshish was certainly a more practical pursuit …

Who dares preach undiluted truths and messages to the fearfully decadent culture of today? Who has been sent to declare, to advanced civilisations and cultures confident and arrogant in worldliness and debauchery, the words anointed to melt hard errant hearts … causing heads to be covered with sackcloth … and many fast. God, who says “I changeth not” had great mercy on Nineveh even as they believed Him and repented on hearing this “hateful” admonition – much to the surprise and chagrin of Jonah.

The vessel carrying Jonah faced a maritime peril that would have led to loss of potentially over 120,000r 120,000
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja! Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se začne z ¹! Vrstica ⁰ ne obstaja!

WP-Bible plugin lives eventually … but for the admission of Jonah and his volunteering to be punished by being tossed into the sea. But he was God’s servant who God had determined to rescue for the sake of the Ninevites in need of salvation from an imminent judgment. Like Jesus who bore all our sins and had to be in the belly of the earth – the grave for three days .. so that many will be saved.

It is 100 years now and we are still searching for the Jonahs of today. Would a Jonah on the Titanic have made a difference? A discouraged servant of God headed on a luxury trip of vanity no more interested in taking God’s truths to a wicked society that do not look like they would accept it anyway. Would the mercy of God have made a difference … a mercy that interrupted Jonah’s disobedience and preserved him for three days in the belly of a fish only to be vomited on the coast of his assignment? How many thousands suffer today simply because prophets intimidated by the wickedness and culture have retired safely into ease or simply preach a different gospel that does not save – accompanied with hymn singing.

If Jonah had not been compelled to admit his disobedience and be thrown into the sea …eventually to return to Nineveh – an entire city may have perished …plus the souls on the ship … drowned together with a quiet, timid and hardened Jonah .

How many modern day “unsinkable” scenarios await the cry of “in 40 days and it will be destroyed unless you repent” ? Who will proclaim it? Who has been called and helped to be obedient to declare it? Who is still praying for God’s mercy for civilisations?

As new technologies reveal intimate images of the famous Titanic shipwreck … a new revival … a new merciful penetration of the soul is causing the word of God to echo once again …to help us see not just the geographical or historical dimensions but come to worship, fear and honour the God who says “He kills and makes alive” and to be helped to learn from His judgments.

Isaiah 57[13] When you cry out, Let your collection of idols deliver you. But the wind will carry them all away, A breath will take them. But he who puts his trust in Me shall possess the land, And shall inherit My holy mountain.”

God help us. There are no unsinkable vessels, ideas, nations, powers, men, women, civilisations, economies, politicians, ministries, corporations etc … as tomorrow’s headlines continually will remind us … “ but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them”

…safety is only of the Lord

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Surviving Extremely Hostile Situations

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Bode Ososami

A hostile environment represents circumstances in which you sense persistent unusual open or subtle opposition … even mere appearance is continually despised. Sometimes for causes not always fully appreciated … and in other times for reasons which are not just known but justified. Hostility may be self-induced – perhaps arising from character flaws or misfit in groups arising from differences and clashes in culture and values. Hostility can and should be avoided as the Bible does say in Proverbs 16 [7] When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. … Hebrews 12 [14] Follow peace with all men , and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

Still there are Bible lessons and divine wisdom illustrated in reactions of characters in extremely hostile situations. You may someday find yourself in these tough situations …in which you are puzzled at the scale of opposition. Also, often we do not see our flaws or at best underplay them … or we overreact to situations misreading them as unwelcoming….or we can simply work on our attitude .. to be more friendly. Whatever may be the scenario … many may need help someday to cope when conditions become very hateful either in the workplace or even in ministry.

TD Jakes gave his own thoughts and tips in his best-selling book “Ten Commandments of working in a hostile environment” …I listed them below:

Know that you are anointed for the position
Don’t expect to be appreciated
Embrace opportunities for change
Do the job well while remembering the vision
Don’t let the environment get inside you
Increase your capacity to work with difficult personalities
Where you are is not where you are going
Achieve optimal results with minimal confusion
Don’t get into cliques and groups
Always keep your song near you

The Bible has some examples…a few are summarised.

Joseph as a favoured pampered young visionary is initially presented as a tactless lad who talks too much and was quick to bring tales to his father on the adventures of his brothers. You could say this is a case of hostility that could have been avoided if adjustments to manners or attitude were made. Joseph narrowly escaped death in the hands of his own brothers. Still, he avoided cliques, not allowing himself to be bitter and remained faithful to God till his story eventually changed. You could say he kept His song

Genesis 37 [19] And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. [20] Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

Isaac was a man who prospered in a famine and was consistently resisted till he finds his Rehoboth. In this case, envy and jealousy cause Isaac to simply move on to avoid further strife… reminding us that where we are now is not our final destination.

