Sometimes people don’t know that their reasoning is affected and corrupted because of a wrong attitude. If you have the right attitude of humility, God will teach you wisdom, but for the one who is proud and haughty, He’ll resist you. The Bible says God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5). The humble will always receive wonderful, beautiful, and creative thoughts from God, and his life will go from one level of glory to another, but the proud will be abased; that’s what the Bible says. Pride goes before a fall (Prov 16:18). The man that’s full of pride can be destroyed within a split second. David said, “I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found” (Psalm 37:35-36). But concerning the righteous he says “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace (Psalm 37:37). Peace there means “shalom” in Hebrew, which refers to prosperity, divine health, favour, joyfulness, absolute wellbeing, etc. That’s the life of the man whose heart is perfect before the Lord, who serves God with humility of heart. God detests pride. Therefore, you must train yourself to be a humble man or woman. Some people say it’s difficult for rich and successful people to be humble; that’s not true. Truly rich and successful people are usually the expression of humility; they’re often very humble. That’s the reason God exalted them to high levels of success in the first place. That they’ve been successful is proof that they must have been humble, since God resists the proud and gives more grace to the humble. Of course this doesn’t refer to people who may have used the wrong means to project themselves in any way; that’s false success and it will surely fade away. The Bible says “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6). Learn to be humble for humility is the pathway to greatness. If you want the Lord to keep promoting and exalting you in life, then train yourself to be humble.
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Every Christian has the grace to excel in everything. God is able to direct all the grace you require for anything in this life towards you, such that you’re never behind in competence or ability. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 9:8 that ’’And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work…’’. You’re qualified for any task; that’s what it means to have “all sufficiency in all things”; it means you have all the competencies and special skills required for excellence in every good work. The word translated “sufficiency,” in this context, is the Greek “autarkeia,” which means competence. This indicates a state of self-sufficiency whereby you require no aid or support. God has given you a life that makes you so competent that you don’t require any help! This can work vitally in your life. You can be sufficient in all things; competent in all things. You can be competent in your job, family, academics and daily pursuits. There’s another word translated sufficiency in 2 Corinthians 3:5, this time, the Greek word used is “hikanotes,” and it means ability: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God….” This means that the ability of God has been made available to you. No wonder Paul the Apostle crescendos in Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” You have been specially enabled to live supernaturally to the glory of God, because it says your sufficiency, your ability, your ‘hikanotes’ is of God. Refuse to function with your human ability; rather, function with divine might because you can do all things through Christ! Make this your confession every day. Never say, “I can’t.” Change your vocabulary. Even now, begin to say, “I can walk,” “I can do the job.” “I can perfect it.” “I can do anything.” “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:7). The Lord has ordained for your life to be full of His glory through Christ Jesus. There’s no limit to how glorious and blissful your life should be. There’s no end to your prosperity, victory, success and advancement! Christ in you takes away the limits. The glory of God came into your life the day you were born again. Therefore, your life ought to move from one realm of glory to another and from faith to faith. Tomorrow should be better than today, next year should be greater than this year; that’s the life of the Christian! You can have the glory of God manifested in your life, your job, your finances, your family, everyday in an ever-increasing measure. The path of the righteous is as a shining light that shines brighter and brighter unto the perfect day (Proverbs 4:18). That’s the description of your life. However, if your life is different from that, something is amiss. It means you’re not looking at the glory of God which is the Word of God: But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18). God has brought you into a life of rest, peace and fulfilment and He expects you to operate from that position of rest. That’s the gospel of Jesus Christ in a nutshell! When you take the Word of God more seriously, you’ll never see the shadows; you’ll see only the ever-increasing glory of God in your life. There is no limits for you. