Philippians 3:18-19 says:

(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

When you see some people cutting corners and you ask them, “Why are you doing this?”, they say, “I must eat”. 1 Corinthians 6:12-13 says we must not be brought under the power of anything in this world then went further to show that food is temporary. Don’t let something temporary send you to permanent destruction in hell. How often do you fast? Jesus Christ Himself said in Matthew 17:21, “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting”. There are problems and demons around you that will not leave except by fasting and prayer. One day in my village, just as I was about to have my favourite dish of pounded yam with combination okro soup, God said to me, “Don’t eat, you are to fast today”. I argued with Him and ate the food. Just as I finished eating, someone came to call me to pray for my sister who had gotten small pox. You don’t face small pox with a belly full of pounded yam. I had to go stick my finger down my throat to throw up the food. Only then was I able to pray for my sister and she was healed.

When God asks you to fast, don’t disobey because He has His reasons and it is always for your good. I was never one to fast before. The first time somebody told me that I was to fast for three days and nights without food, I called him a murderer. However, God gave me victory over my belly. I started fasting and little by little, I went from three days to five days and on and on until I started fasting for over forty days and nights. Whenever I am about to start a fast, I mark the days from when the fast is to start to when it ends, point to my stomach and say, “Belly, as from that day, no more food for you until so and so day”. When you are on a fast, you’ll suddenly be more aware of food around you, but you must resist the temptation to eat and stay focused on your goal.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

It may surprise you that food can also be a destiny destroyer.

Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.
Philippians 3:19

Some people have turned food to their god. Such persons are so mindful of food that it is the most important thing to them. There are many Christians who cannot go one day without food. If food controls you, then it is your god and it can destroy you.

Esau was one man who food controlled. He was so controlled by food that he sold his birthright for a plate of porridge. Jacob on the other hand was willing to stay without the porridge he had cooked in order to get something valuable for the fulfilment of his destiny (Genesis 25:29-34). If you check that Scripture closely, you will see that Jacob even added bread to the porridge he gave to Esau. He knew that the moment was a destiny-defining one, so he declared a fast for himself. Because of that seemingly simple transaction, Esau lost the blessing of his father and missed the chance to have the Israelites as his children. You may not know it, but sometimes when God asks you to fast, it is because He wants to give you a destiny-fulfilling encounter.

The primary purpose of food is just to give you strength. You are to eat to live, not live to eat. The Bible says that there is a due season to eat (Psalm 145:15). In other words, there are seasons when you should not be eating at all – when you should be fasting. Do you have such seasons planned into your year? Apostle Paul said he fasted often (2 Corinthians 11:27).

Your fasting must be often. I have heard some preachers say that Jesus had already fasted for us when He was on earth so we don’t need to fast again. That is a big lie; read the Bible for yourself. Jesus said in Mark 2:19 that after His ascension, His disciples would fast. He has ascended, so we must fast. Don’t let food rob you of your God-ordained destiny.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Sexual lust has destroyed and is still destroying the destinies of many. I know there are people who will tell you that even if you fool around sexually, you will still make it to heaven. Don’t let them send you to hell with their false doctrine. 1 Corinthians 3:17 says, “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are”.

You think adultery or fornication is something to be toyed with? In Numbers 31:1-16, the people of Israel were indestructible because God was solidly behind them, but then the enemy decided to send beautiful ladies into their camp and the people of Israel began to fornicate. After that, the enemy did not need to do anything; it was God Himself who started destroying them. If you are lusting after someone you’re not married to, you had better save your destiny by staying away from such a person because that is the strategy of the devil to destroy you. There are many people suffering all manners of plagues because of fornication and adultery. Don’t be one of them.

If you are old enough for marriage, pray for God’s direction and go through the Church when you want to start your courtship with whomever God has led you to. You may say that is ‘old-school’ mentality, but that is what has kept some of us standing and on the right path of destiny for many decades. It is better to be old-school than to be destroyed. Let the Church be involved in your courtship and make sure that you and your spouse-to-be never meet in private places where you can commit sin.

There are many people who set themselves up to fall into fornication by being too close to the opposite sex or staying alone in private places with them. Once you notice that you are beginning to lust after someone, declare a fast immediately to kill that lust in your flesh. Lust thrives in secrecy, don’t cover it up.

Beloved, don’t engage in fornication or adultery; don’t defile the temple of God. If you do, you are calling for judgment on yourself.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

From James 4:6, we see that God resists the proud. In other words, God opposes the proud. If the Almighty God is your opponent, how will you ever win? The major problem of proud people is that they don’t even know that they are proud. They call it other beautiful names like self-respect, self-confidence, or they say, “I am just honouring my position”. Saul was asking Samuel to honour his position in (1 Samuel 15:30) when he lost his throne. David on the other hand danced like a commoner even as king and was mocked by his own wife. He told her, “I am dancing for the One who made me king in the place of your father” (2 Samuel 6:16-21).

During praise and worship, you will know who is proud and who is not. Look at children; because they aren’t seeking to protect any position or anything like that, they just praise God, dancing the best way they can. During a service we held in one of the Universities in Nigeria, the Vice Chancellor danced even more than the students. God looked down from heaven and saw that, so when some weeks later the enemy rose up to remove him, the Lord of hosts fought on his behalf and gave him victory. When you humble yourself, God fights your battles for you.

After one of the biggest programmes we ever held – tagged Lekki ’98, I got back to the Camp and that night during my prayer walk, between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., I suddenly heard God say, “Son, bend down and draw the figure of a man in the sand”. I drew the figure and then He said, “Stand up and wipe out what you have drawn with your foot”. I did that, and then He said, “Son, if you ever forget who is in charge, I will wipe you out and nobody will ever remember you came into the world”. It does not matter how high God has taken you, He can bring you down with the snap of His fingers. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall”.

