Elder at Prayer Ministry.

 All men will hate you because of Me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Mark 13:13). The Bible says: Those whose desire is to live a godly life will be  persecuted. They will be hated by many for standing for the truth of the Gospel. They will experience injustice & unfair treatment. People will gossip about them & make plans to frustrate them. Pressure is exerted on them for doing nothing wrong. People talk ABOUT them & not TO them. I have tried to think of situations in which those who are true to God are going through. To believe in Christ & stand firm to the end will take perseverance  because our faith will be challenged  & opposed. But the good part of it is that this suffering or opposition will produce CHARACTER in us. They will produce perseverance & hope as well. Hope does not disappoint & will keep your faith alive. Your faith will increase. You will continue to do the right thing amid opposition. Severe trials w...

 In the same way the chief priests & the teachers of the law mocked Him among themselves: He saved others, they said, but He can't save Himself. (Mark 15:31). Jesus could have saved Himself, but He endured this suffering & pain because of His love for us. He could have chosen not to take the pain & humiliation; He could have killed those who mocked Him - but He suffered through it all because He loved even His enemies & the unlovable.  We had a significant part in the drama that afternoon because our sins were on the cross too; our sicknesses & diseases were on the cross too; our poverty was on the cross too. Jesus died on the cross for us, & the penalty for our sins was paid by His death. The only adequate response we can make is to confess our sin & freely accept the fact that Jesus paid for it so we wouldn't have to. Don't insult God with indifference toward the greatest act of genuine love in history. By way of testimony, most of my life as a...

 Then the disciples went out & preached everywhere, & the Lord worked with them & confirmed His Word by the signs that accompanied it. (Mark 16:20). Our primary assignment is to win souls for the Kingdom of God. We are not to preach to the saints only when they come to the church for Sunday services. No, God did not plan it that way. He said: Go into all the world & preach the Good News to all creation. Whoever believes & is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15-16). Yes, we preach the Word in our churches every Sunday, but let us not end there. Mid week let us do door to door witnessing & win over people to the Lord. Once a month we may do a healing, deliverance  & miracles crusades & win more people to the world. This should not be left to ministers or evangelists only, as what the church worldwide is largely doing. It's a command given to all of us, children of God. God has given us this assurance...

 But the angel said to him: Do not be afraid Zechariah: your prayer has been heard. Your wife will bear you a son, & you are to give him the name John. Zechariah asked the angel: How can I be sure of this? I am an old man & my wife is well along in years.(Luke 1:13, 18). When told he would have a son, Zechariah doubted the angel's word. From Zechariah's human perspective, his doubts were understandable - but with God, anything is possible. Although Zechariah & Elizabeth were past the age of childbearing, God gave them a child. It is easy to doubt or misunderstand what God wants to do in our lives. Even God's people sometimes make the mistake of trusting their intellect rather than God. Always realize that we live by faith & NOT by sight, feelings, senses or logic. What God has promised, that He will fulfil without fail. What He says, He will do it. He is able to do what He said He would do. Age is just a number before God. He is not limited by your age. Abra...

 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous & devout. He was was waiting for the consolation of Israel & the Holy Spirit was upon him. It has been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents  brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Lord required, Simeon took him in his arms & praised God, saying: Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles & for glory to your people Israel. (Luke 2:25-32). God had given Simeon a revelation that he would not die before he had seen Christ. So he waited patiently & expectantly for that moment or season. The Lord fulfilled what He had promised him. God is able to do what He said in His Word that He would...

 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: A voice of one calling in the desert: Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him. Every valley shall be filled in, & every mountain & hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, & rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God's salvation(Luke 3:4-6). John told his listeners to make their lives ready so the Lord could come to them. As today's church, we are also in the John the Baptist ministry, the ministry of reconciliation, & the ministry of the Holy Spirit & angels. Our task is to two fold: to prepare ourselves for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Secondly, to witness Jesus Christ to the remotest parts of the earth & draw all men unto Christ. We are tasked to reconcile people back to their Maker, being helped by the Holy Spirit supported by the angels. Angels guard us & minister to our needs. God has angels, satan has angels, I am referring to angels o...

