There is no person that is like you or capable of becoming exactly like you. You have a unique individuality and destiny. Interestingly, you live in a world where most people seem to appreciate themselves so much that they want you to be like them. Some other believers have people they esteem deeply and they wish they could just do things exactly like they do. But God doesn’t want you to become a better version of someone else. He desires you be the best version of yourself.
Your individuality should be preserved and your destiny realized. This demands that you consciously give expression to the unique combination of abilities within you and also avoid comparison with others around you. It’s a deceit to think that your personality, prosperity, spirituality, ministry, education, profession, promotion, relationship, leadership etc. should assume the shape of others termed as ‘successful’. You should be a new illustration of success in our generation.
In I Corinthians 7:7 (NIV), Paul exclaims “I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his gift from God”. He further stated in II Corinthians 10:13 (NLT) “…Our goal is to stay within the boundaries of God’s plan for us”. This should also be your focus. Stay in your track in the race of life. We don’t improve the performance of a cat by training it to bark. We don’t increase a lorry’s speed capacity by attaching the wheels of a racing car to it. The birds and the snails did not enter Noah’s Ark the same way, at the same time.
Avoid imitation and comparison. Although you can acquire useful knowledge and skill from others, you should not try to reproduce a copy of them. Face your own way, at your own pace, to the place God has prepared for you.
– Tope Aladenusi
| Sometime ago, I read what David said in Psalm 23:1 (NIV) – “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want“. While growing up, I had recited this verse several times, but did not appreciate the magnitude until I attempted to read it in opposite terms: The Lord is NOT my shepherd, I shall BE IN WANT! Hmmm! Cold shivers ran through my spine as I began to ponder on this.
Could it be that some lack and need in my life are as a result of me not following the direction of the shepherd and bishop of my soul?
Then I remembered Elijah’s story in I Kings 17:3-16; during the time of drought, God led him to the brook Cherith, and there he fed him with bread and meat delivered by ravens and he drank water from the brook. But after some time, the brook dried up and there was no water, and God led him to a widow of Zeraphath, who took care of his needs. If Elijah had spent hours commanding water to come out of the dried brook rather than following the ‘new’ direction of supply (just as most believers would do today), would he have been in want?
Reading the story of the Israelites journey to the promise land with the benefit of hindsight, is it worth asking why God did not continue to feed them with manna when they got to the promise land? What about Jesus, why didn’t he pay the tax collector the same way he fed 5000 people?
Why do many believers in the 21st century seem to stick to one channel of supply their entire lives; not expecting God to meet their need using other channels? Are we enjoying the excitement of change in walking with God or we are comfortable with the path of least resistance? Could we be missing something in this generation? Could God be leading us to several areas and into different things that will naturally quench our needs? Do we say “My God shall supply my needs” when we truly mean “my job shall supply my needs”?
Why do we lack if God leads?
I think this is worth thinking about.
– Tope Aladenusi |
On my twelfth birthday I got a video game as gift from my father. This was a very precious and non rivaled gift. The make was a Micro Genius and it was a direct competitor to brands like Nintendo, Sega and Atari. All I needed to play games configured for other video game brands was a converter. This gift made me and my house very popular on my end of the street. I remember vividly how many children known and unknown trooped to my house because they wanted to play a video game. As the commander in chief of the “game zone” I determined the people whom I would give access. As a child I thought this gift would last forever so I guarded it jealously.
As years pass many more different versions of video games have been produced. Many more will still be produced, because technology improves every day. My obsolete Micro Genius is at best a relic of the past’s glory. Some of the children I flaunted my “priced asset” for are now adults with children. They are now wealthy enough to buy dozens of better configured games for themselves and their children. This birthday gift was so limited in nature like any other gift subject to man’s ever changing whims. There was never a need for me to guard it jealously.
As I thought of the limited nature of this human gift by my father on my twelfth birthday, I saluted the gift of Eternal Life given to Christians by God on our birthday into His magnificent kingdom of Life with awe (John 1:12, James 1:17-18).
Our birthday gift is unrivaled, precious, incorruptible and unlimited in nature (1Pet.1:23-25). This gift transcends the physical and eternally upholds us in the embrace of the divine (1Pet.1:3-5). The manufacturer of this gift is not man so the gift isn’t subject to any changes (Eccl.3:14, Rom.11:29). God is unchangeable in nature and is the same from everlasting to everlasting (Heb.13:8). The access and illuminating prominence this gift gives to Christians can’t in anyway be compared to the transient and dwarfed prominence associated with humanly crafted gifts.