You would be wise to become more humble as you rise, because the higher you go, the greater the fall if you become proud.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
Proverbs 29:23

Pride is one of the greatest destroyers of men – especially those who have achieved something great. That means if the devil wants to bring a great man down, he does not have to bother himself sending witches and wizards to that man; all he has to do is bring out the pride in the man. Proverbs 25:27 says:

It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.

Seeking glory for yourself will not bring you glory but shame. Stop seeking people to lift you on their shoulders as if you are the best thing to have come into the world; humble yourself. The devil was once a very special arch-angel in heaven, but pride got into his head because of how beautiful he was. He started seeking glory for himself, even the glory of God’s own throne. He ended up being brought so low that, at the end of time, he will be locked up in the pit of fire to suffer forever.

The prescription of God for every Christian is to prefer others above yourself in honour. Romans 12:10 says, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another”.

The day you forget that everything you have is given to you by God is the day you begin to decline. Nebuchadnezzar was warned in Daniel 4:24-27 like I am warning you now, but he didn’t heed the counsel. Pride rose up in him and he started to boast about the things that God had done through him, calling them his achievements. He was brought so low that he was eating grass with the animals in the bush. James 4:6 says those who want the grace of God to work in their lives must be humble. Be humble, pride is a destiny destroyer.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Between every two days in a man’s life, there is always a night. Even Jesus Christ experienced His own share of days and nights. Jesus’ first day came when He was born. Luke 2:8-14 says even the heavenly mass choir paid a visit to the world to sing at His birth. Everyone, including the king knew that a special child had been born. As Jesus grew up, He enjoyed tremendous support from God and performed several great miracles. His first day lasted for thirty three and a half years.

After Jesus’ first day came the night when He was crucified (Matthew 27). There was darkness at noon as the sun refused to shine that day (Mark 15:33). He was lonely as all his friends had forsaken him. His very close friend even denied Him (Matthew 26:69-74). There was also sorrow and fear amongst His disciples (John 20:19). Thank God the night lasted for just three days. If you are in a period of night now, that night will end today in Jesus’ name.

Matthew 28:1-7 marked the beginning of Jesus’ second day. Several things happened to herald the new day. First was a great earthquake to signify to the whole world that a new day had come. Then an angel came down, rolled away the stone to His tomb and sat on it. He sat on it to say, this time around, we have permanent victory. From today onward, every door that God opens to you will never be shut again in Jesus’ name.

Matthew 28:4 says the keepers became paralyzed by fear, they were so frightened, they fell down as dead. That is good news for you because now that you are in the season of your Saviour’s day, when your enemies see you coming, it’s either they run or they faint. Jesus’ day is one that will last forever. Soon, He will come to take His children so we can reign with Him in glory. If you are amongst His children, congratulations, but if you are still committing sin, then you are crucifying Jesus Christ afresh (Hebrews 6:6) so you will be treated like one of those who crucified Him. If you are wise, you will give your life to Him now and stay away from sin forever.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Imagine that you are right at the scene of Jesus’ crucifixion and you are looking at Him on the cross. What do you see? You will be right if you say, “I see a man in pain”. He had been beaten and a crown of thorns had been placed on His head before His crucifixion John 19:1-18).

Someone else may say, “I see a man who is naked”, because according to Matthew 27:35, they even took His garment away from Him. That is the highest level of shame that a man can experience, to be naked in front of multitudes.

Another person could also say, “I see a man being ridiculed”. Matthew 27:39-44 says people that were passing by were saying, “He saved others; himself he cannot save”. Though he had the power to call for angels to rescue Him, He chose to endure the ridicule so that you and I can have a chance of spending eternity in Heaven. I want you to imagine the president of the most powerful country in the world holding a device in his hand with which he can call on his army anytime, yet he subjected himself to some terrorists who were about to kill him and were mocking him, “You call yourself the President of a nation with weapons of mass destruction, look at you now, you cannot save yourself”. That is similar to what Jesus did just so that you and I will not perish in hell.

Without any doubt, when you look at Jesus on the cross, you will see a man in sorrow. You cannot be in pain, naked, in shame, ridiculed, and be joyous. Isaiah saw the scene of Jesus’ death many years before and he called Him a man of sorrow (Isaiah 53:3-5).

If you however take a closer look at Jesus as He hung on the cross, you will see a man in love. A man so much in love with you and I that He went through the highest level of physical and emotional pain to save our soul. Thank God He resurrected on the third day and has made eternal life available to all those who surrender their lives to Him.

Beloved, don’t let that sacrifice go to waste. Don’t live your life for the devil, live your life for the One who loves you so much that He gave His life for you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In John 17:4, when Jesus was praying before His crucifixion, He said to His Father that He had finished His assignment. Later on in John 19:30, He said, “It is finished”; in other words, ‘Mission accomplished.’ After His ascension, He said to His disciples in Acts 1:8 that the Holy Ghost would come upon them and they would receive power.

What is power? Power in layman’s language is the ability to do work efficiently. The power you need to fulfil your destiny as ordained by God is in the Holy Ghost. In Luke 5:10, Jesus Christ informed Peter that he would begin to catch men and this came into full manifestation 3 years later when the Holy Spirit came on Him and he won 3,000 souls by preaching just one sermon. Growing up, my goal was to be the youngest Vice Chancellor in Africa, but then I gave my life to Jesus Christ in 1973. I got baptised in the Holy Spirit that same year and then something kept moving me in the direction of God’s original plan for my life. I pray that the power of the Almighty God will begin to propel you in the direction of your destiny, in Jesus’ name.

Now, the greater the power, the easier it will be for you to reach your goal. For example, if you want to travel from Lagos, Nigeria to Britain, by road and sea, it could take several days, if not weeks, but if you get in an aircraft from Lagos to London, you would have arrived within 6 and a half hours. In Acts 3:1-11, the power of God began to manifest itself in a great manner in the life of Apostle Peter when he made the lame man at the Beautiful Gate walk. The sermon he preached right after that led to the conversion of 5,000 souls (Acts 4:4). By Acts 5:12-16, his shadow had begun to heal the sick and multitudes began to come to Christ. His destiny was being fulfilled at an amazing pace.

