₦airaland Forum

Faith equals righteousness with God

Sun, 16 Feb 2025

‘Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”’ Galatians 3:6

Some might think of Abraham as having a halo around his head. Hardly. Not once, but twice he throws his wife under the bus. As they travelled through Egypt, Abram says to Sarai, ‘You’re a beautiful woman; I’m afraid the Egyptians will want to kill me so someone can have you for a wife, so let’s tell them you’re my sister’ (see Genesis 12:11-13). Pharaoh does take Sarai into his harem and gives Abram, her ‘brother’, a bunch of sheep, cattle, donkeys, servants, and camels. Rather than feeling guilty and coming clean, Abram simply says, ‘Thank you very much.’

And if you think that’s bad, when Abraham and Sarah (previously known as Sarai—see Genesis 17:15) are in the Negev later on, recorded in Genesis 20, he does the whole ‘she’s my sister’ routine a second time. Why doesn’t God just give up on him? Because Abraham doesn’t give up on God! Abraham eventually reached the place in his walk with God where his biography reads: ‘Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform’ (Romans 4:18-21 NKJV). Note the words ‘strengthened in faith’. God’s plan is not to discard you, but to develop your faith and use you to bring glory to His name.

A peaceful state of mind

Sat, 15 Feb 2025

‘And let the peace of God rule in your hearts,’ Colossians 3:15

God wants you to have a peaceful state of mind. His word says: ‘And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.’ (Colossians 3:15 NKJV). No position or possession is worthwhile if you don’t have peace; money, status, popularity—it’s all meaningless if you lack peace. You simply cannot put a price on the value of peace. Many of us spend our lives trying to climb the ladder of success, but every time we go up one more rung, we lose more of our peace and joy, not to mention time spent with our family. Our lives are consumed with the pressure and stress of trying to hold on to what we gained. But we are never truly successful unless we have peace.

Some of us work several jobs to acquire what the world dangles in front of us, saying, ‘You must have this to be truly happy.’ We get those ‘things’, but we still don’t have any peace. Romans 14:17 tells us, ‘For the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost’ (KJV). The things that money can buy or the security you seek in status will not bring you peace. God wants you to have your needs met abundantly and to be in a position to bless others. But don’t seek to have anything if it will compromise your peace of mind.

Intimacy, dependency, obedience (3)

Fri, 14 Feb 2025

‘For I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me.’ John 5:30

Obedience is the third thing that defines Jesus’ relationship with His Father. Jesus said, ‘“By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear … for I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me.’ (John 5:30 NIV). Note the words ‘as I hear’. When you know you have heard from God, you have confidence to handle whatever life throws at you, and to take on any assignment He gives you.

Christ’s first miracle was turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana. In it you will find a statement that’s crucial to experiencing God’s miraculous power in your life: ‘… Whatever He says to you, do it’ (John 2:5 NKJV). That means you must be willing to obey God when what He tells you to do doesn’t seem rational, and when it’s not popular, and when it’s inconvenient, and when it’s costly, and when it requires you to walk an unfamiliar pathway. And you will only reach this level of obedience when you’re committed to a life of intimacy with God and dependency on God. And here is something you need to know: intimacy, dependency, and obedience are not cultivated by you trying to love God more, but on having a revelation of God’s amazing, undeserved, unfailing love for you: ‘God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins’ (1 John 4:9-10 NLT). So, pray for a revelation of God’s great love for you.

Ogun State again? 🤔......how come this my state no dey carry last for semi-bad news? 😟

yarimo:
The incompetent governor in Nigeria has spoken

😅😅😅

FILEBE:
As in ehn! That maintenance culture always sadden me . Like , how do you spend so so mich on a project and won't find funds and time to maintain it? This makes me thing that our leaders work with "free" money. If it's a personal project, you will see how they will maintain it

exactly 💯

mannobi:
Lagos needs something like this.

like we can maintain those we have already? 🤔

Odin13:
Thank you for this piece
God bless you

thanks for reading sir

Intimacy, dependency, obedience (2)