Humans keep on coming up with new innovations to celebrate their limitations, but we have a God who doesn’t need to come up with new innovations – God is unlimited, unfathomable and incomprehensible (1Tim.1:17). This very nature is deposited in the life of the Christian because we are God’s temple (1 Cor.6:17).
Every Christian has the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost (2 Cor.9:15). We have the very life and essence of God. I admonish that we all live with this mentality.
– Emeka I. Ofia
Over the weekend, a very trusted friend and I went out to watch soccer at a restaurant. Shortly before the end of the game he took permission to dash and pick up an item at his house, which was nearby – then his team was already bashing my team. At the end of the game I waited a little for him to return as promised, though it seemed to be very long hours. At this juncture I made repeated calls to him to find out exactly where he was. I was a little edgy, because I felt it was becoming a little late. The loss of my team that evening had taken away the excitement of the day.
As I was making those repeated calls it dawned on me that he was a tested and trusted friend and there was no need at all to be restless. Something beyond his control certainly delayed him. He never had the intention of keeping me waiting. Over the years he’s shown integrity.
As Christians we sometimes fall into a dilemma with God like I was with my friend over the weekend. We face challenges and temporary setbacks and we sometimes feel that God is just late on arrival. Sometimes we allow our immediate environment and conditions to dictate our perceptions to life.
The bible says “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Truly He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom.8:31-32). God proved his integrity to the world by giving His life and a goodly heritage in Christ (Rom.5:8-12). God is the trusted friend (John 15:13). He remains the same from eternity to eternity (Rev.1:8). He’s a shield to them that trust in Him (Prov.30:5). Learn to always trust him, no matter the circumstance you find yourself.
Emeka I. Ofia
Jesus said in verse twenty four of the twelfth chapter of John: Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers. God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. … (Acts 13: 32,33a)
And for this reason He is the mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:15)
Taken together, the three verses of scripture above tell a simple story: God made us just like Jesus! This is indeed the promise which God made to Abraham [our Father in the faith“Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” (Romans 4:16)]. The promise was important enough to God that He swore by Himself to bring it to pass (Hebrews 6: 17,18). And He did this in Christ Jesus; Hallelujah! You might observe that these verses do not say promises; but uses the singular term to describe the promise which God fulfilled in the person of Jesus. “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” (2 Corinthians 1:20). All that God had in mind for humanity, he packaged into the incarnation of deity who dwelled among us and modeled the beautiful life God wants for his creation. Jesus had to die however to reproduce other ‘Christs’ like Himself; hence the analogy of seeds sown which ends up producing bigger harvests than what was planted. By the death and resurrection of Jesus, he reproduced the new creation—people who will carry the anointing of God and do the things that only God can do. This is the fulfillment of God’s promise; we were born at a good time, friends.
Does Acts 13:32,33 refer to Christians today with the statements “promise … unto the fathers” and “fulfilled … unto us their children”? It absolutely does! Why don’t you take God at His word for a change? By virtue of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we who once were ordinary citizens of the earth now partake of the eternal nature of God carrying in our mortal bodies the very life of God. Walk in this reality. Thus, you will live a purposeful life and enjoy fulfillment in your ways because the promise of God is fulfilled for us.
– Ifelayo Ojo
I just spent the last two hours attempting to fulfill various promises I made to some friends and two strangers I recently met. One of the promises was to send pictures to a Sudanese friend of mine taken at a conference over a year ago. Although, I recently renewed the pledge when I ran into him on a trip to Juba in March; I will just send him those pictures when I get to work later this morning as his business card is at the office. But at the moment, the e-mail is composed with pictures attached, saved as drafts and ready to go when I add his e-mail address. The second picture related promise was for a German lady—one of the strangers, whom I met back in July. We were on the same bus to New York and she had left her camera behind at home but wanted pictures of the city. So, I graciously used mine; but the pictures simply sat on my computer till this morning before I finally sent them to her. She has however seen and replied my e-mail already and was so full of gratitude despite the lateness.
Before we get too far along talking about people, scenes and my photography hobby; let’s get back to the subject of this week’s devotional—promise fulfilled. I would like to call your attention to one very important fact which distinguishes Christianity from every other religion and could literally change your faith-walk if you grasp the details. God has fulfilledHis promise to humanity!
