The Nation Newspaper

Category: Worship

  • Vital keys to all-round fruitfulness! (2)

    From scriptures, we discover that all-round fruitfulness is our heritage in Christ. However, until we learn how to take possession of it by applied revelation, we cannot access same. That is why in this week’s edition, we shall examine vital keys that guarantee our access to all-round fruitfulness, and they include:

    • We must identify and abide in our God-appointed place of worship: It is written: Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime (2 Samuel 7:10).

    It is important to understand that it is God Who chooses our place of worship where our fruitfulness, among others, is guaranteed. The Bible says: Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest: But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee (Deuteronomy 12:13-14).

    The Church of Christ, which is the New Testament Zion, is ordained as a most fruitful hill where we experience deliverance and possess our possessions. As it is written: But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect (Hebrews 12:22-23; see also Isaiah 5:1-4; John 15:5).

    It is also written: But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions (Obadiah 1:17).

    However, when we identify our God-appointed place of worship, we must take heed to abide there, in order to partake of the blessings therein and keep flourishing. Remember, the Bible says: Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; To shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him (Psalms 92:13-15).

    • Identify your God-ordained spiritual covering and abide there: Our fruitfulness is guaranteed under our spiritual covering; however, when we wander from there, we experience contrary situations. It is written: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more (Jeremiah 3:15-16).

    Under our God-ordained pastor, we multiply and increase. This is why we must not engage in spiritual window-shopping when it comes to locating our appointed place of worship. Rather, we should be sure of where we belong, abide there joyfully and thereby, keep on being fruitful forever.

    In conclusion, our Father, God, is the Baby Maker; therefore, it is not our lot to be baby beggars. We shouldn’t beg for what our heavenly Father makes just as the children of bread bakers cannot beg for bread. God said: Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations (Jeremiah 1:5).

    The Bible also says: Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture (Psalms 100:3; see also Psalms 139:14).

    Therefore, we must not allow any negative past experiences or medical verdicts to negate our faith. This is because it is never late for faith to deliver. Jesus said to Martha at the tomb of Lazarus, who was dead for four days, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? (John 11:40).

    All we need is to engage the revelation of the Word against every form of barrenness in our lives, in order to take delivery of our heritage of fruitfulness in Christ. As we do so, every barren aspect of our lives shall become supernaturally fruitful in Jesus’ name! Remain ever blessed!

    Are you born again? This means, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord? If you haven’t, you can do so as you say this prayer: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Deliver me from sin and satan to serve the Living God. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You Jesus for saving me! Now I know I am born again!” For further reading, please get my books: You Shall Not Be Barren, Walking in the Miraculous, Operating in the Supernatural, Releasing the Supernatural, Commanding the Supernatural and All you need to have all your needs met.

    I invite you to come and fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Ota, the covenant home of Winners. We have five services on Sundays, holding at 6:00 a.m., 7:35 a.m., 9:10 a.m., 10:45 a.m. and 12:20 p.m. respectively.

    I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 01-4548070, 01-4548280; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

  • Court saves pastor’s 10-year-old marriage

    An Agege Customary Court in Lagos on Wednesday reconciled a coupleAkinyemiIlesanmi and his wife, Comfort, whose 10-year-old marriage was on the brink of collapse.

    Akinyemi, who claimed to be a prophet, had instituted a divorce suit on June 20, on the ground that there was no love between them and an alleged threat to his life.

    He also alleged that his wife was a ‘witch’.

    However, the intervention of the Court’s President, Mr Philip Williams and the couple’s families helped to resolve the couple’s differences and reconcile them.

    Williams, subsequently, urged the couple to give peace a chance in the marriage and be law abiding.

    Earlier in his testimony during hearing, the petitioner, who resides at Akute Area of Ogun, told the court that there was no love in the marriage.

    “I have not been at peace since l got married to my wife, she is so quarrelsome.

    “I am a prophet of God, but since l married her, she has been disturbing my ministry work.

    “Whenever l’m fasting, she forces me to break it due to her bad attitude. ‘My wife is a devil,’ even those in my neighbourhood call her a witch,” he alleged.