Thu, 13 Feb 2025

‘The Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees his Father doing,’ John 5:19

Dependency is the second thing that defines Jesus’ relationship with His Father. Corrie ten Boom used to say, ‘I am just the glove, Jesus is the hand that fills it and works through it.’ That’s a picture of Christ’s relationship with His heavenly Father, and it’s a blueprint for the kind of relationship you can have with God. In the Bible you will notice two all-important things about Jesus:

1) He never seemed to suffer from the fear of failing, like we so often do. Why? Because He prayed regularly and got direction from His Father. Knowing He was acting on the Father’s word and operating in the Father’s will, He never doubted. Until you have heard from God, you are a question mark. But once you have heard from God, you are an exclamation mark. 2) Jesus knew He couldn’t accomplish anything of significance without His Father’s direction and power, so He never attempted to. We, on the other hand, say we trust God but act like everything depends on us. And the result? We fall flat on our faces and keep wondering why. Every action of God in your life is intended to increase, not decrease, your dependence on Him. Someone wisely said, ‘You’ll never know that Christ is all you need until Christ is all you’ve got.’ To bring you to the place of total dependence on Himself, God will allow your ego to be crushed and your self-sufficiency to be stripped away. At that point you make a life-changing discovery: when you have nothing left but God—God is enough!

Intimacy, dependency, obedience (1)

Wed, 12 Feb 2025

‘For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.’ John 5:20

These three things define the relationship Jesus had with His Father, and they are a blueprint for the kind of relationship you need to build with God: intimacy, dependency, obedience.

First: let’s look at intimacy. Jesus said, ‘For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. …’ (John 5:20 NIV). You only reveal yourself, including your innermost thoughts and secrets, to someone with whom you are intimate. And when you become intimate with God, He will share with you things that others are not privy to. David’s greatest passion was to know God intimately. In Psalm 25:4 he writes: ‘Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths’ (NIV). Then he follows up by saying, ‘The Lord confides in those who fear [honour] him; …’ (Psalm 25:14 NIV). Having an intimate relationship with God involves three things: a) Desire. The truth is that you are as close to God right now as you desire to be; otherwise, you would rearrange your priorities to make it happen. b) Discipline. This calls for spending time alone with God in prayer and Bible reading each day. When you pray, you’re talking to God. When you read the Bible, God is talking to you. c ) Delight. ‘Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart’ (Psalm 37:4 NKJV). Something wonderful happens when you ‘delight yourself in the Lord’. His desires become ‘the desires of your heart’, so He can trust you with them. Do you want a more intimate relationship with the Lord? If you are willing to pursue it, you can have it.

Yoruba amaka 😄😄😄😄

Blessing is progressive

Tue, 11 Feb 2025

‘Gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel,’ 1 Kings 18:19

The greatest chapter in the story of Elijah’s life took place on Mount Carmel. That’s when he called down fire from heaven, defeated the prophets of Baal, and turned the hearts of the Israelites back to God. The word ‘Carmel’ means ‘fruitful ground’. But before Elijah could get to Mount Carmel, he had to go through two places:

First: God led him to the brook called Cherith. The word ‘Cherith’ means ‘to make covenant with’. It was here that Elijah discovered that God is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping God who can sustain you through the hardest of times. It was here during a drought and famine that ravens brought food to him each day and he drank from the refreshing waters of the brook. But the Bible says, ‘And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.’ (1 Kings 17:7 NKJV). Now, when God allows your brook to dry up, it’s in order to drive you back to your true source, which is Himself, that you may get further instructions. Second: God led him to a widow in Zarephath. The word ‘Zarephath’ means ‘to refine as in a melting pot’. Gold is not pure in its original form. It must be refined, and this is accomplished by heating it to the boiling point. The heat separates the raw substance from its impurities, which surface and are skimmed off. And God will do the same for you by using the heat of trials to separate the gold from the dross in your life. He knows the experiences you need to reach Mount Carmel, the place of fruitfulness, so trust Him. He knows what He is doing.

