SOMETHING TO BE THANKFUL ABOUT!

Now that November is about ending, you certainly have been here from January through to this moment, and I am sure you know at least one person whom you both entered this year but s/he is no more. You will agree that those who have passed away were not the worst sinners, and you were not in any way more righteous than them. God’s mercies have just kept you...Something to be thankful about!

You are neither in the grave nor in the hospital, and you have had no cause to be around the police station. Remember that many people suffered implications in many forms, but God’s mercies have helped you. The same road(s) that have swallowed others in death through accidents, the same road(s) you have travelled not once, yet you are alive. This cannot be your making; it has been the Lord...Something to be thankful about!

Many people have lost jobs, but you still have a place called office where you go to no matter how small and whether your own office is under the tree...if only some people will be able to work under that same tree, they will be eternally grateful to God. You have a job yet you complain; you have a place where you sleep every night, yet you complain; you have food to eat every day, yet you complain about the taste and quality...some have no food to eat, others have no place to call home, and yet some have taken to begging as occupations. Many have lost jobs. Where you are now and you feel so ungrateful or never opened your mouth to thank God, that same place is another man’s lifetime prayer point so that God will take him there. Something to thank God for!

You had carryover and you almost asked where God was. Some people have been crying to God for admission, while some have admissions but could not pursue it because there was no one to sponsor them. You may have lost some things, but the reason you have not lost everything is because of God. Something to be thankful about!

You have been sleeping and waking up, but do you know that there are people who cannot sleep unless they take drugs? Some have equally slept just the way you do, but they woke up on the other side of eternity, many were unprepared for it and landed in Hell. But you woke up and got another opportunity to repent...Something to be thankful about!

Hmmm...when you slept, many times the enemies would come trying to eat up your flesh, but they always stumbled and fell. Many hosts have risen against you, but God defended you. When they called your name, God and fire answered for you. You did not even know when all these happened, and God does not have to tell you because they are too numerous to count. Something to be thankful about!

And now you are worrying that the year is ending yet you have not achieved some of the things you set out at the beginning of the year...but if you will count, you will find that even the things you do not deserve, and the ones you did not outline, God has done them for you. You have survived fuel subsidy troubles that emerged at the beginning of the year. You will agree that the things you have are far more than your income, yet you do not steal or beg.  Something to be thankful about!

Do you still think you have no reason to thank God? We could prayerfully ask God to “bless” you with just a simple 3-day headache with one night of sleeplessness, and then let healing happen thereafter perhaps your heart of understanding would open up to the need to be thankful to God in every circumstance. There is always something to be thankful about...the life in you, the air that you breathe (some pay for oxygen just to survive), the water you drink, the eyes to see, the ears to hear, the feet for walking...and then the hope of eternal life in God. There is always something to be thankful about!

Let not November end without you dedicating one day of thanksgiving to God who has helped you and your family this far.  The only valid shortcut that I know is that of thanksgiving (and praise)...it takes you straight into the presence of the Father, “and in His presence, there is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11). As you thank God this month, fullness will pour on your paths, and what your eyes did not see from January till now, you shall not only see but possess in December. Celebrate God!!!

THE GLORY OF YOUR TOMORROW

NO matter how big your yesterday was, your tomorrow can be bigger. In the same way, no matter how small and insignificant your yesterday might have been, there is always a bigger tomorrow in waiting for you. Tomorrow is the biggest room in the world...it is endowed with the capacity to accommodate all the dreams of mankind.

Tomorrow comes with an irresistible force that neither yesterday nor today can withstand. Today can never deny tomorrow its right to come. No matter how horrible today portrays itself, I have one single confidence; it can not last forever! Let today pretend to be so long and frustrating, yet once it is time for tomorrow, today will bow and give way. The same way, nothing can stand against the future God has ordained for you.

I remember when Samaria was passing through tough times; there was hunger, poverty and frustration everywhere, and people were dying. Then came the word of the Lord about tomorrow: “Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria” (2 Kings 7:1).

There is always a word about your tomorrow! Your tomorrow as a child of God is settled and should make you worry less. This is what Jesus said about your tomorrow: “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things...” (Matthew 6:34, NKJV). When God was working through the Israelites to confound the Egyptians, He gave many words tied to tomorrow: “And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be” (Exodus 8:10, 23)

One big mystery that the devil is yet to come to terms with about your life is the beautiful of your tomorrow. He (the devil) is so helpless about your tomorrow, and so because he can do nothing about your tomorrow, he tries to prevent you from seeing that tomorrow. He has succeeded in the lives of some people by deceiving them with the pleasures of sin (for a while), like fornication, alcohol, prostitution, drugs, cultism, crime, etc. One big way the devil succeeds in deflating the big future ahead of young people is through sin. “He that sinneth is of the devil” (1 John 3:8). So, when you live in sin, you have sold your future to satan. For example, each time you commit fornication, something dies in your future! Sin terminates destiny and eliminates your eternal life. Live above sin and I tell you, you will live above the world!

