Psalms 34:1 I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

How about we live each day and each moment being thankful to the Father of all, meditating on His goodness. Truth is we most times just look on the bad side of life and feel God isn’t good enough and we just sulk about situations yet the LORD does more than our physical eyes sees every moment and we see it as a norm.

Singing of His goodness is the best thing we can ever give to Him, not because of what He gives but for His person.

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I love the way Message version puts Psalms 103, it gives this feeling of being intentional about the goodness of our God always, making mention of all His deeds

^1-2 O my soul, bless God.
    From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name!
O my soul, bless God,
    don’t forget a single blessing!

^3-5 He forgives your sins every one.
    He heals your diseases every one.
    He redeems you from hell saves your life!
    He crowns you with love and mercy a paradise crown.
    He wraps you in goodness beauty eternal.
    He renews your youth you’re always young in his presence.

^6-18 God makes everything come out right;
    he puts victims back on their feet.
He showed Moses how he went about his work,
    opened up his plans to all Israel.
God is sheer mercy and grace;
    not easily angered, he’s rich in love.
He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold,
    nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve,
    nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
    so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
    he has separated us from our sins.
As parents feel for their children,
    God feels for those who fear him.
He knows us inside and out,
    keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.

Every of the things the Psalmist blessed God for are things we trivialise as believers yet God does it without complaining that we didn’t say thank you or that we murmured. Selah!

Many a times all we just need do is to erupt with praise even in the middle of a terrible situation and we’ll see Joy overflow in our hearts.

When you feel the turmoil within because it’s not impossible that it happens, declare God’s goodness, resist the urge to say otherwise, look within and know and know again that the Goodness of God is not seasonal, it is an always affair.

Today and always meditate on His Goodness, bless the Lord from your hearts, let praises erupt from your being, make it a lifestyle.

Have a fruitful week!

SHALOM

I have been studying Genesis 14 for a while now and one thing keeps drawing my attention back to the scripture and it is Abraham’s response to the King of Sodom when he defeated the four kings who came together against the five kings. God had just made a promise to Abraham, The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west.  All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring^[a] forever. I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.” (Genesis 13:14-17) which was enough for him. Having had this massive promise from God it was okay for him to think that rescuing Lot, his family alongside other persons had finally earned him the blessing but no he didn’t see it that way

His response showed the core of his heart, I promise that I will not keep anything that is yours not even a thread or a sandal strap! I don’t want you to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ Genesis 14:23.

Our response when we have little and see abundance is very important, we must not be too quick in giving a name to any property that is not ours.

Some of us see a blessing or get to see a level of abundance and the next thing we are thinking of is jumping at it instead of discerning whether it is the Father’s will for us to have it.

Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own. Luke 12:15 (NLT)

Our response when we see abundance shows the core of our heart. In a bid to live comfortably or see the promise of God to us we must be very careful of what we accept. As we follow Jesus, He lifts us up step by step.

Greed is a killer, it would have been very easy for Abraham to kill the king of Sodom and then take every of the possessions but NO the blessing is not tied to what our eyes can see alone, it is highly spiritual and first intangible, doing that would have corrupted him.

This week, I leave us with this popular scripture to meditate upon, But godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6.

The Lord bless and keep us all.

Shalom!

An angel appeared to Mary, a virgin, and announced that she would be the mother of Jesus. After some clarifying banter, Mary declared, “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” (Luke 1:38) She recognized her role as a servant in God’s plan to send Jesus into the world. However, everything hinged on her believing God’s Word spoken by the angel.

Imagine this, the fate of humanity rested on the aligning by faith of a single virgin…Selah!

Mary was an excellent choice, because she confidently confessed faith in His Word. She is a wonderful example for all believers on how to hear, believe, and act on God’s Word.

God’s plan was in the hands of a virgin betrothed to Joseph. Would this simple Jewish teenager believe God’s Word? Mary listened carefully to Gabriel, the Messenger of God tell her what was about to happen. She did not doubt God’s Word like Zechariah. (Luke 1:11-25), his demand for a sign was answered by Gabriel temporarily removing his ability to speak until after John the Baptist was born. As long as he was silent, his unbelief could not undermine the promised child. Spoken faith or spoken unbelief changes what we see…Selah!

