Posts Tagged ‘Psalm’

When I was younger, if something unpleasant was going to happen (like I was about to tumble down the stairs, or more realistically, I came home with another dismal grade in math) my mom would say something like, ‘God did not promise me this’. To her (and this is a belief that I’ve embraced wholeheartedly thanks to her), God is the author of EVERY good thing, and God would never let any evil come near her or hers, even in the form of my math scores!! Ha ha! Don’t get it twisted o, I was exceptional at English and any other subject where my head would be allowed to roam. But that math? Naaaa!

Another thing Momma instilled in us was ‘God (who) cannot lie‘. And He can’t.  Several times in the scriptures we see where that is alluded to, either in Psalms, “my covenant will I not break, nor alter that which has gone from my lips’, the book of Numbers where we see ‘surely as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do unto you’, on and on and on. Noticed I’m a Kings James version child yet? *wink*

My favorite scripture though is in the book of Titus where it says, “God who cannot lie”… Boom! As in, even if God woke up today, this beautiful Friday and said, “you know what guys, I want to start lying”, He can’t! It’s not in His nature! Whoop! Whoop! That scripture gives me such joy!

So in the same way that I cannot be a whiz at math (I’ve given up don’t worry), God cannot lie. At all. Guess what though? Humans lie.

Ooh yes humans lie. Through the skin of their teeth, while looking you straight in the eyes (that’s after you’ve asked them to look you in the eyes and tell you the truth), humans tell the greatest fibs known to… humans! Dang!

Have you ever been lied to? I guess we’ll all say yes. Have you lied to someone? Same answer, yes. Why did you lie,  was it to escape punishment of some sort, appear better than you are,  gain undue advantage over your peers, cover or commit a crime, or because you were afraid? Let’s flip it a bit, why do you think you were lied to? Amongst other reasons, was the person trying to ‘protect’ you? What on earth does that even mean? Shaking My Head!!!

In my short time on earth, I’ve met people who told me horrible lies, and then when I was gutted from finding out, said, ‘I was doing it to protect you’. Protect me from what exactly? The hurt and pain I now feel from finding out even your greetings were lies?

Hmmm, I can imagine you settling in, probably even grabbing a bowl of popcorn in anticipation of some juicy gist, what my people will call ‘gbeborun/tatafo’.  There’s nothing here o, get a move on!

Ok, perhaps I will share the story that inspired this post some day. Just know that ‘someday’ might be when I’m 70 (so you don’t say I lied to you, and yes I plan to still be blogging then). I will tell the story of how implicit trust was broken, how I literally jumped from a frying pan to a furnace in the name of escaping one evil.

To digress, have you ever been in that place? Tried to dodge one evil and then found yourself ensconced in another, in what you thought would be your safety? My dear, not an easy place to be in at all.

All this ‘rigmarolling’ is to tell us to be careful from here on, beyond being a sin (and I’m not even going to start preaching here), lies hurt. They break hearts, trusts, and beautiful friendships. They (literally) remove the essence of relationships, they literally kill them. Some people have hurt themselves (sometimes gravely) because they were lied to, and I don’t think any of us want that on our conscience.

Try. Let’s see if we can get through the entire day (from when we get out of bed to when we get back in), not to tell a lie. Not a small one, or a white one, or a lie to ‘protect’ someone or what we think we have with them, nothing of the sort. Let’s try today. I’ll be trying too.

Life, love, and the best weekend ever,

The FGS.

 

Who else has noticed that over 60% of the posts on here have become centered around church, Christ, and living right? I don’t know why jor, maybe it’s because with each passing day I realize that even if I wrote from today till tomorrow nonstop, I wouldn’t cover half of the awesomeness that God is!

Ok, Bibles out, welcome to church! Today (actually this was from a service I attended three Sunday’s ago) I was at Winners Chapel Dartford. Now I haven’t been there on a Sunday for a veeeeery long time, and only started attending midweek services because I need the comfort and encouragement that can only be gotten from being amongst God’s people.