Your tomorrow can turn out an exact opposite of your yesterday. Where you are coming from is not as big as where God is taking you. Your poor background is lost in the shadows of the greatness of the almighty. God has destined you for a life of TRUE GREATNESS. You may be experiencing some pitfalls now, but they are preparing you for peak-fronts. Every set back is a set-up in disguise in the life of a child of God. When life pulls you backward, remember that an arrow is shot by first pulling it backwards...and then comes the launching forward. You are launching forward into greatness.

Yesterday may have been hurt-full; tomorrow will be joyful. Yesterday may have been painful; tomorrow will be gainful. Move on from yesterday. Yesterday is like an artist that tries to paint today as if tomorrow has no beauty. Yesterday is like a judge that tends to convict today so as to kill the hope of tomorrow. Yesterday is like a thief that strives to rob today of the joy of tomorrow. Move away from yesterday. Whatever you have passed through has come to pass (it did not come to stay). There is glory in your tomorrow. “The glory of the latter shall be greater than the former” (Haggai 2:9).

I see glory in the future ahead of God’s people...a glory here on earth and an eternal glory with God in the New Jerusalem that will come from God. The big question is this; how are you living your life? When you live in sin, you naturally attract the atmosphere of satan into your life, and then your eternity will be with him in hell. “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul (in Hell)?” It is never too late now to turn to God, eternity might just be some seconds away and then and there it becomes late. Where will you spend eternity? There is a Heaven to embrace and a Hell to escape. Turn to God now...that would just be the beginning of your walk into glory. Peace.

(Dr. Bukola Williams is a Bible Teacher, Author, and Conference Speaker and is the President of TreasuredHouse International, a ministry with a soul-winning mandate and committed to Replicating The Life of TRUE GREATNESS In This Generation through the teaching of the word of His grace)

WHEN LIFE SEEMS NOT TO WORK...

Some things work and sometimes some things just seem not to work however hard you try...those times when it seems your best efforts betray you. BUT, both the things that work out well and those that appear not to work, everything shall in the end work for our good as long as we remain in God and retain our love for Him even in the midst of heavy challenges.

Christianity is not a license to a perfectly "smooth" life...if it is, then there would be no need for us to be more than conquerors and overcomers. As long as we remain in this world, Jesus said "(in this world) you shall have tribulations (challenges, life's issues, trials, etc)"...But He quickly added: "but be of good cheers, I have overcome the world (for you)" (John 16:33).

There are times when we go through unpleasant situations...it does not mean we have sinned or God does not like us. NO. Isaiah 43:2 says "WHEN thou passeth through waters and fire"...it does not say "IF" thou passeth through waters and fire. 'IF' is conditional and a probability and represents an adverbial clause of condition; but 'WHEN' represents an adverbial clause of time which means certainly a time will come when you will go through waters and fire (overwhelming and hot situations). And it says: "I will be with you and the rivers shall not overflow thee neither shall the fire burn you". What an assurance in times when life's tempest soar and billows roll!

And while we wait for our change to come, "Nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ"...not even those situations that seem not to work at the moment.

WHEN LIFE SEEMS NOT TO WORK, REMEMBER THAT GOD IS WORKING SOMETHING GOOD FOR YOU...SO HOLD ON TILL THE END AND DO NOIT LET GO.

I SPEAK PEACE TO YOU IN JESUS' NAME.

WALKING IN DIVINE CHAIN-REACTION OF FAVOUR

"And Esther obtained FAVOUR in the sight of ALL them that looked upon her. So Esther was taken unto King Ahaesuerus into his house royal. And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the (other) virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti" (Esther 2:15-17).

What a chain reaction of favour! This is what happens to a man God wants to favour; it happens non-stop and without logical explanations. Divine favour dismisses logic and disappoints common sense. It was divine favour that concealed and cancelled the earthly background of the orphan called Esther and ushered her into a new realm of life in the palace. It was the working of divine favour that silenced the voice of oppression of Haman and co against Esther and the people of God. It is that kind of favour that even the enemies become helpless and clueless about.

