HE DOES NOT GIVE UP

"And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season" (Luke 4:13). 

Trials and temptations are unavoidable features of a genuine Christian life. The devil brings them in all shapes, from every angle, and from time to time. His purpose is to make the faith journey cumbersome and frustrate the believer, hoping to turn him into an enemy of God. However, God allows these temptations to prove us and make us strong. 

Here is what I have found out. The devil never gives up. If there is any virtue Satan has, it is persistence. He will tempt the Christian again and again with the hope of getting him one day. Only heaven knows how long he'd been trying to get Noah to have a drink and get drunk. For the first six hundred years of Noah's life, Satan watched keenly for an opportunity to get Noah drunk and misbehave. He failed again and again because Noah walked with God and stood strong, not allowing for any slip. But because the devil never gives up, he eventually got the patriarch at the age of 601 to do wrong. Noah became drunk and didn't even know when he stripped himself naked (Genesis 9:21). 

I have also found that Satan never takes a break because he is tired, for he never gets tired. When Satan seems to have taken a leave, it is only to restrategize for a relaunch of his attack with the hope of delivering a more devastating blow. After the initial threefold temptations he brought against Jesus, the Bible says that "The Devil retreated temporarily, lying in wait for another opportunity" (Luke 4:13, The Message). And you can be sure that the devil came back again and again because the Bible affirms that Jesus "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). 

The Bible tells us that in dealing with this enemy of our soul, we have got to exercise self control and be vigilant, not allowing for any careless slip. We must resist him steadfastly with strong faith (1 Peter 5:8-9). We must not be tired of doing this because our enemy never tires. The other way to put it is that if the devil is stubborn, the Christian must be twice as stubborn in the faith. In this contest, there is no room for drawing back and risking God's displeasure. There is no room for chickening out because perdition is the fate of those who draw back. But by the grace of God, we shall not be of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul (Hebrews 10:38-39). 

Amazing that we can learn a thing or two from the devil. But the truth is that if you don't give up, you will eventually get what you want. If you will take every failed attempt as an opportunity to re-learn, re-plan and re-launch, you will ultimately be rewarded with good results. Friends, stay positive because it is not over until you are on top! 

TOO BLESSED TO BE THE DEVIL'S PARTNER, BE WISE

... the devil... abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it" (John 8:44). 

Satan is a liar perexcellence. Falsehood is his stock-in-trade. The Bible describes him as not only a liar, but the father of lies in whom the truth never abides. Whenever Satan lies, he does what is natural to him, much like speaking his native language. The devil is the undisputed chairman and CEO of Lying Unlimited Incorporated. Please don't work for him or patronize his corporation because they never pay good dividends. 

One of the ways people work to further Satan's booming lying business is to be liars themselves. Please don't tell lies. You are too blessed to be the devil's partner (Colossians 3:9). Another way is to be involved in spreading Satan's lies. Talebearers, rumormongers and busybodies are veterans in this unholy business of spreading Satan's lies. The Bible forbids us from any of these practices. For example, Leviticus 19:16 says, "Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people". We are also warned not to join the group of busybodies, who wander about from house to house, speaking things which they ought not (1 Timothy 5:13). 

But by far, the most injurious and devastating way to further Satan's lies is to believe the lies. This is very dangerous because if you believe him your faith just dies and your life comes under jeopardy. The devil will tell you lies about God to put God in a bad light and turn you into an enemy of God. He did that successfully with Eve and the rest of humanity was plunged into spiritual darkness. He will tell you lies about sin so that you remain tied to its bondage and become enemy of righteousness. Again, he succeeded in convincing Eve, as he does with so many people today, that sin is not really sinful and that God was joking when He said the wages of sin is death. 

Worst of all, the devil will even tell people lies about themselves and some folks will believe the lies Satan tells them about themselves. For instance, the devil could tell you that you are no good when the Bible says severally that everything that God made was good. Or Satan could tell you that you are not beautiful as he has told many victims of needless cosmetic surgery and gender reassignment. However, there is just no way a person created in the image of a beautiful God can be anything other than beautiful. Any negative thing Satan tells you about your visage is a lie because you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalms 139:14). 

