CHRIST IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Though He was slain from the foundation of the earth (Revelation 13:8), He practically came in the New Testament. But several times He appeared in the Old Testament, bringing salvation to them in need. What a merciful Saviour. Let us see how Jesus saved a generation from perishing.

It happened when the son of Hagar was at the point of death and she had lost hope, saying: “Let me not see the death of the child. And she wept” (Genesis 21:16b). And suddenly something happened!

“And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad to drink” (Genesis 21:19).

That well of water was Christ! He appeared and saved a generation from death! “For in Him was life” and “in Him we live” (John 1:4; Acts 17:28).

Remember when He said: “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). It was the same well of water that saved Hagar’s son.

What a merciful Saviour! Even when He said “mine hour is not yet come”, He still brought them wine and glorified Himself in their lives (John 2:4).

I do not know which area of your life you want Jesus to “appear”, but I can say to you that if you will but open your eyes of faith, He is already there with you and for you. All Hagar needed to do was to see. And so I say to you, God is working for you and things are falling in positive and pleasant places for you. You shall not be put to shame. You shall end 2013 with joy and gladness and 2014 shall be exceedingly glorious (Isaiah 35:10).

Maranatha.

WHICH PATH DID YOU FOLLOW IN 2013?

2014 is fast approaching and the prophecies are already pouring forth. Some people who followed ungodly paths to success and shared testimonies to the applause of others are also warming up for "greater testimonies" in 2014 forgetting how they "made it" in 2013. Truly, there is 'good  success', and there is also the success that is not of God. Here below is a few sinful way to success;

- You slept with a man so as to get a job...and out of many who were interviewed, you got the job. Stop saying it was God's favour that gave you the job...it was iniquity that gave you, and like Judas, you have purchased a "field with the reward of iniquity" (Acts 1:18). Can you face judgement this way?

- You paid a bribe to get a job, and you continue to say 'Heaven help those who help themselves.' For how long shall you deceive yourself? Show us where that sentence is written in the Bible. No doubt, the devil helped you, and the job is his...in eternity and in hell, he will come for his job, and ofcourse you!

- You were a part of a conspiracy against somebody that made them lose their job, and you were promoted to take their place. You are celebrating your new place, sharing some evil testimonies that 'It is the Lord's doing.' Only if you realized how much tears you have brought their homes. Their children are in pains, yet you are in gains. Oh, if only you see how many altars that men and Heaven have raised against you in prayers. You won't last! Not a curse, but a scripture: "As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool" (Jeremiah 17:11).

A corrupt mind cannot produce a correct life! If your life, status, achievement is built on nothing than God's pure favour, integrity and the fear of God, you sure have a case to answer in hell. Repent today and seek counsel on necessary steps to restitution.

"Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth His will, him He heareth." (John 9:31).

"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confeseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy" (Proverbs 28:13).

"If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Psalm 66:18)

"The LORD is far from the wicked: but He heareth the prayer of the righteous" (Proverbs 15:29).

YOU CAN NOT ENTER 2014 WITH THIS KIND OF HEART AND THIS KIND OF LIFE. REPENT AND TURN TO THE LORD AND HE SHALL HELP YOU LIVE READY.

For as many with genuine and pure motives and following the path of righteousness, here is God's word for you as you enter 2014:

"Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace" (Psalm 37:37).

For you abiding in holiness and truth, 2014 shall be of peace and glory. Amen.

“THEY SHALL NOT BE ASHAMED THAT WAIT FOR ME” SAITH THE LORD

(Understanding the Power of Trusting in God and Manifesting the Virtues of Patience and Purity in waiting times)

This year is gradually going to an end; what a privilege to be alive! Thank God for your life and all yours. I hear something like “WAIT” in my spirit and I want to share with you.

When the year began you had positive and God-centred plans as well as divine promises made by God to you. For some it is in the area of marriage, others it is their career, and yet others it is ministry, and altogether the list is endless. You not only had the plans, you prayed and you believed God, but now the year is ending and it seems nothing is changing. If this is you, then the Lord is telling you to WAIT and trust Him.