Anyway, so this service was really difficult for me to sit through, not only because it had been exactly one week since my aunty passed but because the last time I was here on a Sunday my precious aunty Pat literally dragged me here. I remember vividly how she begged, cajoled, and then blackmailed me till I agreed to go with her. Your memories will never die aunty, never!

Back to the sermon, forgive my digression.

The title was ‘unveiling kingdom mysteries for supernatural breakthroughs’, and the anchor scripture was Revelations 4:2, and 5: 10. We are redeemed to reign, not to be ruined. Romans 8:9

1 John 5: 4 –

John 3: 31

Obadiah 1:21

Isaiah 60: 22, Job 29: 4 – 10.

What do you do to possess a breakthrough mentality?

Proverbs 23:7 – my mentality determines my reality; therefore the more I think it, the better I will be at ‘being’ it.

1. A breakthrough mentality is a faith-loaded mentality.

Jeremiah 32:27, Mark 9: 23. To this mentality, impossibility doesn’t exist.

Hebrews 4:2 –  For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God.

Job 8:7 – And though you started with little, you will end with much. (Amen)!!!!

Hebrews 10:35 – So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you!

2. A breakthrough mentality is a triumph-loaded mentality. 2 Timothy 2:3

1 Corinthians 10:13

Psalm 121: 4, 1 Timothy 6:12. Don’t speak like the world, so you don’t see what the world sees.

How to build/develop a breakthrough mentality 

1. I must build my thinking on the word of God. Joshua 1: 8, Psalm 1:2-3

2. Connect to other breakthrough destinies. Hebrews 6:12

3. Fellowship with the Holy Spirit, especially on the altar of prayer.. 1 Corinthians 2: 9

May God bless the reading of His word in our hearts in Jesus name!

Have a super productive week!!

Ok, I hope you went to church today! You know we are admonished in the Bible to ‘forsake not the gathering of the brethren’ – Hebrews 10:25. I did, and I had a great time! Matter of fact, Sundays at church are always the highlight of my week, honestly!

I have decided that there must be something from God’s Word every Sunday on this blog, and so far I’m grateful for the testimonies from people who have been encouraged, or uplifted as a result of a chronicle they read here. What else are we here for anyway, if not to lift our brothers and sisters?

This week’s sermon is about two years old (yes, I have church notes from that long), and I decided to put it up because it was a big blessing to me that day in church, and because the word of the Lord is new every morning, I know there will be fresh understanding for everyone who reads this today. In Jesus name!

The church was COZA (Commonwealth of Zion Assembly), in Abuja, and it was the 5th of July 2009. There was a special service that day that I had been invited for, and I remember the choir’s ministration that day was ‘You are the source of my strength’. Pastor Biodun (don’t know his surname) titled his message ‘I know the Lord will help me’.

You sure you are? Then you are entitled to his help!

He started by saying that anything we believe God to be is what/who He’ll be to us. Genesis 1:26 says “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” We are made in His image, and so should carry around that consciousness everywhere we go!

Deut 33:26. 1 Peter 5:9 says “Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”

Psalm 23:1 – 6 1 Cor 6:19

Isaiah 50:7, 9. Genesis 1:31, 2:18

Note that even when we don’t know we need it, God always identifies help, and helpers for us. Psalm 60:11

Jeremiah 31:17

By the way, don’t you ever forget, without the help of God, we are nothing. Isaiah 31:1 says “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!”

2Kings 6:27 Hebrews 13: 5-6

WHAT TO DO TO INVOKE THE HELP OF GOD?

1. Ask. Mathew 7:7. James 4:3,2. Yes God knows everything, but He still wants us to ask. I’ve heard men of God say that after Adam ‘blamed’ God for giving him Eve in the garden of Eden, He wants us to ask ourselves.