Friends, please don't believe Satan's lies about you, your personality, circumstances, future and destiny. Often times, suicides, failures and every form of iniquity are the results of believing Satan's lies. But I want you to understand that whatever the word of God has not said about you cannot be true. When the devil tells you a lie about yourself and you believe it, then he has succeeded in turning you into the enemy of yourself. When you believe the false thoughts he brings to your mind about yourself, your progress becomes grounded and you won't be able to move in the right direction. 

Today, in the name of Jesus Christ, I flush out from your mind every lie of the devil you have believed. O Lord my God, let the light of your truth, shine in our hearts to deliver us from the darkness of falsehood so that we can be all that you have called us to be

I HAVE SURVIVED TO TELL MY STORY

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2). 

Disappointments, defeats, struggles and falling are all part and parcel of what we call life. The diverse vegetation and geographical presentation of the earth surface is a perfect illustration of life here on earth. You will notice that the earth is not just one piece of smooth, evenly surfaced landscape. But it is also adorned with valleys, hills, mountains, rivers and oceans. In much the same way, it is perfectly normal for us as humans to experience what we call the vicissitudes of life. 

Even the Lord Jesus partook of virtually all these experiences when He walked here as human. For example, He was disappointed by His intimate friends at the most crucial hour of need. Again, He stumbled and fell a couple of times under the weight of the cross He had to carry for sins He didn't commit. The Bible says He was tempted in all points, meaning that He was afflicted in order to prove His character and the steadfastness of His faith (Hebrews 4:15). He had a cross to endure, and some shame that He had to despise. Yet, His was a life that should have been packaged to be smooth-sailing without the slightest hint of stresses and sorrow, being divinity Himself. But Jesus went through all the positives and negatives of life with unparalleled deportment. Jesus' positive attitude in it all is the inspiration for today's message. 

You may be going through some stuffs right now, but I want you to have the attitude that you will survive it all and you will be here to tell your story. You see, God has designed life on earth in a way that everyone can always bounce back and recover out of the most hopeless situation, unless people do something really stupid like committing suicide. I haven't been around for too long, but in these few decades I've been here, I have seen a marriage shattered into shreds and then restored after twenty-seven years. Even in medicine, there is what they call spontaneous healing, meaning that the body has a mechanism by which it heals itself over time. So also, there is a mechanism that God has built into what we call life whereby it recovers itself from whatever distresses it. If God is still alive as He always will be, all things are possible if we have the right attitude. 

Now, whatever you may be going through, brace up and say, "I will survive this and tell my story with joy". If you are thrown out of where you believe God has a plan for you, don't sulk. Just tell those who threw you out that you'll be back by the power of God. Even if you don't get to return there, your declaration will hunt them and secure your portion for you if you truly have any there. That was what happened with Jesus. They threw the Owner of the world out of the city, and kicked Him out of the world by crucifixion at Calvary. But He had earlier declared to them that He was coming back. That declaration hunted them all through that era, and has created hope for the Christian world ever since. Indeed, that declaration has continued to see fulfilment every day through the people who received His Spirit, functioning as His hands and feet all over the world. 

HINDRANCES TO DYNAMIC RELATIONSHIP

"Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house" (Luke 10:38). 

There are three principal characters in the story signaled off by today's Scripture for meditation - Martha, Mary and Jesus. I want us to quickly pick up a lesson from each of these personalities. 

Reading through our passage, it occurred to me for the first time that Martha was the owner of the house in which Lazarus and Mary lived. I really never realized that she was the chief hostess of Jesus and His team. Considering the fact that Jesus would have had between twelve and seventy people with Him, that must mean that Martha was a woman of substance. Here then is the lesson to learn: our substance, wealth or status should never be allowed to become a hindrance to a dynamic relationship with the Lord. Indeed, all through the ages, people of substance are known by the fact that they receive the Lord Jesus, not just in their homes but also in their lives. The Bible is full of examples of men and women of great substance who walked with God in exemplary manners. From Noah, a man of great substance who singlehandedly built that virtual world on water, to Joseph of Arimathaea, the disciple of Jesus who underwrote Jesus' burial expenses, and to Lydia, the cloth merchant of Thyatira, the consistent testimony of Scriptures is that people of substance make provision for God in their lives. 

