Money is to be regarded as a gift from God to be used to the glory of the giver, God.  We worship the giver and not the gift. We cannot therefore spend as we wish even if we can afford it knowing that we will give an account someday to the giver, God.

We are only stewards of all that has been entrusted in our care.  There are some principles worth recalling as we begin the year, even as we are blessed with funds.

I Corinthians 4[7]  For who maketh thee to differ from another ? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it , why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it ?

James 1 [17]  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

1.God should be the ultimate beneficiary of how we spend money.  Money is thus another tool to be used to please God.  We must be thankful of the opportunity to steward even the smallest portions as for large sums, with the understanding that it may indeed be as difficult or even more tough to be found faithful when we are in possession of great wealth.

2.Do not allow money to master you by seeking for it at all costs.  This leads to devilish clamouring for opportunities and intrigues disguised as business savvy.  This love of money has led to murders of born and unborn, robbery, fraud or the more civilised sins of envy, subtle misrepresentation and exaggeration.

3.Do not be a borrower at all if you can help it, nor be a lender.  What you cannot afford to give, do not give as a loan so as not to create a chain of bitterness instead of love. If you must borrow, be very certain that the means of redemption is already within your reach…never borrow for lifestyle expenses.  Live as simply as the means God has made available to you dictates.

4.Enjoy simple living and resolve to be contented, never envying another for what they have or making comparisons.  God may have very good reasons for permitting certain persons to have a higher standard of wealth and living to accomplish their specific mission.  Do not imagine that the wealthy have an easier kingdom assignment.  To steward great wealth can be a very difficult examination requiring a greater reservoir of self control and patience than most have been prepared for.  Having more money than we can steward for God turns wealth to a destroyer.  Many families have generations gripped in various bondages …drugs, alcoholism, perversions, depression and early deaths  etc. mainly because of lack of disciplines that are needed to match great fortunes. Do not pray for wealth you cannot steward for God.

5.Impulsive buying and accumulation of non-essential gadgets will grieve the Giver who needs you as a conduit to direct funds to a need crying for provision.  The prayer of the one with excess funds should be for God to reveal the needs the extra funds are meant to meet.

6.God is not against luxury, entertainment and leisure, but how does this glorify God if this consumes most of the money of a Christian?  Visitors should be properly entertained and our homes should be comfortable and open to show a warm hospitality always. Partying and many celebrations are simply opportunities to show off and eat gluttonously and cannot glorify God. Certain forms of leisure such as viewing some films and some “innocent”  games and music genres can expose us to youthful lusts we have been admonished to flee from.  We are cautioned to be watchful.

7.The Christian keeps good records of money spent and budgets wisely.  The Bible is a book of records, numbers and specifications suggesting that God is exact and cares about the fine  details and so should we. Living carelessly expecting a miracle when we run out of cash is like testing God by jumping down a cliff.

8.Enjoy being a generous giver, giving without grumbling to several worthy causes also remembering to thank God always for the privilege of giving.  Investing more in people’s lives and the work of God than in shares or investments can be more satisfying and pleasing to God.

My favourite Bible verses as it relates to God and Money are from Philippians;

Philippians 4[12] I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. [13] I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Remain Blessed.

Adapted from Christian Conduct by Kayode Adesogan and Wealth Out of Ashes by the Blog Author, Bode Ososami.

All over the world there seems to be crises – a siege of evil, be it in politics, economics, education, morality and particularly so in religion.  Depression seems to be lingering even longer than the over three years that God had ordained for it to be in the times of Ahab … causing many to ask, when are we going to experience the “rains” again.  The Bible indicates that God will often use dearth and oppression to draw the attention of His own to their false altars and remind His own, that the juxtaposition of Baal worship and worship of Jehovah in the palaces of Ahab may be convenient for Jezebel but is not acceptable to God who demands purity.  Still,  at the appointed time God turns the hearts of His own back by His divine intervention, and there will be showers again.

These are like the days of Ahab, an evil King, married to Jezebel the epitome of idolatry. Most prophets have been already killed –silenced by Jezebel’s baits, others dine and serve Ahab in his palaces – useful only to hide the hundreds who must remain concealed to protect their livelihood and thousands who had not bowed the knee to Baal but who also remain quiet as the altar of God remained in ruins, and the people who remain uncommitted, neutral … and Jezebel likes it so.   A broken altar always leads to trouble. It is man’s prerogative to boastfully scatter the altar of God … it is God’s to withhold rain and close the heavens.

And there was one isolated – Elijah (a man subject to like passions as we are, who prayed earnestly) and who at the appointed time was told to go and show himself to Ahab.  The encounter of Elijah with Ahab is bizarre …

I Kings [17]  And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? [18]  And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.

At the United Nations, a world leader recently proclaimed that Religion is in the way of progress in advancement of Human rights without which peace is evasive … even as the liberal press all over the world continually labels the “narrow” paths of Christianity as offbeat to a search for global harmony and to be shunned if the troubles of civilisation are to cease.  We seem to miss the link between evil and continued recession… comatose to the decay that is the real undoing of the times.

At the time appointed God locates Elijah who lays the blame boldly at the feet of Ahab – the King that oversees the forsaking of God’s commandments (now termed legalism) and follows after Baal alongside the worship of Jehovah.  Elijah says it is Ahab’s creative syncretism and wickedness that has caused the recession and oppression.  Elijah knows something that Ahab does not know – and that is God has decided to end the period of suffering and usher in wellness and turn the hearts of His own back to Him again.

The confidence in God causes Elijah to challenge Ahab to a spiritual duel, repairing God’s altar and crying to God in prayer culminating in a dramatic divine intervention and slaughter of 450 of Baal’s prophets and another 400 prophets of the grove.

I Kings 18 [37]  Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.

