₦airaland Forum

The greatness of a person can be influenced by a father-figure - whether biological or spiritual. No wonder the Bible in Proverbs 17:6 says:
“Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.”
A child is expected to be a better version of his or her parents. Your child is supposed to be a new, improved you. Your child is your future, hence, losing your child amounts to losing your future, while gaining your child is gaining your future. You can lose your child not necessarily to death but to sin. An unsaved or backslidden child erodes the future of his parents. This is why you must invest in your children. They are your tomorrow. I cannot understand why a parent will be competing with his or her child. How can a father say that he does not want any of his children to surpass him? If your children cannot surpass you, then you have failed. That is why Jesus in John 14:12 says:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”
You must do everything legitimately possible to prepare your children to have a better tomorrow.
 
Some parents do not mind playing ”Father Christmas” with other people’s children, but they remain stingy and tight fisted with their own children. A man who was trained by his parents or relatives to secondary school level who now refuses to train his own children to at least that same level is a curse to his family. Some parents do not mind spending money to buy expensive clothes for weddings, funerals and other frivolous things, but when it comes to paying the school fees of their children, they will say they have no money. What are your priorities in life? Did your children beg you to bring them to this world? Why would you neglect them after bringing them to earth? Do you know that there are very many unbelievers who never had the opportunity of going to school, particularly women, who resolved in their heart to see that their children would be educated, and God made a way for them? Today, they have made graduates out of petty trading. How can it be said of you - a believer, created in the image of God and blessed with children of destiny, that you denied your children quality education? Far be it from you! Ensure you prepare your children for a better future. You cannot afford to disappoint God in this area! Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

When you are popular and celebrated on account of your position or service in the kingdom of God, beware and avoid every temptation to use what you have received against the will of God. If you are not careful, you may fall into a trap and become another example, like the 250 princes who were destroyed in Numbers 16. That shall not be your portion in Jesus’ Name! However, you need to know that if you are in a position of power or you are very famous and highly respected by people, you will be a target of manipulators. If you are not extremely careful, you will fall into traps you never thought could ensnare you. After Korah, Dathan and Abiram orchestrated an evil plan and they wanted the children of Israel to buy into it, who did they contact? They deliberately chose the most popular 250 princes in the assembly of God’s people and carefully sold the idea to them (Numbers 16:2). Once that was done, convincing the people under these princes was a walk in the park.
 
Believe it or not, just as these princes were tempted, you too will be tempted. People who have goods and services for sale will come to you because they want to reach your members or those under your sphere of influence. Some of these may be beneficial to your people and some may not. Some people may even ask you to come and support a cause that is contrary to scriptures. Be very careful! Be watchful and prayerful. When they come to make such proposals, place them side-by-side with the word. Any proposition that violates the word of God must be rejected without fear or favour. Those borderline issues which are not out-rightly wrong or sinful should be presented to God, asking for His direction. Never allow yourself to be used by manipulators! If you lead the people under you astray, not only will their blood be upon your head, you may lose your integrity, position, power and honour. Also, carefully watch out for sycophants who will sing your praise so high that you will not know when they begin to lead you astray. Sycophants are “loyal” to you for very wrong reasons - reasons they may never tell you. They will always want you to see what they do, because they do their service to impress the leader and not God. Ask God to weed off from you anyone who appears close to you but wants to mislead you. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

If you experience a loss at any point in life, know that it’s a time to stay calm and not a time to lose heart. If you can wait to receive specific instructions from the Lord, it will expedite the recovery of your loss. The reason why many losses of God’s children have not been recovered is because they have not found time to seek the face of God on the matter. As you seek God’s face concerning those good things you have lost, the Lord will give you a word that will lead to their recovery.
 
Many years ago, while we were building the first big auditorium at the Redemption Camp, we needed a lot of wood. We paid the government board in charge of sawmills in Edo state, Nigeria, to have this wood supplied to us. A few weeks to our convention, this government board decided to shut down all sawmills in the state. While pacing up and down asking God what to do, the Lord asked me what I knew about the Kingdom of God. To me, this question was irrelevant and I wanted to say so, but I cautioned myself and began to say what I knew about the Kingdom of God. I said “You must be born again to enter into the Kingdom of God”. He concurred. Then I said “The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost”. He agreed. This continued until I exhausted all I could remember on the subject matter. Eventually, I said “Since the days of John the Baptist, the Kingdom of God suffereth violence, and the violent taketh it by force.” Then He replied, “That is where we are going. Do you want your wood? Give me a violent offering.” That was on a Saturday; on Sunday, I shared this with my children and we gave a violent offering. On Monday, the governor of Edo state dissolved this government Board and reconstituted another one, which immediately reopened all sawmills. On Tuesday, someone who had no money to give brought his trailer for us to use as long as we wanted. On Wednesday, someone came to give us bags of nails. Several other people also brought materials for the building. Within two weeks, the auditorium was ready; all because I received an instruction from the Lord. The instruction that will lead to a full recovery of your losses shall be given to you this season. When you seek God’s face and He tells you what to do, don’t argue with Him; go ahead and obey the Lord and you will recover your losses. It is your recovery period this season! Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Our Lord Jesus Christ has many names and titles. The purpose of these names is to enlighten the eyes of our understanding to the reality of His person. One of such names is The Way. In John 14:6, the Lord Jesus revealed this truth about Himself to us:
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
What does the Lord mean when He says He is the Way? If you need to get to a location and you are at a loss on how to get there, the wise thing to do is to ask people at your current location the way out of where you are in order to get to where you wish to go. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Way out of the unpleasant situation you are in presently. He is also the Way into the new location of your choice. The Bible reveals Jesus as the Way out of sickness (1 Peter 2:24). In Acts 9:32-35, Peter visited some believers living in Lydda and met Aeneas who had been bedridden for eight years. He simply introduced him to Jesus Christ, and Aeneas followed the Name of Jesus out of sickness into divine healing and health.
 
The Name of Jesus is also the Way out of death (Acts 9:40-41). Matthew 10:5-8 shows that the sick, the lepers and the dead can follow the pathway of Jesus out of their circumstances. Anyone who has an appointment with death can be delivered by following the Name of Jesus, because Jesus is the way out of any situation having to do with death. Some 276 sailors, soldiers and prisoners were lost at sea for fourteen days and faced sure death in the hands of a violent hurricane called Euroclydon (Act 27:12-44). For fourteen days, their souls were overwhelmed with the fear of death and they could not eat anything. They all would have died but for the presence of Paul who bore the Name of Jesus amongst them. The Lord sent His angel to Paul to show them the way of escape from the clutches of death. The Lord showed them that their salvation depended on them remaining in their sinking ship which was at the mercy of the winds (Acts 27:31)! The pathway that goes through Jesus led them through the valley of the shadow of death, and not one soul among them was lost (Acts 27:44). Do you have an early appointment with death that agents of darkness have fixed for you? In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, that appointed with death is cancelled! Has sickness drawn you so close to death? In the Name of Jesus, you shall not die but live! You shall recover in Jesus’ Name. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