The second lesson to pick from our passage is taken from the life of Mary. This is that we as believers must by our conduct always give the Lord a reason to come to our defense. Martha was busy in the kitchen while her sister Mary sat by the feet of Jesus, listening to His words. Martha then came with a complaint to Jesus about Mary's conduct. Perhaps she expected the Lord to rebuke Mary, but she met with a shocker. The Lord Jesus didn't even allow Mary to give an answer. He promptly defended her, saying that Mary had done what was right, needful and acceptable to God. Martha's complaints may be legitimate, but Jesus' response was even more authoritatively legitimate, cancelling the legitimacy of Martha's complaints. The point is that when our walk with the Lord is correct, whatever people may have against us shall not be able to stand. It reminds me of the Scripture that says, "When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him" (Proverbs 16:7). 

Finally, with regards to Jesus, the clear lesson to take home here is that purpose is more important than pleasure. The moment Jesus entered the house, He straightaway began to impart spiritual values into whosoever would hear by way of teaching. That was His purpose for coming to the world and He was urgent on fulfilling it, despite the fact that He must have been wearied from His journey. Jesus' purpose defined His conduct here and everywhere. His purpose determined whom He identified with, how He related to people, and His responses to whatever was going on around Him. Although Jesus knew and appreciated the fact that Martha was making nutritional provisions for Him and His team, it was clear from His actions that He didn't come to the world to eat food, and He left no one in doubt about that. 

Now, let's put it all together. To live a fulfilled life here on earth with a sure prospect for heaven, we must prioritize our relationship with God. Status or substance should never be allowed to come between us and the Lord. Rather, we should take advantage of wherever God has placed us, and use whatever God has given us to serve the Lord and enhance our relationship with Him. God must mean more to us than anything else. And we must always be conscious of our divine purpose wherever we find ourselves. 

THAT STUMBLE MAY HAVE PREVENTED A FALL, BE THANKFUL

"Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 5:20). 

One of the most amazing verse of Scripture in my judgment is this quote, urging us to give thanks FOR all things. I can understand giving thanks IN all things, which gives me room to choose what to be thankful for in my situation. For instance, if I lost my wallet, I could say 'Thank you Lord that I only lost my wallet and not my life'. Then I'm giving thanks IN that situation. But to ask me to give thanks FOR that situation is to say, 'Thank you Lord that I lost my wallet'. Giving thanks for all things - the good, the bad and the ugly - just doesn't sound ok. But God knows what we don't and His judgment is for us to give thanks for all things. 

There is a Chinesse proverb that says 'a stumble may prevent a fall'. Your present trouble may be no more than a stumble and you may never know what terrible fall it has come to prevent you from. That is why it is profitable to be thankful for everything, especially if you are in the will of God for your life. An attitude of gratitude can turn obstacles into stepping stones for miracles. 

Thanksgiving is one of the most harmless and safest things you could do in this world. No matter the circumstance, thanksgiving is always the will of God. Whereas people have been rebuked for every imaginable act, I am yet to hear of anyone being reprimanded for giving thanks. You lose nothing by giving thanks but may lose everything by neglecting to give thanks. 

If you just lost your job, thank God you lost that job - that won't stand in your way of getting it back or getting a better one in its stead. Neither does it mean that you have given up, accepted defeat and agreed with the devil. Thank God you lost the job and then proceed to rebuke the devil if you feel like it. Satan will always obey you better after he hears you acknowledging the goodness of God while going through an unpleasant situation. Satan is ever afraid of grateful saints because he knows he's lost the battle over the lives of such people. 

