Category: Worship

Spoken words are very powerful in the life and destiny of any person, family, organisation or nation. The words uttered, to the ordinary minds, are ordinary; but to the spiritually minded, words altered are altars – they are altars with capacity to make or mar lives and destinies. Spoken words gain entry into human lives and destinies in a very subtle manner and leave either a positive or negative impact. No wonder the writer of Proverbs in Proverbs 6:2 said that, “You have been trapped by what you said and ensnared by the words of your mouth”.

From our text, the people of Israel following the frightening words of the faithless spies raised their voices against Moses and Aaron, and they rebelled against God. They forgot all the miracles the Lord had done for them; the Israelites despised His mercies and spurned His might. In their ingratitude, they preferred death. Their murmur and vile words against God got Him angry hence He decreed that their confessions must be their possessions. God told Moses that as the Israelites have spoken vile words to Him so shall he do to them ( Numbers 14:29-37) – their confessions became their possessions.

Beloved in Christ, while studying the Word of God is a key to public manifestation, validity is given to the Word read through obedience to what He says. It is however important to note that the process is incomplete when the Word read and lived are not confessed. Your confession is your possession! ( cf 2 Corinthians 4:18). A man of God said that “Every closed mouth is surely a gateway to a closed destiny. He that had shut his mouth has shut the pathway to his destiny”, because confession leads to possession. In 2 Kings 4:8-end, the Shunamite woman carried a dead son on her back and was rushing out of the house. When her husband saw her, he asked if all was well, she operated in faith and said that all shall be well. Eventually, the dead son came alive and her confession became her possession.

Dear brothers and sisters, it is pertinent for you to confess what you are seeing in the Word and not what you are seeing in the world. It is mighty words, the unseen, that provoke mighty works that are seen. To be mighty in results, you must be mighty in words. Everybody’s world is a product of his words. God gave Himself unto us as an example of speaking what He desired into creation. In Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26 & 29, God spoke and in verse 31, He saw all that He spoke. Beloved, what you say is what you will see. It is what you say that sets the pace for what you see. You are a product of your words. When you speak what God says, His report shall overrule the reports of the professionals. Beloved, you are not supposed to wish or wait for a change, you are to speak change into being. Don’t look at what is happening around you, you must operate like the Shunamite woman, speak what the Word of God is saying. Don’t forget that things will follow a natural cause of action unless there is a declaration for it to be otherwise.

The Doctors must have told the woman with the issue of blood in Mk 5:25-34 that it had ended with her having tried for 12years  but she refused their report. The day she saw Jesus Christ, she said I believe that if I can touch the hem of His garment, I shall be made whole. Her confession paid off. She struggled through the crowd, she endured the beatings, she enjoyed the caustic rebukes, she didn’t complain about the shoving around and the pushing front and backwards of the multitude until she got to Jesus Christ, touched Him and the challenges of 12 years ended, even without a single prayer from Jesus – her confession became her possession!

The word of God is the highest level of words. God is the most high God, His word is the most high word. When a man chooses to speak the word of God or the words that are in agreement with the word of God, that man is operating in the highest level of language and power available to man. He is speaking from a frequency that is far above the devil, his demons and the problems they cause on the earth because everything in the universe were created by the spoken word of God and they all respond to the spoken words. It shall continue to be well with you and all that are yours this season of Lent and thereafter in the name of Jesus

Prayer: Lord, please guide the words of my mouth and let my confessed words facilitate my Divine satisfaction in the name of Jesus.

Nothing decomposes, suffers decay or dies in praise. Praise has the capacity to bring lives, families, education, businesses, ministries and nations that have been classified as dead back to life and reckoning. From the passage of our text, Lazarus was a hopeless case. He was in the grave for four days and stinking. When Jesus Christ stepped in, He requested to be taken to where the hopeless situation was. He asked that the stone be rolled away and lifted up His voice of praise to God, power descended, fresh life came to the rotten life, stench of decomposition received the aroma of God and the dead came alive. Let me ask you, does it look as if you are hopeless? Do you think that your tomorrow doesn’t have bright colors? Have you been written off by the society? I have good news for you because nothing dies in praise. It doesn’t matter for how long you have been in that situation or position, something great will happen through praise. If praise is your lifestyle, victory over the delay, decay and decadence is your heritage.