The difference between Abraham and Peter

Mon, 10 Feb 2025

‘But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink.’ Matthew 14:30

When Peter stepped out of the boat at the command of Jesus, he was doing something he had never done before; something miraculous—walking on water. As long as he remained in faith, he was successful, but when fear gripped his heart, he began to sink. The Bible says, ‘But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. "Save me, Lord!" he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”’ (Matthew 14:30-31 NLT). Peter’s mistake was that he became preoccupied with the storm. When he focused on the circumstances around him rather than on the Saviour close to him, he lost his faith and began to doubt.

Abraham faced a different but equally difficult set of circumstances: fathering a son when he was almost one hundred years old. But the Bible says, ‘Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God’ (Romans 4:20 NLT). Abraham was aware of his situation, but unlike Peter, he was not preoccupied with it. It was his determined and focused faith that propelled him forward to success. And you can learn from Peter’s mistake and Abraham’s example. You can be aware of your circumstances, but not preoccupied with them. You can purposely keep your mind on Jesus, trusting in faith that He will provide the miracle you need. So, the word for today is—keep your eyes on Jesus, stay focused on what He has promised you in His Word, keep walking by faith, and you will get to where you need to be.

Wahala with Trumpet......lol 😂😂😂

Congratulations for his freedom 😄

Noblechykk:
It is on record that every dynasty started in a day and the fall also started in a day

Words 🤔. I prayed that Tinubu's advisers will caution him to take it easy and let this slide.

Group of failures 😁

Movement

gasparpisciotta:
I believe Portable is suffering from some mental health issues that makes people see themselves as larger than they really are.

This is synonymous with heavy drug users

More like this 🤔

Are YOU feeling unqualified?

Sun, 9 Feb 2025

‘“The God of heaven Himself will prosper us; therefore we His servants will arise and build,”’ Nehemiah 2:20

With its walls torn down, Jerusalem was defenceless against her enemies. So, Nehemiah assembled a team to rebuild the walls. He had no training for this job. He wasn’t an architect or a builder. Jerusalem was far away, and he had never been there. Any way you look at it, he was unqualified for the job. That’s a common denominator with many of the people God has used in a remarkable way.

Noah was a farmer, called to build a boat in the desert. David was a shepherd, called to topple a Philistine champion. Nehemiah was a cupbearer, called to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls. When it comes to doing God’s will, God-ordained passions are considerably more important than any human ability we can contribute. In fact, God often uses us at our point of greatest inability. That way He receives all the credit. But understand this: when God gives you a ‘burden’, or a ‘passion’, or a ‘vision’, you have a choice to make. Nehemiah already had a good job. Being the king’s cupbearer was like being his right-hand man. He didn’t simply enjoy job security; he enjoyed the perks and privileges of his position. He would have been comfortable staying right where he was. But if he had chosen to do that, he would have missed God’s will, missed having a book named after him in the Bible, and you wouldn’t be reading about him right now. Are you feeling unqualified? When God calls you, He equips you, resources you, guides you, and guarantees your success.

N250m divided by 100 men. 🤔 (N2.5m). And they have to pay for ammunition and run other expenses too. Men! It doesn't worth it.

God help us in Nigeria 🙏

Hummm

Improve your self-talk

Sat, 8 Feb 2025

‘I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.’ Psalm 34:1

Whether you know it or not, you have an ongoing conversation with yourself. How does it sound? Do you encourage yourself? Or do you condemn yourself? If you are positive, then you strengthen your positive self-image. If you are negative, you weaken your self-worth. If you’re serious about improving your life, then you must improve the way you think of yourself. And to do that, you must change the way you talk to yourself. And the older you grow, the more responsible you are for the way you think, talk, and believe.

Don’t you already have enough problems? Why give yourself more by discouraging yourself with negative self-talk? Turn into your own encourager. Each time you do a good job, compliment yourself. Each time you choose discipline over an indulgence, don’t tell yourself that you should have done that anyway; appreciate how much you are helping yourself. Each time you make a mistake, don’t rehearse everything that’s wrong with yourself; tell yourself that you’re paying the price for growth and that you will learn to do better next time. The psalmist recognised the importance of his self-talk: ‘I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.’ (Psalm 34:1 NKJV), ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul; and forget not all His benefits’ (Psalm 103:2 NKJV). ‘I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust”’ (Psalm 91:2 NKJV). The word for today is—improve your self-talk.