If you just lost a loved one, go ahead and thank God. Withholding your gratitude certainly won't release the power of resurrection. So why not give the devil a blow and give thanks to God, even with your tears. Thanksgiving don't always have to go with smiles to be acceptable to God. You can be sure that the woman of Shunem was not smiling when she told Gehazi 'it is well', neither was Horatio Spafford when he wrote the song, 'It Is Well With My Soul'. 

Thanksgiving is a way of acknowledging that God reigns in our situation. Gratitude is an endorsement of God's sovereignty over our lives. That is why the unthankful is not only ungrateful but also rebellious. That makes ingratitude a crime before the Almighty. You must not be caught dead with such a heinous crime. Be thankful! 

Excess of everything, they say, is bad. But wanted is excessive, superfluous and profuse thanksgiving to the Lord, our God. 

As for me, my song remains 'Thank You Jesus'. 

MAKE UP YOUR MIND

"Peter followed at a safe distance until they got to the Chief Priest's courtyard. Then he slipped in and mingled with the servants, watching to see how things would turn out" (Matthew 26:58, The Message).

Following Jesus at a safe distance really never pays. Peter tried it and he ended up weeping profusely. Half-hearted commitment to the cause of Christ will eventually bring bitter regrets. Slipping in and out of the flesh and mingling with the world, while at the same time expecting heaven to reckon with you as a servant or follower of Christ will not just work.

You've got to make up your mind at once and be ready to be known for what you believe. There is no point watching and waiting to see how things would turn out. Things could turn out either way, but what must be definite is that we are for Christ and Christ is for us; we are on the Lord's side and the Lord is on our side. All other issues are secondary. Whoever keeps watching to see how things would turn out before deciding for the Lord shall never be able to do the will of God. Remember, those who observe the wind will not sow and those who regard the clouds will not reap.

Whatever happens to us is not as important as what happens in us. We must never allow anything to dislodge Christ from our hearts, not even threats to our very existence. We must make up our minds to stand and live for Jesus all the moments of our lives in spite of the ridicules, persecutions or dangers such a decision may expose us to. Your friends must know where you stand on this Jesus matter, your enemies also.

The three Hebrew boys made up their minds and said, ‘we are following the Lord all the way through, even if that means we would lose our lives’. That is the spirit that gets heaven’s attention; that is the disposition that will attract the respect and endorsement of the Almighty. I am happy to note that they were not disappointed, and unlike Peter, their story did not end in tears. Rather, it ended in gladness of heart, in promotion and in the praise of the God of heaven who they had followed closely and openly.

Friends, it is time to get in the front and declare for Jesus. Following Jesus afar off or at a ‘safe distance’ is not really safe; it will only put you far behind the scene where God is working. But getting into the thick of the worship and service of God will prove that the things concerning the kingdom of God are on the front burner in your life.

THE ENDANGERED SPECIES SERIES

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HELP IS ON THE WAY - Dr Segun Oshinaga

We may be pressed, harassed and weary in the fog of battle. The enemy may be pressing in, our troops may be on the run and it may look like we won’t survive the day. We may be running for our lives or running for cover. I’ve got good news for you; help is on the way. No matter the dire situation that confronts you right now, just remember that help is coming. He will testify that he has repeatedly delivered you in the past, he is still delivering us and you can bet that he is ready to deliver again and again.
During the Second World War, the Japanese forces beat the day-light out of General MacArthur’s American forces in the Philippines. The famous General was rescued by the skin of his teeth. But before he was evacuated, he told his rag tag, demoralized, distressed, battle weary soldiers, ‘I will be back.’ Knowing his reputation as a man who kept his word, the soldiers hid in the bushes of the Philippines jungle and survived as best as they could. Well, MacArthur came back as he promised with enough gear and resources to whip the Japanese. That was the beginning of the end of the Japanese occupation of Philippines.
"Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion;"
Psalm 20:2
Take heart, help is coming. God is raising an army of help right now in the heavens for you. Stay alive. Survive until help comes. No matter how hard it is, no matter the burdens you have to bear, remember, help is coming. However bad it may look or tough, I trust God to send you help from the sanctuary, the very presence of God.
Cheer up, help is on the way