I found an old prophetic message that speaks to the heart by Revd. Jackie McCullough delivered at an arena that dramatically foretells Elijah challenging Ahab and his alliances.

In 2012, God does a new thing and it will be well. The prophets of Baal and the prophets of the groove are in for a most horrible and terrible surprise. The sound of abundance of rain will be heard again unexpectedly even as God raises His own to repair the broken altar of the Lord.  A new purity of worship will be heralded as power is transferred from the wicked grip of Jezebel’s prophets and her political proxies and a new revival of justice, righteousness and Godliness will be evident.  This is the doing of the Lord.

Be on the right side.  Reflect on a previous blog post on Resolution to be a serious Christian in 2012.

I Kings 18[21]  And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

Do not fret – if in Christ, instead be still and know …   If you are not in Christ, it is time to return.  The fire of God is about to fall.

Historians will often blame religion as the hidden driver of most crises – the tool most preferred for the most evil power schemes. Atheists suggest its elimination to pave way for new accord, the lukewarm embrace a compromise without savour and many others remain aloof, uncertain … but God indeed is sovereign in all the affairs of men.  One observes common patterns in different country situations … albeit more pronounced and violent in some scenarios than others.

Religious variation and extremism always play well in politics for those skilled in playing the right strings knowing well that the citizenry remain more loyal to religion and this bond can be exploited.   A country political leader in a multi-religious polity once openly said “Religion cannot be ignored as a potent weapon for mass mobilization…” How is religion best manipulated as a weapon of mobilization?  Again the Bible illustrates it in the case of Jeroboam, a King who successfully created and mentored a false religious order to hold on to power as he feared that pilgrimages to Jerusalem will ultimately threaten his kingdom.

I Kings 12[25]  Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel. [26]  And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: [27]  If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. [28]  Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. [29]  And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. [30]  And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. [31]  And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.

Political powers have an age-old fear and satanic envy of the allegiance and loyalty of followers of Christ.  The doctrines of the Bible if followed will protect the traditional family, outlaw murder of the unborn, eschew ostentation, corruption and greed but will cause an unpredictable social revolution and shifts of power.  That is why Christ says He did not come to make peace even as He is the Prince of Peace.  He is already peace for those who will reject their past life and accept Him. Today’s Jeroboams will not have that so they midwife their own genres of worship in bewildering variety. Obama, Clinton and indeed most successful power brands must legitimise their own brand of faith to retain the control they need …  new priests like Oprah Winfrey are not fortuitous.  Who is attending these temples and does this manipulation work? Watch the polls and votes for admired persons for a feel of the influence. To unseat the president, the faithful may have to choose between a Mormon, a repented serial adulterer and whatever else can survive “Jeroboam’s” political filter. The crisis is more spiritual than physical.

In  Nigeria, the pattern is similar but perhaps more physical, crude and even violent. Past hurts and injustices have perfected a religion of hatred, grabbing and competition for influence … secretly sponsored and operating through proxies to destabilise and possibly balkanise the nation for fiendish gain … a different Jeroboam.  The weaknesses of basic policing, security and judicial order make terror and fear the best appliances.  Unchecked repetition of religious manipulation and violence normalises and legitimizes its application on both sides of the warring fence.  All this consolidates “ Jeroboam’s agenda ” as there is no united voice or moral authority to address issues of corruption, nation building, abuse of power, moral, social and infrastructural decadence … and worse, terror and fear seem to insulate against true faith and the gospel. But why are “Jeroboams” successful at their wicked craft?

Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia addressing the World Evangelical fellowship on 4^th May, 2001 said..

“Intolerance breeds injustice, injustice invariably leads to rebellion and retaliation, and these will lead to escalation on the part of making reconciliation impossible.  It would appear that during times of stress, despair and frustration, people become increasingly irrational, and do things which they never think they are capable of…and so we see hideous brutality perpetrated by the gentlest people….Once started religious strife has a tendency to go on and on, to become permanent feuds. Today, we see such intractable inter-religious wars in Northern Ireland, between Jews and Muslims and Christians in Palestine, Hindus and Muslims in South Asia and in many other places. Attempts to bring about peace have failed again and again and again.  Always the extremist elements invoking past injustices, imagined or real, will succeed in torpedoing the peace efforts and bringing about another bout of hostility.”

John 5[1]  Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. [2]  Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate  a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. [3]  Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. [5]  One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. [6]  When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” [7]  “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” [8]  Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

Religion is like the scenario of the invalid for 38 years in the great company of other disabled … it just will not get better, and will continue to be a vassal for powers that know how to exploit it.  A friend said recently that crises are good… if it makes us go again to Christ and begin to live for eternity again, a day at a time.  Crises wakes slumbering powerless Christians, depleted – by carnalities (formerly called sin) of once possessed inner strength … trembling like Gideon in a cave …  in need of revival and reconnection to the arm of the Almighty via repentance and rededication.  Granted I thought my friend to be harsh to say this at a time when many still mourn losses of lives from the Christmas day explosions in Abuja, Nigeria and many do the right thing to vigorously reposition to protect their families and property from further attacks.

2012 is the year I must be strong in my inner-man to be salt and light … inner strength that produces external victories to evangelise as Christ ordered with not just my lifestyle but to tell everyone there is power for them to begin to walk again … making disciples for Christ.  Every one rescued from Jeroboam’s grip is one less potential spiritual or physical terrorist.  Every convert lost or follow-up postponed can easily be gain someday for captains of evil spreading another gospel.  My undoing is my refusal to be salt and light and actively spread the gospel as my Lord commanded.  Where I refuse to shine, darkness creeps in. God forgive me.