It’s a powerful reminder of the importance of choosing your words wisely. (Numbers 14:26-28, Matthew 12:31-37, Mark 11:21-23, James 3:1-10)

…be it unto me according to your word, simply means acknowledging the person of God, accepting His ability to change unimaginable situations.

Gabriel told Mary; “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you. The Holy Offspring which shall be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)

The conception of Jesus was an act of the Holy Spirit, in cooperation with Mary’s faith in the Word spoken by Gabriel. The Word became flesh and tabernacled with us. (John 1). There was no sexual union between God and Mary.

Mary believed God’s Word, allowing the Seed to become Jesus, the Son of Man. Mary was the door, or legal entry into the Earth.

For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible of fulfillment (Luke 1:37)

God Is Love. (1 John 4:7-13) His Word Is Truth. (Psalm 33:4-11, Proverbs 30:5-6, John 17:17-19). Armed with the knowledge of God’s nature, and His faithfulness, you can trust God’s Word even in the face of contradictory information. There was no physical evidence that Mary would conceive. All she had to cling to was God’s Word. Think about that for a moment. God’s Word is incorruptible Seed. It will always produce. Plant it in your heart, protect it, cast down imaginations and thinking that contradicts His Word. (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).

As you read God’s Word, take what applies to you as a believer personally. Then, like Mary, you can say, “Be it unto me according to thy word.” (Luke 1:38)

For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven (Psalms 119:89), Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path (Psalm 119:105), The entrance of thy word gives light; it gives understanding unto the simple (Psalms 119:130), Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endures for ever (Psalms 119:160)

Heavenly Father, Be It Unto Me According To Your Word.

 If you remain in Me and My words remain in you [that is, if we are vitally united and My message lives in your heart], ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. (John 15:7)

I always looked forward to asking God for every of the things I wanted while doing His will which is by the way not bad at all, the Father desires that we live in abundance so it doesn’t cost Him a thing to bless us with the cars, houses, beautiful clothes and so on.

As I grew in Jesus, my perspective about this verse began to change because God seemed to give light to His word in another dimension that I must NOT see this as immediate gratification because I am in Him but an opportunity to work on my DESIRES so they align with His.

Desires are very powerful and we humans can go to any length to get satisfied, be it food, money, clothing and so on which is why Jesus yearns to work on our desires as we ABIDE in Him.

This verse brings to mind why Jesus calls us to continually abide in Him, His words and what the outcome of it will be.

Abiding in his word and his word abiding in us reconfigures our desires as we begin to know what to desire. We’ll know what to ask of Him because our desires will begin to be what exactly is in His heart, we’d gradually conform to His image and His heart rather than pursue our selfish ambition because we stay in koinonia with Him.

Our prayers will be like ‘God what do you require of me this day?’ ‘Lord I ask that you’ll draw the hearts of men unto You today?’What’s the next big thing You are doing this season?’ We will begin to see the Father’s desires as our desire and do what He wants us to do about them to bring it to physical reality.

2 Corinthians 3:18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lordwho is the Spirit makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. (New Living Translation). God’s word changes us as we abide in Him.

You might want to ask, ‘What about my personal desires?’, Does it mean it does not matter to the Father?. No that’s not true, scripture tells us in Matthew 6:33 to seek first God’s kingdom (His desires) and righteousness and we’ll watch Him attend to all of our desires because He knows we have need of them even before we say it to Him.

Let’s ask ourselves, What are my desires like?’ Is it what is in His heart this season? Do my desire embody the kingdom? Are my desires not changing because I am not abiding in Him?

Abiding changes US and it changes our desires.

Dear Lord we know how essential it is for us to abide in You as believer and so we ask that you strengthen us to abide as you change us and our desires also. Thank You Faithful Father. In Jesus name. Amen

Have a great week ahead!

SHALOM!

There is a time for everything; a purpose for every season under the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3:1
Brothers and Sisters, A beautiful week ahead is what we desire for everyone who is a part of this family. As our custom, we won’t leave us without something to ponder upon and hold onto for this week.

The Understanding of Times and Seasons. Times and season depends on two things;
1) The Sovereignty of Jehovah Himself.
According to scripture He alone ultimately holds the times of events (Ecclesiastes 3:11). He was the one that gave the sea its limit, by his command floods start and stop as was the case in the story of Noah, by prophecy Jesus was meant to come and die. The time of plenty and the time of lack in Egypt could not be avoided regardless of how hardworking or how lazy the Egyptians were. He holds things in sovereignty and by His infinite wisdom he decides them.