How speedily do you want to fulfil your destiny? That will depend on how much of the Holy Ghost you carry in you.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In Luke 4:13-20, Jesus read from Scripture the reason He came to the earth as prophesied in Isaiah 61:1-3. There is however, one surprising thing in that Scripture: He started reading the prophesy of Isaiah about His ministry from the beginning, but when He got to the part that says ‘to preach the acceptable year of the Lord’, He stopped and closed the book. That was not all that Isaiah said; there was more, but in announcing the assignment that He had come to do on earth, Jesus stopped halfway. There must have been a reason for this. We see that reason in Acts 1:8:

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Jesus came to the world, lived and died, then sent us the Holy Spirit so that we can continue from where He stopped. The first part of His assignment was fulfilled while He was on earth; the rest, as prophesied by Prophet Isaiah, is to be fulfilled through us His children after we have received the Holy Ghost.

Jesus saved you so that He can use you to save others. The question is: are you a ready vessel or not? As you celebrate Easter, don’t forget the assignment the Lord gave to you after He rose from death (Matthew 28:19-20).

Does Christ truly have you as a vessel to fulfil His will? Apostle Paul was a man who stopped at nothing to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. Easter is not a time to just eat chicken and stay at home relaxing; it’s a time to go out there and let Jesus use you to save unbelievers. It’s a time to proclaim the day of the vengeance of God and to comfort all those who mourn.

Let Jesus use you to win at least one soul this season. Tell someone about the day of the vengeance of God and don’t let that fellow end up in hell.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

PRAYERS FOR SELF

1. Thank You Lord for my Iife. Thank You for how far You have brought me and for where You are taking me. I appreciate Your love and help that I have enjoyed thus far.

2. Father, my faith may be small, but I believe You are the Almighty God. Please honour my faith and answer all my prayers today.

3. Father, please lay Your mighty hands on me and grant me speed in the journey of life, in Jesus’ name. Help me Lord to achieve in this year things that would ordinarily take ten years to accomplish.

4. Father, please send me a personal miracle – something specially made for me. In Your own special way Lord, give me a big breakthrough, in Jesus’ name.

5. Father, for the sake of Your glory, please give me the power to work miracles; use me to bring glory to Your name, Lord.

6. Father, please don’t ever let me lose my salvation; keep my lamp burning for You, Lord.

7. Father, please put an end to all demonic influences in my life in Jesus’ name.

8. Father, please remove from me any habit that can negatively affect my life, in Jesus’ name. If I am making a mistake in any area of my life, please draw me back and put me on the right path, in Jesus’ name.

9. Father, make me immune to sicknesses and diseases. Let my body never be an abode for sicknesses again, in Jesus’ name.

10. Father, bless me indeed and enlarge my coast, in Jesus’ name.

11. Father, please let your hand be with me always and keep me away from evil, in Jesus’ name.

12. Your personal prayer point.

Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Your biggest enemy is not the devil, neither is it your mother-in-law, witches or wizards. As a child of God, you know very well that greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). The Bible made it clear that you are more than conquerors through Him that loved you (Romans 8:37).

Your number one enemy is yourself. The one who is truly victorious is the one who has conquered himself. When you live according to the dictates of your flesh, you give it permission to destroy you and it is good at doing that.

He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
Proverbs 16:32

Samson took down an entire city single-handedly but could not conquer himself. He was so powerful that cities feared him, but in the lap of a woman, he was the weakest of men. Even a little child knows better than to touch a piece of hot iron that had burned him or her before. In Samson’s case however, he told Delilah a lie about the source of his power and awoke to find that she had used the information against him, yet he did not stay away. To make matters worse, he told her the truth at last and ended up grinding corn for the same enemy that used to fear him (Judges 16:6-21). You may say Samson was a fool, but what about you? Have you been staying away from those sins that easily beset you?

When a child of God is really fervent, the devil starts searching out his weakness. The moment he finds it, he will try to use it as a weapon for that child of God to destroy himself or herself. That is why you must destroy that weakness before the devil uses it against you. Proverb 25:28 says, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls”. Control yourself so that you would be victorious against the attacks of the devil.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

To further our discussion from yesterday on the dangers of fighting against God, let us look at what happens when you are fighting on his side.

When you decide to fight on the side of God, no matter how big or strong your enemy is, you will win. It doesn’t matter if you are fighting against enemies within your household or those outside – as long as you are on the side of God, they cannot defeat you.

The beautiful thing about standing on somebody’s side is that the fellow is also standing beside you, so if any enemy sends an arrow to you, such a person is also sending an arrow to God. That is why no weapon fashioned against you can prosper (Isaiah 54:17). When you are on God’s side, no enemy can defeat you.

In 1 Samuel 17:34-37, David talked about how he had killed a lion and a bear and that he would also kill Goliath because God was with him. King Saul then said to him, “Go, and the Lord be with you”. The boy defeated Goliath with just a stone because God was on his side and he was on God’s side (1 Samuel 17:44-50).

In Joshua 10:1-14, God was on Joshua’s side because Joshua was on His side. Joshua stopped the sun so that he could defeat his enemies. When you fight the battle of life on God’s side, victory is sure. It doesn’t matter what comes your way, greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4). Jesus Christ assured us in John 16:33:

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Jesus has overcome the world, so your victory is guaranteed once you are on His side and the first step to ensuring this is to surrender your life to Him.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Sequel to the discussion we started yesterday, the side you take determines who you fight against. If you take the side of God, you would be fighting against the devil and his demons. If you disobey the Lord, then you have chosen the side of the devil and would thus be fighting against God. Believe me honestly, you don’t want to fight God. He is too big for you to take sides against and survive.

