Wednesday 29 October 2008

A friend sent this to me via email this morning and I thought it could bless and inspire your life 'cos it did just that to mine.
Enjoy and get inspired!





















































































































Monday 27 October 2008

How Big is Your God? - (1)

This post was actually provoked while meditating on my pastor's sunday message. He lamented, in the course of the message, that a lot of us have defined God and limited Him to the size of our monthly salary. As a result, we can't think, dream and plan beyond the boundaries of our salaries. As l lay on my bed meditating on this, the following scriptures and thoughts (which actually were not used by him)flooded my mind and i immediately reach out for my sermon note so i could elaborate on them and possibly share them with you.

The Bible says God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Ephesians 3: 20
This scripture is heavily loaded! I have often told people that when it comes to matters of universal significance or dimension, God can do without you or me if we are not willing to lend ourselves to Him although, He often employs several means to get us to bow to His will, remember the case of Jonah?
However, when it comes to matters that have to do with your life and destiny, He can do nothing without your corperation and agreement. In such matters about our lives, God is as big as far as our confessions and thoughts permit Him. Didn't He say in Isaiah, that He creates the fruits of the lips and in Proverbs that as a man thinketh in his heart so is he?
Note that He is ABLE to do but this doesn't automatically mean that He WILL do no matter what our confessions and thoughts might be. Your confessions b4 and after prayers and your imaginations (thought life) are no less important than you prayer life.
God is ABLE to do above what you ask or think BUT WILL only do as much or as little as you confess(ASK) or imagine(think). Please note the diference.

Ability will only translate into performance whenever there is a task to be done. And the level of ability demonstrated is directly proportional to the amount of task involved.

How big is you God to meet that need or solve that problem? A lot of people define and size God up and to them, He is only as big as thier monthly salary can go. If the cost of that project, implementating that idea or meeting that particular need exceeds thier salary then it is something that shouldn't be dared. They don't see God meeting thier needs through channels other than thier regular, usual means of income or salaries. So they confine their plans and imaginations within the boundaries of thier regular income thus limiting thier God. God surprised me last month and this one by doubling my monthly income, i mean times two (x2) and i am not talking of increase in my salary but an unsual channel of supply. This fact came to my mind as i lay meditating. Actually, one of my prayers that sunday after the message was that God should forgive me for limiting him.

Don't confine God to the limit of that doctor or medical test's report, He is ABLE to do beyond what the reports say but WILL only do as much as you permit Him to by your confessions and thoughts. We should ask and think BIG! I will leave you to focus and meditate on this.

Watch out for part II, as we examine the second part of our text which has to do with how to unleash the power (residing within you and me) by which God is able to do above what we ask or think.

See you then!

Monday 13 October 2008

Activity Vs Spirituality

Opening text:"Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her" Luke 10: 41-42

The above was Jesus' reply to Martha's protest about her sister's refusal to come and assist her
with the chores. Hear her in Luke 10:40 :"But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him (Jesus), and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me".

Martha and Mary represent two classes of christians in most churches today: the activities conscious christians and the spirituality conscious christians. They also represent the conflict that most christians face in their spiritual journey and walk with God. How do u mean? If this is your question then read...
Let me start by saying that activity is religion while spirituality is experience. Jesus by His response underscores the superiority of spending time with God and His word over religious activities no matter whom we are trying to impress. No wonder the scripture says in Mark 3:14,
"And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach." First to be with Him so as to attain some, if not a full, measure of spirituality and then to go out and do the work. But so many of us put the work first.
A lot of so called christian workers are busy working and walking themselves out of the kingdom. This is bound to occur no matter whom you are until you understand the superiority of spirituality over activities and always strive to balance them out. Somebody once said that
"when your output exceeds your input, then your upkeep becomes your downfall". A lot of us keep giving out (output) without spending time with Him and His Word to renew ourselves (input) and in an attempt to maintain the same top level performance (without renewing) we burn ourselves out. Many atimes, our leaders and pastors are responsible for this malady.
Just like Martha, those who are activity-driven often face the temptation of trying to impress either their leaders or pastors and also that of despising those who are less active as not being spiritual.
Are you aware there are those who are very close and personally known by thier pastors; very popular in the church due to thier many involvements but very far from God? Some would cover up thier short comings (even though they know they fall short of God's standard) so as to be involved in that religious activity-sing in the choir, play that drum or keyborad, teach that sunday school lesson, take that communion- because they don't want others (or thier pastors) to question thier spirituality. But how wrong they are!

Friend! are you cumbered about many things while leaving out that which is needfull which actually is what you need to effectively do the work? Are you religious (activity) but not righteous (an experience), sanctimonious (outward demonstration) but not saved (an experience), pious but not pure? Watch it! beware of activities without spirituality. This was exactly the situation John Wesley found himself, he was actively involved in missionary and evangelistic works but lacked true spiristuality-he wasn't saved. Infact it was on one of such missionary trips that it dawned on him that he lacked the real thing, and thank God it was not long after he experienced the new birth. His missionary and evangelistic works took a new and explosive dimension and resulted in the birth of the Methodist movement.