And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again;… (Acts 13: 32,33a)
You might observe that these verses do not say promises; but uses the singular term to describe the promise which God fulfilled in the person of Jesus. Take note also that the past tense is used in describing the promise in the verses above—the good news is in the fact that God has DONE what He promised to do. Unlike us humans who make promises and get inundated by circumstances in our quest to perform; the all-powerful God made good on His promise once and for all time. Before the ages of the world began, God had the answer to humanity’s deepest problem; He knew what we really needed, planned ahead of time and drew his project timeline up to the point of completion.
God gave us Jesus and in Him we are complete, lacking nothing!
-Ifelayo Ojo
| Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Matthew 11: 28, 29
One thing that bothers many Christians is the inability to decipher what it takes to please God. Like the Pharisees at the time of Jesus, the abundant life has become a “struggle to please” situation for many. They have forgotten the call of Jesus in chapter 11 of Matthew to come to Him with all burdens and He will give rest to our souls. We say we have come to Him by faith, but neglect the request which He makes in the same sitting “Take My yoke upon you” and “learn from Me”. There are many tired Christians today because many are struggling to please God using various styles and techniques. Jesus gives rest to all who come to Him (Hebrews 4: 9,10). The call to rest is a call to cease from our own works and attempts at making God happy, to a life lived in synchrony with Him. I recently heard a preacher describe the yoke Jesus was referring to in Matthew 11 as a double looped instrument which is used to connect two oxen together. In this way, they can work together to till their master’s field and bear fruit. Jesus requests that we come to Him with our burdens and find rest for our souls; but He’s offering us something in replacement for our burdens—His yoke. Jesus asks that we take His yoke upon ourselves because He wants to come alongside us and work with us; He wants to be your partner and the one you look to for counsel. We learn from Him that we already please God because of the price that He paid on the cross. We also learn from Jesus that He has given us the Holy Spirit to come alongside as our helper. The double loop yoke reminded me of the statement of Jesus about the person of the Holy Spirit. “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever” John 14:16. Jesus does not leave us by ourselves to express the godly nature. He gives us the Holy Spirit to come alongside us and help us fulfill His own good purpose for our lives. The Spirit teaches us all things and leads us on in the way of real life. Pleasing God becomes all we do then because we are acting out all He leads us to do. Praise God, we have the Holy Spirit who empowers us to do all that God will have us do. Learn true rest by accepting that you please God and He works in you to fulfill His good pleasure. Ifelayo Ojo |
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6
No one enters into a relationship with God without expressing faith in Him, but many times (like the Galatian Christians,) people ‘forget’ about faith and start struggling to ‘please’ God. This should not be; but the reason we find many Christians in this situation is because we have not taken time to grow in our relationship with the Father of spirits. Like Martha, we get encumbered by activities that we expect ‘will make Jesus happy’, but don’t take time to sit at His feet, listen to Him and get to know Him. I believe Jesus hailed Mary’s decision to bask in His presence as the only thing which is needed, because He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. (See Luke 10: 38-42)
Some friends of mine were going away for a weekend and needed someone to keep their children with. They ended up choosing the husband’s Mom for this important task—she lived close by, was happy to have the kids and they trusted her. There were other people who fulfilled the first two criteria, they had many neighbors who will be happy to have the kids; but had not built enough of a trust relationship to entrust their precious children to them.
The point of today’s devotional is that you cannot trust God if you don’t know Him and you do not get to know Him automatically because you are a Christian. Not everyone trusts their mothers with their kids, it is the people who are known and respected that get to handle such tasks. You need to cultivate a relationship with God, the same way you invest time in your physical relationships. True, God is spirit; so some people say it is more difficult to relate with Him. Yet, He has presented multiple avenues to enable us get to know Him:
He seeks to hear our voice in prayer [Pray continually (1Thessalonians 5:17)];
He wants to talk to us through the scriptures [Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation (1Peter 2:2)];
He wants to reveal things beyond human knowledge to our spirits [“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”–but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.(1 Corinthians 2: 9,10)]
Apostle Paul said this to the Galatians when they got lost in the motions: “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” It is time we stopped playing religion and concentrated on building ourselves up in the relationship we have with God. Then we can truly rely on our all-powerful God to help us live a fulfilled life, accomplishing His purpose. We find His grace sufficient for every situation; because we know Him, we can trust Him to fulfill His promises in our lives.