John 18 [36]  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. …John 12 [25]  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

What does it mean to hate our life in this world? Strong words used by Jesus. Hate does not mean tolerate or endure peaceably but implies strong passionate disdain.  Jeroboams succeed because we love our life and our vanities and convenience.

Jonah 2[8]  They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

Our enemy is not Islam, politicians, Jeroboam’s priests or another new religious proxy but the lying vanities we observe that are leveraged to manipulate us … that cause us to forsake our mercies.  Let 2012 be different. Holy Spirit, Revive us again. Let God do a New Thing. God have mercy on us all. Come to Jesus.

Pray for Nigeria. Pray for your country…Pray for your leaders. May 2012 be a different year.

Amen

It is the period for lists … more exactly I mean shopping and gift lists, as malls are crowded with people. Lists are necessary so we do not rely only on our memory for things that are important. Every item on a shopping list has a price, be it a mink coat, Ipad or a Christmas card – and may often require that we forgo something else to acquire that listed as important.

I have compiled my lists …these are thoughts, experiences and principles I would wish to be real in my life and never forget. I look at each list and items as having tagged prices all pleading for a different sacrifice from me … as I remember that Christmas is about Christ who paid for my salvation.

Romans 12 [12:1] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. [2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Top Ten most Comforting Thoughts in the Bible

1. We are saved by faith in Christ and not by our works of righteousness
2. The blood of Jesus cleanses from all sins confessed to Him from which we repent
3. Death has no sting nor the grave any victory for the saint
4. God is faithful to supply all our needs according to His limitless riches
5. The mercy and love of God reaches to the heavens and unfathomable depths … none has ever stretched it to its limit.
6. Saints are safely kept in the palm of God’s hands … God looks after us.
7. Christ who has gone to prepare a home for His bride is soon coming back for His own.
8. God lays a table before us in the presence of our enemies …our cup overflows.
9. By the stripes on Jesus at the cross we already are healed … Divine health is already our portion
10. None of God’s children will be forsaken or have cause to beg

Top 7 most joyful experiences/narrations in The Bible

1. The conception of Sarah when the odds were completely against her bearing a heir for Abraham. God is faithful to do as He has promised you.
2. Jacob’s realisation that Joseph was still alive and well and prospering. Never say it is over.
3. The transformation of the mocked and barren Hannah to a mother of many. Wait on God
4. The marriage of Ruth – a hopeless Moabitess to the kinsman Boaz. Soon you will laugh.
5. The welcome of the returning Prodigal Son. You can return to Christ and receive a rousing welcome.
6. The woman at the tomb realises that Christ is risen … the tomb is empty. Jesus is alive
7. The rescue of Rahab the Prostitute from the annihilation of Jericho and admission into honour. Do not say God cannot use or rescue you.

Top 10 most attacked Principles in the Bible

1. God wants us to prosper only as our soul prospers … spiritual prosperity – a righteous walk comes first
2. The debtor is a servant to the lender. Escape the bondage of debt.
3. Many will profess doing great things in the name of Jesus … yet He will say I never knew you.
4. There is no greater virtue than knowing God … no higher calling or assignment than worshipping Him in Spirit and in Truth
5. We cannot serve both God and Mammon – we all love one and hate the other.
6. Without holiness … no man can see God.
7. God created us for His pleasure and not the other way round
8. The wages of sin is death
9. The best and worst are yet to come in God’s Eternity. Heaven and Hell are real.
10. Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever. God does not change.

The name Joseph means add on or increase…as I meditated on his life before becoming Egypt’s Prime Minister, Joseph seemingly was in a place of decrease and decay, he was in a dungeon. It seemed he lived contrary to the prophetic symbolism of His name.  However looking at ‘the ways of the Spirit’ constraint and emptying is in line with the process of bringing him to a place of enlargement or fullness .  Psalm 105. verses 10-24 remind us of the constraint of the feet of Joseph, until the time of release.  Feet released synonymous with agility, movement, relocation.

Similarly the famine constrained the Patriarch Jacob to Canaan.  I often wondered how the place of promise and inheritance, called Canaan now ossified into a place of dire famine.  Selah! The previous and divine injunction to Jacobs’ Father and Grandfather was ‘not to go to Egypt.’   Egypt in this dispensation has been come a place of providence.

In Egypt Joseph (the DREAM) is alive.  When Jacobs’s sons brought back word to Jacob that Joseph was alive, it was subtle but it was A NEW THING!  it was clearly recorded in Genesis 45 verse 26b that Jacob’s heart fainted, be believed them NOT.  The heart of the man fainted because; his heart had been broken and sorely disappointed, how many nights of agony, or longing for the return of the DREAM…Joseph.  Joseph that was a cursor of the future.

In the meantime Joseph had sent wagons and cart loads of provision for the journey of his father and the brothers to Egypt.  Goshen was waiting for them…A New place  The Bible clearly records that in verse 27  when Jacob saw the carts his heart revived.   There is a place for ‘seeing carts!!!’  that is both convincing and reassuring.  It encourages faith and its revives the heart.  It was an invitation to move out from a place of decrease and decay. Its causes us to do cartwheels, no pun intended!!!!!

So Jacob leaves for Egypt but via Beersheba (Genesis 46 verse 1).  Beersheba the place of oath, the place of revelation, and the place where God visits again, and reassures Jacob of the ‘way of the spirit’ is to go to Egypt and the added benediction that Jehovah will make you ‘a great nation there’. A  In Egypt God increased his people greatly (Psalm 105 verse24). He added to them, they multiplied; the prophetic name of Joseph was fulfilled in a most unlikely place and a most unlikely time…A New thing

Article contributed by Abby Olufeyimi.  Abby is the Parish Pastor of Builder’s House (Redeemed Christian Church of God), U.K

The Redeemed Christian Church of God – Annual Holy Ghost Congress – themed “A New Thing” will hold Dec. 12th- 17^th 2011.  Be there. You can also join online to be strengthened in your spirit.  See Trailer below for details.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Another jolly season is here and many are making preparations to spread tidings of joy in remembrance of the Saviour that was born. Even those who do not see Him as the only way to salvation can revel in social activities and attend services – to embrace the positive merry mood, applaud theatre and music production performance, hear the very best choral and poetic renditions, exchange gifts, light trees etc.  Some will of course add the usual humanitarian touch for flavour as they share food boxes and presents to the poor orphan.