Am I advocating idleness in the church? far be it from me but like they say first things first, get spiritaully grounded first then other things can follow. Every true spirituality will always move a man into active involvement in the things of the kingdom but such a fellow must learn to always spend time with Him to renew himself.
Spirituality simply means conforming to the image of Christ: experiencing/manifesting His life and doing His work.


Friday 3 October 2008

All work and no rest, makes jack a weak boy

I know we are familiar with the popluar saying that "all work and no play makes jack a dull boy" but i have decided to rephrase it in view of what i am about to blog on. Read on 'cos you may find yourself in between the lines...lol. Of course! many of us are guilty albeit, ignorantly, of what i m about to say.

I thought that the almost a week long weekend, sallah and independence day holiday would afford me the opportunity to have some rest and do some of the things that i have left undone over the week but how wrong was I.

It was from one churh meeting after another- a vigil on friday 26th, a workers meeting on saturday 27th, a lenghty worship service on sunday 28th, a neighbourhood fellowship in the evening of the same day, an all night prayer meeting on tuesday preceeded by a fast, a fellowhip on wednesday evening and was immediately followed by a preaching engagement that same night that lasted until 1:00am. By the time I was done and resumed work on Thursday, i noticed a marked change in the sound of my voice with my internal system really agitated. I also noticed a marked increase in my apetite because i hardly had time to eat during most of this period. Of course! this is not the end of the story as the cycle continued after a day's respite on Thursday. Infact, i had to skip a particular meeting on saturday night, this was after the normal workers' meeting, so as to give myself some rest ahead of another hectic sunday. This has been the summary of my life but the intensity and degree with which they came up this holiday, almost got me off my feet.

Did I hear you say, "why are you complaining?" OMG! I am not but I just felt I should share this with you because I know there are those of us who are hyperactive in the kingdom without any time for rest thinking albeit, erroneously, that activity is spirituality. Well, this is a subjet for another blog. And there are those as well in the secular settings who work round the clock trying to make ends meet at the expense of thier health and family.

Jesus rested on several occasions and also encouraged His disciples on one occasion to come over and have some rest. If God Himself rested after His works, you better believe in rest. It takes a healthy body and sound mind to carry the spirit and demonstrate the power of God.
We cannot be wiser than the God who instituted a sabbath day rest. Nothing saps annointing like stress, and fatigue. They also kill initiative and make you misfire.

Rest has a way of enhancing effeciency and increasing productivity and FYI, rest does not imply idleness. No wonder some European countries go on compulsary summer holiday just to afford thier workers some time to rest and attend to other vital , but often negleted, areas of thier life.


I am not to tell you what time to rest but we all know our body system. The best time to rest is when you notice a drop in your performance level or you no longer have time enough to attend to those basic needs of your life such as personnal devotion, your family affairs. Even when you think u still have the stamina to carry on, u still need to pause and give urself some break so as to attend to other issues, no matter how minor they are, which may have suffered neglect.

Some of us try to cover up when we know something is wrong somewhere. On saturday, after our workers meeting that lasted from 4pm to about 8pm, sunday school teachers were asked to wait behind for review ahead of sunday. I didn't wait on this occasion because i had to go and have some rest. That saturday, i left house as early as about 6am for a prayer meeting that lasted until 12noon and by the time i got home, it was about 2pm. When I got home, I did some weeding around my compound until almost 4pm, after which i hurriedly took my bath so i could meet up with the workers meeting. I returned home from the workers meeting almost about 9pm and I was to be in church before 7am the following day being sunday. I am that type that normally spend time on my own usually during the wee hours of the night, preparing for the sunday school topic i am to teach that morning. The truth is that i wouldn't have fully delivered if i had attempted to teach because of fatigue, even my quite time that morning was not that rich.

"when your output exceeds your input, your upkeep becomes your down fall"-Unknown

When my assistant pastor met me in church on sunday morning and was like, "i didn't see you at the preview yesterday, i am not happy". I told him that yesterday was very hectic for me.
Mind you, i knew there were other teachers who could as well do the job that morning and who for some time now has not been teaching. Yours may not be in a religious setting as mine but the truth is that you should always have some time for yourself. It is between you, your God and your destiny.
Before you are, the work was and would remain after you.

What else can i say but that all work and no rest, makes Jack a weak boy!

Luv U!

Thursday 2 October 2008

Motivational Tonic

I came across this stuff on our church's monthly newsletter, "wings of healing", and would like to share them below though, the choice of title is mine.
1) Faith starts where fear stops and fear starts where faith stops.

2) Faith and fear come alike, by hearing; one comes by the word of God, the other by the words of men.

3) Fact and truth resemble, but they are not the same. Indeed they are opposites; for one is the opinion of men, prone to change; the other is God's word, inerrant, infallible and unchanging.

4) Faith overrules fact and will always overrule it anytime, anyday, anywhere, anyway!

5) Neglect not the gift of thy DELETE BUTTON which the Holy Ghost has given thee, but use it freely to pull down strongholds and cast down imaginations.

6) The fear of failure is the father of failure and the worst failure is the failure to make attempts at success.

7) Finally brethren, whatsover thoughts are dirty, whatsoever imaginations are filthy, whatsoever feelings are nastly, whatsoever tempers are unholy, if there be any lust, if there be any anger, if there be any hatred, DELETE THESE THINGS.