Faith Life Christian Assembly: January 2017

Saturday 21 January 2017

THE CHURCH UNDER ASSAULT - Bishop Emma Omon

copied from www.emmaomon.com

For some time now the Church of God in Nigeria has been under assault. There are internal adversaries as there have been many foes from outside the Church. From within the Church is periled by impostors who have blended with the flock in our meeting places but whose works expose them as having a mindset that is strange to our common faith in Jesus Christ. Mingling among the faithful members is now a growing number of those that Jesus called tares (Matt. 13:24-30). They neither are born again nor do they appreciate the common tenets of our faith in Christ. With their projecting thorns and thistles they hurt members, deride pastors and make ministers of the gospel the butt of their dirty and silly jokes; they just don’t feel any qualms about the pains of the Church.

LARGER AND LARGER BY REVD MUYIWA OKUSEINDE

The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller" (Proverbs 11:24, The Message).

Several years ago, I received the gift of a car. While I was certainly happy to have received the gift, I found that for some reasons, I was not really excited about the gift. I drove it twice during the first week of its arrival and for the next six months, the car was parked idly in my yard. Then a missionary came to visit whom I asked if the car could be useful. When he answered in the affirmative, I immediately put the car to work and the missionary drove it away. For a few years afterwards, every time I met my missionary friend, he would tell me how helpful the car had been to the mission work.

"Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him" (Hebrews 10:38).

Faith is the greatest symbol of spiritual power on this side of eternity. Walking with God is no joke and it will take a definite measure of spiritual strength to make progress in this walk. That spiritual strength, according to the Bible, is encapsulated in the word 'faith'. Not only is it impossible to please God without faith, it will also be utterly frustrating to walk with Him. Indeed, there can be no other way to relate with the unseen One, the infinite One, who is also called the mysterious One other than by faith. Faith sees the invisible!

Humans are accustomed to believing only that which could be connected via one or more of the five physical senses. Man wants to see, smell, hear, taste or touch before conceding reality. But spiritual things are rarely perceivable with our natural senses. The arrangement enacted in the spiritual corridor is that you have to "believe to see" (Psalms 27:13). And so, faith believes the physically imperceptible, the totally incredible and the absolutely unbelievable! That is why the suspension of natural laws or the bypassing of physical processes, otherwise called 'miracles' typically happen only where faith is available in one form or the other.

"God has spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongs unto God" (Psalms 62:11).

Power in any form is transient. You've got to be careful how you wield it. No power is permanent and no one remains permanently powerful. This is not just in the sense of death which brings about the cessation of a person's activities on the earth. We know that when a powerful person dies, his exercise of power significantly dies with him. But beyond that, the reality of life is that man is incapable of exercising power ad infinitum even while he is yet alive. The Creator of man and the owner of power never designed it to be so. Only God, the owner of power is permanently powerful.

"Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another" (Romans 14:19).

Jesus Christ is a man of peace by all standards. He is the "Prince of Peace" who came to preach peace to those who are afar of and those who are near (Ephesians 2:17). When He was about leaving the world, among His parting gifts to His disciples was His peace. He said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you" (John 14:27). At all His appearances after His resurrection, His standard greeting to the disciples was "Peace be unto you". The disciples continued in the same spirit so that virtually all the apostolic epistles commence with a greeting of peace to the readers. It is therefore expected that those who follow Christ must follow peace.

"Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid" (Isaiah 29:14).

It's a new day, a new week, a new month, and a new year. God has a work to do. It will be a marvellous work. It will be a wonder. The events that God will permit in this year will leave many mouths agape because God will confound the wise and shame the strong. This will apply to the church, the nation, as well as individual lives. Get ready!

"Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale" (Isaiah 29:22).

God is for us. He has always been. This is why He continues to send messages of love and redemption to us from time to time. He wants you to have peace, joy and abundance of prosperity. He wants it to be well with you and for you to prosper in those good things you lay your hands upon. I have found that if God were to be the only factor to be considered, there will not be a single problem in our world. Even then, in the world of those who put their faith in Him, God's grace and power of redemption make it possible to live a fulfilled life. His covenant of redeeming grace that is ever at work ensures that problems and afflictions are not permanent tenants in our lives.

"And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest" (Exodus 33:14).

The above words are taken from the conversation between God almighty and His servant Moses. Here, God promised Moses and the children of Israel that His presence will go with them as they journeyed to Cannan. Moses had requested for that presence, having realised that peaceful and victorious progress in the journey of life is impossible without the presence of God.

As we journey through this new year, we also need the presence of God. The presence of God makes a huge difference in a man's life. Without that divine presence, life would be empty and could become meaningless. If God is with you, you can be sure that every aspect of your life will know tremendous improvement. The presence of God comes with a lot of benefits. In this particular instance, as it relates to our Scripture verse for today, the presence of God brings rest. How greatly we all need the rest that God gives.

"Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me" (Psalms 51:11).

The presence of God is so vital for our smooth ride through this year and even through life. One of the things that must not happen to you is for the presence of God to be withdrawn from your life. Should such an unfortunate thing happen, it should be considered a calamity of monumental proportion. No wonder that when David realised this, he prayed earnestly, saying to God, "Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy Holy Spirit from me".

"Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near" (Isaiah 55:6).