The climax is the 25^th. … this year, a Sunday …  except that some are concerned that our reunions, feasts, outings and get-togethers conflict with normal humdrum morning and evening devotion  – even as churches outdo themselves to make the Christmas Sunday a day not easily forgotten.  Many on that day will say our worship is in Spirit and not bound by days, location and venues – and perhaps rightly so, elect to enjoy the company of family and loved ones.  Those who sacrifice minutes of kin camaraderie for devotion will not expect to be confronted by anything of much gravity and will instead be compensated with the Pastor’s very best performance.  If there is a day that happiness of members count – it is this day.

Granted, it spoils the mood to bring to fore that our appointed modern holiday seasons and worship rituals have mostly pagan origins.  These are like consistent and regular  “lite” viral inoculations to confer immunity against any invading deeper truths.   The challenge therefore is always to restore truths and leverage evangelism to achieve the opposite of what the god of this world planned i.e.  be religious as you shop, browse, eat, dance and be merry for this is the season of joy.

Proverbs 23 advises on what to do with the turkey knife at high-status events.

Proverbs 23[1]  When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: [2]  And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. [3]  Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.

Our ways are deceived because our measures are often wrong. Indeed our worship is in Spirit but it is also in truth. Our scorecard is God’s commendation.

2 Corinthians 10[18]  For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.

For example, Jesus said of the church in Sardis – they were reputed for being alive whereas they were dead.  Everyone knew of their church meetings  …  the excited crowds singing unto the Lord at a fourth jam-packed service … all this, while Jesus holds His nose.  The stench of decay is not completely deodorized by the hype of the jamboree. The few at the Sardis Christmas service who receive spiritual life from the shortest message preached on any Sunday only wait for that growing word to be choked at the banquet planned later in the evening.  The error of the church in Sardis is still with some today … please read the Open Heavens Devotional “Wrong Measures, False Results”.   Traditions ossified by literature like the “Christmas Carol” have embedded the thinking  that spending, consumption and mirth is the model of the “generous “spirit.

Some financial advice – do not spend to impress.  This is hedonism if not plain waste. Christianity is typified by moderation … and really you do not need another gadget even if Apple thinks so … stick to your budget … the borrower is servant to the lender.

Let the occasion be one for evangelism, focusing on God, giving and spiritual uplifting.  Go against the grain … seek God in a different way – let it be a time for urgent restitutions.  Know that careful and elaborate preparations have been made by the enemy of our soul to see that once again, the god of this world ravages the souls of men.   I recently read ( I recommend you read the linked essay ) of a new evangelical spectrum – from “hyperfundamentalist” to “indifferentists” which I suspected to be recasting what in the book of Revelation Christ termed “Hot – Lukewarm – Cold”.  Perhaps what many call a balanced conservative middle-ground positioning was what was commanded to be spewed out. We can determine to be “scalding” in showing the love of Christ and in our giving in the season. It is a wonderful opportunity for many to know Christ as Lord and Saviour. Christ waits to welcome the sinner home.

The Redeemed Christian Church of God – Annual Holy Ghost Congress – themed “A New Thing” will hold Dec. 12th- 17^th 2011.  As part of the yuletide events try something different to set the tone for the holiday season by attending. You can join online to be strengthened in your spirit.  See Trailer below for details.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I will not be the first to be alerted and personally hindered from false worship.  John the faithful disciple of Christ who was trusted to receive and share the Revelation of Christ, the last book of the Bible, also a rare example of unusual stability and longevity as a Christian worker. Worship of angels is genuinely heartfelt, comes from a well meaning heart and is closely associated with truth as angels can reveal truth … but it is not worship of God.  If John needed correction, you and I may as well.

Revelation 22[7]  “Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.” [8]  I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. [9]  But he said to me, “Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!”  (NIV)

In the last days, worship of angels will become very prevalent.  Angels are powerful superhumans with awesome intellect, talent and in touch with deep wisdom.  They can be so impressive, like the erring John we can believe we are in the presence of God. More scary is the truth that a third of them are fallen and employed by the anti-christ.

I saw a documentary on a late music icon strong on religious themes linked to several spiritual gurus and heard many of his devotees convinced that his birth and death years ago was accompanied with signs.  His spell-binding talent, unusual performance success and interest in the paranormal suggests  an angelic “entertainment” presence of a different dark kind. But then there are awesome gatherings where revelation, deep truths, amazing wisdom and intellect combine to create another worship experience …these “intellect and wisdom” angels reveal impressive truths.  In addition the love of money – and the obsession with financial “success” will facilitate bowing before the knees of mammon….a busy angel known to have a very large and growing following.

How then can we recognise worship of angels? True children of God will be hindered, warned and not allowed to worship angels.  There are many things that only serve us excellently well such as money, music, the arts, intellect and wisdom that are not sinful but should not be permitted to keep out the presence of God … any adulation in the absence of God can be angelic worship. The presence of the Lord either in the Old and New Testament either before Isaiah, Abraham, Ezekiel or John is often accompanied by a:

• sense of God’s holiness and man’s sin, the cleansing and the atoning blood of Christ that gives access to the throne of mercy as opposed to a feeling of anything goes.
• desire for sacrificial service, submission and obedience conflicting with our agenda and natural leanings. “Here am I send me, use me Lord for your glory” is our cry…a sense of assignment and commission.
• forgetting of self (achievements and disappointments) and eyes lifted up to God, filling us with a sense of the gratitude, glory, joy and majesty associated with admission into eternity.