Besides that, when praise becomes your lifestyle, victory over threats and embarrassments are your heritage. Are you in any embarrassing situation? Are you being harassed by certain powers to bring you down? Are you experiencing situations that are asking where is your God? I have good news for you because all those situations are small pies in the face of praise. In 1 Samuel 17, Goliath stood against the army of Israel. He threatened and humiliated them for days. But the moment a man of praise came into the scene, He knew that Goliath was a goner in praise. True to his words, Goliath fell with just a stone.

When praise becomes your lifestyle, victory over bad health becomes your heritage. Are you feeling unwell, have you been informed that your ailment is terminal, please note that it is never over with a person of praise. Praise is therapeutic. When the people praised God shouting, “Hosannah to the Son of David. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”, Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem and chased away buyers and sellers from the temple (Luke 19:36-46). As you are the temple of God ( 1Cor. 3:16, powers that are buying and selling in your system shall flee in the face of praise. Not only that, when praise becomes your lifestyle, victory over lack and disgrace becomes your heritage. The multitudes following Jesus Christ were hungry but there was no food and shame was imminent. The story changed when Jesus took the five small loaves of bread and two fishes, He praised God and as He was breaking, they were increasing. The multitude were fed and had leftovers of 12 baskets of fragments (Mark 6:40-42).

In addition to that, when praise becomes is lifestyle, victory over powers blocking your way to God’s promised land becomes your heritage. Have you been trying to make a headway in life. Are things quite difficult for you, I have good news for you because those powers cannot withstand praise. When the Israelites were marching to their Promised land, the ancient walls of Jericho withstood them but with a loud shout of praise after traversing the walls seven times the walls were brought down. Finally, when praise becomes your lifestly, victory over reproach and vile remarks becomes is your heritage. In 2 Samuel 6:15,16 when David returned to Jerusalem with the ark of God singing songs and dancing, Michal, his wife reproached him and she was judged by God. It doesn’t matter what you may be passing through now, you are going to end better and greater in the name of Jesus.

In conclusion brethren, whenever you come to a tough situation, stop complaining or grumbling, give a tough praise. When you see gross darkness, bring gross light by giving God gross praise. You can get God cheap with praise. Despise that threatening situation, scorn those mountains and watch God level them up as you exalt Him. That thing which the devil thinks is enough reason for you not to praise God, let it be the reason for which you are praising God. Stop murmuring and complaining. When you stop appreciating God, you start depreciating. Remember that when praise becomes your lifestyle, victory becomes your heritage.

Prayer: Lord, give me grace to make praise my lifestyle and give me victory over issues of life in Jesus’ name.

The things and affairs of this world are guided by knowledge. It is therefore no wonder that the writer of Proverbs 21:16 says that, “The man that wanders out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead”. What this presupposes is that, understanding is principal to a victorious life. It is worthy of note that multitudes come daily before the presence of God for victory over issues of life but few return with testimonies of that victory. Kindly be reminded that the blessings of God are predicated on satisfaction of certain demands. Deut. 28:1says that total victory in Christ is dependent on obedience to the voice of God to observe and to comply with His commandments. Anything to the contrary is a life of defeat.

Path to victory means that there is highway to triumph over the issues of life and that there is an alleway that leads one from glory to glory. One of the paths to victory over the vicissitudes of life is Praise.  Praise is appreciating God for who He is and what He is capable of doing. It is appreciating Him in words and songs for what He had done and more importantly for what you are trusting Him to do. High praises are the highways of God to the high places of life. There is a highway of praise. This highway is a freeway that keeps you going from triumph to triumph, from victory to victory and from testimonies to greater testimonies.

From our text, Paul and Silas were brought before Magistrates for their works of evangelism and the deliverance of a possessed lady. The Magistrate consequently stripped them of their clothes and ordered that they should be beaten thoroughly. After he had satisfied himself, he cast them into prison and were put into the inner prison, they had their feet fastened in the stock and were treated as hardened criminals. But at midnight, mindless of the situation they were in, Paul and Silas prayed and sang songs of praises. The moment they changed the gear to praise, heaven came down, there was an earthquake, the foundations of the prison shook, the chains of the prisoners were loosed, doors of the prison were opened, the narratives were altered, the captives became the captors and the ones to be destroyed became the deliverers.