The salvation of the Lord is to them that trust in Him and wait upon His promises. “It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD” (Lam. 3:26). I charge you to have hope in God and look beyond the present condition of things around. There is a bigger glory ahead: see with the eyes of faith: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

It is not possible to wait for God and be ashamed in life “for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me” (Isaiah 49:23c). You cannot be a “waiter” and be a loser! Yes, it may appear you are behind and others have gone ahead. But your life is not built on competition; you have a better covenant of manifestation (Romans 8:19).

What then does it mean to wait on the Lord in the context of keeping hope alive in His word?

1)      It means to stick to God whether or not things are working.

This is called faith. It is believing and confessing that GOD IS REAL even when you cannot explain situations around you.

It is not turning attention from God to man, for: “If the LORD do not help thee, whence shall I help thee?” (2 Kings 6:27). It is making His throne (prayers) your first point of call in distress and hardship and not your phone.

2)      It means to continue in prayers without ceasing and setting up an altar of thanksgiving in your heart

It is thanking God even when nothing has shown forth. It is lifting up (holy) hands when life is down. Ephesians 5:20; Colossians 3:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; John 16:24.

3)      It is maintaining positivity even when it appears negative

It entails not allowing your five senses to override your heart (which is of faith). It is professing the positive when in the storm and calling the things that be not as though they are (Romans 4:7).

4)      It is maintain holiness and absolute integrity no matter the delay or frustration.

There is no need to compromise and ‘attempt’ to help God. People will suggest to you worldly and smart ways out of your situations, but you must follow the WORD and not the world, for: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly” (Psalm 1:1a).

Others will mock you as if to say: “Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die” (Job 2:9). But you, like Job, must maintain purity and hold on to God (Job 27:5-6).

5)      It is focusing on Heaven and being rapture-ready

There are people whose search and pursuit of happiness and greatness have taken them miles away from Heaven. The hardship they faced sailed them away from spiritual commitment and effective service. They have made money but have ‘lost God’ in the process. They are now existing but not living because any life not lived in God’s will does not count for eternity.

Beloved, that point where you get to and sound it loud and clear to anyone who needs to hear (including the devil) that what defines your life is not the abundance of resources and materials but the presence of God; this is the point of genuine followership of God. It is the point where you believe with no shadow of turning that no matter the situation and irrespective of whatsoever delayed promises, GOD IS REAL!!!

And as you wait on the LORD, I announce to you that God shall glorify and beautify your life. He will take you beyond your imaginations (Ephesians 3:20). You cannot look upward (waiting for Him) and end up backward in destiny and eternity, for: “they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). God shall give you a reason to be joyful this season in Jesus’ name!

(TreasuredHouse International Ministries, www.treasuredhouse.org)

FALSE GOSPEL

- If you know the Bible so well; Jehovah Witnesses know THEIR Bible so well.
- If you preach so much about God's love; Jehovah Witnesses propagate 'God's love' so well (to the point of deception).
- If you preach about faith, God's plans, purpose and prosperity; Jehovah Witnesses do loads of that.
- If you don't preach about Heaven, Hell, Rapture, Eternity, Holiness; Jehovah Witnesses DO NOT BELIEVE and DO NOT PREACH Heaven, Hell and Rapture. Even when they mention these they deny their realities.

So, what difference does the gospel you preach have from the gospel Jehovah Witnesses preach? Therefore, you are Jehovah Witnesses PART 2.

A false teacher is not necessarily one who preaches that there is no Heaven or Hell; a false teacher is one who can preach the whole Bible BUT;
1) Deliberately refuses to mention Heaven or hell
2) Make light of them as if they do not really matter and like other things (money, houses, etc which are but temporal things) matter more than eternity
3) Talks so much of faith, blessings, deliverance and prosperity but none of eternal realities.

If you preach the word minus the realities of eternity; if you fail to tell people about Heaven, holiness, rapture and hell as much as you tell them how much God wants to bless them, then you have not spoken the whole truth of the Bible (but preached just a section of the word). This is lopsided gospel; it is incomplete gospel, and it is false gospel!!!

"And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the book of life..." (Revelation 22:19a).