John was impressed, shown wonderful things and heard deep truths, but warned not to bow at the feet of the angel revealing the truths … reminded to “Worship God”.

Lord, as you hindered every false worship for John – helping him, help me to worship you in Spirit and in Truth, and not be impressed into deception. Expose the worship of angels that your children may please you.  Do something new in my life as I worship God.  Amen

Enjoy Video below by John Piper.

John Piper interview from women's katoomba convention from kcc on Vimeo.

Bro. Gbile Akanni

Lord, I found my passions going the way of the earth. Earthy desires, like those of the men of the earth, conspire to make me heavy towards you. Earthly attachments, earthy longings, earthward attractions still show themselves in my natural mien. I seem to battle, some of the time, with a force of gravity pulling me towards earth’s activities and earth’s concerns and earth’s matters. When Lord, would I actually be free to soar the realms above? Beyond sinful lusts and worldliness, I found a general mental earthwardness that makes me yet more comfortable with the men of the earth than with the eternal beings above.

Why is it that I prefer to talk with men than to commune with God! Why do I feel it an uphill to go plunge in the labour of prayer and intercession for the things of Thy kingdom? Why am I more relaxed, capable of consuming precious hours in the fraternity of humans than to spend a mere day alone with God? Why should I rather more easily plunge into hours of discussion with my wife, chatting with my brethren, disciples and men than to sit alone and have HIM come pour into my soul instead?

Why do I prefer Counselling to Communion? Teaching to Meditating on the Word? Ministry to Devotion? Why should earthly labour, even if for God, seem to be the sweeter than being with Him? Am I not earthy, earthly and earthward?
Earthly labour, earthy chores, earthly concerns, earthy cares . . . legitimate, not even sinful, seem to more easily carry the day to the detriment of returning and resting in the holy presence. Why do I go through the endless cycle of running out and running in, burning out and coming back for refill? Why do I prefer to be refreshed than to remain ever fresh? I detest this earthwardness! Lord please break its hold over me!  It was David the King that cried . . .

Psalms 119:5-6 … “O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.” 

O that my heart was pre-conditioned to seek Thy face!  O that my reins would evermore long for Thy presence!  O that my mind, my thoughts and imaginations are perpetually fixed on Thee! And my words, my deed, my daily traffic, all completely centred on You.

While I am bound in this earthly, earthy and earthward tabernacle, Lord, may I yet daily relish the secret ecstasy of Divine communion. May I possess as my permanent possession, the joy of living, moving and having my being in you. Let the rejoicing of my heart, the merriment of my soul and the excitement of my laughter be of finding You and feeling You in the centre of my bosom. Alas… I discover a new deliverance at last.

Psalms 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”

(Gleanings from livingseed.org)

Hebrews 11:6 also tells us that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Therefore, if I am going to abide in the Lord, I must seek the Lord and if I seek the Lord, I will not lack any good thing. Matt. 7:7-8 assures us that if we seek we will find.
However, the Bible adds certain conditions to our seeking and finding. Isa. 55:6 tells us “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, all ye upon Him while He is near”. This means there is a time when we can seek Him and find Him. Proverbs 8:17 says “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me”. Some seek God when it is already late, but you must seek Him first; first thing in the morning; before you go to work, before you get married…and so on. “But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matt. 6:33.
Now after I locate the house, I must knock at the door. The Bible says that”…if you knock it will be open unto you.”  So I want to abide in a house, therefore I seek for it, I find it, I knock the door and the door is open. The next thing is I would want to do is check if it is suitable for me or not. Psalm 34:8 says “Taste and see that the Lord is good”. Many have tasted the Lord and know that the Lord is good.

Another secret of fruitfulness is to be freed from the Adamic nature, bound by the inherent dust to strive and fail by receiving a breath of life from God. Dust must return to dust, but there is a Spirit man (a breath of life) received from God that must eventually return to God.

Genesis 2[7] And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

 

Ezekiel 37[9] Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. [10] So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. [11] Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. [12] Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. [13] And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, [14] And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it , and performed it , saith the LORD.

Christian Revival is a phenomenon that transforms dust to a mighty kingdom army by the agent of the breath of God. When we speak of revival, we are not talking about meetings, but of a sovereign move of God, as seen in the Welsh revival. In the Welsh revival a nation was changed in weeks. Thousands of unsaved people, all at one time, were moved by a heavenly influence to repent. Pubs were emptied, the work place was ablaze with talk about salvation, and churches over-flowed with sinners wanting to get saved. The word ‘revival’ is used to explain the amazing results of an outpouring of the Spirit of God. A revival is here.

God will insist on holiness. If you are going to be revived and transformed and discover fruitfulness as never been seen, then you must be holy, abide in Him and receive that breath of life that liberates you from the curse of the dust and battles with creeping things.

A victorious and fruitful army of God is emerging. This army abides in the word of God, is strengthened to overcome and prepared to meet with Christ – Husband and Commander in Chief.

As good as the beginning of your life, family or project may be, its end is far more important to God. It is good to start the Christian race, but Heaven is more concerned about how that race will end. Acts 15:18 says God already knows how you will end your journey right from when you embarked upon it. This is so because God is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending (Rev. 1:8).

According to Ephesians 1:35-, everything concerning you had been settled by God before the creation of the world. Some people think they are where they are today as a result of certain events which took place many years before, or as a result of the meeting of their parents. That’s far from the truth! Even before God created the world, He knew and had planned that you would be born at a particular time to fulfill a definite purpose.