Beloved in Christ, Praise is a command by God to every living being (Psalm 150:6). Praise is not focussing on happenings, praise is spotlighting God’s faithfulness and relying on the efficacy of the Scriptures. Praise is concentrating on the integrity of God and the insight received about His integrity. The Psalmist in Psalm 22:3 says that God inhabits the praises of His people. When God sees genuine praises, He brings heaven down and when heaven comes down all natural powers, laws and restrictions are suspended.

Dear brothers and sisters, when praise becomes your lifestyle, victory over the devil and his agents becomes your heritage. Consequently, whatever cannot withstand God is not permitted to stand against you. Let me ask you, are people ganging up against you? Are you being maligned by friends and family members? Is there a plot to bring you down or schemes from the kingdom of hell to exterminate you? I have good news for you, there is no loss in praise. When you step up your genuine praise, God will step into your battlefield, He will take over your fight, He will turn your enemies against one another, all those that are fighting you shall destroy one another and you shall possess the gates of powers that rose against you (cf 2 Chro 20).

Beloved, it is possible to pray amiss but it is impossible to praise amiss. As you come to God with a penitent heart and praise the Lord with your heart during this season of Lent, I can assure you that your story will change of it’s own accord and people shall gather to celebrate God’s faithfulness to you in the name of Jesus.

Prayer: Lord, accept my sacrifice of praise and cause my raising to begin from now in the name of Jesus Christ.

Bishop Charles Ighele is the General Superintendent of Holy Spirit Mission Church (the Happy Family Chapel). In this interview with ADEOLA OGUNLADE, he speaks on his voyage into ministry, why many marriages are crashing, and his church’s campaign to keep marriages stable

Your selflessness in the ministry is noble. How did you do it?

In 1995 when I started the television programme, it was the first on marriage and family ministry on any television station in West Africa.

The impact was huge. I was hosting commissioners and governors in my house. lt was well accepted. We were touching on areas that resonate with marriages and family life. I was doing it not because I wanted to be popular but because I had a message. It is a big struggle; I don’t like to do things for popularity sake. I want to be great but not through image laundry.

What are the major challenges facing Christian homes?

One of the major challenges facing homes in this part of the world is our culture. Culture is so powerful.  When you grow up in a tribe or ethnic group that has a culture that does not make up for a romantic culture, you can imagine the kind of homes those cultures are breeding. Some family culture do not make up for a good family life like the one I grew up with. There was nothing I could learn from my parent on how to run my home romantically. When a child grows up under such culture he or she need to come out from such culture like Abraham was called out from his father’s house. I made the decision to come out of the obnoxious culture before I got married. So, when you are operating under the culture that is in aberrance with the kingdom culture, you will look at things from a different angle.

When do we strike a balance between culture and Christian marriage?

You can never strike a balance if you are truly a Christian. The Bible says, ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you’. When you seek righteousness in your marriage, then your home becomes a light and conflict becomes easy to settle.

Why do we have failed marriages among some church leaders?

The issue is that there are few pastors that have had sex scandals.

The point is that there are three categories of pastors – some pastors are not called of God, but by Satan and they use demonic powers to deceive many people. Many people fall for their supposed signs and wonders. The Bible says in Mathew 24:24: “For there will be false Christ, and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.” Some people come into pastoral ministry because they can speak and teach, but do not have their root in Christ. Many people are moved by their swelling speeches and teachings.The so-called preachers perverse the true gospel of Jesus Christ for peculiar gain. They twist the word of God to support their theology. The third set are those who are genuine ministers of the gospel but fall away at some points. Like Samson, who was not careful in his relationship with women fell for Delilah and ended up his ministry in a terrible manner. When you are born again, it is the beginning of the kingdom journey. Now, man is a spirit and he has a soul and the body. When you are born again, it is that human spirit that is recreated, the mind and memory is not touched yet. When man fell, it was the spirit, soul ad body that fell. So, being born again is the beginning of the journey whereby the spirit of God, as you hear God’s word and it enters into the human spirit, it should now begin to take possession of your mind, your felling, emotion and memory a. When you are born again, then the souls which consist of memory, will, feelings, imagination, intellectual, when it is not renewed in accordance to the word of God or worked upon, then the person will misbehave, behaving like an unbeliever. Born again inside and have the character of a believer. The nine fruits of the spirit are put in you at the new birth experience and its suppose to possess your soul and make you behave accordingly. If it is no so, the persons behave like an unbeliever. When the persons see sex, he or she wants to have it like an unbeliever because the mind is still polluted like an unbeliever. It is imperative to know that being born again and filled with the Holy Spirit is not the end but the beginning. When someone becomes born again, it is the spirit that is changing but we need to grow into the character of Christ. Our heart must be change.