Genesis 26 [16] And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we. [17] And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.

David is being hunted down by Saul for years - finding himself exposed to different enemies… it seems an entire geography became hostile to his existence. To survive – David resorted to unusual methods to stay alive until God’s appointed time. David knew how to live without accolades and appreciation … he learnt of a source of joy – God, that sustained him through the strangest trials and harshest periods .. so can we..

I Samuel 21[12] And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. [13] And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.

Scripture teaches that periods of hostility are also means for the Potter’s training and preparations to forge the best vessels as David, Joseph and Isaac. Still, the devil finds these periods ideal for sowing deep discouragement and wrong thoughts and answers … focusing his baits to lure the battle-weary and inflicting emotional wounds and scars that only God must heal. Many do not come out like the Bible stars.

Td Jakes ends his book “Dear brothers and sisters, I charge you to go forth into your workplace, no matter how hostile it may be, bathed in His anointing, knowing that you are blessed and highly favoured! I wish you Godspeed on your journey and joy along the way!..”

… and if you feel hurt whether deserved or undeserved and you have damaged your testimony in not reacting the way this blog would have advised or you have not yet emerged glittering like Joseph, Isaac or David… still go to Jesus to uphold you.

Matthew 12 [20] A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering (dimly burning) wick He will not quench, till He brings justice and a just cause to victory. (Amp)

He must still bring you to His house of victory. God bless you and remain always strong in Him. Amen

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The Great Need For Good Leaders by Zac Poonen

Posted on April 9, 2012 by Bode Ososami

Zac Poonen

The state of God’s people depends on the quality of their leader. Most of today’s leaders in Christendom are not strong enough to keep God’s people on the straight and narrow path because the leaders themselves do not know God and are compromisers. They seek to please men and to be popular like Aaron, and therefore God cannot endorse their leadership. Moses and Joshua never sought to be popular.
“The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work the Lord had done for Israel” (Judges 2:7Judges 2:7
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel. outlived: Heb. prolonged days after

WP-Bible plugin). But by the time Joshua and his fellow-elders died, there were no God-fearing men available to replace them. And so “all that generation also died and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor the work which He had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10Judges 2:10
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
10 And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.

WP-Bible plugin). There was nobody who knew God.

After many years of moving in many Christian groups, I have to say that I have met very few Christian leaders who really know God, and who can say like Elijah, “I stand before the Lord God.” Most people in Christian work today are professional preachers. They study the Bible and get a degree, get someone to support them and then go out to “serve God”. There may be some sacrifice in their lives and even zeal. But zeal, sacrifice and knowledge are of no use, if a person does not know God. The statistics of their work may be impressive, but the quality of their converts will be poor, because they don’t know God. They may say that they have born-again believers in their church. But are these “believers” disciples of Christ? There is a vast difference between spiritual believers and carnal believers. Any man of God knows that it is better to have a small church of spiritual believers, than a large church of carnal ones. That’s like saying that it is better to have a few 1000-watt bulbs than a hundred zero-watt bulbs.

We are to be the light of the world. But the intensity of our light depends upon how much we know God. If the leader does not know God, the people will not know God either. You can study the Bible and teach it to your church-members, and they will know the Bible. But that would be like teaching them chemistry in a classroom. That won’t help them to know God. People cannot know God by getting Biblical information. You can know God only as you go through trials and testing. You have to humble yourself in those trials and have to have a yearning in your heart for God. That is how you can know God, not by sitting in a meeting. We certainly need to know the Scriptures, but we need to go beyond the Scriptures and get to know God. “The people who know their God will be strong” (Dan.11:32). The Israelites did not know God and therefore “they did evil in the sight of the Lord and served other gods.” (Judges 2:11Judges 2:11
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
11 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim:

WP-Bible plugin) That was because Joshua had died, and now there was no God-fearing leader to lead them.

The history of Christianity in the last 2000 years is replete with numerous examples of men whom God raised up to start a church or a movement that brought revival in their lifetime. But once they died, their church (or movement) declined just like the churches and movements before them. The new generation holds the same doctrine as their founder and the same theory of sanctification, but they are not holy as their founder was. Many of them claim to have the same “baptism in the Holy Spirit” that their founder had. But their life and ministry do not have the same anointing. Something is missing. Then God has to raise up another man and start something altogether new.

God has always done His greatest work in the church through individual men whom He has raised up in different generations in different lands. Around such a man God gathers together a few people who are concerned not so much for size as for quality – for a pure testimony for God in their generation. I believe the church needs many such men and women.