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted (Luke 4:18). They’re hurting people all over the world who need love and care. We meet them everyday in our different spheres of contact: bus stops, shopping malls, classrooms, workplaces, on the streets etc. These are victims of a harsh and cruel society; full of shattered dreams and unfulfilled hopes. Many of them hide behind the shadows of cosmetic smiles, while others clearly betray the weight of their burdens. What they need to experience is the love of God; they need to be enveloped in that love that reaches beyond their faults, pains and mistakes. Make a difference today in the lives of those hurting around you by showing them the Father’s love. Never be insensitive to the plights of others. Don’t be judgmental towards people, even when it’s obvious they’ve made blunders. Many of them are already broken inside and don’t need anyone to remind them of their wrongs! Love heals. Thus when you meet hurting people, show them unconditional love; make up your mind they’ll leave happy, strengthened and encouraged. Love them with the love they can’t deny. What they need is a kind word from you; a word that’ll bring hope and encouragement; a word that’ll heal their broken hearts. For others, what they need might be just a kind smile, a gentle, compassionate touch that will communicate God’s love and acceptance. God brought them your way so you can show them a new future that is lighted with hope. Remember that the love of God can heal the most broken of hearts! God’s love is the greatest power in the universe and it can rescue anyone from the deepest depths of depression, sorrow and pain. Therefore, speak words that will heal, build and encourage! God is counting on you to bring hope to someone in your world today. “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing…” (Isaiah 28:11-12) The word “refreshing” implies a restoration of breath; to impart vitality, energy and strength. In the opening verse, the Prophet Isaiah shows the relationship between speaking in tongues, and times of refreshing in the Holy Ghost. He explains that tongues of the Spirit not only bring you rest, but also refreshes you. The Apostle Paul said to the church, “A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally…” (1 Corinthians 14:4 NLT). This is why it so important that you pray more in tongues (praying in the Holy Ghost) by spending quality time in the place of prayer. Pray in tongues not just when you feel like or only when things are going wrong, but as a lifestyle. With this, your spirit is always edified, and your body vitalized. Your spirit will be up and alive, stirred all the time. Speaking in tongues is God’s way of getting your body to rest: “wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing” (Isaiah 28:12). If you do these things, you will extend your health, and be sensitive in your spirit all the time. The ability to imagine is a gift from God to man. Animals are limited in ability because they cannot imagine. Your life today is a reflection of your predominant imagination i.e. your effective imagination. Effective imagination refers to the sum total of your imagination; what it seeks to achieve and the direction it takes. If the sum total of your imagination is negative, your life will go in a negative direction and if it’s positive, your life will go in a positive direction. Learn to center your mind on CHOICE IMAGINATION. Choice imagination means what you decide you want your mind to dwell on. What your mind conceives, you can create. Prayer is important because God uses it as an opportunity to direct your attention and guide your imagination towards a particular purpose. During prayer, our spirits are open to see those things that are naturally difficult to believe. Some Christians ask, “what if I don’t see anything when I pray?”. CREATE SOMETHING! You have the ability to conceptualize. That’s why He gave to you the power to imagine. Many of us have thought that until we see a vision from God, we may not be able to carry out the things we desire. The truth is God doesn’t need to show you a vision because He already gave you the power to create a vision- YOUR IMAGINATION! As a Christian, you can create the kind of life you want. People may see you poor and wretched, it doesn’t matter, you can make something great for yourself. Choose what you want to see; imagine living in prosperity and consistently speak it forth! Elijah was thought to be a threat; Jeremiah’s warnings were often rebuffed; John the Baptist was labeled ‘a maniac’; and the Lord Jesus was hated and reviled by the same people He came to help. If you want the validation of man before you do anything for God, you are simply wasting your time. The Bible has no account of anyone who pleased God and yet obtained the praise of men. Sadly, you find some Christians desirous to please God and yet trying so hard to win the approval of men. When Saul, the King of Israel, tried it (1 Samuel 15:24), he lost the confidence God reposed in him as king and was stripped of the kingship. It is not possible to please God and at the same time crave the approval of men because there are many things you would do that they wouldn’t understand; there are things you would say that would sound ridiculous to them. The reason is simple: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). The Bible says many people believed in Jesus when they saw the miracles but Jesus wasn’t carried away by