What do we expect from the Marriage Promise Keepers campaign?

Our vision is to provide a meeting place for couples who believe that marriage is honourable; To build a community where they can fellowship. To create a robust and thriving forum where these couples can acquire the necessary knowledge and wisdom to make their marriages better and more honourable. To be a place where members of the Marriage Promise Keepers will gain more experience and insight on how to raise their children to become the righteous and mighty seed they are supposed to be. To provide knowledge for all Ministers and their spouses on how to equip and positively impact members of their congregation to have a happy, successful and blessed marriage and family. To be an important entry point of blessing into a person and their family, Knowing full well the importance God attaches to marriage and family. To be a place where ministers and their spouses can run to when faced with marital and family conflict; where issues can be resolved secretly or quietly at any point in time. To be a place of refuge for turbulent marriages and families of ministers and their spouses. Place where your marriage and ministry will be bulletproof and protected against sexual attacks and scandals. A place to provide leisure, entertainment, fun-filled parties, Couple getaways and all other forms of relaxation. A place where members of the Marriage Promise Keepers (MPK) can influence their church community and make them family counseling centres in their neighbourhood.

Through the MPK Conferences such as Ministers Child’s Conference. International Conference of the Ministers Marriage and Family and other workshops, seminars and rallies, we will be mobilising at least 500 Christians across various denominations to raise awareness on how we raise a godly home, God-centered marriages.

Can you share with us your voyage into pastorate?

I studied History and Political Science and graduated in 1980 from the Obafemi Awolowo University, formerly, University of Ife. I after my Youth Service, I came back to Benin City, the Edo State capital. I joined a ministry and was very dedicated to it. The lifestyle of the head of the ministry was not okay in terms of his relationship with the opposite sex. I quietly left it. I wanted to join a deliverance ministry but God restrained me until l met the founder of Holy Spirit Mission Church, the late Bishop Michael Marioghae. I went to the church and he was preaching.

But before he started his message. He told the congregation that he went for a programme and one pastor who preached gave a great message and he wanted to preach the same message. I was surprised because I have not heard anything like that before. I read a lot of books and some pastors make some quotations without quoting their sources. For me, it is important that things should not be done at the pedestrian level. We should add godliness to intellectualism. I came back. Then, as a young pastor, I opened churches in villages, cities in Benin and other places in Nigeria. I later became the Secretary to the Leader of the church. I married the second child of Bishop Marioghae. I surpassed their expectations and l was chosen by God to take over the leadership of the church in 1997.

Before 1997, people thought I was the GS because I had a television ministry and I attached the programme to the name of the ministry.

The publisher of Elife magazine, Dr Bola Adewara, has commended the Redeemed Christian Church of God(RCCG) for creating a Directorate for politics and governance across all it’s provinces.

Adewara said it was a good move that churches and denominations should replicate.

This, he said, is necessary for the body of Christ to take its prime of place in the nation building.

In a statement after the announcement by RCCG, Adewara, author of several books and presenter of Mentoring Masterclass said:
“Not many Christians understand the import of the verse that says …we are the light of the world. Not many Christians understand the verse that says …”and the government shall be upon his shoulder” and few are those who know that … “out of Zion shall go forth the law.”

“The church is ignorant of the powers and responsibilities the Lord placed on her. We relegate ourselves to the background whereas the church should dictate the pace.”

“Fathers of our faith, in that past, taught us that politics is a dirty game and Christians should not come near it. Through this, the church has yielded much space such that we are being ruled by the world and churchgoers with no conscience and love of the people at heart.

“Today, the Redeemed Church has, by this Directorate, woken the the generality of the Church of God in Nigeria from years of political slumber.

“If the church of God is to become the salt of the earth and the light of the world that Jesus called them, the time is now to take the bull by the horn. The Church cannot sit idly by and watch the nation in a downward spiral.

“The time is now for the Church to wake all Christians to participate in politics right from the Ward levels of the area the live. The time is now for the church to synergise with all politicians, Christians or not, on the ethos of good governance, holding our politicians accountable for the promises they made during their campaigns.