– Dr. Ifelayo Peter Ojo
Jesus while teaching his disciples on how to pray told them to start with the following statements; “And He said to them, When you pray, say: Our Father, who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your name Your kingdom come, Your will be done, as in Heaven, so also on the earth.” (Luke 11:2)
Jesus clearly defines the father as heavenly, which logically means that the children and consequently the divine siblings of Jesus are also heavenly. They come from a kingdom which is superior to any earthly kingdom. In other words, they are governed and constrained by a superior constitution. He gives credence to God’s kingdom – God’s ability, ingenuity, creativity, wisdom, authority, governance, love, immortality, superiority and omnipotence. Jesus also taught that we should desire God’s will to be done on earth as God desires from heaven.
The strength of every kingdom is known by the territory it controls and influences. That’s why the most influential countries in the world like the USA, Japan, France, etc. are also the most powerful. These countries have tested political cum government institutions, good educational systems and in-depth technological development. They’re always putting in place measures to improve their present state. These countries have put in place structures that always make them relevant in current world affairs. For instance, most of their nationals or scholars produced from their educational system are at the helm of affairs of the biggest organizations and conglomerates in the world. Today most of the cultural, economic, technological, educational and political systems in the world are designed after the systems that have been designed and deployed in these nations. These great nations have colonized and are still directly or indirectly colonizing many nations the world over.
Christians have the ability to control and influence even more territories than the earthly kingdoms above do. We are of the supernatural Kingdom; we have the creative ability and divine dispensation of God, which is far greater than what best human kingdom can offer. The most startling revelation I’ve ever gotten as a Christian is the fact that I’m not just from the breed with a heavenly lineage (Phil.3:20), but I’m also a holy nation (1 Pet.2:9) – the kingdom of the Father of Lights. Every Christian has been gifted with this status. We’ve been fully equipped with the ability of God (Col.2:10). God the author of heaven and earth, who lives in eternity with His awesome glory inhabits in us (1Cor.6:19-20). God has made us to display his unlimited glory, ability and wisdom to spirits and to humans (Eph.3:9-11).
I’d admonish every Christian today to live in line with the perception of our Kingdom by understanding our power and ability. Our prerogative is to subject ourselves to the dictates of heaven so we’ll always do what God dictates to us. If we live this way we’d naturally replicate our lives and kingdom values in our spheres of contact and beyond.
Emeka I. Ofia
| If you wake up in the morning and hear your dog barking or your rooster crowing, you don’t get excited and impressed. You don’t run to your neighbour and say – ‘Oh neighbour! Can you imagine this, my dog was barking this morning’. You know that would sound so strange. This is because your dog was wired to bark naturally and anything short of that is abnormal.
Likewise, when we live holy, healthy and victorious lives, God is not excited because he doesn’t expect anything less from us. The Christian life is a life of an all-round victory and success. Every step we take should exude the grace of God. Our actions should tell stories of the excellences of God. Anything short of this is not the Christian life.
Some of us used to behave very badly before we became born again. At those times, we had this constant feeling that God was fuming because of our terrible attitudes. So as soon as we entered into God’s kingdom and we were told that angels were rejoicing in heaven because we are saved, we got fired up. However, we are not really living the Christian life any longer; we are up today and down tomorrow. We slip into the excellent attributes of God and slip out the next minute. And surprisingly, whenever we manifest God’s nature, we think God is jubilating again.
How can He jubilate because you don’t care about the perishing souls around you in general, but today you decided to preach to someone? How can healing the sick and living in good health fire Him up? How can helping the needy make him bask in excitement? How can living a holy life one day in one month make angels to celebrate? How can donating to God’s work last year cause a roar in heaven? Are these not the things we have been wired to do naturally … and constantly? Are they not expressions of the purpose we are to fulfill on earth?
The Bible says in 1 Peter 2:9 – “But ye are a elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellences of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light”. This is one major purpose why you are here on earth. God is pleased with the believer because of Christ’s work on the cross and we now have to make it our sole purpose to be pleasing to him. You are here to display your identity in Christ. You are here to live the Christian life that will naturally attract others to Christ. Don’t slip in and out of it and think God is excited for the moments when you get it right; you don’t expect your dog to slip in and out of ‘barking’. Also, don’t get too agitated saying “I do not know my purpose”. Obey the known purposes of God for your life and the things specific to you will be unraveled as time goes on.
– tope aladenusi
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