An interesting fact about the book of Esther, the seventeenth book of the Bible, is that there is not one single mention of "God" from the beginning to the end. Yet, on every page of that book and in every aspect of the story it tells, we see God at work, not silently but very openly. In fact, the events chronicled in the book of Esther are nothing other than the manifestation of the awesome works of God. Therefore, to see God in everything that took place in that book is to see correctly. Join me, friends for an exciting adventure that will span several weeks as the Lord brings to us timeless truths inspired by His words in this unique book of the Bible.

NIGERIA: When Political Leadership Tackles Spiritual Leadership

~Iyke Nwambie

Spiritual leaders that ignore the "political gymnastics" of the politicians in their countries may have a lot of "prayer and speaking in tongues" to do later.

That kind of spiritual alertness may emanate out of the necessity to curb the political calls of the politicians when those political calls begin to question and rattle the very position, title and placements of those spiritual leaders.

RESTRUCTURING CULTURE

Image result for clock images for teaching time

"That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God" (1 Peter 4:2).

Ordinarily, time lost can never be recovered because time is not a renewable resource. But with God, the Bible says that we can do something about our use of time in the present that will make up for our misuse of time in the past. It is called "redeeming the time". We should be grateful to God for this because by redeeming the time, we are using our present to obliterate the errors of the past.

"I receive not honour from men" (John 5:41).

One of the things I love most about the Lord Jesus Christ is that while He walked the earth, He never sought after the approval of man. He never did anything to obtain the honour or applause of men. Although He was a man of continuous miracles, signs and wonders, Jesus never played to the gallery. A free translation of our verse for today says, "I am not wanting people to say great things about me. If people say great things about me, that is not important to me" (John 5:41, Easy English).

Human beings are very difficult to please. Striving to gain the approval of man can weary you out completely. You can imagine what people subject themselves to in order to gain approval and applause among men. There will be no space to talk about the lies that people tell, the superfluous grandstanding they display, the injustices they perpetrate, the crimes they commit, and the demonic associations they involve themselves in, just to earn the praise of mortals which, at its best, is often temporary.

Jesus Christ taught that we should avoid such needless travails and concentrate on securing the honour that comes from God. This is because at the end of the day, it is only the approval of God that will matter. What if all my friends see me as a wonderful individual? What if the Pope acknowledges me as an upright man? What if the archbishop says I'm the holiest man he knows on the surface of the earth? Would those commendations guarantee me a place in heaven? Would those accolades from the lips of men earn me a positive rating with the almighty God? Certainly not.

Strive to get the approval of God. The positive ratings of men may grant you a place of honour in the kingdom of mortals. But that will only be for as long as that human kingdom endures. It will also be for as long as they don't find another man to rate higher than you. No matter how well men may praise you, they are sure to change the music once they see another person that fascinates or entertains them more than you do. Such is life and such are human beings.

However, the approval of God would be more enduring and satisfying, affording real peace of mind. It will earn you favour, not only with God but also among men. When God honours you, no one can successfully dishonour you. When God honours you and approves of you, you will become precious in His sight and He will jealously guard you as the apple of His eyes. So again, I say to you, go for God's approval. Seek to please Him and He will make you pleasing and pleasant to the rest of mankind.

AVOID THIS CHEQUE...

"He that is greedy of gain troubles his own house..." (Proverbs 15:27).

Greed is a selfish or excessive desire for more than is needed or deserved, especially of money, wealth, food, or other possessions at the expense of another person. When greed is in operation, there is little or no room to make provision for or even give consideration to the needs of others. The greedy man usually thinks of himself alone or thinks of himself first with no one else occupying the second place. But if our world must make progress, we have got to learn to care more about the other person beyond our personal gains. That is the winning and enduring formula. That is the formula of God.

"For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world" (Hebrews 4:3).

The other day, I saw an artist painting a particular work. It was in a competition. At the first, I could not make any meaning out of the patches on the board. So also were the judges who were already thinking of telling the artist to step aside. But eventually, the artist finished his work, turned the board upside-down, and what emerged was an incredible masterpiece of an artwork. Here's the point. The work that was begun before our very eyes was already finished in the mind of the artist.

"If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land" (Isaiah 1:19).

Obedience to God is the key to victory in life. This is made consistently and abundantly clear in all Scripture. It is the indisputable weapon for neutralizing problems. Once you can pay the price of obedience, you will gain the prize, the blessings that God has prepared for you.

Obedience ensures that you triumph over any of life's adversities. As our Scripture passage for further reading details, obedience puts you above situations and circumstances in an uncommon way. For example, you can combat sickness, poverty, satanic oppression and other challenges of life by simply committing yourself to obeying God in all things. Let me illustrate some of the statements above with some examples from the Bible on how God's people triumphed by being obedient to divine instructions.

"And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king" (1 Samuel 10:23-24).

Recently, I was reading the story of Goliath and a particular issue confronted me. Goliath, standing nearly three meters tall, with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot was a huge giant indeed. He was a man who seemed to not only have everything, but he also seemed to have had them in excess. And then, the picture of king Saul running away from him with great fright went across my mind. And then I thought to myself, "But Saul was said to be taller and higher than everybody".

And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance" (1 Samuel 17:42).

The Goliath story teaches a lot of lessons and one could write a whole volume on it. An important dimension to the story which must not be overlooked is that things are not always as they seem. Appearance, they say, could be deceptive. There could be more on the inside than what is displayed on the outside. Unfortunately, Goliath learnt this vital life lesson when he already had one foot on the descending slope of the world beyond.