This is why you can never take God by surprise: He already knows what you are capable of doing throughout your life time. While coming to this world, the Lord knew that somebody close to Him would betray Him. “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me” (Ps. 41:9). The betrayal of Christ was prophesied in the above scripture.

Satan was free to choose who he wanted to do that assignment. Initially, he fixed his heart on Peter. Peter was Satan’s target to fulfill that scripture but somehow, because he had become too close to Jesus, another meeting was called where the tempter was asked to pick another person for the job. Jesus prayed for Peter but it was not recorded that He prayed for Judas. Every evil plan that has you at the centre shall fail.

Have you slipped from the path of righteousness? Have you betrayed the Lord like Judas? The Lord will have mercy on you and restore you in Jesus name. Have you been a victim of betrayal in the Christian faith? That makes you more like Christ. If your most trusted friend has turned against you, hold fast to the friend that never disappoints -the Lord Jesus. He will see you through to a successful end. You will end well. Hold on to Jesus the Ending, to give you an expected end.

Thank God for sustaining me up till now. Lord, give me more grace to live for you.

Culled from Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye

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A fourth book has typical challenges in the sense that one begins to feel somewhat jaded and must recover perspective as though indeed there is something else coming that is yet to be said as it should.  “Three” in the Bible is the number that denotes perfection …the revelation of God in the Trinity.  Four is three plus one … that which proceeds from His complete perfection and that must be His creative work.  “Four” is emphatically the number of Creation;

The fourth day saw the material creation finished (for on the fifth and sixth days it was only the furnishing and peopling of the earth with living creatures). The sun, moon, and stars completed the work, and they were to give light upon the earth which had been created, and to rule over the day and over the night (Genesis 1:14-19).

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Perfect Fall Wedding is therefore perhaps more creative than previous works.  It is not a book about true or false predictions. The metaphor of marriage and a love letter from the  groom to His bride was for me the very best canvas with which the creative agenda of the Godhead could be completely and thoroughly understood.  Indeed there are  snippets in the Bible to help us deal with every challenge and truly the Bible can be a prosperity book, a government manual, a guide for ethics, a cure for social maladies and even more…but this is like Peter being shown where to find the fish but after invited to come and dine only to discover prepared bread and fish was hot and ready waiting …his fish search  irrelevant.

In my few years of teaching, and I have taught extensively the contents of this book, I have not found a picture so familiar and easy to relate to and understand and yet so compelling to tie the plans of God together as the marriage of the Lamb does –from before time into Genesis to Revelation and the after-time.  I have not found imagery so vivid to explain heaven, hell, eternity and judgment as that of a wedding.  The joy of purification, having dominion and remaining apart is no more hard to appreciate or seen as drudgery when this is understood as part of preparations. Also I have not known any other ceremony with more prearrangements, colour and style.  God created us with a style and flourish that is uniquely His – through this metaphor we catch some glimpse of it.  The Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton is but nothing compared to what God has laid out.

Why the obsession with “Fall” … the season of the feast of Trumpets which I have said in the Book foreshadows the Rapture.  We know the significant events in the calendar of God did not merely occur they were announced by prophetic fulfilment of feasts as given to Moses in Leviticus.  But the Bible warns us not to relax in the winter, spring and summer and expect to be set for His coming in the Fall.  More importantly a saint unprepared for Him anytime will not be prepared even at a given set time…noting that preparation is given to the Bride – a grace she receives, but cannot originate. The chosen bride will without doubt be prepared.

The book is not about how to live a happily married life, but it does emphasise divine directions as it pertains to marriage ordained by God and not man.  Marriage is therefore always a spiritual and theological issue and not a civil construct. This book is not remotely new revelation – only that present day readers I suspect peep in the word nervously … finding right answers to trivial questions … rather than be given to diligent study and examine research, context and previous interpretations allowing the Holy Spirit to guide.  Also the great achievement of post-modernism  is to suggest to a world with itching ears that Biblical truths are nothing but plain fantasy. Only crazy people will believe in a millennium reign of Christ with His saints.  Existentialists will call this book – a mere piece of futurism and an escape from reality due to inability to cope with today’s challenges.

The key aim of Perfect Fall Wedding is to help the preparation of the bride – the Church – chosen from the foundations of the world.  The bride will glow with joy browsing through the chapters and will keep her letter.  Many others, atheists, non Christians will feel a tug in their heart – a call to return to what has always been there – back to your husband , your maker.  But some will read and feel excitement, entertainment, annoyance, a thrill, a sense of fantasy, amusement, outright disgust, unbelief and anger –like someone devouring the contents of a letter written to another and wondering …what utter nonsense.

Isaiah 54 [5]  For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.

Interested readers can find more details in the online information kit download.  Also Two free e-books of the author are being offered  with purchase of a copy. (To obtain the bonus e-books you will need to enter details of purchase on the online form and you will be auto-responded with download password/instructions).

(See PRWeb.com press release)

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Many are hoping that Harold Camping will be ignored once again as he predicts that October 21 is the date of the rapture.  What is surprising is that even as has made previous predictions that did not happen, many will still take his predictions seriously.

Perhaps this is because they have not read for themselves what the Bible says about this most important event.  Most are ignorant on the prophecies and the clarifications given by Christ even as there is agreement that the signs proving the time is near are being fulfilled.

Matthew 25[13] Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.

We remember that Camping, founder of Family Radio Network, had earlier predicted that Judgment Day and the Rapture would occur on May 21, 2011. But when spring passed without a Rapture, Camping stood by his prediction but tweaked it somewhat to say it was not a “physical” Rapture.

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Is Camping doing as much harm as many imagine?  Except to the media crazed societies who find billboards more compelling than spiritual guidance or who have been told that the Bible is a “good” book of half-truths and mystic cryptic codes waiting to be deciphered. For those who would study the Bible and care to understand and love its truths, Camping’s predictions will perhaps not be given the slightest attention.