“The time is now for the church to push forward the right candidates and enlighten the congregations on local and international politics, without losing focus of salvation, the original purpose of the church.”

Adewara said the Church of God should stop playing the catch up in political affairs.

According to him: “If we are alive to our political responsibilities, we would not be played around like ping-pong. If our back is not bent, no one can climb on us like a horse.

“All churches must wake up, create a political department like the Redeemed Church, that will educate and encourage their members to go into politics, be politically active and participate in community services.”

Adewara congratulated Pastor Timothy Olaniyan, who was appointed to head the Directorate, adding “this is a great task before the seasoned preacher.

“The examples and accomplishments made by him would dictate the necessity and survival of the directorate in the Redeemed Church and other churches that will emulate the move.”

Age, education and life experiences are factors that determine a person’s life philosophy. It was the summation of those three factors that made King Solomon at the twilight of his time, after he had “lived well and enjoyed himself” to conclude with a benefit of hindsight that there was nothing in this world, that everything in this world is vanity. Of a truth dear beloved, life is like a flower that blossoms and then expires (Job 14:1-2); life is meaningless like a shadow (Ecclesiastes 6:12) and life is like a tale that is told (Psalms 90:9).

From our text, the age, education and life experience of Saul, who later became Apostle Paul, a revered lawyer and later on a successful church worker, made him draw certain conclusions about life: Firstly, that Christianity because of the things of this world (money, shelter, food, security, automobiles, houses, marriage, children, position, power etc) is a gateway to a pitiable state of distress or unhappiness (Ecclesiastes 5:10). He also averred that life without knowledge that for every responsibility there is a demand for honesty and equity because of the ultimate accountability before God is a wasted life. Not only that, he posited that, a pathway of carnality instead of a highway of spirituality will ultimately lead to a destination of shame and disgrace because all that we desire for, aspire towards, perspire after and acquire shall one day expire.

Paul told the Corinthians that if only in this world, that is, if only in the issues and privileges of this world that they have hope in Christ and being called Christians, they are in a pitiable state of distress or unhappiness because they will realise, when this world ends and all shall stand before the judgment seat to give account of stewardships of time, talents and treasures (Matt. 25:34), that there is nothing in this world and that all is vanity (cf 2 Corinthians 5:10;1 John 2:15-17).

Beloved, let me ask you these questions: Are you a Christian because it is one of the two dominant religions in the country. If that is it, you are of all people most miserable. Are you a Christian because it is in vogue to say that I am one? If this is true, you are of all people in a most pitiable state of distress. Are you a Christian because you feel that being a Christian can open doors for you from fellow Christians who don’t want to be equally yoked with unbelievers? If that can be traced to you, it is unfortunate that you have missed the mark. Are you a Christian because of the challenges of this world, for safety from powers of wickedness and you know that the name of the Lord is a strong tower and that whosoever runs to it will be safe? If that is all that your being a Christian is hinged on, you are of all believers most miserable. Lastly, are you a Christian because you were born into a Christian family and it is imperative of you to keep the family tradition, without a personal encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ, you are in for shocking surprises, you are welcome to a pitiable state of distress, disappointment, regret and an endless transition from one church to another.

Kindly be informed at this season of Lent that Christianity is about sacrifice and not selfishness. Christianity is light – it is not hidden and it is easily attestable by all. Christianity is not validated by stickers on your vehicles or the door to your house, it is not authenticated by tongues speaking or Bible quotations and it is not pontificated by big titles but it is validated through character of heaven – love, honesty, diligence, discipline, purity, holiness and commitment to the interest and welfare of others etc. Christianity is about putting others first and self- discipline (Matthew 11:28-30). Christianity is also about our readiness to suffer temporal hardships of life, troubling seasons and persecutions (2 Timothy 3:12 cf John 15:19). Beloved, it is impossible to stand for Jesus Christ and the world will not stand against you. The good news however is that the terminal point of those challenges is a lifting up (Psalm 30:5, 34:19). Christianity places a burden of souls that are perishing on you for their redemption without being ashamed of the Gospel of Christ (Romans 1:16)

Jesus is calling you during this time of Lent to consider your ways, to surrender your life and your possessions to Him today, to make a deliberate effort to begin a life that is holy and pleasing to Him (Col. 1:10), to give yourself to generosity, to be passionate about souls that are perishing, to strive to be carried by angels at the end of our sojourn here and to ensure that you don’t loose your eternal home when the end shall come. I pray that in your pursuit of the temporal things of this world, you will not miss your eternal home in the name of Jesus.