    According to him, the marriage which was contracted in 2006 has not produced any child.

    “We got married under two weeks of meeting ourselves following a fake prophet my wife introduced to me while we were courting.

    “He prophesied then to me that she was my wife.

    “Due to her troublesome ways, l have developed high blood pressure.

    “My lord, I want an end to this marriage because I cannot cope with my wife’s troubles anymore.

    “Please, separate us, so that l can have a rest of mind,’’ the petitioner said.

    Comfort, who is the respondent, pleaded for reconciliation.

    She denied all the allegations levelled against her by her husband.

    “ I am still interested in the marriage.

    “I want this court to save my marriage because I do not want to marry another husband.

    “I still love him,’’ she told the court.

  • CAN must operate withoutgovt funding, says Ayokunle

    President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) RevDrSupo Ayokunle has called on Christians to support the body’s Trust Fund to enable it operate outside government funding.

    He made the appeal last week at the closing session of the 64th annual convention of The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) on Kilometre 46, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

    CAN, he stressed, is not prepared to be held down by government’s funding.

    He said Christians should donate a minimum of N500 monthly to fund the body’s operations and activities.

    “We want to retain our integrity and do the task that God has committed into our hands without going hand in cap from any government,” Ayokunle reiterated.

    He also canvassed for prayers for the umbrella Christian organisation, saying the church in Nigeria is under a siege.

    According to him: “One thing we are sure is that the gate of hell will not prevail against the church.”

    He noted it was time for Christians to continue to pray for the church.

    “Please pray for us. Pray for the body of Christ and the Christians in Nigeria.

    “Your prayer alone can change things. If you forget anything, don’t forget to pray for the body of Christ,”he admonished.

    He also urged Vice PresidentYemi Osinbajo to make good use of the opportunities he has as a Christian in the helm of affairs.

    “It is a privilege that you are in the position of leadership today; please make best use of it as the destiny of Nigeria lies in your hands,” he appealed.

    Ayokunle applauded efforts of the General Overseer of the church, saying:”The crowd I see here is unprecedented. I have never seen the kind of crowd in the world where multitudes of people gather like this to worship God. This is an inspiration and hope to the body of Christ in Nigeria.”

  • Nigerian preacher’s plans to rid Texas of crimes

    Nigerian-born founder of Life Light International Church, Pastor David Gbadebo is determined to build a rehabilitation home for the homeless and drug addicts in Fort Worth, Texas.

    The home, he said, will help to clear the crime-infested region of hopelessness and helplessness.

    Gbadebo unveiled the plan for the home after a three-day tent meeting in conjunction with Jim Copeline of Full Faith Grace Ministry in the city recently.

    Titled freedom celebration, the theme of the carnival-like meeting was “The Power in the blood, life,death and resurrection of Jesus”.

    Over 50 groups ministered in songs during the meeting where homeless and downtrodden in the city received gift items.

    Several people committed their lives to God and undertook water baptism by the many ministers at the event.

    Gbadebo said the church is committed to sanitising the region notorious for crimes such as rape, murder and gangsters through gospel influence.

    According to him: “It is a unique ministry we run. God has helped us to rescue many from the pit of poverty and homelessness to becoming owners of homes, marriages and other properties.”

    On the next level for the work, Gbadebo said:  “The ministry plans to build the church and a residential property to cater for the needs of the people and keep the streets of Fort Worth clean and safe.

    “We need more partners and donors to make this dream come true.  The focus is all to help the youths, the veterans and the former convicts who need proper help to be integrated into the system.”

  • Love… The most excellent way (7)

    Cain and Abel were brothers. Abel was a shepherd while Cain was a farmer. At harvest time Cain brought the Lord a gift of his farm produce and Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat, he gave God the very best. The Lord accepted Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s. This made Cain dejected, he was very angry and hated his brother. The Lord asked him “why are you angry, why is your face so dark with rage? It can be bright with joy if you will do what you should. But if you refuse to obey, watch out, Sin is waiting to attack you, longing to destroy you. But you can conquer it!”. God actually gave Cain another chance to make right his wrong doing but he was so full of anger and hatred that he couldn’t reason well anymore, or accept correction. Sure enough, this led him to other things.