WHAT MATTERS MOST IN LIFE

This morning, some eternal words resounded in my spirit and I wish to share them with you also and encourage you to mark them for your own life also where applicable.

"Don't measure spiritual acceptance by financial or material inflow. The presence of money does not imply the presence of God. Money and resources can flow where God does not move. Don't confuse these as others do."

How true and eternal are these words! Today, some people think abundance of financial and material resources is an indicator of abundance of God's approval and favour. While God's favour is a foundation for (God's) riches and goodness, the availability of opportunities and enormity of "breakthroughs" is not a guarantee of spiritual blessedness.

There are many inflows that have no root in God and there are several opportunities that are not of God. The rich man had plenty money, much influence and authority that even in hell he thought his authority still counted and so he beckoned on father Abraham to direct Lazarus on errand for him (Luke 16:24). The point is that he had huge resources but lacked God in all, and it didn't profit him to have ‘gained the whole world and lost his soul’ (Mark 8:36). ‘A man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses’ (Luke 12:15).

No one will enter eternity with cars, houses, earthly clothes and all, but "naked" to stand before the throne (Ecclesiastes 5:15). Where then did the gospel that prepares people for a great life here on earth with little or no preparation for eternity originate from? It couldn't have been of God.

As I close; there is a lesson to learn from the rich man who went to hell and rich Abraham who went to Heaven. It means God isn't against our blessedness and fruitfulness in all quarters. But He expects us to focus majorly on one thing that really matters, and that is what will matter when others (money, houses, and all that have replaced Heaven) will cease to matter...that thing is called ETERNITY. Anyone (whoever he/she is) who teaches you how to succeed and fulfil destiny on earth "is doing well"...but if they never teach/prepare you for eternity (the life after destiny here), they are false!!! Don't wait for them to tell you there's no Heaven, Hell or Rapture (that will be too cheap)...they will never mention them.

Brethren, let us be wise, nothing compares to eternity! I pray that God will bless and preserve you. You shall not only end 2013 well, you shall end this life's journey well in Jesus' name. Amen.

SPIRIT’S SWORD DEVOTIONAL

Wednesday, 18th December, 2013

Focal Scripture: Matthew 6:33

>>> WHAT MATTERS MOST IN LIFE

FOLLOW HIS WAYS

The call to Christianity is call to absolute trust, complete obedience and unwavering followership of the Master, Jesus. Anyone who is not willing to trust, obey and follow the Master’s ways, that person is not likely to end well in destiny and eternity. Some may manipulate their ways through life, but there is a judge in eternity that cannot be bribed, and “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7b).

There are times when God instructs us to do things in a way that appear humanly foolish to you and others around you. Some may conclude you have gone mad and sometimes you become neglected and hated for doing it God’s way.

Today, I want to share very few insights about God’s way(s) with you:

1)    The ways of God have one sure destination – Heaven! The implication of not following His ways is disobedience, and disobedience is sin, and the end of sin is hell.

2)    God’s ways may appear tough, full of oppositions, but they are the most assured in terms of safety. When you walk in His ways you security becomes Heaven’s responsibility.

3)    God’s ways may appear long, but they are the shortest and safest distances to where you are going in life and eternity.

4)    God’s ways may not always be smooth, so the presence of ‘ups and downs’ do not imply the ways are not of God. Sometimes, when you find a way with no obstacle, be sure it is leading nowhere.

5)    Sometimes God owe you no explanation for the ways He chooses to do/perfect His will and counsel for your life. And sometimes also you may not be able to analyse why. All you have to do is to trust in His wisdom, His will, His WORD, His purpose and His faithfulness, and having done these, just obey!

Disobedience punctures Heavenly race and makes the person unable to end well. You must be willing to seek God’s ways in every area of your life, and as you do, “And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it” (Isaiah 30:21a).

We must trust and follow Him even when it does not appear to make sense now. In destiny and eternity it shall not only make sense, it shall make sounds. May God lead you today and always!

(Culled from the teaching; DIVINE DIMENSIONS OF TRUST. Courtesy of: TreasuredHouse Int’l. Ministries. To subscribe to our online Newsletter or monthly online/printable devotional, visit www.treasuredhouse.org)