Prayer: Father, keep me focussed on you and don’t let me lose my eternal home at the end, in Jesus’ name.

When we were to build a two storey church edifice in a water reclaimed land, the Geotechnical experts who were consulted to conduct a discreet subsoil geotechnical investigation on the land recommended that considering the soil’s stratification together with height and load of the anticipated building, it was imperative to have a 24 points piling of 400mm diameter placed at a founding depth of 17.0m before work could start. The piling work took us about three months to complete with millions of naira and surprisingly insults from members of the public who were consternated and felt that we were investing lots of time and money into a foundation. The seemingly concerned citizenry were however ignorant of a life axiom that, if your land is murky and you desire to go high and anticipate heavy load, you must have a deep depth. This is suffice to say that it is your depth that determines your height.

The writer of Proverbs in our text buttresses this law of nature that what sustains an ailing person is his unseen inner capacity or the covered depth (foundation) and not the things that are seen or observed. This explains why some people that have been written off either by medical practitioners, family members or the society bounce back to prominence while the person who is acknowledged as healthy in view of outward look passes out suddenly, and to the consternation of all. Paul admonished the church in Corinth that “… we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). Beloved, it is the things which are not seen that rule the seen world; it is your depth or your foundation that determines your height.

Beloved in Christ, kindly be informed that any human being who is going to grow to an enviable height must be a person who is committed to inner growth, give attention to depth of foundation or inward capacity building. Psalm 11:3 says that if the foundation is destroyed, righteousness is ineffective. What is inside of a man is what sustains his growth. A shallow foundation cannot sustain a skyscraper. You cannot build a ten story building as you will build a bungalow (cf Matt. 7:24-27). No one succeeds in any serious vocation without adequate preparation. Great preparation precedes great victories. Every person that has achieved success in life had spent long years in preparation. Anyone who had failed in private preparation will also fail in public manifestation, experience stunted growth and suffer gross under-development. George Foreman, a very deft boxer and a clergyman, once said, “ Champions are not made in the ring, they are only crowned there”.

The Bible is replete with great men of God that were outstanding because they took preparation very seriously. Noah, for instance, was called to build the Ark when he was 500 years old but had 100 years for ‘the piling works’ as the rain did not fall until he was 600 years old. Joseph too was called when he was 17 years old but had 13 years for his ‘piling works’. It was same for Moses, he was called at the age of 40, he had 40 years for ‘the piling works’ before the real assignment of another 40 years. David was called at age 17 and had 16 years to prepare before he became King. Jesus Christ spent 30 years preparing for his earthly ministry. It was the same for John the Baptist and Apostle Paul. Kindly remember that it is the inward spiritual development that manifests in outward celebration and recognition.

Therefore, if you desire to be lifted to greater height, it is nonelective for you to dedicate time for preparation. The more you hone, sharpen and perfect spiritual skills in the secret place of reading and meditating on the word of God, the more relevant you shall be with steady development and exponential growth. Kindly note that he who does not prepare will find it difficult to manifest. God told Joshua much about the need to dig for greater height in Joshua 1:8, that, “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written inside it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shalt have good success”.

Beloved in Christ, please note that Champions don’t go to church to be excited by the phonology of preachers, to be dazzled by designer’s suits of “men of God”, to be very comfortable only by the church’s ambience or clap and dance round the church because of rhema which are without any spiritual depth, to be dazzled by the rhyme of strings of words which leads to clapping, yelling and raising up of chairs when sermon is ongoing, champions attend services to learn, be convicted by the Word of truth and not to be entertained. You must read the word of God, set long hours aside to pray, be committed to fasting and be dedicated to doing what He asked you to do. When you do all those, the power of God shall lift you up and shall position you higher during this season of Lent, in the name of Jesus.

Prayer: Lord, give me grace to be serious with my christian life to enable me eligible for the benefits from You, in Jesus’ name.

