OBEY THE AUTHORITIES

TEXT: 1 Timothy 2:1-2

One rampant thing in the society today is disregard for constituted authorities and this unhealthy phenomenon has gradually crept into the body of Christ. God identifies with spiritual as well as with secular authorities (1 Timothy 2:1-2; Romans 13:1), and He instructs us to obey them that have rule over us (Hebrews 13:7).  

In the secular community people break laid-down rules and engage constituted authorities in fights even when they (the former) are wrong. They are disobedient to employers and bosses and yet they say they are Christians. For example, if the government declares a “no movement” situation for reasons ranging from security to sanitation; it would be disobedience and foolishness for someone to carry his Bible and claim to be headed for the church simply because according to him ‘God comes first’. This is not wisdom neither is it spirituality but disobedience.

There are people who claim to be reading the Bible during official hours and use that as an excuse for failure to be at duty post. This is not spirituality. And if such a person is penalized, it is not persecution.

In the church, many brethren have become rebellious probably because they feel they know better than their leaders/pastors. They confront church authorities without respect and jeopardize God’s work in the name of standing for God. They disobey church rules and ignore spiritual authority. In all these, they pride themselves as “on-fire and holy” brethren, but they are not afraid to speak against God’s servants and withstand God’s work. They insist they have “spiritual” authority to rebuke the pastor or elders, whereas God says: “Rebuke not an elder” (1 Timothy 5:1).

Now, is it in every situation that a person must blindly follow rules? No. the principle is, ‘your loyalty is first to God’, and where it is not compromised, you are under obligated to obey and submit to leadership. More so, you should take any loophole you see as a prayer point instead of living in disobedience and gossip.

Jesus yielded to human authority and paid tribute/custom (Matthew 17:24-27). If you belong to Christ, you will not go for forged/altered NEPA/PHCN bills; you won’t liaise with government officials to help you cheat/defraud the government by escaping your due payment. These things have eternal consequences. It is time to get it right. God bless you.

BE THE LAST MAN STANDING

TEXT: Daniel 3:1-30

In the days before the floods, lawlessness and wickedness were highly prevalent. There was corruption and fornication everywhere and those seemed to have become the popular and acceptable patterns for living. But there was a man called Noah who stood up for God and stood out for the truth. He was the last man standing with his nuclear family (Genesis 6:5-9).

Today, the truth is fast fading out. We are in a time when people celebrate sin and falsehood and cannot tolerate the truth. Also, many people who stood for the truth are now falling away. Many first love have been replaced by new found lust (not love). We now see what was (and still is) sin in 1990 being modified and accepted as no longer sin. This way, many who held the truth have been overtaken by worldliness. They bought the truth but sold it (Proverbs 23:23).

It has become difficult to find people who can stand in the truth till the end. Since upholding the truth comes with prices to pay, many find it hard to endure and are soon easily sifted. In offices, believers are cheating, changing figures, altering dates etc just like unbelievers. There is no difference between the person preaching and the person listening.

Some people proceed to compromise because of what people would say about them. Some give in because of temporary pleasures. It is hard to find handsome men who are living holy like Joseph in the Bible. It is difficult to find beautiful ladies presently who are keeping themselves undefiled like the Biblical Esther. It is rare to find highly placed men who still retain financial and career integrity like Daniel in the Bible. Today, beauties, handsomeness, intelligence among others are seen as channels for sinfulness rather than glory to God.

Friend, whatever you do now has eternal consequences. Heaven is for those who will endure and stand to the end. The last men standing will be those who will make it. You should never compromise. You should stand for what is good and true even if you are the last man standing. You don’t have to win the argument, but it is recorded that you stood for the truth.

The three (3) Hebrew children found themselves in a place where everyone was bowing to an idol. If they refused to bow, their career, prospects and lives were at stake. But they stood for God and for good. They were last men standing. One day, these three (3) will stand to testify against this generation being swept away by compromise and corruption. Where do you stand? Where would you stand?

WHAT ARE YOU INVENTING?

TEXT: Psalm 106:29

God created us and gave us gifts, talents and abilities. And these potentials and power given us are intended by God to be used for impartation of the world positively and edification of the church. But what do we have today? Pornographic movies, home videos and magazines among others. People have diverted their talents to help the devil “fight” against God.

One day, God will call you to give account of the gifts He gave you. The impacts of your talents shall be x-rayed. How many people your talents helped and saved shall be evaluated. And on the other hand, how many people your talents misled and sent to hell shall be evaluated.

There are several inventions on-going in this generation. There are people who God gave talents to sing for example, but they are using their gifts against God through worldly songs packaged in musical videos of half-naked women and alcohol-driven men and women. They will call the outcome of their negative inventions as successes and attribute it to God, but this is lie! In such case, God gave the talent, but the devil has assumed control of the talent. You cannot be promoting lusts and immorality and claim to be helped by God. God forbid! Many of them started in God but ended in the world and have become enemies of God (James 4:4).