    He became jealous of his brother. For us too there is this tendency to be jealous of another’s success. If you notice this in you, be sincere and admit that weakness and beg God to help you overcome it. Choose to rejoice at somebody’s success then yours will surely come. Cain wasn’t like that he didn’t take God’s counsel, and then…

    One day he suggested to his brother, “let’s go out into the fields.” And while they were together there, Cain attacked and killed his brother. Afterwards the Lord asked Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”, he lied to God. Cain truly had no honour for God, it’s not surprising he gave just anyhow to God; his heart was not right with God. Some people are like this; they are involved in all kinds of crime because they don’t fear God neither do they honour Him.

    There was God giving Cain yet another opportunity to confess his sins, but he chose to remain in them and be rebellious. And God said to him, “what have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, which you have defiled with your brother’s blood from your hand. When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its crops for you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth”; Cain will not progress in life and he will be wandering from place to place. Truly there’s no peace for the wicked.

    The seed of anger and hatred in Cain for his brother grew into other things: jealousy and eventually murder- he killed his brother. Is this not what we find in our society today? Taking another’s life means nothing to some people, killing is even being upheld by some leaders and groups as the solution to their ‘problems’ – for no reason whatsoever should anyone take another’s life, or be lured to do so. Taking a life you can’t create is a very serious offence before God which will not go unpunished- take a cue from Cain’s life. Repent and forsake your evil ways. The land is so polluted with continuous bloodshed bringing about retrogression to Nigeria- a nation that should be among the greatest in the world, it’s up to us to let the glory of Nigeria shine. Know that whatsoever you do in your little corner either builds or destroys Nigeria. That person next to you (a child or an adult) is Nigeria, the company where you work is Nigeria, the business you do is Nigeria. The way you deal with these shows whether you are building or destroying Nigeria- deal with all in love and honesty. Represent Nigeria well in whatsoever you do and wherever you go then Nigeria will be the greatest in the world. So help me God!

    The true solution to any problem is first to be at peace with God which is only possible by accepting and believing in His son Jesus whom He sent to reconcile us (the sinful man) to Himself, giving us power to be true children of God; living in love just as He is love. Love conquers all!

    Note the characteristics of love:

    • Love is very patient
    • Love is kind
    • Love is never jealous or envious
    • Love is never boastful or proud
    • Love is never rude
    • Love is never selfish
    • Love is not provoked, irritable or touchy
    • Love thinks no evil
    • Love does not hold grudges
    • Love does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth
    • Love bears all things
    • Love believes all things. It will cause you to believe in someone without giving up on him/her.
    • Love endures all things
    • Love never fails.

    Cain didn’t love his brother, for where there is no love, there is:

    • Impatience/Intolerance
    • Hatred
    • Jealousy/Envy
    • Pride
    • Rudeness
    • Selfishness
    • Anger
    • Grudge
    • Injustice
    • Iniquity/lawlessness- murder, terrorism, immorality, stealing, rivalry etc.

    All these are sin and they bring about disunity, lack of peace and of course NO PROGRESS. The nation Nigeria has brought us together to be brothers- let us be willing to allow God uproot the evil seed of anger and hatred in us and help us live in love so we can progress.

    May God create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us in Jesus name. BE YOUR BROTHER’S KEEPER!

    Text: Genesis 4, 1 Corinthians 13, 1 John 4:7-16, John 3:16, John 1:12.

     

    From: Faith Nwachukwu

  • ‘How to build, identify healthy churches’

    ‘How to build, identify healthy churches’

    Church growth expert, Dr Francis Bola Akin-John spoke with Sunday Oguntola on indices for healthy churches and ministries ahead of a conference later this month. Excerpts:

    You’ve always spoken about healthy churches and healthy ministry. But if churches are not healthy, how come more people attend services every Sunday?

    Okay, thank you for that question. Let me answer it this way. There are a lot of people walking on the streets who are not healthy. That you see them moving around doesn’t mean they are healthy. There are a lot of walking corpses.