2. Know that God will use a man to help. Ecclesiastes 4:10 says, “For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.” So you don’t pray for finances and then start expecting to wake up and find the amount you need under your pillow!

3. Be a channel of help yourself. Eph 6:8. A saying goes, “the pipe carrying water can never be dry”. Is it all about you, you, you, or are you a blessing to other people, even with the little you have?

4. Be organized. 1 Corinthians 14:10. At different times in the Bible, people were told to ‘put their house in order’. Sometimes, reducing the chaos/clutter around us automatically reduces the crisis around us.

5. Sow towards it. Remember King Solomon? 2 Chronicles 1:6. His offering caught God’s attention. What do you give God, and how do you give? Grudgingly, because you’ll look funny if you don’t, or with a heart full of gratitude?

6. Declare it. God speaking to us in the book of Numbers says that “as surely as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do unto you” Numbers 14:28. What are you declaring/saying into His ears? Speaking positively or negatively? No need telling you how powerful our words are; bet you know that already.

Very true!!!

Enter the new week with the consciousness of who you are in Christ, and the power and help available to you as a child of the Kingdom. Nothing will confound you this week in the mighty name of Jesus! Amen!

WONDERS OF PRAISE

Posted: November 27, 2011 in DAY 2 DAY, His Word
Tags: , ,

So I worshiped with Winners Chapel in Dartford today, and I had a great time! I haven’t been there in a while so it felt great to be back among my own! The praise sessions were great, God confirmed His Word as evidenced by the precious testimonies, and the choir ministration was great! Had everyone on their feet before they’d gone through half the song.

Pastor David Oyedepo Jnr gave the sermon, titled, ‘Wonders of Praise’. He started by saying that there is nothing natural about the believer, and because of the rich deposits God has placed in us, it would be unnatural to be natural. Isaiah 8:18 says “Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in mount Zion.” Zechariah 3:8 comes close with “Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.”

We must note though, that one of the forces that will enable me to flow in the realm of the supernatural and provoke God to action is my praise. Psalm 47:5 says “God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet”, while chapter 68 verse 24-25 reads ” They have seen thy goings, O God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.  25The singers went before, the players on instruments followed after; among them were the damsels playing with timbrels.”

Isaiah 54:1-4

Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord!! Yes! Including you!

* Anywhere you see praise going, there becomes an alteration of natural limitations.

Very important for us to note is the fact that anytime man withholds God praise, blessings are turned into curses. Psalm 69:22 says “22Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.”

Praise is the supernatural preservative that gives any blessing you receive an extended life span. Don’t you ever stop praising! Acts 12:20 – 23.

HINDRANCES TO PRAISE

1. Comparison. Psalm 73:12-17

There is no ungodly man who is worth my envy. Even in the house of God, never envy another man’s blessing, your stories are not the same! 2 Corinthians 10:12 says “12For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.”

Comparison will do two things to a man:

a.  make him disregard the input of God in his life.  says “Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up.”  Psalm 103:2.

b. make him offended, in God and in man. Genesis 4:3 – 16. Remember the story of Cain and Abel? Wouldn’t have ended that way if Cain had not become envious of the reception Abel’s offering God before God.

Bottom line? Never compare your race with anybody else’s. Never allow offences too, it stops you from praising and attracts curses.

WONDERS THAT PRAISE PROVOKE

1. Divine judgement. Psalm 92: 1-3 says ” it is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, o Most High; 2To shew forth thy loving kindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,  3Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.

Verse 11 and 12 of the same scripture say, ” Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me.  12The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.”

2. Supernatural harvest – Psalm 67: 5 – 7. Harvest is secured on the platform of praise. Amos 9:11 – 13.

The verdict therefore, my dear brothers and sisters is, never stop praising! The fact that you’re alive and sane to read this is enough reason to praise the Lord so regardless of what challenges you might be facing now, start from there! And have a fabulous week!

@chiomachuka