Breaking out of the failure syndrome

Fri, 7 Feb 2025

‘Despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.’ Romans 8:37

When you have been abused, rejected, or abandoned, it’s easy to become shame based and end up with a very poor self-image. The devil knows this, so he will attack your personal confidence whenever he can find an opening. He wants you to believe that you are a failure, because without confidence you will never step out and try to do the things you truly want to do. He does not want you to fulfil God’s plan for your life. If he can make you believe that you are incapable, then you won’t even try to accomplish anything worthwhile. And even if you do make an effort, your fear of failure will seal your defeat, which, because of lack of confidence, you probably expected from the beginning.

This is often referred to as the ‘failure syndrome’. You fail because of wrong beliefs, and you continue to have wrong beliefs because you fail. It’s hard to know which came first, but you find yourself in a trap you cannot seem to get out of. What’s the answer? As a redeemed child of God, the Bible says that you are ‘in Christ’. Jesus defeated Satan and triumphed over him at the cross. And because you are ‘in Christ’, His victory is your victory. You can break out of the failure syndrome and begin to succeed in life. Here is why: ‘Despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.’ Note the words ‘despite all these things’. Regardless of what has happened to you in the past, God has a wonderful future in mind for you.

🤔

Excellent news if true.

Oga ooooo 😄😄😄

Prayer (2)

Thu, 6 Feb 2025

‘Men always ought to pray and not lose heart.’ Luke 18:1

People who did not grow up in Christian homes and are told to pray to seek Jesus usually have no idea what to say or how to say it.

Even after they are saved, they still struggle with how to pray. While God hears our words regardless of how they are said, Jesus taught about how to pray because the disciples asked Him to. They may not have desired to write dissertations on it, but they wanted to know how to pray. It’s the only time in the Bible where one person clearly teaches another person how to pray, and all because of a request from the disciples. ‘It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, when He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples."’ Luke 11:1 NASB20). The disciples had been observing Jesus as He prayed. Apparently, the way He prayed was so distinct from the way they prayed that they said, ‘Show us how to pray the way you pray.’ Before Jesus fed the multitude supernaturally, or selected His twelve disciples, or calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee, He took time to pray. And the results of His prayers were so amazing that the disciples said, ‘Lord, teach us to pray.’ Prayer is not primarily about telling God what you need; it’s about getting closer to God. As one pastor writes: ‘It’s almost as if God is saying, “Don’t bring me your shopping list. I already know what’s on it. We will deal with that later. Bring me your heart. Bring me your love. Bring me your undivided attention.”’ Prayer is not mainly about getting things from the Lord; it’s about spending time with the Lord.

Prayer (1)

Wed, 5 Feb 2025

‘Lord, teach us to pray,’ Luke 11:1

Demonstrating an uncommon level of honesty, a well-known pastor says: ‘Prayer is the biggest struggle I have … It’s difficult to maintain a consistent prayer life, and especially difficult to sustain the conviction that it does any good at times.’ Prayer doesn’t come naturally for the majority of us. We know it’s supposed to be a dialogue, but often it feels like a monologue. There is nothing worse than trying to talk with someone who won’t talk back. We don’t like to admit it, but often what we are really wondering about prayer is, ‘How can I pray so that God will give me what I want?’ One little boy was asked if he said his prayers every night. He replied, ‘No, some nights I don’t need anything.’

Prayer is not about the particular words you use or the length of time you spend praying. It’s about getting acquainted. It’s about building a relationship. If you have something to talk to someone about, you may say, ‘We need to find somewhere we can talk.’ You want to make sure you’re heard, and that you hear what the other person has to say. When you eliminate the noise of this world, you maximise your ability to hear God. It shows God you’re taking your relationship with Him seriously. The psalmist said, ‘He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty’ (Psalm 91:1 NKJV). Do you have a ‘secret place’ where you can be alone with God? It can be anywhere. But you need a place where you can go and show you mean business with God.