It is great to experience deliverance from demons, but it is better to never be repossessed by them after being delivered. A better option than these is not to have being possessed by demons at all. If you have never been possessed by demons all your life, you do not know what God has done for you. These two things are common to all those who have been possessed before: they suffered great losses and went through hell. Take for instance the Gadarene demoniac in Mark 5:1-13: what he would never do to himself in his right senses, he did while demons were inside him. He cut his body with sharp stones, bled and felt the pain, and yet he compulsively repeated this often. In other words, the demons in him told him to hurt his own body as if it was the body of an enemy, and he obeyed even though he felt the pain. The demons tried to use him to destroy himself. Do you know that even today, demonic spirits still compel their victims to destroy themselves? We should not be surprised of this, as Jesus in John 10:10 already revealed their mission to us:
"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:"
All over the world today, demons of addiction gradually lure people into taking degenerative substances such as cocaine, heroin, Indian hemp, cigarettes, tobacco powder (snuff), etc. After a while, such people discover that they are unable to break away from these substances. The aim of these demonic spirits of addiction is to destroy their bodies. In the same manner, these spirits get people into drinking alcohol, and before long, they become alcoholics. The operations of the demons of lust follow the same pattern. They get their victims into immorality, sodomy lesbianism, and other sexual sins, so as to make them destroy themselves. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says:
"What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"
The objective of these demons is to make their victims destroy their bodies to the extent that the Holy Spirit will not come near it, not to talk of entering in. Unfortunately, do you know that some people are happy to harbour demons because of certain benefits they derive from them; for example, practitioners of witchcraft? The pigs that were at the receiving end of the demons cast out of the Gadarene demoniac were more sensible than such people. They preferred to drown rather than to allow demons inhabit them. Are you as wise as these pigs? If you have any spirit other than the Holy Spirit inside you, you need help through deliverance. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The devil knows the glorious tomorrow that awaits every believer in Christ when they cross the finish line of the Christian race. This is why he fights tooth and nail to derail us from reaching our goal. He was a part of the heavenly bliss that will be our reward, but he lost his place due to evil thoughts (Isaiah 14:12-15). He does not want us to taste what he lost; hence he works through wiles to bring us down (Ephesians 6:11). One of the wiles that Satan uses in making believers in Christ abandon the Christian race is hardship. Some people have pulled out of heaven's marathon before getting to the finish line, due to their inability to endure hardship. Our Lord Jesus Christ describes such people in Mark 4:17:
"And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended".
The expectations you had when you entered the Christian faith matter a lot. The Christian faith is not a bed of roses. The way of the cross that leads to Heaven is not a path laden with gold and easy to take. If anyone tells you that once you believe in Jesus, all your problems will disappear and everything will always go well, you are being deceived. The day you signed up as a believer in Christ, the die was cast and the battle line was drawn between you and the kingdom of darkness. From that day, you became a sworn enemy of the forces of darkness. They will surely attack you and try to make you feel miserable.

You are expected to endure hardness as a good soldier of Christ (2 Timothy 2:3). The inability to endure difficult and trying times makes one a bad soldier of the cross. Even when God blesses you, He still leaves room for you to be persecuted, tried and ridiculed. Your faith in Christ may be tested through lack, hunger, unanswered prayers, false accusations, ill health, and so on. Jesus in Matthew 5:10-12 taught that if you can take persecution, being reviled by men and false accusation in good faith, you are blessed and on the path to Heaven. On the other hand, if you easily get offended by these, if nothing is done to correct your attitude, you may become derailed from the faith. Are you offended in Christ? Towards the end of his stay on earth, John the Baptist began to doubt if the same Person he had declared to be the Son of God was the true Messiah (Matthew 11:2-6). In His reply to John's questions, the Lord told him not to be offended in Him. It is a good thing to suffer persecution for your faith in Christ. Never get to the point of being offended in Him. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The Almighty God is so great, mighty, powerful, glorious and all-knowing that He is unlimited, unlike mortal men. He has access to the past, present and future of every event. Jesus in Revelation 1:8 declared:
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”
The word “Alpha” in this declaration refers to the beginning of beginnings. When everything began, it was in His presence. John 1:2 says the Word was in the beginning with God. He was there when everything was formed, and as a result, He can trace the historical links of everything to where it all started. He is still in control of the past, so He can interfere with it in order to give you a better tomorrow. He knows exactly how things will turn out; hence it is best to always stick with His decisions. Before He gives counsel on any matter, He looks at the situation from the angles of the past, present and future, within the context of His purpose for your life. This is why those who factor His decisions into their lives are wise (Proverbs 3:5-7). Even if something goes wrong with such a decision down the line, because He is involved, and all the power and resources available in the universe belong to Him, He will tinker with things and get them to work in your favour (Romans 8:28). How often do you let Him into your decisions?
 
In the sphere of human existence, today is a product of yesterday. If you are a professional today, it is because you spent time being trained in school yesterday. If you have graduated from the university with a first-class honours degree, it is because you invested quality time into studying. If you are doing menial jobs as a cleaner or messenger, it is most likely because of your lack of access to an education or because you did not invest enough time in schooling. If you are suffering today, it is most likely as a result of what you did or did not do in the past. This is why you should be very careful with what you do today. Also, have tomorrow in view before taking that decision today. Thirdly, get connected with the only One who can go into your past to help your present. Do you know the Alpha and Omega? Are you connected with the Beginning of beginnings? Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

One of the privileges that being in Christ grants to you is that your present situation and your past life cannot hinder your God-given destiny. God has decided your destination even before you were born. Because you are a child of destiny, you will get to your destination in Jesus’ Name. Nevertheless, you need to know that your destiny can be changed by God or by your attitude. God had to change His plan for eternal priestly succession, which He had earlier promised Eli and his household. Ponder on what God said to Eli in 1 Samuel 2:30:
“Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.”
May God never change His plan for your life, family and ministry in Jesus’ Name!
 