    It is the same with churches. People can go to churches and you can see crowd in truth but many churches are not scripturally and biblically healthy. That is what I have been pointing out all these years.

    There are many practices, many teachings and many things killing churches inside. These are things affecting their health. So, if you look at the crowds and infrastructure, you will miss the point. But if you consider what goes on within churches and ministries, you will discover many of our churches are far from being healthy.

    If you look at churches only from physical angles, materialism, structures, attendance and crowd, you will be missing the point. That is like judging the health of somebody through appearances. One can be bubbling, buoyant and active yet a check-up might indicate serious medical breakdowns.

    If we subject our churches to the same check-up, we would find many of them are anything g but healthy.

    So, what are the telling signs of unhealthy churches and ministries?

    First, you have to consider the spiritual life of the pastor or whoever is in charge. If the pastor is more carnally-minded than spiritual, it’s an unhealthy church. This is because churches will never become better than pastors regardless of what is happening there.

    If the pastor is more worldly -minded than spiritual minded, if the messages are only about motivation, inspiration and earthly success without things of eternal values, it’s an unhealthy church.

    If the members are more of goats than sheep, it is an unhealthy church. So many so- called Christians of today exhibit the traits of goats than sheep. Goats are immoral, covetous, thieving, gluttonous, troublesome and wicked. If you see a church where people exhibit these traits, it is unhealthy.

    When the pulpit has deviated from sound teachings but only interested in politically correct messages; when the preacher is only keen in preaching what people want to hear, then it is a sick assembly.

    Don’t look at the structure or the offering of a church to determine its healthiness. Consider the quality of life of the pastor and the congregation. If it is against the Bible, it is a sick church.

    When you see a congregation that concentrates on meeting the physical needs of members and neglects the soul, it’s a sick church. When the preaching, prayers, ministrations, testimonies and emphasis is on the glittering things of this sinful, perishing world rather than the edifying of the soul, preparing people for heaven and teaching them to do good works while on earth, it is an unhealthy church.

    Why the emphasis on spiritual leadership. Is church healthiness all about the pastor or the minister-in-charge?

    It’s about 95 percent about church leadership. If you look at it from the bible, God respects leadership. He honors leadership. Whenever God wants to do anything, He chooses a leader. If there’s no leadership, the world would have gone upside down.

    When God wants to speak, He speaks through the leader. In the New Testament, when Jesus had messages for the seven churches, representing all churches then and now, He spoke through the angels-the pastors.

    When you consider the ministry of Jesus, He preached to the crowd, performed signs and wonders with them but spent time training leaders of the church. So bring it to our present day. If you look at the church in Nigeria, the problem starts from leadership.

    People can contest it but that’s the truth. From the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s up to the early 80s, there was revival of godliness and righteousness in the land. It was through the leaders God chose. At a point, it was from the ignoramus God was using but through their prayers, God went to universities in the 60s and 70s.

    Revival broke out on campuses across the nation based on the preaching of holiness, godliness, salvation, repentance, restitution and righteousness. But what do we have from 1985?  What have we been teaching? We became lax in the qualifications for the office of a pastor.

    Every Dick and Harry became pastor. Once you work in a corporate environment and can spend your resources for the church, you are given a parish to serve. Once you can speak good English and have a well-paying job, you are good to go.

    You might not need to go to Bible College or even learn anything. The prerequisite for choosing who becomes a pastor has been lowered and that is what has bought us to where we are today in the nation.

    How can this be redressed?

    We have to go back to the basics. If a man claims to be called, he must be trained. No one becomes a pilot overnight because it will only lead to monumental human disaster. Pastors are dealing with precious souls rescued by Christ. You don’t just put anybody to look after souls without training.

    It is that training process that we have bastardised and must revive. That, to me, is how we can rescue our churches from the messes we all know and hear but pretend do not exist.

    Will the one-week conference be enough to address this?

    Certainly not. One week can never be enough. But it can trigger a revolution in lives that will last a lifetime. You see growth is a lifetime phenomenon. There are pastors who have never been to refresher courses years after they started ministry. How can they grow and learn new things? There are some who were never at Bible College. Even if you were never in a bible school, it is never too late to start.