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Stop Mourning – by Spurgeon

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Bode Ososami

For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:212 Corinthians 5:21
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

WP-Bible plugin

Mourning Christian! why weepest thou? Art thou mourning over thine own corruptions? Look to thy perfect Lord, and remember, thou art complete in Him; thou art in God’s sight as perfect as if thou hadst never sinned; nay, more than that, the Lord our Righteousness hath put a divine garment upon thee, so that thou hast more than the righteousness of man–thou hast the righteousness of God. O Thou who art mourning by reason of inbred sin and depravity, remember, none of thy sins can condemn thee.

Thou hast learned to hate sin; but thou hast learned also to know that sin is not thine–it was laid upon Christ’s head. Thy standing is not in thyself–it is in Christ; thine acceptance is not in thyself, but in thy Lord; thou art as much accepted of God to-day, with all thy sinfulness, as thou wilt be when thou standest before His throne, free from all corruption. O, I beseech thee, lay hold on this precious thought,perfection in Christ! For thou art “complete in Him.” With thy Saviour’s garment on, thou art holy as the Holy one. “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” Christian, let thy heart rejoice, for thou art “accepted in the beloved”–what hast thou to fear? Let thy face ever wear a smile; live near thy Master; live in the suburbs of the Celestial City; for soon, when thy time has come, thou shalt rise up where thy Jesus sits, and reign at His right hand; and all this because the divine Lord “was made to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

Isaiah [40:1] Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. [2] Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.

Enjoy the video …It is well with my soul.

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Lesson For The Single Brother by Gbile Akanni

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Bode Ososami

Life as a marriageable but single brother, has a very big need . . . . the need of grace to wait and wait patiently! The grace to wait and wait properly! The grace to wait and wait profitably! Every new day, my eyes, in the spirit, strains into the horizon . . . seeking, hoping as my heart does ask voicelessly: “Will the Lord bring that for which I have been looking up to Him, today? Will He end my seemingly endless wait today?” More so, my days of waiting for you may seem longer than that for which other brothers have had to wait. If my hope, still being deferred, will not make my heart sick, then I need a help which others may never ask of Thee, Lord . . . while I wait on Thee and for Thee! And Lord, on Thee and for Thee do I wait all day long!

“Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.” Ps 25:5Ps 25:5
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

WP-Bible plugin.

While I wait on you dear Lord, please lead me in your truth and teach me that which I need to know. While I wait, let it train my faith in thee that my life may serve the purpose for which you created it. While I wait let me not only wait patiently but may I be found waiting properly and profitably.

While I wait . . . At the proper place! Oh thou Spirit of grace, truth and mercy, there is a place I need to stand and hear what God has to say to me, while I wait. Please lead me to the well Lahairoi, the well of the living God, that there I might meditate on God’s ways; that my wait be not a waste of precious time. O let my location and dwelling place be by this well – the well Lahairoi, the well of the living God who sees me . . . for that was how it was for Isaac. “At that time Isaac was living in the southern part of Canaan near a place called “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.””
Gen 24:62Gen 24:62
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
62 And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he dwelt in the south country.

WP-Bible plugin –CEV

hmm! What a dwelling place for a brother – by “The Well of the Living One Who Sees Me!” What a dwelling place for Isaac while he was yet single!! While yet in this dispensation of life as a single brother too, may I realise that my mother’s tent may not be the right abode for me now. Though it has become vacant and available for me to move in, yet, it might hold too many rooms for me. And since there is no void in nature, I might fill it with what it’s not meant for. This might only end up as a ‘nest’ with too much temptation than I can bear.

If I begin to move in the vacant rooms of submission to authority, which my mother’s “death” has seemingly left for me to do as I like, and I am not moving in with another assigned mother to constrain me, I will only grow untamed into an unplanned recklessness. If I begin to explore the vacant rooms of “the need for feminine affection”, which Mother’s voice and cuddling used to provide, I will only lay myself wide open for flames of passion to consume. If I begin to fill mother’s vacant kitchen table with “food flasks” of strategising ladies, I may only end up on the laps of a strange Delilah who has no better interest than to cut the locks of anointing which mother spent her whole life to cultivate to maturity!

This was the unfortunate situation thrust on Jacob as he had to flee home, where mother was, to go fend for himself and pick a wife for his future. God’s grace in response to the blessing of a father eventually got him the will of God in Leah but his reckless flames of passion got him a Rachel along and his strategising wives complicated his future with two housegirls more, as wives. (Gen. 28-31).

Isaac’s place of residence by ‘The Well of The Living One Who Sees Me’ was therefore written for my own example and admonition. O that my heart will agree to dwell by my well Laharoi!