Just as God can change His mind concerning a promise He made to an individual or family, He can also change His mind concerning a promise He made to a nation. In Numbers 14:26-32, God changed His mind concerning a generation of the children of Israel. God had brought them to the borders of the Promised Land, in readiness to completely fulfil the promise He had made to their fathers over 400 years before they were born. But amazingly, they refused to enter in. They did not believe that God could complete the process He had started. God therefore changed His mind concerning them because of their unbelief (Hebrews 3:19). God told them that they would not enter into their destiny; rather, they would die in the wilderness. Their children, whom they thought would never enter the Promised Land, were the same ones God now said He would take into the land. May God never change His good plans concerning your nation in Jesus’ Name! Unbelief is a terrible thing! Every time you fail to believe that God can do what He has promised to do, you tie God’s hands and push Him to dump the promise He made to you. Unbelief is a slap on God’s face. People who are not yet saved are referred to as unbelievers. It is understandable why they cannot believe God in their current state. However, the moment you receive Jesus, you are supposed to become a believer. God is not happy when believers who have experienced His ability over time, demonstrate unbelief in Him. In any way you are in unbelief, repent fast and pull out of it! Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Every race has its rules. Crossing the finish line without following the rules will bring you no reward. Service to God in His vineyard also follows this principle. Some leaders who have gone ahead of us in the service of God messed up and ended up where they did not bargain for. This is why to avoid ending up like they did, we must learn from their experience. Korah, Dathan and Abiram were powerful leaders under Pastor Moses in the wilderness, but they erred and met with terrible judgment. That shall not be your portion in Jesus’ Name! From the narrative about them in Numbers 16, we learn that we should focus on the assignment God has given to everyone of us. 1 Corinthians 7:20 makes it clear that everyone should mind their calling:
“Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.”
Adding to what God has given you might actually be a distraction to your original calling. If you want God to increase the scope of your assignment, or if you desire to be promoted in the things of the Kingdom, the right approach is to draw closer to the Holy Spirit, tell Him about your godly desires, satisfy God’s laid down conditions for experiencing an uplift and wait to hear from the Lord. Using the methods of the flesh to gain ascendancy can only uplift the flesh. It takes the Spirit to lift you up in spiritual things. It is important to note that not everyone occupying a top ecclesiastical leadership position got there by the Spirit. Allow God to judge and reward them accordingly, but do not repeat their mistakes.
 
Moreover, another lesson from the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram is that using your growing popularity to work against the will of God can totally erode it. The 250 princes involved in this sad story were very popular in the wilderness, having been selected out of the general populace into the position of leadership. They were honoured and famous for as long as they played their roles within the scope of their divine assignment. But the moment they decided to partner with rebellious folks, honour gave way to shame, and their popularity turned to disfavour. Are you a leader in the church or in any enterprise? Praise God! Are you becoming very popular by virtue of your position and the opportunities you have access to as a leader? Praise God! However, be very careful! Never use your popularity against God’s people or God’s Word. If you do, it will surely backfire and you will not be proud of what you will get in return. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Due to the advent of sin and the activities of our adversary, we are faced with different challenges of life from day to day. The loss of assets and of persons dear to us is one of those challenges which our adversary, the devil, throws at us to destabilise us and ultimately make us lose our faith. But thank God that provision has been made in the package of salvation for the recovery of those things which we may have lost. Do you desire to recover what you have lost? Stop crying about it and encourage yourself in the Lord. A time of loss is a time to seek the face of God in prayer. After David and his men suffered a major loss, he wept, but he didn’t stop there. He encouraged himself in the Lord and sought God’s face in prayer (1 Samuel 29:3-. Although God is a very present help in the time of trouble, it is only those who seek Him that will find Him (Proverbs 8:17). Based on his life experiences, the Psalmist confirms this in Psalm 34:10:
“The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.”
Have you lost any good thing? Seek God’s face from today. Separate yourself to spend time with God alone. For the duration of that period, let God be your only focus. Pour out your heart to Him and meditate on His word. Praise and worship Him in spirit and in truth. Be quiet in His presence to hear what He has to say to you. Have you been seeking God’s face after suffering a loss?
 
It is important to receive instructions from God after suffering a loss. He alone can fully tell how a loss occurred, where what was lost can be found and how best to recover it. Unfortunately, people seldom follow God’s instructions. Many people adhere to traffic rules, especially in developed countries, because they do not want sanctions. Similarly, most people follow the instructions in the user’s manual of their gadgets; but when it comes to God’s instructions, people take what appeals to them and discard the rest. Beloved, receive all of God’s instructions because they will lead you to the path of success, victory and joy. Instructions from God can come to you through a variety of ways. God can instruct you by directly speaking to you. He can also do so through His servants, especially through the word of knowledge in programmes such as our monthly Holy Ghost Service. God can send you instructions while you fellowship with other brethren in church. It could be during praise and worship, the choir ministration, prayer time or through the sermon. This is why it is important not to neglect fellowshipping with the brethren. How attentive are you to receive instructions from God while in His presence? Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In an attempt to fill the void created by the absence of God in some people’s lives, they find themselves using mind-bending substances. This is very rampant in societies that have replaced God with government. In admission of their failure to achieve this folly in the lives of men, some of them now allow the free use of these substances. What they fail to realise is that without Jesus Christ, you can never be complete (Colossians 2:10). Nothing else can take His place. The effects of mind-bending drugs such as marijuana or cocaine can never fill His space in the heart. If you take any of these, it will only take you “high” into a world of hallucination: an unreal world that Satan creates for you while the effects of these drugs last, but afterwards, he drops you far below where he took you from, leaving you feeling deeply depressed, dissatisfied, empty and naked.
 
Any person who uses mind-bending substances will always want to experience the “high” feeling again and again in a vicious cycle. It is ironic that there is never a feeling of satisfaction derived from the use of these substances. Rather, one wrap becomes too small and the fellow moves on to two, three, four or even five in order to experience the effect that used to be derived from just a single wrap or shot. It gets to a stage where they now live for hard drugs. At this point, nothing else matters to them but another wrap or shot All along, each use of these substances leads the user into madness.
 
No hard drug satisfies, but Jesus Christ does. He is the ”hard drug” that can fix your life once and for all. Take one shot of Jesus Christ and He will take you truly high and keep you there. One wrap of Jesus will give you a bit of the heavenly experience that will increase every passing day as you fellowship with Him. Have you received Jesus into your life? Are you a drug addict? Do you need a fix every now and then? All you need is Jesus! He satisfies. He will quench your thirst for inordinate things. Receive Him into your heart and it shall be well with you. Your life will receive the transformation you need. Are you addicted to drugs and other mind-bending substances? Have you made effort to stop their use but could not stop? In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, you are set free today! That habit holding you bound is broken now! I command every demon of addiction to release you now! You are liberated from their grip in Jesus’ Name. Submit yourself to the environment of accountability in a church to strengthen your resolve never to go back. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The word of God is very central to our life as believers. In the very last admonition of Moses to the children of Israel, He said the word of God is their very life (Deuteronomy 32:46-47). For believers in Christ today, the word of God is also our life, because it is through it that we are born-again, as revealed in 1 Peter 1:23:
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.”
After we are born-again, the word of God performs several functions in our life. One aspect of these functions which is rather interesting is that it works as our mirror. A mirror shows the reflection of the one using it. A man may hold an opinion of himself for a long period, but when he has the opportunity to look in a mirror, he will see himself as he is. In this age of flattery and political correctness, you may be shocked by the time you compare what you see in a mirror before you, to people’s assessment of your person. Why is this so? We live in a time when it has become very difficult for people to call a spade a spade. They prefer to tell you what you want to hear. They are prepared to flatter you and say those things that can keep them in your good books, particularly if they hope to curry your favour. If the friends you surround yourself with cannot point out your faults when you go wrong, change them. If you don’t, they will lead you astray.
 