    So, that is what we are doing at the conference. We are setting pastors on fire, making them to rethink what they do. After then, we have regular courses for those who want to attend our Institute. There are other training institutions in town. So, we believe the conference will trigger a major revolution that will help us to reevaluate the healthiness of our Christian assemblies.

  • Cleric preaches unity at cultural harvest

    Cleric preaches unity at cultural harvest

    Donned in colourful local attires, members of the African Church Cathedral Salem, Lagos last Sunday rolled out the drums to celebrate the annual Community Cultural harvest.

    Chairman harvest committee Bro KunleSogbesan said the annual occasion was to enable members return glory to God for His goodness to them throughout the year.

    “Today is actually our thanksgiving and divine day. God being so kind has kept us alive from January till date and so we must thank him for his mercies.

    “You can see everybody here representing their culture in various attires. This helps in fostering unity and that is what we want to achieve. Even though we have different cultures, we serve the same God,” he stressed.

    In his sermon, Provost and Archdeaconry Chairman, Ven. Moses Sunday Makanjuola, said God created human beings primarily to worship and give Him praises.

    “If you thank God always, He will do more for you. My advice to other churches is to imbibe such because waking up every day is more than enough reason to continue giving thanks to God. It is necessary to thank God all the time,” he stressed.

    He said that Christians should continue to pray and live moral life to please God and humanity.

    Makanjuola advised Christiansto imbibe the virtues of peace, love and forgiveness, which underscored Christ’s earthly mission.

    He stressed the need for Christians to live harmoniously with non-Christians to move the nation forward.

    “We must reach out to one another including non-Christians in love, peace and show forgiveness just as Christ did even on the cross.”

    He called on Christians and Nigerians to forgive those killing innocent persons and pray for them to have a change of heart.

    “All that we need to do is to commit these people into prayers. Those who are perpetuating these very terrible acts by taking the lives of people will change if God touches them,” he emphasised.

  • Church praises anti-corruption crusade

    The Anglican Diocese of Ido-Ani in Ondo State has applauded efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari in tackling corruption in the country.

    The church noted that the federal government means well in fulfilling positive changes but is being hampered by dwindling revenues.

    These were contained in a communiqué at the end of the 1st session of the 3rd Synod of the Diocese at the Cathedral Church of the Holy trinity, Ido-Ani, Ondo State

    The communiqué read by the Diocesan, Rt. Rev. BolarindeDahunsi (JP) hailed the federal government on its fights against terrorism, especially the Boko Haram insurgency.

    It however pleaded with the pro-Biafran and the Niger-Delta Avengers to give room for a meaningful dialogue to avert shedding of blood and destruction of properties.

    On incoming governorship election in the state, the synod urged the citizenry to shun violence, gratification and inducements.

    It urged them to ensure a credible candidate is elected to assist in developing the state.

    The communiqué flayed the persistent neglect of the Irekari area of the states by all levels of government in terms of provision of social amenities.

    It appealed to Governor Olusegun Mimiko to assist the community in restoration of power to the whole Diocese that has remained in darkness for almost two years.

    The Synod also appealed to Minister of Works, Housing and Power Babatunde Fashola to rehabilitate the Isua-Idoani-Ipele federal road that has been in deplorable conditions for many decades.

    According to the communiqué, if the road is put in good condition, it would reduce the carnages along Oka-akoko road, while also opening the Diocesan area up for economic activities.

    In his sermon at the post-synod thanksgiving service, the Dean, Cathedral Church of Emmanuel, Ado-Ekiti, Very Rev Olanrewaju Bankole enjoined all Christians to do the will of God to make heaven.

    Dahunsi thanked Justice and (Mrs.) AdetulaAlabi for hosting the synod and contributing regularly to the development of the Diocese.

     

  • Vital Keys to All-Round Fruitfulness!

    We recognize from scriptures that by redemption, every child of God is ordained as a fruitful vine. As it is written: Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle (Deuteronomy 7:14).

    After God created man, the Bible records: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth (Genesis 1:28; see also Psalms 128:1-5; Isaiah 5:1-4, 13).