While I wait . . . For the greater profit! While I wait in God’s presence, things can only get better, I can only reap the benefits. When a man waits patiently in God’s presence, it can only be for his greater good. No evil can sneak in here to ruin me because I live by The Living One Who Sees Me! The emotional flames that threaten my soul are easily quenched by the Water from ‘The Well of The Living One Who Sees Me.’ This is a place of maximum security for my life and future because in it I am fenced in by the presence of The Living One Who Sees Me.

For as long as I make this my dwelling place, I shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, my fruit shall never miss its season, my leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever I do shall prosper, because my dwelling place is by ‘The Well of The Living One Who Sees Me.’
No wonder Isaac was never agitated, though Rebecca came only after he was forty years of age. By ‘The Well of The Living One Who Sees Me’, agitation cannot find a foothold because meditation is the order of the day and communion with the Holy one is the life there. He that is planted here shall make no haste, though the Lord may seem to tarry, for he knows that his Father doth spend the time to undertake for him.

He knows, he shall not need seven years of labor to secure his Rebecca; neither can he be tricked with a Leah instead of a Rachel, for the eyes of The Living One Who Sees him goes ahead of him.

Oh my Father and my God, while I wait here for you, please send your Spirit to where the damsels are learning to draw water from the well of life. Cast the lot Yourself that will secure the Rebecca for my life. Speak to her and those that have custody of her life . . . and relieve me of the dangerous assignment of choosing by myself at the wells of life. Bargain for her on my behalf and overcome all the delay tactics of reluctant in-laws. Who else but You can know on whom You have placed the same blessing that You already have pronounced on me? Together we shall possess the gate of our enemies and cause the purpose of our God to prosper in our generation. My waiting shall never be in vain. It was designed to bring me much profit.

While I wait . . . For the Proper Lessons! Dear Lord, while I wait, may I learn my lessons and learn the principles that makes for a Godly union and home. While I wait, may I receive truths that You have kept for my future and my coupling. While I wait, may my spirit acquire the grace of the husbandman that will deliver me from being a mere “horseband”. While I wait for, and on the Lord now, may I learn how I shall bring her into my mother’s tent. Open my understanding that I may learn how to dwell with her with wisdom.

Help me now, so that when she comes, I may take her, this Rebecca and not another; take her for who she is, for what she is and for all that is in her. Thou God who is Thyself ‘LOVE’, create in me now, the heart that will love, even this your Rebecca for my life.

Lord, now, before her arrival, may I truly know the “death” of my mother. May she be permanently gone from the tent she occupied in my heart; for there is no way this Rebecca will come as a comfort, while ‘Sarah’, my mother lives, still in her tent within me. May I wait, learning and growing in this necessary death that will ensure that proper cleaving will ever take place.

“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery…” Ephesians 5:31, 32Ephesians 5:31, 32
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. ³² This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

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And as for me, Oh Lord, let this no more remain a mystery, but make it a life for me while I wait for, and on you. Amen. Let me not live to see my Rebecca struggle with my Sarah for space and attention in my heart while I watch, helplessly torn between two bosoms that I have come to love.
Lord, while I wait, let me learn how to recognise her when she comes. Let me know her before I know her. Let me be one with her in the spirit, lest I be confused by the dressing of prettier girls. When your Rebecca for my life comes, let not the Camels become my attraction, nor the myriads of ladies riding alongside her, lest I miss the real help meet for my life.

And when you come! . . . with her in hand, may joy unspeakable make me rise in divine recognition to joyfully receive her without doubt or struggle from Thy loving outstretched hands. May Grace within spring up to apply without a fault, all the lessons that the days of my waiting have quietly imparted to me.

Even so, Lord Jesus. Amen!

(Article originally published in Living Seed.org by Gbile Akanni)

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Songs that Inspire – You have to be there (Performed by Susan Boyle)

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Bode Ososami

Susan Boyle recently performed this inspiring song that reminds of moments we need the assurance of the sure hands of the Lord Jesus reaching out – waiting for us to cease from doubts and fretting and lean more on His everlasting and sure outstretched arms.

Psalm 13 :1 How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me? [2] How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me? [3] Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; [4] Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved. [5] But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. [6] I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

What is it Lord that you want that I am not seeing?
What in my ignorant prayers am I failing to say?
Never before have I questioned the truth of your being
Never once have I dared – Never until today

All of a tremble I stand on the edge of confusion
Who is to save me – If into the darkness I fall?
Now that I need more than ever my God to be near me
Do you hear when I call? Are you there after all?