Unlike men who will flatter you, the word of God tells you who or what you are without fear or favour. When you stand before the perfect law of liberty, you will see yourself exactly how God sees you. The word of God will reveal the stains in your garment of salvation and show you the wrinkles on your robe of righteousness. One reason why people avoid hearing, reading or studying the Bible is because they are afraid of seeing their true picture. They want to continue to live under self-deception. Some other people look at the mirror of God’s word, see their stains, dents and imperfections, and yet they refuse to do anything about it. This is the height of foolishness! If God’s word cannot correct you, what else can? The Bible in James 1:21 says:
“Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.”
Receive God’s verdict about you in His word today, and stop trying to justify yourself. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In a marathon, not everyone who starts the race reaches the finish line. Several people drop out of the race due to one reason or the other. In the same way, several people are dropping out of the race to meet Christ the Redeemer on the last day. The parable of the sower reveals some of the reasons why people will not get to the finish line of the Christian race. One of such reasons is not being rooted and grounded in the word of God. Jesus gives further insight into this in Mark 4:17:
“And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.”
 
The root of a tree is very important to its survival. If you cut down every part of most trees and leave the roots, the tree will spring up again. All the nourishment that sustains the fruits, leaves and branches of a tree are received through its roots. Also, it is the roots that hold the tree when the wind comes against it. If the roots are few or tiny, the tree will also be limited in its ability to feed and stay fixed; but if the roots are many, big and strong, the tree will feed well and endure. Note that every tree has roots whose size is directly proportional to the size of the tree. It is therefore the size of your root in Christ that will determine how big you will grow in His kingdom. A heavy wind blew one rainy day and it caused a big tree located by the roadside to fall. People marvelled that such a huge tree could be brought down by the wind, but after they looked closely, they discovered that the roots of this tree did not go deep enough into the ground, and so the bottom of the tree appeared flat. No wonder it fell!
 
In the Christian faith, the root refers to the foundation on which one’s faith in Jesus Christ is established. If the foundation is bad, it will definitely affect the growth and stability of the tree. Any fruit produced will have problems if the root is not the right size or does not go deep enough. Many believers who bungled their trip to Heaven had a bad foundation in Christ. Either their roots were developed wrongly, or their roots did not go deep enough. This is why care should be taken to groom young converts very well through the teaching of the word. They should be exposed to the sincere, undiluted milk of the word (1 Peter 2:2). What is the state of your foundation in Christ? Do you have big, strong roots that can give you stability until the race ends? Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

JESUS is the ONLY Saviour

Grafting is an agricultural technique used for propagating fruit trees. It involves cutting a section of the stem of one tree and inserting it into the stock of another tree. A part of the tree providing the stock must be cut off before grafting can take place. This technique is used in order to make fruit trees reproduce true to type. Romans 11:16-20 describes our entry into the family of God as a form of this process. The Almighty God has the power to reverse the irreversible. In the process of doing this, He can disconnect a person in order to connect another. Romans 11:17 says that God can take a branch from a wild olive tree and graft it into a good olive tree, so that instead of the wild branch producing bitter fruit, it will deliver good fruit. Are you living recklessly and on your way to Hell? As you repent of your sins today and turn your life over to Jesus, God will graft you into the Body of Christ, so that your future that was supposed to end in bitterness will end in sweetness.
 
The children of Israel were beneficiaries of grafting as an act of God. Seven powerful nations had inhabited the Promised Land for several years before God chose that portion of the earth for His children (Deuteronomy 7:1). He decided to cut off those nations and bring in His children. This season, the Lord will displace the current movers and shakers of the most productive sectors of the world, in order to make room for you in Jesus’ Name.
 
Another beneficiary of God’s grafting was Esther. She was an orphan who became a slave when some soldiers raided her city and took her captive (Esther 2:5-7). She knew sorrow and was meant to die a slave, but God went into her future and said, “You shall not die a slave but a queen”. For this to take place, God used Queen Vashti’s mistake to cut her off, so that the slave girl could be grafted in as queen. Are you a slave or a house-help, wondering if you will die in that present condition? The Lord who did it for Esther will go into your future and effect the necessary changes to make you a noteworthy person. Are people expecting your life to end in misery? No, my God will not let it happen! Your tomorrow shall be alright. You shall have the type of experience Esther had, and your end shall be honourable like that of Jabez (1 Chronicles 4:9-10). You shall end well. Are you empty now? You shall end full. God will disappoint all the expectations of your enemies in Jesus’ Name. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

If God has a destination for you, your present situation cannot stop Him. The circumstances of life surrounding young Esther as a slave girl did not stop her from becoming queen of a very powerful kingdom. In the Name of Jesus Christ, your present circumstances shall not stop you from arriving at your God-appointed destiny! Similarly, concerning where God is taking you, your past does not matter. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says if you are in Christ, old things are passed away and everything has become new. For this reason, God commands you thus in Isaiah 43:18:
“Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.”
If you are sure of your salvation in Christ, whatever was in your past that the enemy wants to use in hindering your destiny will receive a divine touch. Everything in your past that can destroy your present and future, especially as relates to your destiny, shall be completely arrested by God today. From today, the mercy of God will go ahead of you, and your past shall no longer hinder you. Every accusing finger pointing at you shall stop in Jesus’ Name. The Lord says this to you in Romans 8:1:
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
 
Moreover, another vital information you should have is that God is the One who decides destinies. He told Jeremiah: “I have determined what you would be, long before I formed you and put you in your mother’s womb. While you were still in your mother’s womb, I ordained you to be a prophet to nations.” Long before you were born, God had already decided what you will be. He did not consult with your parents before taking His decision about your destiny. If He did, they could have disqualified you. “Witches and wizards from your village” did not know what was going on at that time. They were not there when God was planning your life, hence they can’t stop you. In His mind, God has decided the following concerning you: it shall be well with you, you shall live to glorify His Name, you shall not die prematurely, you shall fulfil your destiny, and many more. Every good thing that the Lord has decided concerning you shall be established! Every destiny destroyer sent to hinder you shall fail and fall. Your tomorrow shall be far greater than your today. Every force that tries to hinder you shall be destroyed by the fire of the Holy Ghost in Jesus’ Name. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In Numbers 16, we read of a highly explosive rebellion that rocked God’s people in the wilderness. Some leaders were not satisfied with the level of assignment God had apportioned to them. Instead of going through Moses to God to ask if there could be an expansion of their job description, they began to eye the priesthood. They wondered how God could give them so little an assignment considering their zeal to serve Him. How could some other people be chosen as the priests when they were there? At some point, they succeeded in convincing 250 popular leaders, who were princes, to favour their cause. What started like a joke had become a great revolt. In the end, the Lord Himself stepped in and delivered judgement to all concerned.
 