You must look critically inward and examine how you are handling the gifts and talents of God in your life. Are you gifted in drawing but all you are into is designing nude photos? Are you gifted with computer knowledge but all you do is providing and promoting cheats and spam software, deceiving people and aiding fraud? Are you talented in writing but all you do is write dirty jokes, destructive columns and castigating remarks about God’s servants? Every man shall give account of how he used God’s gifts. 

Joseph was a very handsome young man gifted with wisdom of interpretation of dreams. He didn’t see handsomeness as advantage onto iniquity. And also, by his gift several people lived and didn’t die (Genesis 50:20). Your gift is meant to add to people’s lives and help them find God. If this is not the case, watch out what you are inventing…anything that works against God’s plan for humanity is destined to end in hell with the person involved. That won’t be your testimony in Jesus’ name.

QUESTION:

Is God benefitting from your talent and from your inventions?

THREE AREAS WHERE YOU NEED INCREASE

TEXTS: Psalm 115:14; 1 Thess. 3:12

You are not meant to remain on the same plane in life; you are to increase daily in every dimension of your life. Today on SPIRIT SWORD we look at three (3) areas of your life that must increase.

(1) WORD INTAKE

What comes out of you is proportional to what goes inside you. Your impact in the world will be minimal if your insight into the word is minimal. Shortage of manifestation is due to scarcity of revelation.

Your word concentration must become thick and heavily concentrated. When you speak, you don’t have to spend thirty (30) minutes to make a point; every of your point must count. Your revelational threshold must be at the frequency of fire. You must literally eat the word until it sets you on fire that no situation or demon can dare.

As your word level rises, your faith level increases. As your word level rises, your grace level steams up. With faith and grace, impact is inevitable.

(2) LOVE CONCENTRATION

Your love for God must grow every passing day. You cannot afford to love God just with your lips while your life says something different. The major test for love is obedience to God’s will. If you still struggle to accept God’s will in for example marriage, location, career, etc, then your love for God is questionable.

(3) VISION CONCENTRATION

Your assignment is not just to a denomination but to a generation. You need to increase the content-capacity of your mind in order to increase the impact capacity of your life. Whatever cannot cross your mind cannot cross your life. You must increase the picture of the future you see. You can start small, but don’t remain small – Think big!

Spiritual increase is a necessity if you must fulfil divine destiny and make Heaven. Until you shift spiritually, some things won’t shift physically in your life. Every spiritual shift compels the same in the physical. May the grace for increase flow your direction in Jesus’ name. Amen.

(SPIRIT SWORD DAILY DEVOTIONAL – Monday, 5th May, 2014. YOU CAN READ SPIRIT SWORD DEVOTIONAL AT: www.drwilliamsbukola.blogspot.com OR Visit www.treasuredhouse.org)

LET LOVE LEAD

TEXT: Ephesians 5:2

When the first man (Adam) sinned, humanity was headed for damnation. The generations that were to come from Adam were going to be full of wickedness and ungratefulness to God. And it turned out so;

“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5).

Yet in this state, God’s love was expressed and reflected in Jesus coming to die for the sin of mankind. Mankind deserved no mercy, but love prevailed. It was love that made God to look beyond the ungratefulness and unfaithfulness of man and to bring a cure for sin.

When you look around, there are people who humanly speaking may be said not to deserve you kindness, attention or assistance. They may have hurt you in the past either in words or in deeds. And for you, such people are written off – undeserving of mercy or forgiveness. They may be friends, families, colleagues, etc.

Dear friend, the first and best gift you must give to those who have hurt you is forgiveness. Yes, you must forgive. And depending on the conditions, you may not necessarily accept them back (everybody cannot be close to you or be your friend), but you must forgive from your heart no matter the hurt. Jesus said;

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

And when you have forgiven, you must not withhold good from them if it is in your power to give (Proverbs 3:27). You should not take vengeance. You should not seek vengeance in disguise. You should not conspire against them, and you should not wish them hell fire simply because they hurt you. Jesus does not wish even the worst offender hell (2 Peter 3:9).

The way to live this blessed life is to let love lead you. Don’t let emotions lead you. Don’t let friends or negative counsels lead you. Don’t allow hate or anger to lead you; let love lead you (Romans 5:5b). If you find yourself struggling to let go or to forgive, just ask God (in prayers) to help you to forgive and cause love to flow. You are supposed to be a love being of a love God. Part of God’s nature in you is love. Anything that seeks to upturn that nature is not of God, and so hate, unforgiveness, malice etc. are not of God.

In this month, let love take the lead. Where love leads, wounds heal. And grace to walk in love is made available to you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

(SPIRIT SWORD DAILY DEVOTIONAL – Thursday, 1st May, 2014. YOU CAN READ SPIRIT SWORD DEVOTIONAL AT: www.drwilliamsbukola.blogspot.com OR Visit www.treasuredhouse.org)