You choose: Your calling or your comfort

Tue, 4 Feb 2025

‘When they came to Harran, they settled there.’ Genesis 11:31

The Bible says, ‘Terah took his son Abram … and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there’ (Genesis 11:31 NIV). A Christian author writes: ‘Terah accompanied Abram for part of the journey to Canaan, but then he stopped … Terah and his family begin their story in Ur, the great centre of wealth and education and the land of idols. Then they begin on this road, which passes through the city of Harran and then down into Canaan … For Terah, the father of Abram, the road ends in Harran.

Now we know from other passages in the Bible that Harran was a city a lot like Ur. There was a lot of wealth there. There were idols there. What’s going on? It may well be that … Terah thinks to himself, ‘If I were to go any farther than this, I could lose everything I have. For sure, I would have to give up my idols.’ So he chooses comfort. But Abram chooses to say yes to his calling.’ That’s a choice you will have to make too. And you will have to make it more than once. As your circumstances change, and the seasons of your life progress, you will have to decide whether to walk with God into the unknown or settle for the security of what you know. Terah settled; Abram moved on. What are you going to do? You don’t have to do anything to be worthy of God’s love and grace; those are gifts. But to walk in God’s blessing, you have to choose your calling over your comfort.

Faithfulness

Mon, 3 Feb 2025

‘Well done, good and faithful servant;’ Matthew 25:23

Jesus begins the parable of the talents with these words: ‘“For the kingdom of heaven is like …’ (Matthew 25:14 NKJV). And one of the strongest points He makes is the importance of being faithful. Whether God gives you five talents, two talents, or one talent, the thing that matters to Him is your faithfulness. ‘His lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord”’ (Matthew 25:21 NKJV).

You will notice that He did not say, ‘Well done, popular servant’, or ‘brilliant servant’, but ‘faithful servant’. Christ is talking about those who are often unnoticed but indispensable to His purposes. He is talking about those who blow no trumpets, wave no banners, and demand no applause. He is talking about those who show up day after day and use the talents God gives them, to do the job He has assigned to them. Unnoticed by people, but noticed and rewarded by God! ‘For God is not unjust to forget your work and labour of love which you have shown towards His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister’ (Hebrews 6:10 NKJV). These words describe those who shun the limelight and are happy to serve in the shadows. They describe those who not only start the race but run the race day after day, who don’t stop until they reach the finish line. Others may not think that you make much of a difference, but God does. While others make much out of skill levels and success levels, God measures you by your faithfulness.

Don’t give place to pride

Sun, 2 Feb 2025

‘Our sufficiency is from God.’ 2 Corinthians 3:5

Before his 1971 fight with Joe Frazier, American boxer Muhammad Ali said: ‘There’s not a man alive who can whup me. [He jabbed at the air with his blinding left.] I’m too smart. [He tapped his head with his glove.] I’m too pretty. [He showed the cameras his profile, like a bust on a pedestal.] I am the greatest! I am the king! I should be a postage stamp—that’s the only way I’ll ever get licked!’

Guess what happened in that fight? To the amazement of all, especially himself, Ali lost to Frazier. When confidence in your own ability and resources becomes pride, and then becomes arrogance, you’re heading for trouble. The Bible says, ‘Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall’ (Proverbs 16:18 NKJV). So, how do you find balance? By remembering that every gift, ability, talent, and resource that you have comes from God. Confidence is essential to success. There is nothing wrong with recognising the gifts God has given you. But the difference between self-confidence and Christ confidence is found in who gets the credit. A good way to keep this thought in the forefront of your life is to practise the art of thanksgiving each day. It’s hard to be too self-confident when you acknowledge that you are nothing without God’s grace, which is His unmerited, unearned, undeserved favour. The Bible says: ‘...Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time’ (1 Peter 5:5-6 NKJV).