Well it will soon be October 21…only three days away.

In the Introduction of the new book “Perfect Fall Wedding:The Coming of Christ” , Pastor Samuel Olonode had written :

As October 21 passes, I urge you to again . . . remember Christ is coming . . . be prepared . . . for you have not been appointed for wrath. Repent now. Confess your sins and return fully to the path of holiness. Soon your Husband . . . He will come . . . for you….and if He comes before then … It is also well.

1.  Pragmatism is the real religion of many professors of ethics and many are simply as motivated to material comforts and/or prominence as any other.  Pragmatism means we must do our best to secure a reasonable and practical conclusion on matters in front of us – doing of course our best given the circumstance.  Everyone bribes and can be bribed … most with money, others with honour and elevation and almost all with compliments, attention and recognition.
2. Morality for most is not absolute and the context will determine the case.  Every case can be argued and we need to probe the context to establish truth.  Truth can be true in a case and untrue for another – depending on who is presenting it or arguing for it.  It is the end that justifies the means ….and this creates different scenarios and possibilities – enough to sustain every evil action.  The best minds can argue decadence to be right.  Everything can be contextualised.
3. It seems all dread inconvenience, bad news, shame, loneliness and lack more than they fear the hell that they preach about … if they still truly believe it.  Most will only have pragmatic perspectives presented and will eschew rather than help people grapple through real ethical dilemmas.  All like good news and worship happy endings.

Corruption is not new.  Indeed at its height, the Roman Empire was the most impressive human administration the world had ever seen. Roman legislation was indeed effective and is still the basis of the legal code of many countries. Yet, many have said it was corruption that hastened Rome’s downfall.  The Romans were experts in juggling a corrupt judicial system and knew how to play the cards of the law as was required.  They were the ultimate pragmatists.

Acts 24 [22]  And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them, and said, When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the uttermost of your matter. [23]  And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him. [24]  And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. [25]  And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee. [26]  He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him.

The apostle Paul suffered under corrupt Roman officials. Felix, the Roman governor recognized Paul’s innocence but hoped to be bribed by Paul to secure his release – after all this was only the pragmatic solution to enable Paul have the freedoms he needed to preach and do the work of God.  An ally in Felix would also have been most helpful. What practical value will an incarcerated Paul confer? “ None “ says the positive pragmatist. Surely, Felix deserves some consideration for his kind intervention.

Instead of bribing Felix, Paul spoke about “righteousness and self-control.” Felix expecting a more practical discussion was incensed and had Paul retained in prison.   For many what the monster demands is not money, but our services or an assent to evil or a quiet silence –  anything to secure our freedoms from the bonds of the gospel and the love of God which restrains us. But we are yoked to Christ and must do as the Holy Spirit commands …  in this our coast is supernaturally enlarged to do even more.

What is pragmatism?  This is how Steve Jobs would have defined it.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” (1955-2011)

But this is how the Bible describes the voice speaking in our hearts…Jeremiah 17 [9]  The heart is deceitful above all things , and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Paul is not perfect and surely did not plan, when his life was interrupted on the way to Damascus, for a ministry in the prisons of Rome or to be crucified like a criminal, but the bonds of the gospel to which he called himself a slave demanded it.

The monster of corruption offers a wealthier, longer and healthier life, perhaps an opportunity in the lush courts of Felix to preach …  but all that – did not affect Paul.  Perhaps even though Paul did not dent the corrupt order, he saved his destiny and his soul – continuing in a pitiable incarceration from which he penned most of the New Testament.

The monster of corruption and injustice notes the identity of Paul, isolates him from his team and leaves him alone, waiting to hear of his eventual death and ignoring his tears in the sad corridors of a dark jail as he penned his works.

To my friend reading this post – be strong and courageous; continue to stand for truth.  There is a new anointing in Christ not to be overcome by corruption.  You will laugh last…all your private tears will soon be completely wiped away.

(Adapted from a real scenario and dedicated to the reader silently and privately suffering for battling the monster of corruption)

Many believers are exhausted, tired and feel burnt out but know that the fire of faith must keep burning.  I found this article by Gbile Akanni most useful to help understand Bible perspective on how to keep aglow – very different from other views which can relax our guard.

What does the Bible say on perpetual burning for God?

Lev 6:13 “The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar;
it shall never go out.”

1Peter 4:7 “But the end of all things is at hand, be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.”

Leviticus 6:8-13 details the law of burnt offering unto the Lord, the procedure for keeping the altar aglow even through the dampness and coldness of night. These contain gleans of principles for my heart as I seek to keep the altar of my own heart aglow! These are the protocols of perpetual burning. Lord may you grant me peace of mind to keep strictly to these protocols of hosting the fire of heaven perpetually within my soul.

Four things stand out there for me to keep my light burning. Four things there are that I must do, if indeed I desire a perpetual burning! I must . . . .

1. Pack Out My Ashes!
First, the ashes of past burning must be packed out, else it will only serve to dampen my fresh burning. I must leave the past in the past, if I will ever keep my fire burning; past success, past achievement . . .  yet past failures and past weaknesses. That which is past is past. Focusing on the past will only stop me from fresh prospects in God.

Father, may I see no reason to be pre-occupied with the ashes of my past burning. Even if I’ve had exploits, it was by You. The elder, Paul chose to forget the things which are past, so as to press on to what lies ahead. I might have given You some fat offerings, or serious consecrations but those have already been burnt up. I need to face my current state. Only old men dream mere dreams, I will offer you something fresh while I am young. Memories of past wonderful encounters with You will only form idols in my mind now, and dampen my present quest for You. Oh teach me Lord, to pack my ashes aside!