You have to be there, you have to
My life I have placed in thy keep
And without you I am drifting on a dark and stormy sea
You have to be there, you have to
Without you I’d drown in the deep
Too far, too far from land
The waters drag me down
I reach for your hand

And when I die who will open his arms to receive me?
Who will forgive me and take me and show me his face?
When I have gone to my rest, will you watch me and wake me?
When my time comes at last, will you grant me your grace?
I am so small on this Earth, I am nothing without you
Daring to doubt you at all is a knife to my heart
Little by little I’m losing my way in the shadows
I am losing my hope and the world falls apart

This stirring ballad is from Susan Boyle’s third full-length album, Someone to Watch Over Me. ABBA’s Benny Anderson and Bjorn Ulvaeus originally wrote the song as “Du måste finnas” for the 1995 Swedish musical Kristina from Duvemåla. The show is based on a series of four novels by Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg set in the mid-19th century, which detail a family’s poverty-driven migration from Sweden to America…

Whatever..wherever …however … Reach out for the strong hand of Jesus.

Matthew 14 [30] But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. [31] And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

Read post “The Hand of the Lord”

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The Hand of the Lord

Posted on March 17, 2012 by Bode Ososami

There are times we cannot be blamed when we see limitations, or observe the failing support of trusted allies or consider the dark hours and the familiar defeats mirrored once again in the situation at hand – only to come to the conclusion …”There is no hope.” Moses in a similar mode, could not possibly understand how the multitude in the wilderness would be fed …even if the seas found a strange route to the desert and vomited all the fish therein. Even if all the cattle were slaughtered and they encountered animals – even more than they could ever expect … how could there be enough to feed this multitude? But Moses was now, unlike in early premature attempts to move ahead of God’s schedule, a man who sought God …not just for his acts.

Many times we have looked at our challenges, difficulties or seen the decay in our nations or the dearth of truth in the wilderness of wandering saints … and like Moses say “I’m standing here surrounded by 600,000 men on foot and God says, ‘I’ll give them meat, meat every day for a month.’ So where’s it coming from? Even if all the flocks and herds were butchered, would that be enough? Even if all the fish in the sea were caught, would that be enough?”

Have you asked… where is my help going to come from? Where is the deliverance of our nations going to come from?

God answers Moses … Numbers 11[23] And the LORD said unto Moses, Is the LORD’S hand waxed short? thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.

The Church does not believe God. She trusts in her committees, taskforces … her means, her good men…her prayer bands and missionaries …her new found wealth. The Church does not believe that by a strong hand and by fire there shall be an awesome revival. She trusts in the flock, the crowds, her means … her leaders and the strong organisation … But God does not require this to move – good as they may be.

Doubt no more, take no thought of the worsening challenges or the defeats that appear imminent … instead consider that it is the Lord’s hand that is promised as your tool of deliverance and not yours or your weary allies.

God is speaking to someone and He says … you will see whether His word will come to pass or not. All tend to have times of doubt when we think God has not accepted us, or cannot save us or is too weary to help us. But look up again – O doubter … Believe your God and you shall prosper. The joy of the Lord is our strength. Look again … see Him and live.

Cursed sin of unbelief …be gone from us. It is the gracious, loving, strong and long hand of the Lord that attends to the matters before our nations.

Has the sacrifice of Christ and the blood of Jesus lost its efficacy ?…Why do you distrust Christ with a mock humility that your sins are varied and many? Is He unwilling to forgive? … Come to the foot of the cross and lay down all your burdens …exchange your waning strength for reliance on His sure hand. Could you dare to trust Him and live again?

Take your eyes off the headlines of horror, do not be distracted by the voices that say “how can it be?” … God has not promised to deliver us by mortal hands – especially yours.

Still we must also remember that if we continually ignore His plea to believe Him, repent and choose instead to live as His constant enemy and oppressors of His saving truths … continuing to do as we please – be certain that His hand is also not short to send terrible and fiery plagues in His fury.

Numbers 11[31] And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp, as it were a day’s journey on this side, and as it were a day’s journey on the other side, round about the camp, and as it were two cubits high upon the face of the earth. [32] And the people stood up all that day, and all that night, and all the next day, and they gathered the quails: he that gathered least gathered ten homers: and they spread them all abroad for themselves round about the camp. [33] And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague.

But also remember …the hand of the Lord is not carte blanche or another free license to do as we wish… but guaranteed to all that truly seek him

Ezra 8 [22] For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.

Be ashamed of all you have looked up to for help … the band of soldiers and horsemen you have beckoned. Lord, instead teach us to seek you and look to you. You alone and you always it will henceforth be. Help us to trust in your nail pierced hands.

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