God has His way of dealing with people who take sides with the devil through disobedience to Him. One way is to withdraw His support from such a fellow like He did in Joshua 7:1-12 when Joshua failed because he had accommodated sin in his camp. Another way is to completely forsake the fellow like He did Samson in Judges 16:18-31. There are many people experiencing either of these today but they don’t realize that it is God fighting them so they keep fighting without realizing that the One they are battling against cannot be defeated.

There was a lawyer who once told me that tithing was just a means for pastors to collect people’s hard-earned money. I tried to explain to him that tithing was a commandment from God but he refused to listen, so I said to him: “May I ask God to prove by Himself through you if tithing is His will or not?” He replied, “Pray the prayer” so I did. This brilliant lawyer lost all the three cases he handled immediately after the incident. This tarnished his reputation and he lost some business. This man also owned a bakery and suddenly, during a festive period when most bakeries record higher demand and sales, all his bakers decided to resign from their jobs. He offered to double their salaries but they all insisted that they were leaving. Hard as he tried, he couldn’t get new bakers. After he realized that this must be God fighting him, he came to me and said, “I agree now that tithing is God’s will; please pray for me”. We prayed a simple prayer; he appealed the three cases he had lost and won all of them. His bakers also returned to work with him and everything became good again.

Beloved, disobeying God amounts to fighting Him and woe unto him that fights his Maker (Isaiah 45:9).
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Human beings are faced with all kinds of wars from their conception all through to the day they leave this earth. Genesis 38:27 says that when a woman is in labour, she is travailing. After she puts to bed, the child begins to confront all kinds of enemies – known and unknown. In Matthew 10:36, Jesus Christ Himself said a man’s foes will be they of his own household. If the Lord showed you all the relatives and family friends who wanted you to die in infancy, it would surprise you, but thank God you survived.

When we talk about household enemies, it could be your father or even your mother. If you don’t believe that parents can be their child’s enemies, read Genesis 27, where you will see how a mother plotted against her own son and denied him of his blessings.

I have always wondered about when God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to Him and Isaac asked where the lamb for the sacrifice was. Instead of his father telling him the truth, he said instead, “God will provide”. Isaac must have looked around, shocked as his father was tying him up, thinking, “So I am the ram?”

What about the in-laws? Read 1 Samuel 18:29 and you will see a man – King Saul, being described as the enemy of his son-in-law – David. That is not to talk about witches and wizards, principalities and powers, et cetera (Ephesians 6:12). In this warfare, there are two different hosts fighting for the souls of men. You can either decide to take sides with the heavenly host or the demonic hosts – you cannot be neutral. What determines the side you pick are your actions and inactions. If you pick the side of God, then you will stay away from sin and cling to Jesus Christ daily (Luke 9:23); you will pray, study your bible, witness and do all that He requires of you daily. Those who pick the devil’s side live according to the dictates of their flesh and commit sin. For those who stay away from sin, they will end up victorious and make it to heaven at the end (Revelation 3:5), while those who commit sin will end up in the lake of fire with the devil and his demons (Matthew 25:41). The choice is in your actions.

My Father-in-the-lord – Pa Josiah Akindayomi used to say that your father can only take care of you with what he has. If your father is Jesus Christ, then since He owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10), has healings in His wings (Malachi 4:2) and all good things come from Him (James 1:17), then He will take care of you with all these. However, if your father is the devil, since he is a thief, liar and killer (John 10:10), then he will harm you with all he has. Which of them do you want as your father?

I realised a long time ago that the devil had nothing good to offer me. I remembered about 50 years ago when I was growing very fast. I became a lecturer at the University of Lagos, bought a car and had built a house before I was thirty years old. Due to this fast growth, my people took me to a witch doctor they considered to be very powerful and asked him to give me charms for protection against enemies who may have been jealous of me.

The witch doctor asked me to come with a live goat which I must lead through the streets of Oshogbo. Since I thought it was for my good, I parked my car and went through the stress of walking a goat through the streets of Oshogbo to the witch doctor’s house. He gave me three amulets in exchange for the goat – one to be tied to the steering wheel of my car to prevent collision with any car in front of me, the second to be kept in the boot of my car to prevent being hit from behind and the third to be tied to the driver’s seat so that if I was involved in an accident I would just disappear. I returned to Lagos thinking that I was super-charged, but in two weeks, I had three accidents! I realized there was no protection in the amulets and threw them into the lagoon. Thank God that since I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ, He has become my Father and the fear of the unknown has been banished from my life. Even if I have enemies, my Lord sets a table for me in their presence (Psalm 23:5).

The devil is a liar and has nothing good to offer you. If the devil gives you anything, he will take something far more valuable from you. Don’t fall for his deception. Only God can give good and perfect gifts.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

When you read the Letters to the Churches in the book of Revelation, you would realise that everything that we Christians do here on earth is being observed and recorded in heaven – every single thing. There was once a lady who agreed to go with her Pastor to a hotel to commit fornication. Before they went into the room, they looked left and right to be sure that no one could see them going in. After they got inside, the lady became uncomfortable and told the Pastor, “We looked left and right to be sure no one was looking at us, but we did not look up; God can see us”. (2 Chronicles 16:9) says that God’s eyes are going to and fro all over the earth.

When temptations come your way, God is watching you closely to see if you will fall or not. In fact, God and the devil are watching closely. If you fall, then the devil will go boasting to God that he won over you. God forbid that in Jesus’ name. If however, you overcome the temptation, then God will be the one boasting that you are His true child.

In Job 19:25-27, Job said it didn’t matter what was happening; his Redeemer was still alive. God must have said to the devil, “Did you hear that?” That is why you must fight every temptation to ensure that you win at the end of the day.