From this story, we should learn to be content with whatever God gives to us. God gives talents to every person according to their abilities. The Holy Spirit is in charge of assigning job descriptions to the children of God. 1 Corinthians 12:11 says:
“But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.”
He is in charge of God’s vineyard, and so He is the One to give you the portion you should work on. Also, He will give you the required ability and the spiritual stamina to perform the assignment. Someone may say, “I am still an ordinary altar minister, whereas by now I should have become a zonal pastor.” The Holy Spirit knows why you are where you are. You can be sure that when you need to occupy a higher office than where you are now, He will take you there. However, to move up the ladder in God’s Kingdom is not by acts of the flesh but by the will of the Spirit. You are not permitted to seek higher office by scheming out your leader in order to take his place. Some people do this and succeed in replacing their leader, but they are completely outside of God’s plan and out of their divine assignment. They are no longer in God’s employment; they now serve their own bellies at best or the devil at worst. Any work done by such ecclesiastical rogues will never attract any reward from Heaven, because the foundation of that service is not the Holy Spirit. If they ever make it to Heaven, they will be told “You worked for yourself and not for God, so go and reward yourself.” Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

“Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.”
Psalm 27:14
After you have suffered a major loss, or when everything around you appears gloomy and bleak, turn your focus on the Lord. When those you look up to fail you, look up to God. He is the only One who will never fail you. Have your friends in the Christian race turned their backs on God? Are you becoming discouraged and wondering whether to continue with Christ or to join your backslidden friends? Focus on Christ and He will sustain you. Has your pastor done something so painful to you, to the extent that you are thinking of either leaving the church or going back into the world? Look up to Jesus! Remember, the Christian race accommodates everyone who has repented, but it is still a very personal race. If your friend or pastor chooses to go to Hell, must you go with them? No! Never be discouraged from doing the work that God has assigned to you, irrespective of contrary pressures from human and demonic forces.
 
Several years ago, just after I became a pastor in the Redeemed Christian Church of God, there was a misunderstanding among the ministers of the church. Some people I highly respected disappointed me, so much so that I became depressed and discouraged. As I returned from the headquarters of the church at Ebute Metta, to the University of Lagos where I was lecturing, a traffic warden stopped my car at St. Agnes junction. While I was waiting, I said to myself, “If this is what they call the gospel, and it is not taking me forward, then I will go back to where I am coming from.” Almost immediately, the Lord spoke to me saying “Son, why are you so sad?” My reply was “Lord, You know all things. You saw all that happened.” Then He said “True, this fellow disappointed you, but have I ever disappointed you?” With that word, courage, hope and joy flooded my heart, and I moved from the valley to the mountain top. I went my way, singing “I have a God who never fails”. God is your greatest antidote to discouragement. Look up to Him and He will send you the right words that will terminate sorrow and discouragement in you. Are you disheartened? Feed on God’s word, remember His promises and recall how He has answered your prayers in the past. After doing all these, place your hope and trust in Him. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is so awesome; not only does He provide peace, joy, promotion, victory and rest, He also gives satisfaction. The Bible in John 7:37 says:
“In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.”
Jesus Christ is the true thirst-quencher. He knows what you need and has it in abundance. He is willing to quench that thirst of yours if only you would take it to Him. Today, many people realise that they need something in their life. They can feel unexplainable hunger pangs within their souls and are gripped with a strong thirst for something inside of them. But because they do not really know what can quench their thirst and satisfy their hunger, they use just about anything to try to fill this void. No human, material or spiritual substitute can fill the vacuum that God has reserved for Himself inside of you. When God created you, He made a space specially for Himself inside you; no one but Him is to occupy this space. Unfortunately, many people have allowed other things to enter into that space. This amounts to putting a square peg in a round hole: it can never fit!
 
That thirst to serve God was put inside you by God. He alone can quench it. Becoming religious cannot satisfy that thirst. All you have to do is to repent of your sins, ask for God’s forgiveness and invite Jesus Christ to live inside you, and He will completely fill that space like a round peg in a round hole! If you understand John 1:9, you will realise that Jesus Christ has a role to play in the life of every human being He created. Until He lights you up, you will remain in darkness. No religion can light you up! This is why Colossians 2:10 says:
“And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.”
This Scripture reveals that without Jesus Christ, no human being is complete. It was the need for completion that necessitated the removal of a rib from Adam to form Eve. Every human being was created incomplete, and it is only by receiving Jesus that they become complete and whole. Living without Jesus is like trying to drive a car without the control of a steering wheel. Such a car would be out of control. It will eventually crash and become a wreck! Why not allow the Controller of the universe to take over your ”tiny” life today? Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

As a believer in Christ, one of the traits that should differentiate you from an ordinary fellow is the ability to cast out demons (Mark 16:17). However, if demons are tormenting you and you fail to do something about them, don’t expect God to do anything either. He has already done what He should do by giving you authority over them. He expects you to exercise this authority before He takes the next step of enforcement. The ball is now in your court; if you fail to pass it to Him, He will leave you with the ball. In 2 Kings 4:1-7, we read of a widow whose husband was a prophet. The man died and left her with two boys and a lot of debt. Initially, when the creditor came calling, she was not bothered. She would have thought within herself that after all, she was not the only one owing money. She might have said to herself like some people in Nigeria would say: “Even Nigeria as a nation is indebted, and so is America for that matter; so what is the big deal if I owe people money?” Although the Almighty God was there on His throne with all His power, might, zeal and resources, He could not do anything to help her for as long as she tolerated poverty, lack and debt. But one day, tired of repeated fruitless visits, her creditor came and threatened to sell her sons into slavery if she was unable to pay the debt. Pushed to the wall, she cried out for help, and help came. She was delivered from the threat that would have hindered her boys from fulfilling their destinies. When will you be tired of managing or condoning your unpleasant situation?
 
Let us note a few things about deliverance. It is a great thing to be delivered. Mary Magdalene was delivered of seven powerful demons, and she eventually became a divine treasurer. Her destiny was to be a divine treasurer ministering to the needs of Jesus, but for as long as the demons were in her, she could not fulfil this. This simply tells us that one way the devil tries to hinder a person from fulfilling his or her destiny is by sending one or more demons to possess him or her. When such demons come into that individual, they will give the fellow some other assignment to distract their victim from the original purpose of God. When an evil spirit took over the position of the Holy Spirit in the heart of King Saul, he became tormented. Demons torment their victims tremendously. If you have been delivered from the hands of demons, you will appreciate your freedom. Are you still allowing demons to hinder your destiny? It’s time to confront them today! Jesus wants to set you free. You just need to cooperate with Him. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Imagine that while running a marathon, with all your focus on the finish line, you suddenly run out of energy; would it be easy for you to complete the race? Definitely not! Most likely, you would have to pull out of the race. We see this scenario repeatedly playing out itself in the Christian race. Many people who started the Christian race, who were expected to run the race to the end, have suddenly run out of steam and are falling by the wayside. When the 10 virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 started their race, they all hoped to finish it. One lesson this parable teaches us is that the race may be longer than expected. If anything, you must plan to run for as long as it takes until you reach the finish line. Only five of the virgins realised the need to sustain their resolve, and so they were careful to carry some extra oil. Beyond what every other person is doing, what additional preparations are you making and what extra precautions are you taking with respect to the race set before you? If you truly want to reach the end of this Heaven-bound journey, you will need more steam in your reserves. You will need more of the anointing, because it’s not by power nor by might that victory is secured. The anointing that works miracles, signs and wonders is different from the anointing that gives grace to hold the baton till the very end. Your zeal to continue needs to be renewed daily. May you never lack the will or the power to run the race!
 