However as children of God he makes us privy to his plan so we can be aligned and know how to deal in those times. He gave Joseph the wisdom to “save” and to “sell” and even though what he had planned to happen in Egypt didn’t fail, it didn’t cause hardship also because of Joseph. God promised in (Job 5:20) to ensure you do not starve even when divine timing has famine in its calendar for the world, Joseph’s story gives a clue on how this is possible.

To make divine timing and God’s sovereignty over it work in your favour, you must have the knowledge of His will per time and be constantly aligned to it in wisdom and understanding. Colossians 1:9.

2) The Understanding and Works of Men:
The story of the children of Israel in captivity is the greatest clue to understanding this, twice in Egypt and in Babylon the children of Israel stayed beyond the time they ought to spend as stipulated by prophecy.

Also critically looking at the story of Joseph, you ask why would God wait until a certain time before sending a dream to Pharoah but God had to wait till Joseph’s trial was complete. (Psalms 105:17-22). But the completion of his trial was totally dependent on how fast he was able to respond and not special divine timing.

The delay of Israel depended on when they were ready to be freed in Egypt. At first I thought it was just Moses who was not ready but then (Acts 7:20-44) made us understand Moses actually ran because the children of Israel didn’t recognize God’s workings through Moses to rescue them from slavery at the time.

Sometimes your time has come but your eyes only need to be opened. You might need to remember something from the past that you missed or neglected, you can also pray that God opens your eyes to it but ultimately brethren if we align ourselves to His will, if we seek to know His heart; we will never struggle neither will any unnecessary delay come our path.

I pray that every unnecessary delay on the path of anyone and in the life of anyone be removed now in Jesus name. May the Almighty God open our eyes of understanding. AMEN!
Have a blessed week.

SHALOM

The CROSS is not a walk in park, we can tell by the number of times Jesus asked the Father if the cup could pass over him but as He prayed, He was leveling up for what was about to come, what was about to hit HIM, the sacrifice He was about to make all for love’s sake. I sometimes imagine that what if He didn’t have that Gethsemane period before the cross OR probably God had not spent years preparing Him and He just had to give up at the point of trials on the cross.

There are strategic things that God uses to prepare us for the greatness ahead; it is a mix of painful trials, temptations, groaning in prayer, staying in the word and lots more. Matthew 26:36-42.

Matthew 26:41, Jesus says to His disciples to pray lest they fall into temptation, to stay in communion with the Father lest they give in to the tactics and plans of the devil, this was a strategy to prepare them for what was ahead of them.
You’d need lots and lots of prayer on your journey and hello you can never over pray as a believer, if you are not praying as a child of God, you are going to really end up sleeping deep. NEVER feel like prayer is overrated. 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Luke 18:1

How well fed are you for the days ahead? Elijah was awakened to eat for the journey ahead; the food was a meal of preparation for all the fierce things that he encountered that was designed to push him into greatness. 1 Kings 19:5:8. You’d need to eat large chunks of the word, meditating upon it always as a constant reminder of His heart for you while you walk through the tunnel of preparation. Psalms 119:105

How well are you taking advantage of the Pit, Potipher’s house, and the Prison just like Joseph? You don’t become a prime minister in a day; God has to walk you through seasons of preparation. The hardness of these places Joseph was walking through should have made him stop yielding to the plans and purposes of God for His life because it really wasn’t looking like it. If he didn’t yield as he prayed and learnt God’s word he probably might have missed out on certain Egyptian customs that he would have needed when he got to the throne. For example, while staying with Potipher if Joseph didn’t yield to God’s desire for consecration it might have been a different story later on. To yield to God’s dealings with us can be trying but its sure the best.

Elisha said to the three kings in 2 Kings 3:16-20 to dig trenches, there will be no rain or dew but the valley shall be filled. The point of preparation for them was to dig trenches for what was about to come. Imagine they never did, when the blessings came there would have been no place for it, it would have been wasted. That’s what happens when we don’t yield to preparatory process.

A brief recap of the aforementioned points;
Do not neglect the place of prayer
Do not neglect the place of God’s word
It is highly important to yield.
While you read all of the capacity building books, attend seminars and conferences and lots more, never forget these points, spiritual capacity will sustain you in all that you know lest you dash your foot against a stone.