I don’t know about you, but I will never let the devil use me as an object to boast before God. Imagine the joy in heaven when Job finally overcame his temptations.

The good thing about God seeing everything we do is that when we do good, He sees it and will reward everyone accordingly. If you have been doing good and it looks like no one is noticing, God can see you and in good time, He will reward you. Galatians 6:9 says,

And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

The moment someone stops doing good and starts sinning, all the good that he or she had done in the past will not be accounted for again (Ezekiel 18:24). Beloved, what is God recording about you right now?
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Many years ago, I was invited as a guest to the swearing-in ceremony of the Head of State along with some other persons. One of these other persons was excited that his invitation letter had ‘A’ written boldly on it. He explained to me that this meant he was a great person. Another had ‘AA’ on his invitation, meaning that he was considered as a more important guest than the one with just ‘A’ and would thus be seated more prominently and get more exclusive treatment. I later explained to them that there was still another level which was ‘AAA’.

Indeed, greatness is in levels. You may feel you are great now, but there is always a higher level to get to.

Many people get to a certain level and feel they have arrived. The unfortunate thing is that just as there are higher levels to reach, there are also lower levels that can be fallen to. Many a time, you hear of world champions, record setters – great people who were at the top of their profession, career or industry, until someone would come and break their record and set even higher standards. For example, in sports, if an athlete sets a new record, the previous record-holder is immediately referred to as an ex-champion.

You must never feel satisfied with your former glory; always seek to break your previous records and set higher ones. I was once a boxer; becoming a boxing champion is great, but every boxer will tell you that to remain a champion is harder than becoming one, because everyone wants to challenge the fellow, to turn him or her into an ex- champion. This is why a champion needs to work harder to retain his or her position at the top. The moment you relax, you begin to regress.

You need more of what made you become a champion to remain one. When I turned 80 years old last year, many people thought I would relax. I told them Moses started his ministry at the age of 80; I too have only just begun.

Anyone who stops working hard, praying fervently and being generally diligent would soon realise that he or she is going back instead of forward.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

There is tremendous power in what you allow through your ears into your life. Believe me honestly, what you listen to has the power to shape your beliefs and actions. That is why Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing. Interestingly, fear also comes by hearing. What you hear can determine what you become. This is why you must choose who you listen to carefully. When you notice that there is someone whose words leave your heart worse than it was before you listened to him or her, please stay away from that fellow immediately.

There are many preachers out there who leave holiness out of their messages; please stop listening to them. Anyone who only talks about prosperity and things that excite the crowd will lead people to hell.

There are also people around you whose advice you may want to seek from time to time. Please be careful who you choose to advice you. In 2 Samuel 13:1-15, Amnon went to the wrong person for advice; this led to a great crisis in his family and his eventual death (2 Samuel 13:23-29). While it is good to receive advice – after all, Proverbs 11:14 says in the multitude of counsellors is safety, you must also be selective of the kind of people you seek counselling from. Check that fellow’s life first; check how close he is to God because he will only advice you based on his beliefs. Are his beliefs inspired by the word of God or by flesh?

After we had bought many hectares of land for the Redemption Camp, I was counselled not to buy any more land and to build a fence around what we had purchased. Unfortunately, after listening to these counsellors, I did not check with God before I started building the fence. After a while, God asked me, “Who told you to build a fence? Did I give you a limit to how large the camp should be?” Thank God He spoke, and we continued to expand. Today, the camp has become a city. Before you take any advice, be sure that it does not contradict the word of God and also ensure it aligns with God’s will for your life.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The simple statement, “In the beginning was the Word…” is pregnant with many meanings. One of those meanings is that before anything that exists now ever existed, the Word was already existing. In other words, He saw the beginning of everything else since all things were made by Him (John 1:3).

The day you dedicate your new house, that is the beginning of your dwelling in that house, but the day you laid the foundation of the house was also another beginning. When the architect began to draw the plan of the house was another beginning while the day you – the Landlord – conceived the idea to build a house was also another beginning all together.

Humanly speaking, the day your Father and mother met together to produce you is another beginning of the house, because if you were not born, you would not have thought of building that house. Jeremiah 1:4-5 says that before God formed you, He knew you. Thus that house of yours started in the mind of God long before you were born. God had in His plan a house that you were going to build even before you were born. Thus, no matter what it is that exists, it has its root in God. This is good news for children of God because since He was in the beginning of everything and everything was made by Him, then everything is controlled by Him – The Word. Therefore, when you simply speak the word of God into any situation, you gain control over it.

Before the mountains were brought forth, He has been God (Psalm 90:1-2). This is why Mark 11:22-24 says that if you have faith, you can speak to any mountain and it will move. For example, if the mountain of sickness wants to bring you down, you uproot it with the word of God in Isaiah 53:5 that by Jesus’ stripes you are healed. If it is the mountain of failure, then you uproot it with the word in Deuteronomy 28:13 that says you shall be the head and not the tail. If it is the mountain of poverty threatening you, then you tell it the word in 2 Corinthians 8:9 that Jesus was made poor that you may be rich. The Word will grant you all-round victory in Jesus’ name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In order of importance, your latter end is far more important than your beginning. It does not really matter how you started out; what matters is how you end up.

How you end up is not a function of wishful thinking but a product of the decisions and actions that you take today. There are steps you must take and sacrifices you must make if you want to become great. Believe me honestly, if you only wish and pray that things would turn around and don’t do what you ought to, nothing will change. Solomon, in (2 Chronicles 1:6-15), gave an offering nobody had ever given and got a blessing nobody had ever gotten. It is very clear that If you are willing to pay the price, if you are willing to change your story for the better, your end will be far greater than your beginning.

Genesis 32:3-7 records that Esau got a remnant of the blessing, yet, by the time he was meeting Jacob again, he came with 400 bodyguards. By the time you get to Genesis 33:4-9, after both brothers had embraced each other, Esau turned to Jacob and said he didn’t need the latter’s gifts because he had enough. Clearly, Esau had gained dominion and broken his brother’s yoke on his neck as his father had said in Genesis 27:40.