We are in a marathon: the course of which can sometimes be longer than expected. It can also be more stressful and more demanding than we ever thought. When I got saved, most of us who were saved at that time believed that Jesus would most likely come back within 10 years of our salvation. I was a lecturer then, and on several occasions, some students would come to me asking “Since the Lord is coming very soon, why are we studying?” I told them that since Jesus asked us to occupy until He comes, they needed to continue their studies and do other legitimate things, especially since we were not told the exact time or day of His coming. A colleague of mine who was supposed to pursue a PhD programme even cancelled it. He believed that Jesus would come really soon, and so acquiring a PhD would be useless. Over 30 years down the line, we are still waiting for the Lord. Don’t be tired of waiting for the Lord’s return. Occupy yourself with the things He gave you to do, and keep being focused. You shall surely reach the end of the race, and you will finish strong in Jesus’ Name. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Do you know that God still reverses the irreversible? He can go into your past to affect your today, and He can also go into your future and make it glorious. He can even change your appointment with death to a future date, just as He extended King Hezekiah’s life by 15 years (2 Kings 20:6). This shall be your portion in Jesus’ Name! Some years ago, a woman came from America to a Holy Ghost service we organised in London. She was advanced in age, had attained menopause and she was barren. During the course of the programme, a word of knowledge came that there was a woman in the congregation for whom God had just removed 10 years from her current age. She said “Amen! That must be me.” Thereafter, she told her younger sisters whom she accompanied to the programme that “Don’t call me ‘Aunty’ (a matured woman) anymore; I am now ‘Sisi’ (a young lady)!” A few minutes later, another word of knowledge came saying that the woman who had just been made 10 years younger would return with her baby same time next year. Convinced the word from God was for her, she said “O God, You must have seen me today.” A year later, she had her baby.
 
Be assured that God who did it for this woman will also do it for you; Hebrews 13:8 says:
“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”
God will turn the times and the seasons of your life around in your favour in Jesus’ Name. Have people written you off and said you will die childless? The Lord God will go into your future and say “I know you were supposed to die childless, but I am changing that so that on the day you will die and be buried, you will have at least four of your own children at your funeral.” If people write you off, God can write you in. Has somebody looked at you and told you to your face that you can never be rich, because poverty is a perfect fit for you? The Lord will reverse this pronouncement. Has your teacher told you that you are so dull mentally that you can never amount to anything academically or professionally? The Lord will change that. Has anyone in your extended family told you that you can never amount to anything in life? The Lord will also change that. God has the power to change anything, but the problem is that some of us have accepted the negative pronouncements that have been passed on to us by others. That is very wrong. As long as you believe their lie and accept it, God will not be able to change anything concerning you, no matter how much He wants to. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

While it is true that the Lord expects us to shine in the areas of our character and soul-winning, He also expects us to shine in the area of prosperity. No wonder He gave us great promises on prosperity, such as these found in Deuteronomy 28:12:
“The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.”
Poverty is one of the repercussions of sin; hence there is so much poverty across the globe. God is not happy with the level of poverty in the world, this is why He has chosen to make His children prosper and set them as lights that will wipe out the darkness of poverty from nations (Psalm 35:27). If you have been blessed by God but have not yet reached the level where you can lend to nations, it shows that you have not yet arrived at the level of prosperity God is taking you to. Because of your current lowly situation, you may find it hard to believe that God can truly increase you to this level, but the truth about God’s integrity is that if He has promised to do it, He will definitely keep His promise, provided you do your part.
 
Concerning where God is taking you to, you would be wise to always remember that your present situation does not matter. God’s destination for you is quite different from where you are now. Your present location cannot stop God from taking you to the destination He has for you. He is the God who can relocate a beggar from the dunghill to sit with princes and nobles (1 Samuel 2:. David was just a shepherd boy attending to his father’s little flock, but when God decided to move him into greatness, his humble circumstances did not stop God. The young shepherd boy became king according to God’s promise (2 Samuel 7:. God did the same for Joseph. Joseph had a dream, but he also had very determined dream-killers as brothers. They sold him into slavery, and at a point he was a prisoner. In spite of all these, he rose from prison to become prime minister of Egypt (Psalm 105:17-22). You too are destined to be great! Your present challenges or limitations cannot stop you from becoming what God has ordained you to be. You shall be great! Nothing will stop you. No one can stop you. It is well with your tomorrow. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Although Miriam was Moses’ elder sister and leader of the women of Israel, she was a casualty of God’s judgement in the wilderness. It is instructive to note that an individual occupying such a sensitive position could not escape God’s judgment when she goofed. For speaking against Moses, God struck her with leprosy. It took the intercession of Moses to reduce her sentence to one week; otherwise she might have died a leper (Numbers 12:13-15). From this example, every man should know their place and learn never to speak against God’s servants. The more anointed they are, the more dangerous it is to offend them. If Psalm105:14-15 is anything to go by, God does not permit anyone to harm His anointed. If God’s anointed offends you, apart from telling the fellow directly, you can report the fellow to God who anointed him or her, and God surely knows how to deal with His anointed. Never take it upon yourself to speak evil of God’s anointed, and never attempt to cause such a fellow harm. If you do, God may have to defend His anointed against you. Anyone fighting God’s anointed is fighting the God who anointed him or her, and with God, this can get very personal.
 
Our God is a God of structure, order and government. From the example of Miriam in the wilderness, we understand that God follows the spiritual order of authority when judging His anointed servants. To this end, God expects his younger ministers to be submissive to higher spiritual authority. We should also learn that our God is a God of justice who will judge any highly anointed person who tries to take advantage of those under him or her. Are you highly anointed of God? God has placed you as a role model to those under you; you should therefore not misbehave because you are occupying a high ecclesiastical office. Don’t abuse your spiritual authority by cruelly lording yourself over your subordinates and making unreasonable demands. If your subordinate is right in a matter, God will judge you, the superior who has done wrong. This can be inferred from the case of David and Uriah (2 Samuel 11&12). Today, many believers are suffering in several ways for fighting, opposing, obstructing and gossiping about God’s anointed. It is unfortunate that most people affected by this are not even aware of it. It’s time to deal with your problems at their root. Consider your attitude to God’s anointed today. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Despondency is a tool the devil uses to steal people’s vision. He injects this evil poison into a man’s heart through the experience of loss and suffering. That today is bad and the future looks bleak does not mean that your tomorrow will be terrible. As long as you are in Christ, you can rest assured that your tomorrow will be alright. Don’t give up on your vision! Even if the devil stole a particular blessing from you, don’t give him your vision. Dry up your tears because you need clear eyes to see new opportunities that God is giving to you. In fact, the avenue to your recovery can be around you as we speak, but as long as your eyes are flooded with tears, you will see only the situation and not the opportunities. Has the enemy taken everything from you like he did to Job? That could just mean that like Job, you too are going through a trial of your faith. Don’t give up on God! Don’t let the devil take your joy, because the joy of the Lord is your strength. The knowledge that God is with you in that particular situation, and that the devil has clear boundaries with regards to the extent and timing of your trial should comfort your heart (Job 1:12 & 2:6). Make sure that like Job, after your trial, you emerge as gold. In addition to putting an end to tears, you also need to encourage yourself in the Lord (1 Samuel 30:6). To succeed in life and in the Christian race set before you, don’t be surprised that in the midst of certain situations, the things or people you thought you would draw great motivation from could end up becoming the source of great discouragement.
 
In 1 Samuel 30:4-6, after David had wept over his losses, he encouraged himself in the Lord. This shows that he remembered God’s unlimited ability after he had lost all hope in his own ability. Hope and strength came to him after this. No wonder he confessed in Psalms 27:13 that:
“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”
David went through situations that swallowed his hope and made him despair even of life, but when he remembered who God is, what He had done and what He could do, his hope came alive again. He therefore declared that in spite of his current unpleasant situation, he would still experience the goodness of the Lord while alive, and it was so. Take courage, believe and confess that the negative situation you are currently experiencing will not kill you. Don’t allow it rob you of your tomorrow. You shall see God’s goodness in the land of the living in Jesus’ Name. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The majesty of a king is seen in the power and influence his name commands. In the whole universe, there is no king greater than the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the One who can open both willing and unwilling doors (Revelation 3:7). By His Name, you have access to all doors in Heaven, on earth and in any part of the spirit realm. I pray that His Name will work for you whenever you call on Him from today in Jesus’ Name. Apart from opening doors, His Name can secure and sustain your deliverance from forces of darkness, because it is the only name that has the authority to chase out demons (Mark 16:17). His Name secures and sustains your healing, because it is the only name sickness and diseases will hear and have no choice but to obey (Mark 16:18). Do you want joy to replace the sorrow you have been going through? The Name of Jesus can also deliver that to you (John 16:24).
 
The majesty of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ is revealed in Hebrews 1:1-9. Furthermore, Isaiah 9:6 says this about Him:
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
If you desire to have all-round peace, all you need to do is to make peace with the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will give you peace in any area of life where you are currently facing a storm. No wonder a songwriter wrote these lyrics: “Take the name of Jesus with you, child of sorrow and of woe, it will joy and comfort give you, take it wherever you go.” Furthermore, do you know that Jesus elevates anyone who bears His Name? He lifts them up from the dunghill or miry clay and sets their feet on solid rock to keep them stable and secure. Do you need to move up to your next level? John 12:32 says if you give Jesus His rightful place in your life by lifting Him up, He will surely lift you and those around you higher. Jesus can give you victory in any battle you are facing; He can also give you rest (Matthew 11:28-30). Have you been struggling for so long to enter your rest in a particular area without success? Jesus will give you rest today. Your fruitless struggle ceases from today! Put your trust in His person, and it shall be well with you. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

One of the signs affirming that you have received Jesus as your Lord and Saviour is the ability to cast out demons. This grace is not the exclusive preserve of a few Christians who are branded “deliverance ministers”; rather, it should be commonplace among all Christians (Mark 16:17-18). However, you need to know that you cannot cast out demons while living in sin; they will expose your secret deeds. There is the story of a minister who attempted to cast out a demon from a fellow, and the demon spoke out saying: “Are you the one commanding me to go? You who committed fornication with so and so yesterday?” That was the end of that deliverance session. In practice, we don’t see a lot of believers in Christ casting out demons today. Why is this so? Are they afraid, or living in secret sin? This should not be so. You should cast out demons whenever you perceive any operating around you. From today, you shall be a demon-chaser in Jesus’ Name. Wherever you go and find demons in operation, you should stamp your feet down in the Name of Jesus Christ and command them to take their leave. They will have no choice but to obey. If you need to support your faith, you can team up with one or two more believers and go out to preach the gospel, casting out the demons you find along the way, and they will obey you.
 
In Acts 16:16-18, there was this young lady with the spirit of divination who appointed herself as the Public Relations Officer of Paul and his team, while at the same time working for her evil masters. She did this for a while, until Paul was grieved in the spirit and commanded the evil spirit to come out of her, and it did. From this account, you should learn that as long as you are ready to tolerate demons, they will continue to harass you. The trouble you allow to stay with you may take you along with it. In some churches, spirits of divination are in operation and they are tolerated. In fact, some pastors don’t know the difference between a spirit of divination and the spirit of prophecy that comes from God. In such churches, the devil reigns, and he manipulates people freely. Many believers today are far from the place where God wants them to be, because the forces of darkness are fighting to hinder their joy. They throw up their hands in resignation to fate, expecting God to do something about it, but God expects them to command those forces working against them to loose their grip and take their leave in the Name of Jesus. Are you doing this today? Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

When God called Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, he instructed him to do certain things, while He promised to bless him in specific ways. One of the articles of this blessing in Genesis 12:3 was:
“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
We can infer from this Scripture that when a man is operating under the blessing of Abraham, his friends will also be blessed, and his enemies will most likely be cursed. Thank God we have access to the blessing of Abraham through Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:14). When a man is blessed, his children are also blessed. The blessing of God on an individual can affect the genealogy of that fellow. Your generations can be blessed because of you. God did not just promise to bless Abraham, He actually fulfilled it. The testimony of Abraham’s servant in Genesis 24:34-35, clearly shows God’s faithfulness to Abraham. Every good promise the Lord has made to you shall be fulfilled in Jesus’ Name.
 
Now, how can we define blessing? There is a generic definition of blessing and a spiritual definition for it. When all of your needs are being met and you still have extra resources left, generically, you can be said to be blessed. In other words, you cannot be said to be blessed when you are living from hand to mouth or you are begging. To be considered as blessed, there must be an overflow of resources. David in Psalm 23:5 spoke of his cup running over. After you have had enough for yourself and your immediate family, and you still have surplus, generically, you can be said to be blessed. It is good to be healed from a sickness, but it is better to be healthy. You are considered blessed when, instead of just being healthy, the healing virtue flows through you. This shall be your portion in Jesus’ Name. On the other hand, the spiritual definition of being blessed is the attainment of a state in which all the forces on earth, in heaven and under the earth are summoned to come to the aid of a person in his or her bid to succeed or excel. This was exactly what happened to Jacob. Isaac commanded the heavens, the earth and all people to help Jacob succeed (Genesis 27:28-29). In the Name of Jesus, the dew of heaven will favour you, the earth will yield her fatness to you, people and nations will willingly serve you, and you shall remain head everywhere you go. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

When a king beckons to you, it means you have caught his attention. In Esther 5:1-3, when King Ahasuerus saw Esther standing in the inner courts of the palace, he immediately raised his sceptre towards her. By so doing, he was inviting her to come nearer. When God beckons to you, you can be assured that things are definitely taking a new turn from that moment. This was the experience of Moses. For 40 years, Moses was at the back side of the desert looking after his father-in-law’s sheep; but one day, this well-read and once very promising heir to the throne of Egypt (now turned shepherd boy) encountered the burning bush which was not consumed. He heard God beckon to Him saying “Moses, Moses”. From that very moment, his story was never the same. God beckons to you when the day of your favour dawns. There is someone reading this: you have invested so much time and money in acquiring several degrees but you have not been able to use them. It appears God has forgotten you for some years, and you have been wondering when the opportunity will ever come for your certificates to work for you. Rejoice! Your time of favour has just dawned. God has just remembered you and is presently beckoning to you. Within the next three months, your life will go through a transformation, to the extent that it will be difficult for you to believe this is happening to you. When the Lord does this for you, do not forget to appreciate Him and testify of it.
 