 At daybreak Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for Him & when they came where He was, they tried to keep Him from leaving them. But He said: I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent. (Luke 4:43). The Kingdom of God was good news. It was good news to the Jews because they had been awaiting  the coming of the promised Mesiah since the Babylonian captivity. It is good news for us also because it means freedom from slavery to sin, & selfishness. When the Kingdom of God enters into your heart, you will be free from all these bondages. You will be given authority to tread upon scorpion & serpents & over all power of the enemy. You will speak not in the ordinary manner but with authority. With this authority & power, you give orders to evil spirits & they come out. God will heal people from sickness & disease through you. He will perform extraordinary miracles daily ...

 Yet the news about Him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear Him & to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places & prayed. (Luke 5:15-16). People were flocking to hear Jesus preach & to have their diseases healed, but Jesus made sure He often withdrew to quiet, solitary places to pray. Many things clamor for our attention, & we often run ourselves ragged attending to them. Like Jesus, however, we should take time to withdraw to a quiet & deserted place to pray. Strength comes from God, & we can only be strengthened  by spending time with Him. Let us meet Him in His Word daily. Jesus is the living Word, & the Bible is the written Word. Let us obey God & His Word in total for our prayers not to be detestable before God. The Bible says: If anyone turns a deaf ear to the law, even his prayers are detestable. (see Proverbs 28:9). Church, this is serious. We know that many of us Christians of today a...

 One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, & spent the night praying to God. When morning came, He called His disciples to Him & chose twelve of them, whom He also designated apostles: Simon whom He named Peter, his brother Andrew, James, John, Phillip, Bartholomew, Mathew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, & Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. (Luke 6:12-16). The Gospel writers note that before every important event in Jesus' life, He took time to go off by Himself & pray. This time Jesus was preparing to choose His inner circle, the 12 disciples. Make sure that all your important decisions are grounded in prayer. David followed a similar pattern. Before he went to war, he would first enquire from the Lord whether to go or not. This is what we need to do as Christians. Let us pray to God before making important decisions. Let us pray His will for the particular situation. What is prayer? Prayer i...

 As He approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out - the only son of his mother & she was a widow.  And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, His heart went out to her & He said: Don't cry. Then He went up & touched the coffin & those carrying it stood still. He said: Young man, I say to you get up. The dead man sat up & began to talk & Jesus gave him back to his mother. (Luke 7:12-15). Jesus raised a widow's son from the dead. He did not limit us. He said that if we believe Him, we will do what He did. Not only that, He said that we will do GREATER things than He did in His earthly ministry.  Faith & obedience to God & His Word is what will position us to this level of ministry. God wants us to raise the dead, to open up blind eyes, etc, so that He can prove to the world that He is the Most High God. We are the vessels that He will use for the purpose. Are you ready to be used by Him at this lev...

 No one lights a lamp & hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, & nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him. (Luke 8:16-18). When the light of truth about Jesus illuminates us, it is our duty to shine that light to help others. Our witness for Christ should be public, not hidden. We should not keep the benefits for ourselves alone but pass them on to others. In order to be helpful, we need to be well placed. Seek opportunities to be there when both unbelievers & believers need help. Applying God's Word to our lives helps us grow. This is a principle of growth in physical, mental & spiritual life. If you are not growing stronger, you are growing weaker; it is...

 When Jesus had called the twelve together, He gave them power & authority to drive out all demons & to cure diseases, & He sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God & to heal the sick. (Luke 9:1-2). Jesus announced His Kingdom by both preaching & healing. If He had limited Himself to preaching, people might have seen His Kingdom as spiritual only. On the other hand, if He had healed without preaching, people might not have realized the spiritual importance of His mission. Most of His listeners expected a Messiah who would bring wealth & power to their nation; they preferred material benefits to spiritual discernment. The truth about Jesus is that He is both God & man, both spiritual & physical; & the salvation that He offers is both for the soul & body. We must live holy lives. We must be crucified with Christ & live this this short life on earth for Him. We must heal the sick, raise the dead, open up blind eyes, deliver the afflicted ...