The Lay Reader is the lowest rank in the hierarchy of the Anglican Church, and this was my father’s role in the Church many years ago. Today, by the special grace of God, I, the son of a Lay Reader, now work side by side with the leader of the Anglican Communion – the Archbishop of Canterbury – to re-evangelise Britain. Such a promotion could only have been ordered by God.

Beloved, draw close to God and be diligent so that your end can be far greater than your beginning. I prophesy into your life, “Your latter days shall be greater than your beginning in Jesus’ name”.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Many a time when God allows a mountain to stand in your way, it is because He wants to showcase you to the world. He uses your victory over the mountain to show the world His investments in your life. In 1 Samuel 17:1- 51, when Goliath was marching up and down, terrorising the nation of Israel, God was advertising the mountain so that everyone would see how big it was. At the time Goliath was boasting, nobody knew David yet. Nobody knew that anointing had already come on a little boy from an ordinary home; nobody knew that there was a teenage boy who had killed a lion and a bear with his bare hands. God was about to present him to the whole world. Thank God David did not run away from his mountain that day because by the time he was standing on Goliath’s dead body, lifting his severed head, everybody knew he was someone special.

I pray God will use the mountain before you as an opportunity to showcase His glory upon your life to the whole world in Jesus’ name.

Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven”. God derives glory when His children shine their lights and displace darkness brought about by mountains. When there is a problem in your office, it may be the opportunity God has designed to showcase you in that office or industry. When there is a crisis in your family, that could be God’s arrangement to show everyone in the family that He has an anointed child in their midst and to draw them to Himself. Don’t shy away from the problem, face it and solve it.

From Genesis 41:8-44, we saw Joseph was already interpreting dreams as a prisoner before he got the opportunity to interpret the king’s dream, which led to God showcasing him to the whole world. You must diligently and consistently develop yourself so that the day God decides to showcase you to the world; you will be prepared and equipped to overcome the mountain by His grace.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

While it is true that God can solve all problems, when you go closer to Him, you would realise that once in a while, He allows some mountains (problems) to stand in your way. The good thing however, is that if He allows the mountain to stand in your way, it is because He knows you can climb it. For example, in Job’s case, God only allowed what He knew Job could overcome. (1 Corinthians 10:13) says that God will not permit us to be tempted beyond our capacity and He would always provide a way of escape as well.

Sometimes, God allows mountains in the life of His children because he or she is about to be promoted. Before every promotion, there is always an exam that the fellow who is to be promoted must pass. No teacher will give Advanced-level questions to primary school students in an exam. God will not let you face a trial you cannot overcome.

In Daniel 3, after all the horrors of going into the fiery furnace, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were promoted. Job 42:12-16 tells us that at the end of Job’s test, his latter end was far superior to his beginning.

When God allows mountains to stand in the path of His children, He also gives them the required measure of grace to deal with those mountains. The unfortunate thing is that many times, people refuse to use that grace and they just let the temptation take over their lives. There is always a way of escape, no matter how small; you just have to hold on to it so that you can overcome. This is where you need the fruit of the Spirit called, “Longsuffering”. Don’t look for alternatives to God simply because you are facing a mountain. Don’t commit sin in a bid to get rid of that mountain because sin will only bring a bigger mountain your way.

Hold on to God like Job did. Don’t deny Him when you are going through a hard time; Don’t faint in the day of adversity; stand strong, His grace is sufficient for you (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

As opposed to the people who don’t have ears that we discussed yesterday, there are many who do have ears but are too paralysed to practice what they learn from the word of God. They can recall the Pastor’s sermon word for word, but they don’t practice it. They can probably even recite the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, but it does not show in their lives because they do nothing in line with the word. These categories of people are described in (2 Timothy 3:7) as:

Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

These are people who learn but somehow, the word does not take root in them enough for it to change their character. The devil practically paralyses them and stops them from doing what they have learnt. If you are in this category, I declare your freedom today, in Jesus’ name.

One way the devil paralyses people after they have heard the word is through procrastination. They hear and are determined to apply what they have learnt, but then they procrastinate until they lose the zeal to do it. The day my Father-in-the-Lord taught us that worldly music attracts evil spirits while godly music repels them and attracts the Holy Spirit, I destroyed all the worldly music tapes that I had. The night he preached about cleanliness and pointed our attention to the dirt under our beds, that same night when we got home, my wife and I lifted up the mattress and cleaned under the bed and everywhere in our home. We did not wait until the next day.

That is the same way you should practice the word of God: with urgency! James 1:23-25 says that when you don’t practice the word immediately, it is like not adjusting your clothes while standing in front of the mirror. It would be useless to start adjusting them when you no longer have the mirror before you. Don’t let the devil paralyse you; act on God’s word as soon as you hear it.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Having discussed the word of God in the last few days, I must say that there are many who don’t have ears to hear. Revelations 2:7 says, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches…”

There is danger in not hearing the word of God because Isaiah 6:8-10 says if you can hear, then you will repent and be healed. That is why the devil puts in all efforts to steal the word of God from our hearts as we see in Matthew 13:3-23. I am certain that the day you gave your life to Christ, you were not the only one who heard that message. Others heard it and many of them did not surrender their lives to Christ. This is because though they had ears physically, the devil had blocked their spiritual ears. Furthermore, there are a lot of Christians who have been going to Church for many years; the Pastor preaches powerful sermons, but it has had no effect on their lives because the devil has simply blocked their ears in order to keep them in bondage. I pray your spiritual ears will never be blocked, in Jesus’ name.

