Tag: Temptation

Categories
MOTIVATION

SOMETIMES, WE ARE TEMPTED TO DOUBT

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And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost (John 1:33).

When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another ? (Luke 7:20).

Sometimes, we are tempted to doubt the word of God or what God has said concerning our lives because of the challenges we may be going through. John the Baptist also experienced a similar situation evidenced by the scriptures above. John the Baptist had a vivid confirmation about Jesus as the messiah (John 1:33) but later had to send messengers to ask Jesus  if He is the messiah. Challenges may come our way as we walk with God but we have to keep our focus on what He has promised us and believe that no matter what may come our way, we will always win.  God’s promises are yes and amen. Sometimes, we miss our blessings ‘by inches’ because we doubted just after exercising our faith for so long a time.

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Categories
BIBLE AND WEALTH

WEALTH DOES NOT CHANGE CHARACTER BUT MAGNIFIES IT!

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A story is told of a child of God who was jobless for several years after completion of university. During the time of joblessness, he never missed church services on any day! His consistent presence in church services became so conspicuous that at some point, he was called an assistant pastor by some people in the church.

With time, this brother got married to a lady in the church but was still jobless. His wife had a job and being very submissive and supportive to her husband, she was helping the family with her income and also assisted her husband to engage in some petty trading.  Fortunately for this brother, he got a job with a petroleum company. This job changed his life overnight because he was earning fat salary and other benefits.

Soon, a once committed church member started giving many excuses for not turning up for church services. He missed church services several times and finally stopped attending church. He divorced his wife on the premise that the lady was not his heart desire but had to marry her for convenience. This brother remarried a colleague petroleum expert stationed in another location. A once devoted Christian became a womanizer who had new friends and regularly went to parties. Unfortunately, this brother had a fatal accident when he was returning from a party which closed at dawn. Since he was the one driving, he died together with a friend who was also sitting in front.

The above story is a typical example of what wealth can do to a child of God if not handled well. Fire is used for cooking sumptuous dishes but this same fire can be very destructive. The  temptation to say good bye to God when He has blessed us with wealth will always appear in our thought. How we handle that temptation determines whether we will continue to be in the faith or not. It will also determine the future blessings that will come our way. If God is able to trust you with little, He can also trust you with much. Wealth should not draw us away from God but rather it should strengthen our relationship with Him. I have come across several wealthy Christians who have invested part of their wealth in the propagation of the gospel of Christ and have been consistent in their walk with God.    

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic/freeDigitalPhotos.net – See more at: https://wealthforumonline.com/bible-and-wealth/the-prayer-of-faith/#sthash.rV5FbYnx.dpuf

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Image courtesy of imagerymajestic/freeDigitalPhotos.net – See more at: https://wealthforumonline.com/bible-and-wealth/the-prayer-of-faith/#sthash.rV5FbYnx.dpuf

Categories
BIBLE AND WEALTH

HE HAS MADE US KINGS!

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Traveling with an entourage is a conspicuous characteristic of kings and queens in the world. In the entourage, the king or queen has several services at his/her disposal. Mention can be made of security, telecommunication services, food, aids etc.  Whatever the king says is what will be and this is so important. 

Interestingly, Revelation 1:6, an awesome scripture in the bible, refers to the born again person as a king (or queen).  “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen”. As a king or a queen, the born again person does not move alone because God has given us angels to move with us as stated in Luke 4:10 “For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash they foot against a stone”.  Sometimes, because of the challenges we are going through in life, we are forced to think that God has neglected us or that we are alone in whatever situation we find ourselves. The child of God has the Holy Spirit always indwelling in him or her and in addition we have a company of angels around us.

Secondly, these angels are not idle around us- they minister to us as stated in the above scripture and in Hebrew 1: 14 “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” These angels do much more than we can imagine in our minds. Whatever we do, these angels aid us. If you are a writer, the angels can help you get access to the right writing materials and develop something beautiful out of them. An angel provided food to Elijah under the Juniper tree (1 Kings 19:5). Angels ministered to Jesus after the temptation of the devil. 

Kings reign in a domain called kingdom. The child of God has not been called to reign over men but to reign over nature and the powers of darkness. The child of God serves in his/her domain. The secret of reigning is receiving all that Jesus Christ has accomplished on the cross and after His resurrection. In the old testament, the child of God takes by ‘stepping into’ but in the new testament, the child of God ‘speaks to possess’. Ecclesiastes 8:4 states that “where the word of a king is, there is power…” The words of the child of God are full of power and therefore it matters very much what you confess every now and then. If your confessions are always full of degrading words, you will reap them and if your confessions are full of uplifting words, you will likewise reap them.

For a king to be successful in reigning, discipline is very necessary. The child of God has to discipline the body and bring it under subjection to the Holy Spirit. Your spirit and mind should always yearn for the word of God and excellence. We must always aim at bring development to our kingdom, that is, we must serve people in our environment and bring about improvement. Today must be better than yesterday and tomorrow must be better than today.

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