Dear Choir, if you don’t study the Bible, you’re in the Music Industry not Music Ministry. You’ll sing nonsense and call it a “Gospel” like we do today. You’ll be Entertaining instead of Ministering… You better choose one of the two.
Dear Usher or ADENA or ONIBODE, if you don’t study the Bible, you’re a traffic warden or better still a party Protocol. You simply maintain foot traffic in the assembly.
Dear Bible Study Leader, if you don’t study the Bible, you’re an ordinary Public Speaker not a Minister. You’ll preach rubbish.
Dear Children Department Coordinator, if you don’t study the Bible, you’re just a social juvenile worker or better still a nanny.
Dear Drama Group Member, if you don’t study the Bible, you’re just doing Nollywood films, no life!
Dear Instrumentalist and Technical Unit Member, if you don’t study the Bible, you’re just a DJ, a very noisy one for that matter.
Dear Prophet and Prophetess if you don’t study the Bible, you’re just a soothsayer. You’ll be predicting Arsenal vs Leicester city, not anything relevant to God’s kingdom on earth.
Dear Christian Writer, if you don’t study the Bible, you’re just D. O. Fagunwa, Chinua Achebe, or the writer of “Eze goes to school.” You’ll write for fiction not for the Kingdom.
Dear Christian Motivational Speaker, if you don’t study the Bible, you’re just a psychologist.
Dear Church Members, if you don’t study the Bible, you’ll be mislead and Bible will be misrepresented to you.
No matter how Anointed you are, if you don’t study the Bible, you’re just a spiritualist, not a spiritual person.
Those who preach and teach alone are not the only ones called by GOD to be rich in the Word of faith and sound doctrine.
Every child of GOD is. This is the reason why many are “merely engaged” by churches but aren’t ”imparted”. This is why much of what some call “service” in GOD’s household may be result in futility.
Several years ago, a preacher from a distant town accepted a call from a church in another location. Some weeks after his arrival, he had an appointment that made him to board a bus to another part of the town. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had mistakenly given him his balance in excess of 100 Naira. As he considered what to do, he thought within, “You’d better give this money back. It would be wrong to keep it”.
Then another thought came, “Oh, forget it, it’s only N100; who would worry about this little amount; afterall, the bus company makes so much money on fares.They will never miss it. Accept it as ‘a gift from God’ and keep quiet”.
When he was getting down from the bus, he paused momentarily at the door, and then handed the 100 Naira to the driver and said, “Take; the balance you gave me was in excess”.
The driver, with a smile, replied,“Aren’t you the new preacher in town?”
“Yes I am”, he replied. “Well, I have been thinking a lot lately about where to go to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you a balance in excess. I’ll worship with you at the church this Sunday”.
When the preacher stepped off the bus, he grabbed a nearby electric pole, looked up and said, “Oh God, I almost sold your Son for 100 Naira!”.
Our lifestyles are the only Bible some people will ever read. This is just a subtle example of how much people watch us as Christians, and will put us to test! Always be on guard — and remember — You carry the name of Christ on your forehead and shoulders, once you say you are a Christian.
‘Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny’.
– If you must miss any place, don’t miss HEAVEN.
– If you must miss any appointment, please don’t miss THE RAPTURE.
– If u must miss any meal, please don’t miss THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB.
When you pray for God’s mercy, know that you must and will have to prepare for the recalcitrance of your prayers.
God’s mercy is not free, has never been free and can never be free.
It is accompanied by a price that many find sometimes difficult to pay and In turn, curse God in their utmost lament.
I can recall a story of a young Preacher man whose affliction was masturbation. He struggled for many years to stop but was always falling back into this dish of disgruntled Kadesh Bania.
One day, he said to himself; I won’t do it again and that very day he fell twice. After the second time, he went on his knees and was crying for forgiveness, and God spoke.
God said to Him, “son, I shall help you”
He was covered with so much joy so much so that he danced and worshipped God for hours.
A few days later, his phone fell into his pot of soup from the window where he had placed it and unknown to him, he covered the pot and allowed his soup to boil for five minutes.
After five minutes, he put off his gas and brought out a plate to dish some soup only for him to dish out his phone covered with enough soup. Smiles.
This young man lost appetite and went into his room crying…
God spoke again “son, I promised i was going to help you.”
He was already boiling some anger in him, but couldn’t channel it to God because He knew the repercussions.
He gathered a few money, went to a phone plaza to purchase a new phone, bought the phone and on his arrival back home, the phone was gone. Traced it back and discovered the empty pack at the entrance of his house. He went back inside his house, cried all through and God spoke again “I promised I was going to help”
On hearing this, He brought out his laptop power it and headed straight for a porn website, stood up and matched to close the door and unfortunately stepped on the laptop charger, dragged it mistakenly with his leg and the tragic of all occured, the laptop fell from the table and was dashed into pieces.
This young man wept sour and repented from his heart.
Beloved, God didn’t stop there, He withheld all financial help from him until after a year. This young man learnt his lessons in a destructive manner.
When you ask God for mercy, He hearkens and grant you forgiveness, but beyond the forgiveness, He will place you on a dangerous diet that will bring you great discomfort so as to help liberate you from the hold of that sin entirely.
When the young Preacher cried to God for mercy, God heard him and granted him forgiveness, but after the forgiveness, God had to make sure that this servant of His does not Go back to that sin again.
God went deep down the matter and fetch those factors that led His servant into the demonic act. Because He is a loving father, if he finds out that it is your phone, He will allow the foolish devil to bring his brothers (thieves) to steal it, or cause it to fall into a great damage, just like the soup incident above, or take away the capacity to purchase data from you.
After this or if another factor is found, let’s say, Loneliness, He will lift you from a lonely place and place you among men of good thoughts. If it’s Joblessness, He will grant you a job that will keep you busy…
Note: this is an example.
God doing all of this to that fellow doesn’t mean He hates Him or her and have not forgiven and forgotten, he is doing all of these to keep the individual free from the path of this sinful act…
So at the end of the day, you will find that He just loves you and want a better life for you and not a destruction.
So if you are praying for mercy, let this be on the canvas of your heart, that the price of mercy is dangerous despite the loving forgiveness and forgotten nature of our God.
Gods answer to mercy prayer is an introduction to a cleansing process in ones life. If anyone then think it is costly, no problems, I assure you beloved, the costliest one await him or her on the last day. The Bottomless Pit of hell.
You don’t need to run from God’s mercy now, you need it, and note that it’s for your own good, so come boldly and embrace it. After every mistake or wrong doing, please don’t run from God, run quickly to God and seek for this genuine mercy, and you will find it.
If you haven’t given your life to Christ, you’re doing yourself a great injustice, beloved, believe me you need Jesus in your life to live righteously.
Please pray with me and say, lord Jesus, I am a sinner in need of your help, please have mercy on me and wash me clean, come into my life today and help me to live for you from today forward and backward never in Jesus Holy name, amen.
Congratulations beloved, you’re welcome to God’s family, please don’t stop here, locate a Bible believing Church near you and get committed in the service of God as you grow in God’s love.
God bless and keep you
If you were blessed, kindly share to as many as you can.
We all struggle with tough times at some point in our lives, especially those times when things aren’t going as planned, or times when we face series of tribulations and challenges that seems too heavy for us. These challenges could emanate from work, family, school, friends, or other realities of life.
For instance, there were times whenn things might get really frustrating, and we somewhat begin to fall into depression because of the situation we might face at that time. Been through such, right? But we should keep on reassuring ourselves that God’s grace is sufficient and will see us through those tough periods.
A lot of us tend to forget what the scriptures say about these times, and we just give up on ourselves; That’s a wrong approach. Let uslook up to God and cast our burdens on Him. Remember, God will always love and come through for you even at your darkest hour!
Aside the numerous scriptures that helps us in our times of struggles, here are 10 BIBLE VERSES THAT WILL HELP YOU DURING TOUGH TIMES.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; be not frightened, neither be dismayed; for the Lord, your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” – Proverbs 3: 5- 6
“No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” – Joshua 1:5
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. – Matthew 11:28
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” – Isaiah 41:10
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” – Psalm 46: 1
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.” – Isaiah 40: 31
“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline.” – 2 Timothy 1:7
“The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” – Psalm 118: 6
“The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.:- Psalm 29:11
When Moses Bliss sang: “God is too faithful”, the reality in that song is so evident, especially in our daily living.
God has evidently been faithful towards us, our families and businesses; and we can make a brief analysis to see how awesome He has been in providing and sustaining us, daily.
Let’s try doing some calculation and financial fix to unveil how God has been taking care of us in an all-encompassing way.
Note, it’s not about how organized, coordinated or financial intelligent we are towards our daily living; but God has made a way that has enabled us to LIVING ABOVE OUT FINANCIAL EXPECTATIONS.
For example:
Let’s consider a family with Three (3) Children, yourself and spouse: 3 +2=5
Let’s do the calculation:
5 plates of food for breakfast, 5 plates for lunch & 5 plates for dinner
= 15 plates of food per day.
Multiply by at least N300 per plate: = N4,500
N4,500 per day for 30 days (1 month); We spend average of N135, 000 per month… That’s N1,620,000 per annum …and you say, you are not a millionaire?
Snacks and in-between meals are not included o! School fees, are not included. Medical bills are not included here too. Transport fare/fueling not yet in the calculation o! What of recharge cards, subscriptions and other miscellaneous. Shoes, clothes etc, not added o! After all, we no go go out naked nah… Right?
House rent, for those without a house of their own, is not included. Outrageous Electricity bills and other utility bills are not in the calculation. ‘Oga something for the boys?’ no dey there oooo! (Lol)
Now, the question is, “How do you make it happen with your monthly stipends?” Isn’t it a miracle that we live, and still pushing?
And, God just have a special way of coming through for us at each time we are stranded?
Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count your blessings, see what God has done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one; And it will surprise you what the LORD has done for you and your family.
Let’s return all Glory to our creator. Let us be grateful for all the faithfulness, care and kindness God has shown us, and is still showing us.
Daily, make “THANK YOU JESUS CHRIST” your anthem. He rewards a grateful heart with more than what we expected.