In 1969, while doing my postgraduate programme in Mathematics, a friend of mine was doing his research on the coastlines of Lagos, and so he needed to visit all the coastlines and take samples from them. He decided to go to Ebute Metta, Lagos, for some samples. Because we were friends and I was available, I accompanied him. At Ebute Metta, we saw a very large signboard which read “The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG)”. Looking to see what the big signboard was referring to, we only saw a very little church. I turned to my friend and said “The big name killed a small dog!” We laughed and left. Four years later, somebody invited me to the same RCCG for the first time, saying “There is a small church at Ebute Metta where God is performing miracles.” I told him I had seen that church before - the small church with the big signboard. Imagine what God is doing today after beckoning to me. May you heed God’s beckoning in Jesus’ Name. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Our God is awesome, and His ways are beyond finding out. Nobody can box God into a pattern or regimen. He can use anything He chooses to achieve His purpose on earth. God uses those who are lowly placed, and He also uses the rich. Luke 8:1-3 tells of some wealthy women who ministered to Jesus from their resources. Mary Magdalene and other women blessed by the Lord resolved to serve Him with the resources they had. Are you rich or wealthy? Do you serve the Lord with your substance? Experience has shown that those who have little are the ones who dare to give their all to God. This was the case with the widow who dropped her mites (Mark 12:41-44). Usually, the rich only give a fraction of what they have because they believe they are giving something big. However, God does not judge by size, He judges by proportion. Hence, the poor can give more than the rich in the sight of God, even if what they give is not as much as what the rich have given in quantity. Justifying why the widow’s gift was more than what the rich gave, Jesus in Mark 12:44 said:
“For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.”
 
Moreover, not only can God use humans to accomplish His purpose, He can also use animals. In 1 Kings 17:2-6, God sent ravens to deliver food to His servant, and they obeyed. We have equally seen Him use birds too. When we began to build the Redemption Camp in those early years, there were some trees that provided shade which I instructed the workers to preserve. Some little birds came in their hundreds of thousands to perch on these trees. Whenever they descended on them, there would be no leaves left on the trees the following day. They were also very noisy. I wondered if they were demonic birds. Some of my children who had guns would enter their midst and fire some shots; yet, they refused to go away. Some birds were hit by the fired bullets and dropped dead, but the rest stayed on. At some point, it appeared the more they were killed, the more they multiplied! The situation became unbearable. I therefore called on God to help us one morning. That evening, several eagles came and began to eat them up. Within hours, there was not a single one of them left. God has not stopped using birds! If He needs to send birds to meet your needs, He will do so; but you need to show Him that you can serve Him with all He has given to you. How faithfully have you served God? To what extent can you risk your life and all He has given to you for His service? Written By Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

There are some principles of God that can be used as weapons by everyone, regardless of their faith. Divine principles relating to the natural world are given to all to harness the power inherent in them. For example, the principle of sowing and reaping falls into this category. However, there are some weapons of God that are exclusively for those who have believed in Jesus Christ. In this subset, there are some weapons designed for the use of God’s servants; one of which is prophecy. The Bible in Amos 3:7 says,
“Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.”
God attaches great importance to the words of His servants. In fact, if you walk closely with God, He will personally honour your word, just as He did with Samuel (1 Samuel 3: 19). If only you can work on your relationship with God as His servant, He will become the backbone of your words. In other words, whenever you speak, people will tremble because they know God will back you up. In Ezekiel 37:1-10, God asked Ezekiel if dry bones could live, and he replied that only God could tell. Thereafter, God told him to prophesy: to make simple pronouncements from his mouth. He did, and God backed up his words. The result was a mighty army raised from dry bones.
 
Another weapon available to God’s servants, closely linked with prophecy, is decrees. Job 22:21-28 reveals that if a servant of God can satisfy certain conditions, he will decree a thing and it shall be established. When you go through Scriptures, you will discover that those who skilfully used this weapon were mainly prophets of God. A heavily indebted widow ran to Elisha in 2 Kings 4:1-7, and he gave her certain instructions, decreeing that the little oil she had would continue to multiply until all available vessels she had were filled up. It happened just as he decreed. Notice that He did not say “Thus saith the Lord”. Similarly, a very rich, elderly and barren woman who had consistently taken care of Elisha was told “Madam, nine months from now, you will have a son.” She did not believe it, but it happened as Elisha decreed (2 Kings 4:16-17). When you hear a prophecy, you need faith in order to receive it and see its manifestation; but when it is a decree, even your doubts cannot stop it. As a servant of God, have you been using these weapons that God has made available to you? Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Although God loves the sinner, He hates their sins. For example, because God hates stealing, He commanded us not to steal (Exodus 20:15). In spite of God’s commandment however, there is still so much stealing going on at workplaces these days. One way employees steal from their employers is by inflating the cost of items they are sent to buy in order to make some profit for themselves. If you were sent on an errand and you have some money leftover, it is your duty to return that money to the one who sent you. Today, many people corner such money into their pockets. This is wrong! It is stealing for a chauffeur to be given N2000 for petrol and he buys N1500 worth, pocketing the rest. It is also wrong for you to ask for a bribe from your clients or customers before carrying out a task you are paid for. If you do so, you are stealing from your organisation’s reputation, goodwill and position as a credible workplace. What the organisation stands to lose is far worse than what you stand to gain from such a bribe. Are you a thief?
 
On the other hand, some employers are cruel, exploitative and they steal from their employees. If you detain your employee beyond the normal closing hours and you fail to pay them the stated amount for extra hours of work done, you are a thief. If you pay your workers below a liveable wage, you are exploitative. If you fail to pay salaries when due, it is cruel. If you take advantage of your staff by paying them peanuts just because there are no jobs around, you are exploiting them. If you fail to keep promises made to your staff, you are a thief. Organisations that fail to give their staff at least one day off from a week of work are cruel and exploitative. If you are using your workers without caring about their welfare, family and even the time they have to serve God, you are cruel. When you fail to promote hardworking staff at the pre-agreed time, you are a thief. An employer who goes into an extra-marital affair with a member of staff is exploitative and is a thief. There are some employers or top company executives who recruit young ladies only after they agree to sleep with them. This is cruel, exploitative and amounts to stealing. Are you cruel to your staff or are you stealing from them? Do you exploit your employees or subordinates? As a pastor, are you abusing your ecclesiastical authority over the inheritance of God under your care? It’s time to repent of these before the judgement of God comes knocking. Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.