The passage from where our text is picked tells a story of a professional fisherman, a man who knew his onions when it came to fishing, a man who knew that to be a successful fisherman, you must go fishing at night, that your success is dependent on the tools you work with and the capability/experience of your workforce. The man, Simon Peter, complied with all that were needful to be successful in the business but regrettably, he failed woefully. He experienced a life of toiling instead of spoiling. While he was washing his net, Jesus Christ arrived at the scene, saw the other fishermen but had favour on Simon Peter, He requested to use his boat for evangelism work and he obliged Him. When he did this, Jesus decided to compensate him for his selfless service – He asked him to cast his net into the deep, where he had previously failed. Suddenly, there was a turnaround story, the unimaginable happened as fishes that had hitherto fled his net returned in very large numbers such that he had a net tearing and boat sinking experience. When He arrived in the boat of Simon Peter, he too arrived as a world celebrity.

Beloved, your arrival for the world from toiling to spoiling, from death to life, transition from a nobody to somebody and elevation from being useless to a useful vessel begins with His arrival and the decision to obey His instructions. When He steps into the boat of your life, as He did with Simon, His favour will bring to you what you didn’t deserve as He did with the Israelites. In Exodus 12:36 when the Israelites were leaving the land of bondage, it was recorded that “.. the Lord gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they lent unto them such things as they required. And they spoiled the Egyptians.” (cf 1 Kings 11:18-20; Nehemiah 2:4-6). Beloved, whenever Jesus Christ steps into the boat of your life, He suspends the laws of nature, He destroys whatever is called impossibilities, He rebukes powers holding you to the same position and He opens the gateway of awesome testimonies (Isaiah 65:21-24). The arrival of Jesus does not only give what is deserved but makes a way where one never knew that there was one – His arrival literarily suspends all natural laws as He did with Simon Peter.

Queen Esther found herself in a quagmire when Mordecal asked her to intervene in the predicament of the Jews who through the conscription of Haman were about to be exterminated. It probably would have been easy for her to plead the cause of her people before the King but she wasn’t permitted by law to see the King except the King called for her – anyone who flouted this law would be put to death. Mindless of this law, Queen Esther requested her people to fast and pray for her as she was determined to face the King. God accepted the fasting and prayers of the Jews, she went in to the King “… and when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre. Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom (Esther 5:2-3). The arrival of His power changed the narratives and opened the gateway to turnaround testimonies. Beloved, when He arrives, nothing shall ever be impossible for you, there is no road that can close against you or any of yours because mountains shall skip like rams at your presence, the Red Sea standing against you shall part asunder and the River Jordan blocking your path shall flee.

When He arrives for you brethren, He will grant you unbelievable elevation and recognition such that where you have been called a nobody, He would make you an eternal excellency and the joy of many generations. Then, “… the sons of strangers shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister unto you, your gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto you the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted” (Isaiah 60:10-12). Beloved, the only guarantee for progress in whatever area of life (business, marriage, ministry, education, economy etc) is His arrival. No wonder the Scripture says that, it’s “…..not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit,saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it”. (Zech. 4:6-7). His arrival removes every human and/or spiritual mountains, destroys satanic foundations or evil inheritances plaguing lives and destinies, breaks curses from known and unknown quarters, liberates from evil captivity and releases to awesome testimonies. (cf Acts 2:47).

During this season of lent, you need to surrender all of you (time, talent and treasures) to Him like Simon did, obey Him to the letter, trust absolutely in the Lord with all your heart, don’t lean unto your own understanding ( Prov. 3:5) or rationalise how your miracles will come. The Almighty God who turned things around for Simon Peter shall do likewise for you. You shall not only have a net breaking and boat sinking experiences but you shall be an eternal reference point like Simon Peter, in Jesus’ name.

Prayer: Father, give me grace of your divine visitation today and let your favour take me from where I am to where you have purposed for me, in Jesus’ name.

The annual LifeWay  International Conference of the Lagos West Baptist Conference commences on March 11 and end on Sunday March 13,2022.

The LifeWay Conference is  designed to enrich the spiritual lives of members of the Baptist denomination.

It is aimed at teaching key spiritually and scriptural issues to further deepen Baptist faithfuls..

The theme for this year’s conference is : “Baptist Autonomy:The Spirit, Principles and Practice”.

The special guest minister is the President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, Rev Dr Isreal Adelani Akanji.

The President,Lagos West Baptist Conference,Dr Samuel Oladiran said this year’s theme is poised to equip and empower Baptist members with requisite information and In-depth approach about the distinctiveness of the Baptist denomination.