 As Jesus & His disciples were on their way, He came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Him & asked: Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me. Martha, Martha, the Lord answered: you are worried & upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, & it will not be taken away from her. (Luke 10:38:42). Mary & Martha both loved Jesus. On this occasion they were both serving Him. But Martha thought Mary's style of serving was inferior to hers. She didn't realize that in her desire to serve, she was actually neglecting her guest. Are you so busy doing things for Jesus that you are not spending any time with Him? Don't let your service become self-serving; doing service wi...

 When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest & does not find it. Then it says: I will return to the house I left. When it arrives, it finds the house swept CLEAN & put in order. Then it goes & takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, & they go in & live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. In today's age, the casting of a demon publicly, constitutes fifty per cent of the work. When the demon is casted out, the house is clean & EMPTY. This means that deliverance is fifty percent. We need to make it one hundred percent & permanent. What do we do? Let me answer you with a question? Why do we cast out demons in the first place? So that the work of God might be displayed in people's lives. For the glory of God. To set the person free from satanic oppression. The primary purpose is to influence people, both the delivered & those who witness the deliverance to convert to Chris...

 That servant who knows his master's will & does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know & does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; & from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked. (Luke 12: 47-48). Jesus told us how to live until He comes: we must watch for Him, work diligently & obey His commands. Such  attitudes are especially necessary for leaders. Watchful & faithful LEADERS will be given increased opportunities & responsibilities. Let me use myself as a practical example to strengthen this point: God has given me a BIG vision, many spiritual, motivational & ministry gifts. I have been blessed with MORE than enough spiritual gifts, grace & anointing. Because of this surpassing grace, surpassingly great revelations, all out surpassing power & wisdom, God has...

 Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, & first who will be last. (Luke 13:30). There will be many surprises in God's Kingdom. Some who are despised now will be greatly honored then; some influential people here will be left outside the gates. What matters to God is not a person's earthly popularity, status, wealth, heritage, or power, but his or her commitment to Christ. When you are saved by God through Christ, stay connected to Him. In Christianity, it's not the beginning that matters, but the ending. It is possible for a person to start well & end up in a backslidden state. It is also possible for a person to start badly & end up being true to God. Being in a backslidden state does not mean that you will leave the church & go back into the world. Few people do that. However, many people will ACT Christianity, play church, sin wilfully or with full knowledge that they are sinning. These things they do while they are active members of the l...

 Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? (Luke 14:34). Salt can lose its flavor. When it gets wet & then dries, nothing is left but a tasteless residue. Many Christians blend into the world  & avoid the cost of standing up for Christ. But Jesus says that if Christians  lose their distinctive saltiness, they become worthless. They cannot impact the communities. Just as salt flavors & preserves food, we as God's children are to preserve the good in the world, help keep it from spilling, & bring new flavor to life. We are to have lives which inspire others to get saved & to be true to God. We are to be a good influence to the society & not a bad one. If we lose our saltiness, we will become a bad influence. We will remain Christians only by going to church, but we will no longer be growing Christians, growing in the Word, growing in Christ, growing in the grace. We will also not grow in the use of our gifts. We wil...

 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him. My son, the father said: You are always with me, & everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate & be glad, because this brother of yours was dead & is alive again; he was lost & is found. (Luke 15:30-32). In this parable of the lost son, the father's response is contrasted with the older brother's. The father forgave because he was filled with love. The son refused because he was bitter about the injustice of it all. His resentment rendered him just as lost to the father's love as his younger brother had been. Don't let anything keep you from forgiving anyone. If you are refusing to forgive people, you are missing a wonderful opportunity to experience joy & share it with others. Make your joy grow; forgive somebody who has hurt you. From this parable we see that the father was able to forgive because he was filled with ...

 No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one & love the other, or he will be devoted to the one & despise the other. You cannot serve both God & money. (Luke 16:13). Money has the power to take God's place in your life. It can become your master. The Bible says: The love of money is the root of all evil. If you have money & you do not have strategies from God in which to use it, you will end up having problems.  How can you tell if you are a slave to money? 1. Do you think & worry about it frequently? 2. Do you give up doing what you should do or would like to do in order to make more money? 3. Do you spend a great deal of your time caring for your positions? 4. Is it hard for you to give money away. 5. Are you in debt? Money is a hard master & a deceptive one. Wealth promises power & control, but it cannot deliver. No one, nothing can match God's power which is flowing in & through our lives. With it, we witness Jesus to others, h...

 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied: The Kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say: Here it is, or There it is, because the Kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:20-21). The Pharisees asked when God's Kingdom  would come not knowing that it had already arrived. The Kingdom of God is not like an earthly Kingdom with geographical boundaries. Instead, it begins with the work of God's Spirit in people's lives & in relationships. Still today we must resist looking to institutions or programs for evidence of the progress of God's Kingdom. Instead, we should look for what God is doing in people's hearts. Most church institutions are running on programs. It's good but its not weightier. We must go into into all the world & preach the Gospel to all creation. We must do one on one witnessing or door to door witnessing. God has given us this assignment: - to win souls for...

 As Jesus approached  Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him: Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. He called out: Son of David, have mercy on me. Those who led the way rebuked him & told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more: Son of David, have mercy on me. Jesus stopped & ordered the man to be brought to Him. When he came near, Jesus asked him: What do you want me to do for you ? Lord, I want to see, he replied. Jesus said to him: Receive your sight, your faith has healed you. Immediately, he received his sight & followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God. (Luke 18:35-43). A cry for mercy, God hears & answers speedily. Beggars had little hope of escaping their degrading way of life. But this blind man took hope in the Messiah. He shamelessly cried out for Jesus' attention, & Jesus said that his FAITH allowed him to see. If...

 But Zacchaeus stood up & said to the Lord: Look, Lord! Here & now I give half of my possessions to the poor, & if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount. Jesus said to him: Today, salvation has come to this house, because this man  too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek & to save what was lost. (Luke 19:8-10). Judging from the crowd's reaction to him, Zacchaeus must have been a very crooked tax collector.  But after he met Jesus, he realized that his life need straightening out. By giving to the poor & making RESTITUTION  - with generous interest - to those he had cheated, Zacchaeus demonstrated INWARD change by outward action. It is not enough to follow Jesus in your head or heart alone, you must show your faith by a CHANGED behavior.  Zacchaeus RESTITUTED his ways. Brother or sister, you may have got wealth through cheating, i urge you to make peace with God, restitute your way like...

 Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question: Teacher, they said: Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies & leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow & have children for his brother. Now they were seven brothers.  The first one married a woman & died childless. The second & the third then married her, & in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. Finally, the woman died too. Now at the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her? Jesus replied: The people of this age marry & are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age & in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor given in marriage, & they can no longer die, for they are like angels. They are God's children, since they are children of the resurrection. (Luke 20:27-36). Jesus statement does not mean that people will not recognize their p...

 But before all this, they will lay hands on you & persecute you. The will deliver you to synagogues & prisons, & you will be brought before kings & governors, & all on account of My name. This will result in your being witnesses to them. But make up your mind not to worry before hand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words & wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, & friends, & they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of Me. But not a hair of your head will perish. By standing firm, you will gain life. (Luke 21:12-19). Jesus warned that in the coming persecutions, His followers would be betrayed by their family members & friends. Christians of every age have had to face this possibility.  It is reassuring to know that even when we feel completely abandoned, the Holy Spirit will stay with us. He will comfort...

 Simon, Simon, satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. (Luke 22:31-32). Satan, though he appears to be a nuisance to us, he has a WEAKNESS. He bows before the Word of God. If you are faced with a situation, ask yourself what the Word of God says about that situation. Quote the Word that you BELIEVE into the the situation, he will leave you. This is how you overcome him. You submit yourself to God first  by finding out what God's Word says about that situation. Secondly, you resist him by quoting the appropriate Word for the situation in faith into the situation. The result: You win, you overcome him, he will leave you. It's this simple to those who consistently hear, or read or study the Bible daily & put it into practice. Their faith is strengthened by the Word. Because they read, meditate & obey the Word of God daily, they know the BASICS of the Gosp...