their outward display of appreciation because He knew their hearts. In Matthew 15:8, He said, “These people {draw near Me with their mouths and} honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off {and} are far away from Me” (AMP). What matters most is what God has said about you and not what man says. When He says yes that's all you need. Technological miracles have taken place in the last few years. What were technological fantasies yesterday have become the realities of today. Science fiction is now taken more seriously as it could become real in no time. Man’s creative abilities are being utilized now more than ever. It’s amazing to know that the Wright brothers made the first flight less than one hundred years ago. Consider the way airplanes fill our skies, landing and taking off every second. All these advancements were made in technology through scientific discoveries. Morris Cerrullo, a great man of God, once said, “All truth is parallel” and how true this is. As we have made technological breakthroughs, there are also spiritual breakthroughs. This is the reason God anointed us to teach His Word and to lead His people into the truth. As a Christian, when you study and preach the Word of God, many will make spiritual discoveries, and signs and wonders that the world has never seen or heard of before will take place. As we make this spiritual advancements, many of God’s children will live and walk in the miraculous that the whole world would marvel. However, we must get into the word first, because that’s the only place to make spiritual discoveries. Don’t be satisfied with where you are spiritually, there are more things to discover in the word of God and more mysteries the Spirit of God wants to unveil to you. You can’t stay with donkeys and horses while there are faster means of transportation. The same thing spiritually; if you don’t move with the new discoveries in the word of God you can’t be an effective minister of the word of God. Make up your mind today and listen to the word of God more than you’ve ever done before. This is the only way to make spiritual advancement and be effective in winning the world for Jesus Christ. Status quo means the condition or state of affairs that currently exists; the present condition of things. It’s impossible to have a movement when you accept the status quo. When you are running a movement, you don’t accept business as usual; you’d be dissatisfied with everything that is mundane and mediocre. Sometimes, your rejection of the status quo can be weak. You may not like the status quo but you passively accept it because your rejection is weak. That was the lifestyle of Lot. The bible says Lot was vexed by the unrighteous and ungodly deeds of those around him but he didn’t stop them. He presented a weak front; he wouldn’t act like them but he did nothing to stop them (2 Peter 2:6-10). Maybe at work you are known to be a good fellow; an easy going Christian brother or Sister, some of you are even called pastor at work but you don’t stoutly reject what is wrong around you. That’s the Lot attitude. Lot was dissatisfied but did nothing to change the status quo in Sodom and Gomorrah. Don’t live your life this way. Cultivate dissatisfaction for anything that does not align itself with the Word of God Never forget that you are a soldier of Christ and we are at war. Some people fold their arms, complaining about the government but they forget to realize that someone of their age and qualification is heading it. Reject the status quo of your environment; be an agent of change. Be a man or woman of influence. The more you give yourself to the Word of God, you’ll find yourself changing the world and not settling for the way it presently is. “And Moses and Aaron came in unto pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me? Let my people go, that they may serve me. Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast:” (Exodus 10:3-4). Pharaoh was not pleased when Moses came to him and gave him God’s command to “let His people (Israel) go!” That was a strong instruction and it took great courage from Moses to stand before the most powerful king in the world at the time to say that. Pharaoh fumed and said “how dare you talk to me like that?” Moses answered him, “the Lord sent me and if you don’t hearken, you will regret it.” Get to the point where you stand before your oppressor and command him to let go! Whatever it is that may have challenged you or someone you know for so long can be reversed when you take charge of the situation. Don’t give the devil a chance. Take hold of God’s Word and command that situation to bow to the Word in the Name of Jesus. Let’s imagine that a goat entered your living room and started messing up the place; I’m certain your next reaction wouldn’t be to tell it nicely to leave. No; you’ll shout at it, get a big stick and beat it, till it leaves and never returns. You have to do this, because a goat is stubborn. The devil should be treated likewise. However, you may say get out, and he goes out but he’s looking for a way to come back, and will try severally till you hit him with a rod over the head; and then he stays away. That rod is the Word of God that puts you in command. Use the Word of God to run the devil out and take charge in every area of your life! |