2. Feed My Fire!
Next, some fire wood must be fed into fire chambers for the fire to be sustained. Fresh wood, daily set in order, to keep the flames ever fresh, ever current. Fresh logs of truth and twigs of understanding gained from spiritual insight into the word is the age long fuel that keeps God’s Candle burning. Oh that I may befriend my Bible and cherish the truths and principles hidden therein. It was the sweet psalmist of Israel that cried “O that my ways were directed to keep Thy law. Father, this I pray!

On the other side, the blowing and fanning of prayer and intercession has been known of old to spread the fire all over the heart and keep it warm and sizzling. Prayer, in spirit and in truth, blazing through my spirit in known and unknown tongues and cutting through the every debris and blanket cast by living in this evil and apostate twenty-first century is what my soul must have to keep a burning!

Father, I need help to watch unto prayer . . . In thanksgiving, worship, praises; the burning fuel from tons of supplications, petitions, intercessions and advocacy I must now be enabled to supply generously and consistently at your altar. So Lord, draw me nearer. For happy is the man whom Thou causeth to approach unto Your throne. Lord, hear my cry! Let the deep call to the deep and my soul be energised by tongs of fire from off Thine altar!

3. A fresh Sacrifice On My Altar!
Thirdly, the object of sacrifice – the burnt offering itself should be laid in order on top of the altar, to be consumed by the fire of sacrifice; thus yielding a sweet smell unto the Lord. Next, Lord, I see the need to present a new sacrifice upon Your altar. Every day demands fresh consecration and offering of myself, my time, my body, talents, money, my love; as a burning sacrifice upon your altar. I cannot appear at your altar empty – handed, with no sacrifice at all. What object will the fire consume then? Even some lusty idols I hold to in prayer, I must now release, in the faith that your will for me is better. Even at this junction, may my perpetual cry agree with the Hymn writer of old . . .

If Thou wouldst call me to resign
What most price I, it never was mine
I only yield Thee what is Thine
Thy will be done!

4. Be Sober And Be Watchful
Finally and most importantly, the fire upon the altar must never go out; night or day.
I must now be sober – clear-minded and self-controlled. Never permitting clouds upon my mind, nor ever allow myself be double-minded in the place of prayer. Earthly passions, anxiety and lack of focus will normally weigh a man down even where he seeks to please God. May my loins be girded and may my light forever burn! Amen!

Should I be enabled to follow these Your clear injunctions, should I fulfil these spiritual protocols for perpetual burning, then surely my fire will never go out.  Help me therefore to keep Thy law.

Originally Published as Protocols for Perpetual Burning by Gbile Akanni. Gbile Akanni posts articles regularly on living seed.org.

President Goodluck Jonathan, the President of Nigeria – as the world’s most populous black nation today celebrates her 51st independence anniversary, says the future is bright and assures that the many challenges facing the nation will be eventually overcome.

The President, who gave the assurance in a televised address declared that his administration would spare no effort in tackling crime and building peace and likens the blockers of great nationhood to Goliaths and Pharaohs that will just not fade off as easily as many Nigerians will wish.

Many citizens observe that things are far from perfect and strain their imagination to observe or appreciate the new dawn that is breaking as an environment of improved governance and accountability, economic and fiscal discipline, a more professional and committed leadership team is slowly but surely emerging to transition an impatient citizenry with huge but yet to be realised potential.

Joseph Chamberlain once said “Great men are like mountains; we do not appreciate their magnitude while we are still close to them “even as Jonathan insists that there is much to celebrate declaring… “We must also take pride in our scientists. This week, Nigeria released 8 new high yielding cocoa varieties. This will help to transform cocoa production, across the 14 cocoa producing states in the nation,” he added.

The Bible records that the emergence of Jesus Christ and dawning of God’s very greatest revolution was received with even far less appreciation.

Luke 9 [9] And Herod said, John have I beheaded: but who is this, of whom I hear such things? And he desired to see him.

Every new dawn comes with three vital elements. First, the element of Herod … the Goliaths, Jezebels and Pharaohs that represent spiritual battles that must be won to permit waning of powerful influences. Elijah and Elisha combined to anoint and empower Jehu to destroy the apparently invincible influence of Baal by a massacre of Ahab, Jezebel, seventy sons and many evil priests. It seems every great civilisation has had its political and socioeconomic revolutions – be it the Industrial Revolution in Britain, the storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789 during the French Revolution or George Washington, leading the American Revolution.  The element of Herod is neutralised or vanquished.

The second element of new greatness is successful Transition. John the Baptist represented the transition that must identify, introduce and make way for Christ although he was not the Lamb of God, only a friend of the heavenly bridegroom. Transition elements must be tough, determined, selfless, impatient and perhaps even bold and courageous to be sacrificed as divine decoys to permit the concealed and fledgling revolution to eventually mature. Herod, after beheading John the Baptist, was surprised that someone even greater than John could be alive and thriving. Even Christ needed this element to prepare the way for Him. John the Baptist – the transition who prepared the way was perhaps disappointed, offended and beheaded, Herod was unable to stop Christ … and the new revolution that is Christianity still breaks out.

The third element is the New Dawn, the desire of all. I envision a new dawn breaking in a nation challenged with fighting many battles never been fought for fairness, justice, economic growth and new order of truth. New dawns do not just happen … For illustration, the American Revolution was the result of a series of new social, political, and intellectual transformations in early American society and government, collectively referred to as the American Enlightenment. Americans rejected the oligarchies common in aristocratic Europe at the time, championing instead the development of new enlightened paradigms of fairness.

Remember Nigeria in your prayers as she goes through unique transitions. Indeed Goliaths and Pharaoh will not be permitted to stop her …