Finally, God says to us in Isaiah 54:3-4 to Enlarge the place of our tents, lengthen our cords and strengthen our stakes for what is about to come which is a breaking forth on all sides.

It’s my earnest prayer that God will help us yield to every preparation He is bringing our way and for those already walking through the season of preparation but it just seems tiring and burdening, may you receive strength in your inner man and know the Lord is with you.

SHALOM!

The CROSS is not a walk in park, we can tell by the number of times Jesus asked the Father if the cup could pass over him but as He prayed, He was leveling up for what was about to come, what was about to hit HIM, the sacrifice He was about to make all for love’s sake. I sometimes imagine that what if He didn’t have that Gethsemane period before the cross OR probably God had not spent years preparing Him and He just had to give up at the point of trials on the cross.There are strategic things that God uses to prepare us for the greatness ahead; it is a mix of painful trials, temptations, groaning in prayer, staying in the word and lots more. Matthew 26:36-42. Matthew 26:41, Jesus says to His disciples to pray lest they fall into temptation, to stay in communion with the Father lest they give in to the tactics and plans of the devil, this was a strategy to prepare them for what was ahead of them.
You’d need lots and lots of prayer on your journey and hello you can never over pray as a believer, if you are not praying as a child of God, you are going to really end up sleeping deep. NEVER feel like prayer is overrated. 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Luke 18:1
How well fed are you for the days ahead? Elijah was awakened to eat for the journey ahead; the food was a meal of preparation for all the fierce things that he encountered that was designed to push him into greatness. 1 Kings 19:5:8. You’d need to eat large chunks of the word, meditating upon it always as a constant reminder of His heart for you while you walk through the tunnel of preparation. Psalms 119:105
How well are you taking advantage of the Pit, Potipher’s house, and the Prison just like Joseph? You don’t become a prime minister in a day; God has to walk you through seasons of preparation. The hardness of these places Joseph was walking through should have made him stop yielding to the plans and purposes of God for His life because it really wasn’t looking like it. If he didn’t yield as he prayed and learnt God’s word he probably might have missed out on certain Egypt customs that he would have needed when he got to the throne. For example, while staying with Potipher if Joseph didn’t yield to God’s desire for consecration it might have been a different story later on. To yield to God’s dealings with us can be trying but its sure the best.
Elisha said to the three kings in 2 Kings 3:16-20 to dig trenches, there will be no rain or dew but the valley shall be filled. The point of preparation for them was to dig trenches for what was about to come. Imagine they never did, when the blessings came there would have been no place for it, it would have been wasted. That’s what happens when we don’t yield to preparatory process.
A brief recap of the aforementioned points;
Do not neglect the place of prayer
Do not neglect the place of God’s word
It is highly important to yield.
While you read all of the capacity building books, attend seminars and conferences and lots more, never forget these points, spiritual capacity will sustain you in all that you know lest you dash your foot against a stone.
Finally, God says to us in Isaiah 54:3-4 to Enlarge the place of our tents, lengthen our cords and strengthen our stakes for what is about to come which is a breaking forth on all sides.
It’s my earnest prayer that God will help us yield to every preparation He is bringing our way and for those already walking through the season of preparation but it just seems tiring and burdening, may you receive strength in your inner man and know the Lord is with you.SHALOM!

THERE is great power in an example, whether good or the other. The population of God’s kingdom will be mightily increased by the fine examples of Christian living that are being set by noble Christians.

On the other hand, many dear souls are led down to hell by the bad examples which have been set before them and sometimes these bad examples have been set by professing Christians. How thankful we all should be for the perfect example which was left us by Jesus Christ. “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.” (1 Pet. 2:21.).

In the trying circumstances of life it is well to ask ourselves this solemn question. What would Jesus do? Did he set us an example for this particular situation?

When we think of Jesus, we think of work. He knew the value of time. Too many of us do not. He knew that the time was short in which he had to work. “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” (John 9:4.)

Nothing brings greater happiness than work well done. After we have really worked, we can enjoy rest. A labourer goes home to rest at the end of a hard and faithful day of work. The faithful Christian goes home to rest after his life’s work is done. ”Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” (Rev. 14:13.)

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Cor. 15:58.)

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Phil. 2:12.)