 Then he questioned Him with many words, He answered him nothing. (Luke 23:9). God wants us to be slow to speak & to be quick to listen. He wants us to open our mouths & speak only when necessary. When you speak, ask yourself: What am I going to achieve through this talk? If it's not going to accomplish something godly & positive; or if it will lead you to a dead end, why pursue it?  By way of testimony, i would like to thank God for giving me breakthrough in this area. I do not just speak for the sake of speaking; for the sake of just releasing words out of my mouth. I am slow to speak & quick to listen. I am a good listener. I think before i speak. I taste my words before i speak. I ask myself before i speak: Is this right, will it not offend the people? Does it gives grace to those who hear it? Does it edify, build, heal, encourage, comfort, strengthen others, etc? Does it glorify God & bring peace among the people? Everything that I say or do or think, ...

 And He opened their minds that they might understand the Scriptures. (Luke 24:45). We need God to open our minds to understand the Scriptures. No one can understand fully the Scriptures without converting to Christ first & staying connected to God. You will know the stories recorded in the Bible, yes, but you will not know the God behind those stories. Some people have doctorates in Theology, but they do not fully understand the Bible. They quote it out of context. Some study the Hebrew & Greek versions & are experts in those languages, but still they do not comprehend the Scriptures. They do not even speak the language of the Bible. They speak carelessly. If you hear some of the words they speak, you will just say: Lord Jesus,  help us. They will be careless & even abusive words. Note that anyone can go to the university & choose to study theology just like they do with any other degree courses. You dont have to be a Christian to study theology, just like...

 Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, & that life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood  it. (John 1:3-5). Do you feel that your life is too complex  for God to understand? Remember, God created the entire universe, & nothing is difficult for Him. God created you; He is alive today, & His love is bigger than any problem you may face. There is no problem that He cannot solve. All things are possible with Him. ' The darkness has not understood it ' means: the darkness of evil has & never will, overcome or extinguish God's light. Jesus Christ is the Creator of life, & His life brings light to mankind. His light shines in the paths of those who have accepted Him as Lord & Saviour of their lives. In His light, we see ourselves as we really are, (sinners in need of a Saviour). When we follow Jesus, the true Light, we can avoid walking blin...

 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep & doves, & others sitting at tables exchanging money. So He made a whip out of cords, & drove all from the temple area, both sheep & cattle; He scattered the coins of the money changers & overturned their tables. To those who sold doves He said:  Get these out of here. How dare you turn my Father's house into a market. His disciples remembered that it is written: Zeal for your house will consume Me. (John 2:14-17). Jesus took the evil acts in the temple as an insult against God, & thus, He did not deal with them halfheartedly. He was consumed with righteous anger against such flagrant disrespect for God. God's temple was being misused by people who had turned it into a market place. They had forgotten or didn't care, that God's house is a place of worship, not a place for making profit. Our attitude towards the church is wrong if we see it as a place for personal contacts or business advant...

 God is PERSONAL. So, I am not afraid to call Him: my God. Other people may think otherwise, i understand them. But when I am in a real challenge, I do not refer to Him as our God because I do not know how you are living your Christian life. I do not know your motives behind your actions.  So I personalize Him. I refer to Him as my God, the God whom I am certain of the kind of relationship I have  with Him; the God whom I know how He operates. My God knows no defeat. My God knows no failure. My God performs great healings, deliverances & extraordinary miracles. My God breaks all curses, makes the impossible possible, reverses the irreversible, changes the unchangeable. My God helps me to live a life of holiness, He increases the fruit of the Spirit in my life, He increases His glory upon my life, He gives me unshakable faith, surpassing power, wisdom, revelation, & overflow. He causes demons to fear me & announce me to the world, He fills me daily with His Hol...