    However, it is important to know that fruitfulness is not limited to the fruit of the womb; it covers every aspect of our lives. As it is written: Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers: And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle (Deuteronomy 7:12-14; see also Deuteronomy 28:4).

    Let’s also understand that though fruitfulness is our heritage in Christ, it is only accessible by revelation. That is why the Bible says: And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified (Acts 20:32; see also Psalms 127:3; Isaiah 5:13; 2 Peter 1:3).

    Remember that the Bible also says: Therefore my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst (Isaiah 5:13).

    That means fruitfulness in all aspects of life and endeavour, is the right of every seed of Abraham who cares to put the Word of God to work (Galatians 3:29).

    Furthermore, we must recognise that fruitfulness is a reward of serving God. That means everyone serving God is not permitted to be barren. As it is written: And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil (Exodus 23:25-26).

    God’s agenda is that those who serve Him should not be barren or victims of miscarriage. For instance, Abraham and his wife served visitors without knowing that they were angels and thereafter, got Isaac. The Shunammite woman also served God’s interest when she and her husband provided a place for God’s Prophet, and she had her child. Stewardship is ordained to culminate in fruitfulness, among others, and a covenant to serve God guarantees endless fruitfulness. For instance, when the congregation of Judah covenanted to serve God, He gave them all-round rest and that includes fruitfulness (2 Chronicles 15:12, 15).

    We must, therefore, ensure that we are serving God with joy and gladness. This is because it is joy and rejoicing that guarantees returns on our stewardship. Moreover, when we are sorrow-free, we become ‘testimony full’. Thus, it is not just serving God that pays, but serving Him with joy and gladness because wherever joy is lacking, harvest perishes. The Bible says: Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished. The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men (Joel 1:11-12 see also Deuteronomy 28:47-48; Philippians 4:4).

    The cheapest attack of the enemy against those who are on the line for miracle babies is depression and sorrow of heart, which robs them of God’s agenda. We must understand that joy and rejoicing is a spiritual platform for taking delivery of our heritage of fruitfulness. From scriptures, we understand that as soon as Hannah received the prophetic seal on her prayer, she ate and her countenance was no longer sad. Thereafter, God remembered her and gave her a son, Samuel. Furthermore, after Abraham received the promise of his son, Isaac, from God, the Bible records: Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb:  He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God (Romans 4:18-20; see also 1 Samuel 1:13-19). Therefore, I curse every trace of sorrow in your life that has hindered you from receiving God blessing of fruitfulness in your life! This is your fruitful season and nothing changes that!

    Are you born again? This means, have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord? If you haven’t, you can do so as you say this prayer: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Deliver me from sin and satan to serve the Living God. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You Jesus for saving me! Now I know I am born again!”

    For further reading, please get my books: You Shall Not Be Barren, Walking in the Miraculous, Operating in the Supernatural, Releasing the Supernatural, Commanding the Supernatural and All you need to have all your needs met.

    I invite you to come and fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Ota, the covenant home of Winners. We have five services on Sundays, holding at 6:00 a.m., 7:35 a.m., 9:10 a.m., 10:45 a.m. and 12:20 p.m. respectively.

    I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me through: Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 01-4548070, 01-4548280; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

  • Buhari greets GOFAMINT at 60

    President Muhammadu Buhari has felicitated with the General Overseer, the leadership and members of the Gospel Faith Mission International (GOFAMINT) on its 60th anniversary.

    In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, Buhari said:  “Sixty years is a significant milestone in the life of any individual or organisation.

    “As the Gospel Faith Mission International turns 60, it is my pleasure to rejoice with the leadership, the teeming members and adherents of the Christian faith, who worship in the church.”

    The President added: “Six decades of labour in the Lord’s vineyard must have produced innumerable fruits with great impact from now to eternity.

    “I wish GOFAMINT many more successful decades of fruitful service to the nation.

    “As you celebrate, accept my best wishes. And kindly tell your members that a new dawn beckons in the country.

    “We see it ahead and we shall step into that land of unity and prosperity. God will take us there by His Grace.”