We have been called to LIVE the work Jesus came to do which is to lay down an example for us to live by or on how to live. We are living epistles. “You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.” (2 Corinthians 3:2-3)

In conclusion, Jesus could have gone straight to the cross to die, but he lived thirty three and a half years just to show us an example of how to live in our present days having received His life.

A next generation depends on what the previous generation has done. The big question is What legacy am I setting?

Selah!

Oh! Taste and See that the Lord is good, blessed is the man that trusteth in Him. Psalms 34:8 (King James Version).

Find out for yourself how good the LORD is. Happy are those who find safety with Him. Psalms 34:8 (Good News Translation)

Oh put God to test and see how kind He is! See for yourself the way His mercies shower down on all who trust in Him. Psalms 34:8 (The Living Bible).

Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see how good GOD is. Blessed are you who run to Him. Psalms 34:8 (The Message).

Drink deeply of the pleasures of this God. Experience for yourself the joyous mercies He gives to all who turn to hide themselves in Him. Psalms 34:8 (The Passion Translation).

We would naturally not taste something we have not seen and sometimes when its something we have seen we find it very hard to taste but with God we get an invitation to taste and see His goodness, We might be scared and unsure but our eyes and lips will tell of His goodness. He calls us to trust that He will never give us what will choke us but what will sharpen our sight and bless the nations of the earth.

“Taste and see” is a call to trust that He will never give us what will choke us but what will sharpen our sight and bless the nations of the earth.

Have you ever heard of a product from a friend and he or she says ‘Buy it, a trial will convince you” and you do exactly so. That is exactly what God wants us to do also, I feel like He is saying a trial will convince you.

“Taste and see” is a call to experience God personally, it is an invitation to a life of communion. We are left with the choice to either feast or NOT.

Tasting and seeing His Goodness is a result of a personal experience, that is no one can
do it for anybody, it has to be a deliberate act to taste and see that the Lord
is good. The amazing thing about this is that God has not called us to taste
and see what will harm us but what will entrench or further entrench our belief in HIM.

Taste and see that I am God!

Taste and see that I am good!

Taste and see that I can be trusted!

Taste and know that this is not a cliche but I am indeed good.

SHALOM!

Ezekiel 37:1-12

THE LORD SOMETIMES BRINGS YOU TO PLACES WE CAN TAG ”IMPOSSIBLE PLACES” AND SOMETIMES HE ASKS “IMPOSSIBLE QUESTIONS”.

To Ezekiel he brought the vision of Him standing in the valley of dry bones. Sometimes you are in difficult situations and just like the children of Israel it’s a situation of Dry bones. It’s a place where it seems success is impossible, where if God himself came down, it would take his help to have faith for any change in the situation. Just like he asked Ezekiel, if he asked you, your faith can only go as much as replying “You know Lord”.
Never speak what you see, speak what He says.

Son of man prophesy…and I prophesied as He had commanded me.

The LORD is our Maker
“and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them“
Excited to see this leap; remember it was in a vision so it was fast, but sometimes in real life it’s a process. Little by little, bone will come to bone and but ones you speak the word, God gets to work and the rest will align in time (Amen)

No extraordinary thing ever happened in your life?
(But there was no life).
Ever had that routine life before where you are moving forward slow and steady and you just thank God every morning for life then something drastically changes. Can you compare the leap and great lift of Joy in you, the radiance on your face, the change in your countenance, it’s like you came alive.

Be sensitive to when GOD changes your “PROPHESY”
Sometimes He tells you to prophesy strength to go through process but he can change your prophesy to be able to fly above mountains in a twinkle of an eye.

Speak what GOD says then you will understand what HE meant.
I also noted the trend of Ezekiel’s prophesy. He prophesied breath and the bones came together. He prophesied to the wind, and they had breath. Do not try to rationalize what God says, just prophesy. When the miracle has happened then you will understand. You can’t rationalize our God.

You will experience a MIRACLE
Breath came to them, they came alive and they stood a great army…
This rush could never have been a little by little process, it was sudden and immediate. Again if you continue to prophesy (speak God’s word) according to his leading, you will see that miracle, and quantum leap.

I pray today, for the spirit of obedience to His word, and I prophesy newness of life to everyone. Keep positive, keep speaking God’s word and you will see His workings mightily in your life.
Behold He will do a new thing.

Shalom!