There are also people who practice selective hearing of the word of God. In their case, the devil doesn’t have to bother himself, they block their own ears themselves (Jeremiah 17:23). They don’t want to hear that passage of the Bible that will condemn what they are doing wrong. When such people hear me say, “God said we should be holy for He is holy” they say, “Doesn’t he have anything else to say”?

Psalm 95:6-8 made it clear that if you want to hear God’s voice, “Harden not your heart”. Some of us have hardened our hearts; we don’t want to hear anymore. Remember the rich man’s plea in Luke 16:19-31 when he told Abraham to send Lazarus to preach to his brothers. Abraham told him that his brothers had prophets speaking to them on earth; if they didn’t listen to them, they wouldn’t hear anyone else. They were destined for destruction.

You have genuine men and women of God teaching you the true word now – this devotional is a testament to that. Listen now so that you will not regret it for eternity.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

One of the most beautiful things about the word of God is that it produces faith. Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The word helps faith to swell within you, so much so that you begin to do things that were impossible for you before. Daniel 11:32 says, “… but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits”.

The more of God you know, the stronger you become and the more exploits you can do for Him. There is just something powerful that consumes you when you study your Bible; you begin to see through the eyes of God. You would start to see situations as God sees them. You would become bold and fearless. Things that were impossible to you before would become normal; in fact, you would experience some miracles that would be difficult to testify of as people would find it difficult to believe you.

If you can eat the word of God so much that you are filled with it, then Jesus Christ said you can ask Him for anything and He would do it (John 15:7). What a great open secret! If you have been wondering why God answers some people’s prayers speedily, now you know what to do. Hebrews 11:6 says:

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Since faith comes by hearing the word of God and it is impossible to please God without faith, you need the word of God to please Him. If you are like me, always crying to God, saying, “Lord, I just want to please You”, the solution is simple: soak yourself in the word of God.

It is interesting though that fear also comes by hearing so be careful of what you listen to.

Choose to listen to the word of God.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

The Word is almighty. He created all things and indeed, He is God Himself (John 1:1-3). The Word is so powerful that He creates new beginnings. In Exodus 3:1-5, when God spoke to Moses at the backside of the desert, he had a new beginning. Though he had become a fugitive and it seemed he had missed it in life, Moses got a chance for a new beginning the moment he started hearing from God. In John 11:39-44, when Jesus Christ was going to bring Lazarus back from the dead, He didn’t lay hands on him; He only spoke and a new beginning came for someone who had been dead for 4 days. I speak the word of God into your life now: receive a new beginning, in Jesus’ name.

The Word of God is not only all-powerful but also sharp – sharp enough to separate the joint from the marrow and even dividing the soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12). When you see a hardened criminal crying in front of the altar to give his life to Christ, that is an example of what the Word of God can do. It can pierce into the hardest of souls. That is why it is futile trying to change your stubborn relatives using your own words. Preach the word of God to them; pray that the Word pierces through their souls to convict them of their sins.

Someone once said that they were wondering how come we usually have such large crowds at our crusades. They wondered especially because my sermons at such crusades were usually simple and the general theme was always: “Be holy”, yet large crowds attend over and over again and thousands give their lives to Christ every time I make an altar call. I told them it is because beautiful sermons with analysis of the Bible using Greek and Hebrew languages do not convict sinners. Deep thoughts and philosophies can’t convert anyone without the power of the Holy Spirit. Simple and straightforward as the word of God is, it has tremendous power to convert sinners to saints.

If you are a preacher of the gospel, please don’t try to impress the people with how much Greek and Hebrew you know. Just preach the word and trust that the Holy Spirit will accomplish all that the Lord pleases (Isaiah 55:11).
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In response to one of the temptations from the devil, our Lord Jesus Christ said, “…It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4).

It is true that as a human being, you need physical food to survive, but it is also true that your spirit man needs spiritual food to survive and that spiritual food is the word of God. If you don’t eat the word of God, you will be spiritually malnourished and it can lead to spiritual death. There are many spiritually dead Christians and even Pastors today because they don’t read their Bibles. God’s word will give you life. Jesus Christ said in John 6:63:

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

The reason many people are depressed is that they hardly feed on the word of God. The Bible says in Jeremiah 15:16, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts”.

When you eat the word of God, it strengthens your spirit man and you begin to feel a kind of joy that cannot be explained. Joshua 1:8 says if you want to have good success, then the book of the law must not depart from your mouth; you are to eat the word of God consistently.

Shortly after I got born again, my brethren and I had a slogan: “No Bible, No Breakfast.” We ate the word before we ate physical food. The first thing you must do in the morning is eat the word. You would then be healthy, because the word had already gone in before physical food.

Resolve today to eat the word of God more than you eat physical food.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Yesterday, we discussed how God’s word guides you to fulfil His purpose for your life. Today, We will discuss how His word guides you out of trouble. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. – Matthew 10:19

When I became General Overseer, I had a lot of problems because I became the leader over many people who had been in the Church since its inception in 1952 and I just joined in 1973. Some of these people were members of the Supreme Council in those days, so every meeting was hellish for me. They criticised everything. One day, God said, “At the meeting today, you will say nothing until you hear from me”. This particular meeting was the toughest of them all. I kept quiet as instructed and then all of a sudden, God spoke. “Tell them, it is written, every idle word that a man shall speak, he will give account of it” (Matthew 12:36). That was the last time I had a problem with them.

The truth according to John 17:17 is the word of God. With the guidance of the word, you will no longer be confused because the Spirit of truth knows even the hidden truths about all things.

When I left a very promising career in academics to become the General Overseer of a small Church that couldn’t afford to pay the salaries of its staff, it did not make any sense at the time but the Spirit of truth told me that my tomorrow would be all right if I took that path. Today I am glad I did. When the Redeemed Christian Church of God established its camp in the middle of a forest filled with snakes and highway robbers, it did not make sense, but that is where the Spirit of truth led us. Today, that same place has become a highly sought-after city to live and work in.