The king asked Haman; "What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour?" (Esther 6:6a). Not only was Haman (the enemy) clueless about the man the king wanted to honour, he was also helpless about it. We have a destiny ahead that even the devil is clueless and helpless about.

Divine favour took Esther, an orphan, broke protocols, and made her wear the royal crown. Divine favour took Mordecai from being a gate man and made him a great man. Divine favour has the capacity to make a way where there has been no way, to make a nobody become somebody, to make a zero life become an hero man, to create something from nothing, and to move an hitherto forgotten person from the back seat of stagnation and frustration into the front seat of destiny, manifestation and greatness.

MAY YOU BEGIN TO WALK IN DIVINE FAVOUR IN JESUS' NAME!!!

Rapture is here; be ready.

A MOVE WITHOUT GOD

 "And satan stood up against Israel, and MOVED David to number Israel. And God was displeased with this thing; therefore He smote Israel" (1 Chronicles 21:1, 7, ASV).

The devil stirred a move in David to number Israel...It was a move that resulted in untold hardship both for David and the people. What went wrong?

It is not every move that is of God...And it is not every move that carries God. Sometimes back, I taught that 'Not every open door that presents to you should make you move steps to entering through them, because the devil also opens doors'. There are times you are faced with some circumstances and you will be at the verge of taking some actions and making some decisions, and then comes a last minute restraint that saved you a lifetime of regret. This is the reason we should never assume every beautiful and potential-laden opportunity comes from God. Before you take those actions/decisions, be sure to (re)confirm if God is in such moves.

When someone tells you they are moved to do something concerning you, do not just assume those things are being moved by God. We are in a time when it is not just enough to PRAY, but we are encouraged to WATCH (and PRAY). The Bible says "Prove ALL things" (not just some things or many things, but ALL things) and "Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits" (1 Thessalonians 5:21, 1 John 4:1).

There are so many "BIG" moves going around but they do not carry GOD, if you doubt me, then ask Elijah, he knows better. He (Elijah) experienced 3 heavy things: A GREAT AND STRONG WIND THAT BROKE THE ROCKS IN PIECES...BUT THE LORD WAS NOT IN THE WIND...And then came an EARTHQUAKE; BUT THE LORD WAS NOT IN THE EARTHQUAKE...and then came a FIRE; BUT THE LORD WAS NOT IN THE FIRE (1Kings 19:11, 12). All these mighty moves (great wind, earthquake, fire) did not have God in them.

There are many so-called mighty moves around us that do not carry the ALmighty. And sadly, many so-called fire-brand ministers are either carrying empty fire or strange fire.
A MOVE WITHOUT GOD IS A DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN.
Be sure you never move without God. It may look good, but once it is not God, it is not well. Moses knew this and confessed; "God, I (we) am not moving if you are not moving with me (us)" (Exodus 33:15).

And do you know that David used to know and pray that Moses' prayer when he (David) just started. Remember how he prayed and asked God; "Shall I pursue after this troop? Shall I overtake? And God answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all" (1Samuel 30:8). But now, perhaps David had become so big in his own eyes and he allowed a MOVE in his life without putting into consideration the source of the move (which was the devil).

May we never move without God! And should you be on a journey (relationship, business, ministry, etc) without God, it's not too late to turn back. The truth is; a move without God is a move against your destiny, here on earth, and in eternity.

Finally, can you pray with me: "Any area of my life that the devil is standing against me (See how he stood against David in 1 Chr. 21:1), I overcome in Jesus' name".

FORCE VERSUS FAITH

Force is a universal phenomenon to which life and objects respond to. Isaac Newton discovered some phenomenal landmarks in the history of science and motion and these birth the Newton’s laws of motion. The first law of motion states that “A body will remain in a state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line until it is acted upon by an external FORCE”. The truth is, no non-living thing moves except you apply force. As a matter of fact, some humans required that push (force) to move.

As Christians, force also has spiritual significance. The other time I taught about The Spiritual Gravitational Force. It is real that there are two predominant forces that control the universe: the forces of darkness, and the force that is divine, which is the most potent…and this latter force is the WORD of God, it is what holds the world in place. “He sustains all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3).

Now, it is good to know that the world is filled with the activities of “the rulers of darkness of this world” (Ephesians 6:12). One of their missions is to oppose anything that is good. The enemies are both offensive and defensive, while (unfortunately) we have Christians that are only defense conscious. Many Christians engage in defensive warfare and are afraid of launching offensives against the enemy. Some are even afraid that the moment they try to go out against the works and activities of the enemies, the enemies becomes more aggressive towards them, so they prefer to just live calm and most times oppressed lives.

As a child of God, you are a partaker of the divine nature of God and therefore you have the innate capacity to manifest the higher spiritual force to silence the activities of the enemies around you. There are places you step into and for as long as you are there, the existing powers and activities of the enemies are brought to an automatic standstill until you depart. Good always prevails over evil. God is good, and you are in God; evil should bow in the name of Jesus!

Having said this, I want to explain two types of operational forces that Christians tend to apply against the forces of evil and why it seems some achieve results and others do not. We live in a world where people have been taught that all you need to do to make things work for you in life is to use force and in some cases violence. Many even go as far as quoting the scripture: “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12) as the premise for their forceful and violent approaches to things.

People are taking everything by force and “spiritual” violence (if there is anything like that). Brothers are possessing sisters by force; sisters are stealing other sisters’ happiness by force; civil servants are embezzling government funds by force, and the list is endless. This type of force is not what the Bibles teaches and is certainly not of God. This is what I call ‘Empty Force’. This is the type that makes people to boast only to become victims of attacks by the enemies.

The second type of force in this context is ‘Faith-filled Force’, and this is the type that carries eternal values and virtue. We are admonished to live “by FAITH” and not “by FORCE”. Yes, force is good, but force without faith is not good! It is speaking with confidence knowing that those words are not empty but back with faith, and certainly faith is power. It is not your words that scare the devil; it is the content (the life) in those words. It will be a consequential error to address the devil with empty words. Stop confronting circumstances with empty words. Stop confusing emotions for faith and power. Crying is not faith. Talking too much and boasting are not faith. Many confront the enemies with empty words and when the enemy gets at them they begin to wonder what went wrong. Even Jesus would not speak empty words; He said: “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).

Force can move things, but faith can move them far. Force is stoppable, but faith is unstoppable. Force has limits; faith is unlimited. Force can produce results, but faith produces and upholds results. “By faith (AND NOT BY FORCE) they passed through the Red sea as by dry land” (Hebrews 11:29). Where force fails, faith never fails. I wish Hebrews 11:2 says that “by FORCE the elders obtained a good report”…but it says, “For by it (FAITH) the elders obtained a good report”.

The next time you speak, ensure those words carry life (which comes from a life of prayers, Bible study, fasting, charity, holiness). Some ride on the winds of force, but we ride on the wings of faith. And a combination of Force plus Faith…this will send the enemies into exile in your life and family.

DEFEATING NEGATIVE COUNSELS

David was on the path of divine destiny which no one but God had ordained for him. But, Absalom began to be an enemy, and he did not stop there, he (Absalom) went ahead to employ some strategies against David and among these was the use of ‘COUNSELS’. He employed Ahithophel who used to be David’s counselor to give him counsels against David…and amazingly, the first counsel worked perfectly.

“And Absalom sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counsellor, from his city. And the conspiracy was strong; for the people increased continually with Absalom. Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give counsel among you what we shall do. And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father's concubines, which he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father: then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong” (1 Samuel 15:12, 31; 16:21)

When David heard that Ahithophel had joined his enemies, he knew the potency and influence that would give the enemies because Ahithophel was described thus: “And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom” (2 Samuel 16:23).

David knew that the only way to overthrow and overcome was to pray. He did not become the more discouraged; he did not give up on the battle; he did not take the enemies for granted…He PRAYED!

“And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O LORD, I PRAY THEE, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness” (2 Samuel 15:31)

Prayer is one spiritual weapon of war that the devil has not been able to find solution to. And this is the reason prayerlessness is the basis for powerlessness. Ask the devil, he has never succeeded in stopping a man that prays.

And then David’s prayer started to work…Ahithophel gave another GOOD counsel, but see what God did to him: “And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time. And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom” (2 Samuel 17:7, 14). God defeated disappointed, debased, and flawed Ahithophel’s counsel, and what used to work for him before stopped working for him.

I pray that every counsel of the enemies against your life shall be turned to foolishness in Jesus’ name. All their strategies, weapons and manipulations that have hitherto made you and success strangers shall be corrupted! When they attempt to insert those weapons into your life, it shall read CORRUPTED!!! There is a divine anti-virus that will terminate all viral activities in your life that have caused hardship, stagnation and frustration. This is the word of the Lord.

And then Ahithophel became frustrated and went to commit suicide. I am prophesying to someone, the enemies you see today (all the Ahithophel-like enemies in your workplaces, career, families, etc), they are becoming history. Go and win in November.

Remember, Jesus is coming soon!