Let the word of God guide you in every decision you take. You can’t know better than the Spirit of truth; consult Him before you make any move and you will never regret it.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

In (1 Kings 17:2-16), God sent His word to guide Elijah to where he would get food for a period of time. When the time elapsed, the word came again, telling him to go to Zarephath where God had already made arrangements for his feeding through a widow.

The word of God guides; He tells you what to do when there seems to be no way out of a difficult situation. I pray that the Lord will open your ears so that you can begin to hear from Him.

You will solve problems faster if you can hear directly from God. When I was working on my PhD thesis, I ended up with many simultaneous equations. Even solving one of these is stressful enough, talk less of the volume I had to deal with! I tried and tried to solve them but I couldn’t. One day, before going to bed, I read Exodus 14 where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. Suddenly, I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Bring your equations”. I did just that and then He began to say, “Put this one on the right, put this one on the left and so on”. By the time I finished and took a look at those on the right, they all had something in common. It was the same thing for those on the left. Because they were all jumbled together before, I couldn’t see that. The Lord then said, “Solve the ones on the right separately, the ones on the left separately, then combine. That was exactly what happened at the Red Sea. The sea parted, the Israelites passed through and the sea came together again killing Pharaoh and his army.” Five hours later, my thesis was ready. God’s voice solved in 5 hours what I hadn’t been able to solve in 18 months. When my thesis was taken to the external examiner, he read through and said, “Award this boy his PhD; I have no question for him”. He was told that there must be an oral examination, but he insisted that he had no questions for me. He had no questions because I wasn’t the one who solved that problem, it was the Word of God Himself who did.

If you allow the word of God to be your guide for every decision you make, you will never walk in darkness and He will guide you to the fulfilment of His purpose for your life John 8:12).
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

When you read the Word’s mission statement in Luke 4:18-19, you will see that He came to preach deliverance to the captives. In other words, the Word – Jesus Christ, is the deliverer of captives. In Mark 5:1-15, God sent the Word to the Gadarenes for just one assignment: to deliver a man that had been possessed by demons.

Wherever God’s word enters, light enters that place too and darkness vanishes. Psalm 119:130 says, “The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” Every form of darkness in your life will vanish as you read the word in this devotional, in Jesus’ name.

In Daniel 5:5-30, when Belshazzar was being consumed by pride, God sent His word as a dream to deliver him from the pride of his heart. Unfortunately, he did not listen, so he eventually suffered the consequences of pride by being killed that same night.

Many a time, Christians begin to engage in something that can destroy them. When God decides to save them from that destruction, He sends the word to them. God’s word may come through a sermon, a godly friend, the Bible or even directly from the Holy Spirit. When that word comes, if the fellow is wise, he would desist from whatever God is trying to save him from.

I know numerous people who got a word from God that could have delivered them from their destructions but did not listen and were eventually destroyed. Don’t let that be your case.

Has the Lord been warning you to desist from a particular sin? Has He given you some instructions you are yet to heed? Have you been rejecting the call to surrender your life to Jesus Christ? Beloved, heeding God’s word brings salvation and disobeying Him leads to destruction. Choose wisely.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Jesus Christ, the Word of God Himself read the reason for which He travelled all the way from heaven to earth, that is, His mission statement, in Luke 4:18-19:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

God sees when your heart is broken, and to mend your heart, He sends His word.

Many years ago, there was a boy I loved so much because he was very committed to God in evangelism. During his National Youth Service Corp year however, this boy died. His fellow Youth Corpers came together to pray for him, but then he came back to life, sat up and told them, “God asked me to come and tell you that you are disturbing Him; stop praying” and he died again. When I heard the news, I was really heartbroken. As a Pastor, I had to put up a bold front to everyone, but throughout that period, whenever I got back home, I would cry. I was really heartbroken.

One day, however, God sent His Word to me, saying, “My son, why are you so sad” I responded, “It is because of the death of this boy”. The Word came again, saying “No, that is not really why you are sad. You are sad because you and the boy are apart; now he is in heaven and you are still here on earth”. I said, “That is true”. The Lord then said, “If you are going to a far country that you have never been to, won’t you be happy to have someone you know go ahead of you so that when you arrive, there would be someone waiting to welcome you?” I said, “Yes”. The Lord then concluded thus: “Your boy has only gone ahead of you; when it is time for you to arrive, he will be waiting to give you a warm welcome”.

When you are heartbroken, don’t look to social media, movies, drugs, alcohol or friends to make you feel better; the real mender of broken hearts is the word of God. His word can come to you through a sermon, Bible study, or directly from the Holy Spirit.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.

Whenever God wants to do something special, His word takes up the form of a traveller and goes to the place where healing is needed. Psalm 107:20 says:

He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

At one point or the other, you will need the intervention of God over a matter; in that period, God can send His word on an errand to help you. My prayer is that God will never withhold His word from coming to you. When His word comes to you, it means a solution has come to your problems.

One of the special things that the word travels to do is to bring about healing. God created all the parts of your body. If you discover that any part of your body is not functioning as it should, cry to Him and He will send His word to heal it or install a spare part if the damage is beyond repair. That is what happened in Matthew 8:8-1³ when the Centurion’s servant was ill and he told Jesus to only speak the word and his servant would be healed.

And it came to pass on a certain day, as he was teaching, that there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by, which were come out of every town of Galilee, and Judaea, and Jerusalem: and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. – Luke 5:17.

In the Bible passage above, as Jesus was sharing the word, the power of God was present to heal the sick. I used to lay hands on all the sick people at our programmes, but then, Luke 5:17 showed me that the healing can be going on simultaneously with the sermon. Now, even as I preach, God heals the sick. This is why I pity those who get carried away during the sermon; you are missing out on a lot more than you know.

Put all your faith in the Word of God today, and you will receive divine healing in Jesus’ name.
Written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye.